katherine peer review

Derouen 2

Catherine Derouen

Dr. Cassandra Pfeifer

ENGL 1020

May 30th, 2020

Reyna Grande’s argument in her article is that people who have the least dream for the most. Grande is writing for the less fortunate. Motivating the people to never give up on their dreams. The author is a native of Guerrero, Mexico. She is a daughter, granddaughter, sister, author, U. S. Citizen, college graduate, and a homeowner. Grande tells us a story of when she was just a small child. Her farther left and proceeded to California leaving her and her family behind. He was in search of a better future for them all.

She explains that during her childhood she lived in poverty in the second poorest and most violent state in Mexico. The highest amount of heroin crops are grown in Mexico. Contributing to and resulting to the high rate of drug trafficking and drug cartel. Her heart often ached for her mother who left when she was 4 to reunite with her father, leaving her and her siblings in the care of her grandmother. Despite her mother leaving, the situation taught her how to endure the pain and gave her motivation to push forward toward her dreams.

When she was 9 her father returned for her and her siblings and lead them across the border along side with smugglers in extremely dangerous circumstances, in search of a better life. After making it to America this motivated her even more to push harder to make all her dreams come true. She worked extremely hard to learn English and to further her education. She overcame every hurdle that was thrown her way by pushing herself to her limits. She was the first in her family to graduate from college. She became a homeowner, U.S. citizen, and an award-winning author.

Grande’s story was written in 2015, and it was based on the much earlier years of her life to her present day adult life. Her story began in Guerrero, Mexico and took us on a journey with her crossing the border to the United States. Reyna Grande seemed inspired to write her story so she would share her truth with others and allow them to gain motivation to continue towards their own dreams. She is very proud of her accomplishments and wants the world to know that she is a fighter and a suvivior.

During this day and age we often take for granted how blessed we are. Often complaining of things that others wished they were privileged to have. Grande’s appeal uses pathos explaining her story which is emotional and heartfelt to her audience. She pulls her audience in by telling her struggles along with her hopes and dreams for others who may be experiencing the same situation.

Langston Hughes argued in his poem that the only people who really get treated fair in America are the already privileged people. The people whom live in poverty are treated unfair. Langston Hughes wrote this poem to put the spotlight on the truth of how America is only nice to the more fortunate people. He writes with emotion and compassion.

In his poem he mentions how what people think America once was isn’t the same anymore. He tells how people could come to America with hope of having a free life and the American Dream, regardless of their situations in life. He tells how the people higher above crush the people beneath them.

Saying that dog eat dog, basically saying that we are like crabs in a bucket. He talks about how America is full of greed. He seems to depict how people may feel when they finally arrive in America. They whole time they may have dreamed of lavish lives and better living. When they get here there soon come to the realization that it is not what they imagined. Still being held back due to the color of their skin, their bracket that they are filed in, and what they may or may not have.

The audience that he may be writing for are the less fortunate people in America, and even the more fortunate to open their eyes to what really happens in America. Langston Hughes was an American writer during the Harlem Renaissance. He wrote many of poems and stories that are famous in America today.

This poem was written in 1935 and was written to express his belief in equal rights for all people. He believed that regardless of you skin color and your level in life all people should be treated equally. I think he wrote this poem to inform the people that as much as they say America is amazing, it is not amazing toward everyone.

During the time he wrote the poem there were a lot of prejudice and injustice toward the less fortunate and people of color. Also disadvantaged immigrants had to endure unfair treatment along with bias from the higher class. Hughes basically is saying that America needs to be the same way that it was intended to be in the beginning before it was corrupt by privileged rich men.

He speaks on the young man’s American Dream. Basically saying that he is being fed false hope. Then when arriving to America he is slapped in the face by the greed of the rich man. Slapped down time and time again while trying to rich set goals. Facing the ugly reality that America is not the land of the free, nor is America a land for you and me.

There are similarities in the two text that were ready. Grande and Hughes both had to overcome hurdles that were thrown in front of them. They both began life at the bottom of the barrel sort of speak. Coming from poverty, both authors had to push the limits of their own lives. Seeing the injustice and disadvantages that they both had during the way toward their American Dreams.

The differences in their stories are accomplishments. Grande talks about her accomplishments she was able to obtain along the way. Hughes just states the struggles that others had to endure during that time and how much more privileged richer people were. Both texts relate to each other as far as their struggles went. Grande’s text just gives the reader more hope that it is possible to gain that dream through determination and hard, consistent work.