Discussion Questions on JOC'sWorks

Chapter 1

• Opening sentence: "They say Guzmán had been a difficult pregnancy for Mama Cielo, who had little patience for the bouncing ball in her belly." What is the goal of an opening sentence for a novel? Is this sentence an effective opening? Does the sentence set up the plot of the novel? Does it hook you?

• Consider the ways in which the opening chapter of The Line of the Sun sets up or creates a space of its own in American literary tradition while looking at this quote by Elizabeth Garcia, “for these puertorriqueñas, writing becomes the tool, the weapon, the magic wand enabling them to authorize themselves in a literary tradition that up until the second half of the twentieth century denied them access. It is through writing that these women can create a space of their own, can rescue themselves from the borderlands of literary canons and stand at the epicenter of their own imaginary community” (Rivera 149). Does the novel fit into a genre? Does it remind you of something else you have read? How does this novel find its space in the American literary canon?

Chapter 2

• In “Espiritismo in the Puerto Rican Community” Marta Moreno Vega writes, "Espiritismo as practiced in Puerto Rican communities, rooted in the legacy of the varied Kongo cultures, is centralized on the worship of the ancestors. Through the use of spiritual divination, healing medicines, and preparations, practitioners seek balance and health in their lives. Ultimately, it is a balanced life that connects the spiritual and secular worlds in a harmonious cycle that "cools" the environment, eliminating negative spirit energy." Using Moreno Vega's historical and cultural synthesis of spiritism, consider the role of Sister Rosa (La Cabra) in the community. Think about her "treatment" of Guzmán and other members of the community. How does the community treat her? Refer to chapters 1 and 2. What does knowing the history of spiritism add to our interpretation of the novel?

•  The novel is set in the 1950s and 1960s. History seems to be a "character" in the novel where the reader watches real historical events unfold through the eyes of the characters. However, myth is also a "character." Discuss the tensions between history and "myth" in the novel's first two chapters. Things to look at include how the Korean War was represented and handled in the novel. 

Chapter 3

• Read about trauma studies and trauma theory. Identify the different traumas (physical, psychological, emotional, communal, etc.) and consider how they play a role in the first three chapters. Consider short-term and long-term effects on characters and relationships. 

• Chapter 3 moves away from Guzmán. JOC invests in relationships among women and within social groups. What factors influence women's relationships? How do you explain instances like the use of Rosa's daughter as collateral damage in this battle for the spirit of Salud (which means health) between women?

• Wrap up. Where do you stand as a reader after the first three chapters?

Chapter 4

• Like Rosa, Dona Amparo does not necessarily fit in with Salud given their physical appearance and their status in society. However, they are alike in several ways. What makes Dona Amparo more acceptable to the people of Salud in comparison to Rosa?  

• In this chapter, Rafael enables his father’s drinking habit. And while it is an upsetting event, what are your thoughts on Rafael's decision to fulfill his father’s desires rather than get him the help he needs? Are you able to relate this to the trauma theory discussed previously?

Chapter 5

• The first half of the Line in the Sun is a coming-of-age story where we get to see Guzmán grow from a wild child to a (wild?) adult. How have people's perceptions changed about Guzmán as he's aged, if at all? How has his view of himself changed? 

• "Water Overflows with Memory" is an article about the spiritual practices using water in South Africa. Water is a recurring motif in the novel. In Chapter Five, Guzmán notably has a dream where he sees an indigenous man by water. 

"In his dream Guzmán saw himself standing at a pool formed from the streams of water that fell from a craggy mountainside. In the shallow water knelt an old Indian man. He was worshipping at the chorros, the streams of water like small waterfalls found on some mountainsides. He was facing away from Guzmán, but in his dream Guzmán knew that this was no enemy" (145-146 in my e-book).

 Water appears constantly throughout the novel. What does water, especially moving water, symbolize in literature? For Guzman? For other characters?

• Why do you think Mamá Cielo chooses to fund Guzmán's departure at the end of Chapter Five but not reveal to him that the money is from her? How is that tied to Mame Cielo’s way of showing affection? 

Chapter 6

• This chapter serves as the primary introduction to the thus far mystery narrator. Up until this moment the reliability of the narrator has been in question, largely due to the lack of information about their perspective on the events of the novel. 

