Canto Locura Y Poesia Analysis

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Fitting In In many families, growing up means making mistakes, learning from them, and moving on. Olivia Castellano in, “Canto, Locura Y Poesia,” makes it clear that being able to make mistakes and learn from them can be very difficult especially for Chicanos to be able to succeed in life when they are already looked down at for their culture. Sometimes you wonder if a degree would change anything. If having and education would make every stereotype of chicanos go away. Catellanos argues that her culture has been looked down on for a long time even by her own family and how she “needed to sabotage society in a major way, intellectually radical way” (342). Trying to fit in and still be your self is very difficult, however exploring ones culture…show more content…
She makes it clear that she knows how hard it has been for her to overcome many obstacles to get to college and be where she is at now. She comes from a family that values a good work ethic and working as a farm worker is more important than reading books and at times sacrificing education. Castellanos argues, “At a young age-between eleven and fourteen-I began my intellectual and spiritual rebellion against my parents and society. I fell in love with books and created space of my own where I could dare to dream” (pg 341). In her culture being married and having kids was her duties as a Mexican. That’s what was expected of her and nothing more and clearly she fought for what she believed in and for what she wanted for herself regardless of others. Castellanos declared, “‘I was put on this earth to make books, not babies!’ I announced and ran into my room” (pg…show more content…
It is not easy for her because just like her, the students in her class all have their own life experiences and situations that they have had to overcome and still they are sitting in class trying to move on. She makes it her mission to help them and maybe help them finds way to overcome the scars that they have. Castellanos explains, “ I teach in a totally non-traditional way. I use every trick in the books: lots of positive reinforcement, both oral and written; lots of one-on-one conferences. I network women with each other, refer them to professor friends who can help them; connect them to graduate students and/or former students who are already pursuing careers” (pg 348). This shows how dedicated she is to her students and the ways that she is willing to make a difference for them. “Courage takes pure concentrations” (pg 349) Castellanos makes sure that her students know that she has been there too. Where they are now, scared and angry because many have told the, that they won’t amount to anything. Olivia Castellano in “Canto, Locura Y Poesia,” explains how growing up as a female and being a Mexican has been a challenge. Her culture has made it difficult to overcome stereotypes and the ideal life that her family wants for her. She overcomes this by getting an education and educating herself in her own culture and finding that help that she needed to overcome all the scars

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