HW

Week 2 Sentence and Paragraph Outlines

Student Example

“Se Habla Español” by Tanya Maria Barrientos

Sentence Outline

1. Thesis sentence (main idea)

Barrientos argues that while many Latinos and Latinas feel the need to speak Spanish so as to

identify with the culture of their parents, they should not feel this obligation.

2. Summary sentence

Barrientos is aware that she looks different from many of her peers and with that different

appearance comes different expectations.

3. Introduction of author’s evidence

Barrientos (2022) identifies the dysphoria she feels when she brings up her appearance: “‘Look,’

I’ll want to say (but never do). ‘Forget the dark skin. Ignore the obsidian eyes” (p. 715).

4. Introduction of author’s writing strategy

Barrientos uses several writing strategies to make her point, but the most pronounced one is

comparison and contrast.

Your Response to the Author and Position on the Topic

5. Introduction of why you agree or disagree

I believe Barrientos is correct in arguing that people identifying with groups should not feel an

obligation to meet certain standards in order to be accepted into that group.

6. Introduce a source from library that supports you view

Many people would agree with Barrientos and argue that the United States needs to embrace

the kind of diversity that Barrientos embodies.

7. Describe the author's audience and a possible opposing view

Some could reasonably argue that heritage is important and that a person must embody certain

aspects of that heritage in order to truly ‘own’ it.

8. Conclusion (summarize main points of essay and your response)

If everyone accepted Barrientos’ broadened definition of heritage, the United States would

benefit.

Paragraph Outline

1. Introduction ending with a thesis:

In her essay entitled “Se Habla Español, Tanya Maria Barrientos explores her heritage and

that of many LatinX individuals. She reflects on her experiences of growing up in the United

States and how she often feels disconnected from her heritage as a person born of Central

American decent. She shares her experiences trying to learn Spanish and how frustrating these

experiences have been. Barrientos also focuses on how these experiences discourage her and

make her feel less Latin. Towards the end of her essay, Barrientos makes her argument clear.

She argues that while many Latinos and Latinas feel the need to speak Spanish so as to identify

with the culture of their parents, they should not feel this obligation.

2. Summary sentence

Barrientos (2022) is aware that she looks different from many of her peers and with that

different appearance comes different expectations. Her essay explores her experiences in the

classroom thanks to her appearance, and she contrasts these with what she wished she looked

like when she was a child. Barrientos also explores how she and her family were treated by

school administrators and the assumptions they cast on her, again, as a result of her

appearance. Contrasting with how she looks, Barrientos discusses how her childhood

neighborhood was full of individuals that did not look anything like her, and how this made her

feel better than her heritage at times. Yet as an adult, and as cultural views of immigrants

changed, Barrientos came to embrace her heritage. She concludes her essay with an attempt to

express her desire to be seen as a full Latina.

3. Introduction of author’s evidence (quote)

Barrientos (2022) identifies the dysphoria she feels when she brings up her appearance: “‘Look,’

I’ll want to say (but never do). ‘Forget the dark skin. Ignore the obsidian eyes” (p. 715). In this

quote, Barrientos demonstrates how she wished her teachers would look past her skin and eye

colors. By this, she expressed how she wished to be seen as an American like all the “pink-

cheeked, blue-eyed blonde whose name tag says, ‘Shannon’” (p. 715). Her family was told that

their people’s children were “always behind” and that they were always “late” to school

(Barrientos, 2022, p. 716). The registrar at the school even shook her head at the family

registering their children late due to an educational trip. As a result of the prejudice she felt

from teachers and school administrators, Barrientos simply sought to not be Latina at all. She

found it would be better to ‘blend in’ and assimilate to American society than to embrace her

heritage.