In Wayne C. Booth’s "’ The Rhetoric of Fiction and the Poetics of Fictions”, Booth establishes that unreliable narrators “differ markedly depending on how far and in what direction they depart from their author's norms”, and that, to the reader, the “moral and intellectual qualities of the narrator are more important to our judgment”. (Booth 82, 49) Taking these standardizations for what, according to Booth, forms an unreliable narrator, how does the small amount of insight we get on the narrator change how we view the novel in this chapter? Do you consider Marisol an unreliable narrator? Explain your reasoning. 

• In this chapter, Ramona is sexually assaulted by an American soldier. However, she views this as a romantic encounter that she still dreams about and thinks about (Cofer, 168). What characteristics does Sonny have and or Rafael lack that make Ramona think about the soldier even while in her husband's arms? How do you feel this represents the themes of Colonialism and Postcolonialism that are prominent throughout the novel?

• In "Courtship in Puerto Rico: An Institution in Transition," Reuben Hill describes some of the courtship practices in Puerto Rico and draws comparisons to American culture, specifically among university students. This is highly relevant to this chapter, where we get an inside glimpse through Ramona's perspective of courtship in Salud. Hill writes, "Additionally the Puerto Rican system is not concerned with providing opportunities for testing the compatibility of temperament by offering unsupervised periods alone during which quarrels and heated discussions might occur" (29). We have seen this before in the story, but what effect does this have on Ramona and Rafael, and why do we not see the same limitations on male characters?

Chapter 7

• In Chapter 7, we get a glimpse of what life is like for Marisol and her brother in “El Building.” Though it appears Rafael does not want his family to stay in El Building, Marisol says, “It was easy for Ramona to become part of the ethnic beehive of El Building. It was a microcosm of island life” (Cofer 170). One example that is mentioned is “Hard-to-obtain items like green bananas from the Island, plantains, and breadfruit were shared” (Cofer 171). What are some other ways El Building is a “microcosm” of Puerto Rico? And why might Ramona appreciate the setting of El Building even though she and Rafael seemed to want to leave the Island in previous chapters?

• There is a strong sense of dual identity in this chapter, both with Marisol, as well as her parents. On page 171, Marisol explains, "The adults conducted their lives in two worlds in blithe acceptance of cultural schizophrenia…the English-speaking segment" and the world of El Building where "inside the four walls of their railroad flats…everyone perched at his or her level" (Cofer 171-72). In Ramón Grosfoguel's article, "Puerto Rican Labor Migration to the United States: Modes of Incorporation, Coloniality, and Identities", he discuss the concept of immigrants and their children having a sense of "hyphenated identity" (Grosfoguel 504).

He writes of immigrant experiences in the United States: "Groups lose their language and customs, but ethnicity continues to be recreated in a new form of identity that is neither a melting pot nor a simple repetition of their communities of origin" (Grosfoguel 504). In what ways do Rafael, Ramona, and their children experience this "hyphenated identity" in Paterson? Why might some of the tenants of El Building show strong nostalgia for the Island as "their illusory Eden" (Cofer 174) while others, like Rafael, "did everything possible to separate us from the rabble" of El Building (Cofer 178)? 

• We learn from the narrator, whom we now know to be Marisol, about Guzmán experiencing labor camp after leaving the Island, she describes him as a "subway warrior" and says his life story "…had to be later inferred from Guzmán's Adventures, the ongoing narrative as told by my mother, enhanced and colored until Guzmán became in our imaginations the brown giant of Island legend" (Cofer 176-77). Given this mythical introduction to Marisol's perspective of Guzmán's life, as well as her openness about relating to his "rebellious childhood" as she "secretly thrilled at his defiance of the adults" and expectations of society—should we consider Marisol a reliable narrator? (Cofer 176). In what ways in this chapter can we see Marisol relating to Guzmán and his "defiance"? (Cofer 176).

• On the last page of the chapter, Marisol describes her experience of seeing Guzman as something akin to looking into a mirror in a dark room.  How might we interpret this?  How are they alike?  How might Marisol’s experience with her immediate family function to more intimately connect her to Guzmán? 

• Examine the descriptions of Rafael in this chapter. Do you think he is similar to his father in the way he places importance on his career or any other aspects of his parents?  How have his differences (from his father) not necessarily been for the best?

