1) Events that Yolanda underwent definitely helped her understand her own Identity. In The Joe Chapter. Yolanda had at first lost her sense of sanity after a long term dispute between her and prospect husband, John. She started not to fully trust John because he made a strong claim about her sanity. He thought she was too intelligent for her own good. He made a pros and cons list about marrying her which deeply offended her. Yolanda also struggled with affection after this for she found herself in able to kiss or make love to John. She left him to go to her parents house. Her parents too questioned her sanity because she was speaking in references to other things like literature. Her therapist recommended that she be committed to a mental hospital her parents agreed so she reluctantly went. It was here that she finally overcame her "craziness" and obtained a part of her Identity that she had lost. She became to smart and was unable to listen to others. Here she overcame her fear of words such as "Love" and "Alive" and obtained spiritual growth to move on with her life. This gave her a brand new sense of identity she learned to be stronger than she had and obtained old feelings that were much desired.
2)In The Daughter of Invention Chapter Laura, Yolanda's Mother had trouble fitting into American society. After moving to the Americas she had lost her social status and didn't really fit the description for American standards in motherhood. She began to invent in her head all these strange ideas such as a can opener attached to the side of a car bumper that would be handy for picnics. Her daughters teased and rejected their mothers ideas. They wanted her to embrace American Culture more instead of working on these silly ideas. Now bear with me We're getting to the positivity. Yolanda had to write a speech for school and she was inspired by Walt Whitman, she wrote the speech to quickly and got in trouble for plagiarism. That night her father was upset and made threats about returning to the Dominican Republic and he was upset with Yolanda and he called her a name which deeply hurt her feelings. This is when Laura swoops into the rescue and helps Yolanda rewrite her paper and the teacher actually liked the new one. The next day her father bought her a typewriter and apologized for his behavior which is another positive note. And the final note is that because Laura found something else she could do she never had to invent things again. In this situation it is a person vs. person positive note.
3)After reading the Jeremy Lin story It got me thinking. Although in America minorities deal with racial slurs in a negative way they also embrace them. Asian people will call each other "chinks" and even themselves with a sense of pride and ambiguity. Jeremy Lin calls himself "the chinkballa" and he is now an NBA champion. Just as African Americans call each other "N!&&@" and truly mean friend. However race should not be a barrier. The negativity needs to end. It is stupid to think something like color, something so elementary, can define a human being. Scientifically speaking we all have 46 chromosomes (Except for our mutant friends) and we all breathe the same air. The ignorance is what will need to end. The color of your skin should not define what you do or where you will be. Nor can it. That is why we see people standing up like Martin Luther King Jr. to these oppressing matters. When good men do nothing evil prevails. Something as small as a comment can scar an individual just like it has the author of the Jeremy Lin article. It seems to me he has overcame he faced but it is up to the current mass of people to stop thinking through their televisions and begin thinking through their hearts.
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