Class: Mixquiahuala Letters
posted by Michael | 2/01/2007 09:37:00 PM
Contributors
- Pack: Click
- Class: Click
- Cyborg: Seminar (15pp/20min) Weeks 12-16
- Cyborg: Conference (8pp/10min) Weeks 9-11
- Cyborg: Short Option (5pp/10min) Week 7-8
- Pack: Brief Interviews
- Class: Brief Interviews with Hideous Men
- Paper Proposal 3 (of Possible 3)
- Paper Proposal 2 (of Possible 3)
- Paper Proposal 1 (of Possible 3)
9 Comments:
1. Why is it that the letter “I” is never capitalized, even as it’s used in the first person point of view?
2. During the book, for example on page 43, why do the sentences end/start mid-line, instead of the beginning of the next?
3. Can it be said that Alicia and Teresa had intimate moments?
1. Why does Teresa never capitalize "I" in a sentence, but when she quotes others she does use capitalization? (See the bottom of 99 for capitalization example).
2. Why does the author seem to include references to how men differ in the United States from the men in Mexico? Why are these parallels important?
3. How does the telling of abortion stories of characters Teresa and Alicia change the personalities or outlooks of these women?
1. my question is also about Teresa, what is the point or importance of the capitalization?
2. Why does the novel have three different readings/versions? Is there a significance in this?
3.I think the style of writing makes the story more readable and relatable. Did the author have other intentions? What was his reason for writing in this format?
1. How do you think Alicia truly feels about Teresa? Do you find Alicia's letters to be more than simply letters to a friend?
2. What is the significance of Alicia sending letters and Teresa responding with items? Do they simply do this because they relate to their crafts?
3. How does the recollection of Alicia and Teresa's lives change because it is told through letters instead of through a basic story?
1. On pg. 21, why does Teresa divulge in the childhood game she used to play with her male cousin called "You Show Me Yours and I'll Show You Mine"? What kind of impact could that have had on her sexual maturity?
2. Why does Teresa apologize at the end of Letter 18 after she recalls a vacation where Alicia received the attention of a male all day but not in the evening? Teresa appears jealous, but there seems to be more to be sorry about than that.
3. Why does Alicia not sign her name at the end of her letters?
4. How does Letter 36 depict the formation of their relationship? Alicia says they bathed together in a "casual sense," and braided each others hair, etc. Does the affection stem from sexuality, feelings of sisterhood, lonliness, or naturalness?
1 - What is the difference between the Quixotic, Conformist and Cynic readings of the book? Can the book be read cover to cover?
2 - Are the letters in chronological order? If so, are they to be taken as so for each different type of reading?
3 - Besides Teresa being a poet, what is the point of her erratic prose style and grammar? Does the breaking up of lines and abnormal capitalization have a deeper meaning?
1. Why you suppose the actual letters begin late in the book on page 17, rather than on the traditional, usual 3rd or 4th pages? Could we take the same consideration for other works, such as Brief Interviews, which begins unconventionally on page 0?
2. Letter 2 has a peculiar sense of cynicism about it, a tone that is mixed with the theme of turning 30. What could be said about Teresa's thoughts on aging here?
3. What do the letters between Teresa and Alicia reveal about attitudes towards Mexican culture?
1) It's really strange that the author gives four different methods of reading the book. Doesn't that let the reader, in a sense, create their own truths about the events in the book?
2)Letters are supposed to be personal. So why is it then, that the first-person "I" is not capitalized? Is it supposed to represent a detachment from the person?
3) On pg. 101, Teresa says that she "suffers from dreams". I find word choice most interesting, especially if you consider the sentence outside of context. I mean, yeah, she's talking about a dream she's been having, but I think it's interesting that it's isolated at the beginning of letter 27. Is there something special that the author wanted to convey in that sentence, other than that Theresa was simply talking about a dream she was having?
1. There seem to be large gaps in time between some of the letters, is this a gap in the relationship between the women?
2. The behavior of the women seems contradictory. On one hand they are very independent and act as though they don't need men, on the other they allow men to have huge impacts on their lives. What is the significance of this contradiction?
3. The author shows the difference between the cultures of the United States and Mexico, and both women are wholey apart of neither. What is the significance of that?
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