4. Introduction of author’s writing strategy (quote)

Barrientos uses several writing strategies to make her point, but the most pronounced one is

comparison and contrast. By comparing and contrasting her experience as a person of Latin

heritage to that of what she perceives is a ‘normal’ American, she demonstrates how she yearns

to blend in. Barrientos (2022) even points out how being able to say “‘Yo no hablo español’ …

made [her] feel superior. It made [her] feel American. It made [her] feel white. [She] thought if

[she] stayed away from Spanish, stereotypes would stay away from [her]” (p. 716). Here,

Barrientos points out how she contrasts her experience with that of other children of Latin

heritage. They may naturally speak Spanish, but she states that she believed she would be able

to be better off than them by not being able to be identified with the stereotypes that she

believes they experienced. However, as times shifted, she compares her upbringing and inability

to speak Spanish to the cultural embrace of heritages and ethnic identities. She even compares

Spanish to the “glue that held the new Latino community together,” something she certainly did

not feel or want to be identified with during her earlier life (Barrientos, 2022, p. 717).

Your Response to the Author and Position on the Topic

5. Introduction of why you agree or disagree

I believe Barrientos is correct in arguing that people identifying with groups should not feel an

obligation to meet certain standards in order to be accepted into that group. There is such a

concept called “gatekeeping,” a concept that creates barriers between human beings.

Gatekeeping happens at all levels, as well. Barrientos gatekept herself from identifying with the

Latin community due to her inability to speak Spanish. A lighter skinned African American

person may be told he or she is not “black enough” by other members of the community.

Gatekeeping extends beyond race and ethnicity as well. Transgender people may gatekeep the

community and tell a person that the person is not ‘trans enough yet.’ People at a job who share

a certain educational background or set of experiences may exclude or gatekeep the group from

others who don’t. Politically, even, many Americans gatekeep by deciding others simply do not

belong and should “speak American” or “be American,” as if “American” was either a language

or a means of acting.

6. Introduce a source from library that supports you view

However, many people would agree with Barrientos and argue that the United States needs to

embrace the kind of diversity that Barrientos embodies. Barrientos demonstrates how diversity

is inherently diverse. In other words, all those who identify with one group do not share a set of

uniform characteristics. This broadened realization and reality of diversity can also bring

tangible benefits to the country. The Editorial Board (2021) of The Washington Post affirmed

this when it wrote, “Economists have found that immigrants tend to be more innovative and

entrepreneurial than native- born Americans, obtaining more and more valuable patents, and

founding businesses of all sizes at higher rates.” Indeed, encouraging people like Barrientos to

think of themselves in a broadened way helps the country economically. If the United States at

large embraces this kind of less gatekeepy method of who belongs and who is “othered,” then

the country at large would benefit.

7. Describe the author's audience and a possible opposing view

Some could reasonably argue that heritage is important and that a person must embody certain

aspects of that heritage in order to truly ‘own’ it. Barrientos herself recognizes that Spanish was

seen as a “glue.” Some might ask, “What prevents one person of one racial background from

simply saying he or she belongs to another?” So what if that person does? Does creating camps

and groups really benefit American society? Firstly, one person cannot assess whether another

person belongs as part of a group. Outward signs are misleading, and skills—such as speaking

Spanish—are insufficient as a means of determining group belonging. Second, has American

society done so well with the current system of creating groups? Gun violence is resurging.

Racism and discrimination have seemed to become more problematic. Gatekeeping others and

forcing some metric of heritage would not solve the larger issues America faces.

8. Conclusion (summarize main points of essay and your response)

If everyone accepted Barrientos’ broadened definition of heritage, the United States would

benefit. Americans would be more willing to embrace a broadened definition of humanity. Just

as not all white people have blond hair, so too do not all people of Latin heritage speak Spanish,

and so too do African Americans possess a beautiful tapestry of skin tones. Not every Italian-

American needs to speak Italian, nor every gay male needs to fit into some label of what it

means to be "gay, and not every college English professor must speak perfect English all the

time. Human beings are diverse, and to embrace that—as Barrientos has done of her own

heritage—will bring greater acceptance from one to another and help smooth some of this

country’s divisions that have lasted far too long.

References

Barrientos, T.M. (2022). Se habla español. In R. Bullock, M. Daly Goggin, & F. Weinberg (Eds.) The Norton

field guide to writing with readings (6th ed.) (pp. 715-718), WW Norton.

The United States can embrace immigration and diversity -- or decline. (2021, August 16). The

Washington Post. Washingtonpost.com, NA.

https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A672255276/OVIC?u=lirn99776&sid=bookmark-

OVIC&xid=89d010b7