Chapter 8

• Guzmán has been labeled a "demon child" for all his life. Now that he is in New York, he has been able to leave behind this identity and begin making a life for himself. Let's discuss how Ramona, Rafael, Marisol, the community of El Building, and the community of New York have reacted to Guzmán since he has been here. How has his experience in New York been different than Ramona's and Rafael's? How has it been similar?

• Now that we have gotten a much closer look at Marisol and we are introduced to Rosalind, how are they like other women that we have seen previously in this novel? How are they different? Are there any common motifs that we can find between them?

• The women in El Building have developed a transnational community. According to the article "The Contradictory Nature of Puerto Rican Women's Role in the Social Construction of a Transnational Community", Marixsa Alicea explains "Transnational families and households represent one way in which Puerto Rican migrants respond to the negative economic, political, and social forces they have encountered in the United States. They maintain ties to their homeland community and negotiate multiple identities as a form of resistance to 'their subordination within global capitalist systems'" (Alicea, 1997). We see in previous chapters that Ramona has become very involved in the community of El Building, and in chapter 8 we even see Guzman's involvement. Why do we think this is? What does it mean to be Puerto Rican living in America at this time?

• In The Machismo and Marianismo Tango, David Sequiera highlights this complexity by summarizing Rosalie Flores and saying "Machismo says Rosali Flores (1975), is an elusive Hispanic value, inbred and nurtured by parental anxiety for the males in the family to show manliness, virility, honor, and courage...all honorable and desirable traits in any culture. However, when joined with self-doubts because of the inequalities and contradictions in American society, it forces the Hispanic to "prove" his manhood. This, she asserts, is inwardly defeating the Hispanic male" (8). It is important to note that this book also highlights certain positive aspects of Machismo like "bravery, loyalty, pride in self, honor" (9) and the more aggressive aspects of Machismo like violence, dominance, and sexual promiscuity (11). How do you think Rafael and Guzmán reflect these positive and negative dichotomies of machismo? What are some specific examples? 

Chapter 9

• Religious images are referenced at various points in this chapter.  Specifically to describe the relationship between Romana and Rafael- with Rafael as an anticipated figure of judgment (especially as the second coming of Christ) and Ramona being associated with the Madonna. What do these descriptions indicate about Rafael and Ramona’s relationship?  

• In chapter 9, most of what we read is Marisol’s inner dialogue and how she views the world. What are some common themes/tropes/events in Marisol’s line of thinking? What does this reveal about her (in terms of fears, insecurities, feelings, points of pride, etc.)? Explore the relationship and tension that exists between Marisol and her mother.

• Erik Erikson, a renowned German-American psychologist, wrote at length on his theory of the stages of development. These stages of development identify and examine the different struggles people face at different points in their life, from birth until death. His fifth stage of development is called “Identity vs. Role Confusion” where children 12-18 years old are “search[ing] for a sense of self and personal identity, through an intense exploration of personal values, beliefs, and goals.” How does Marisol demonstrate that she’s going through this stage right now? How do you think her cultural background influences how she navigates discovering her own identity?

• How has Guzmán’s injury been difficult for the entire family? How do some of the characters treat him now that he’s out of commission? Why do you think Marisol snoops through Guzmán’s wallet? How is this tied to The Machismo and Marianismo Tango?

• How do both major and minor characters showcase themes of defiance/resistance? What or who are they fighting against?

Chapter 10

• Hohmann et al (1990) conducted research on "...the role of spiritism in the provision of mental health services, and the association between spiritism and psychiatric disorders and symptoms" (328). This research came by studying Puerto Ricans and their involvement with Spiritism versus mental health professionals. After conducting the study, the researchers found that "...those who sought the help of a spiritist were more likely to have reported symptoms of depression or of somatization than those who did not seek help from a folk healer" (332). Somatization is defined as "the production of recurrent and multiple medical symptoms with no discernible organic cause" (Google Oxford Dictionary). After reading this research presented, consider who has gone to spiritists on the Island and in El Building. Do they have anything in common? Does this research align with what we have seen so far in The Line of the Sun? Marisol seems to be unaffected by her mother's spiritism and she does not seem to believe in it, why is this? Is this related to Marisolhave introducedistance herself from her culture and her mother?

• On page 238 (Cofer), we are introduced to the characters of Elba and Blanquita: two spiritists. Although they are both spiritists, they contrast in several ways. In what ways do they contrast, both physically and in practice? Does this duo remind you of any characters we have seen in the past? Who and how so? Why is it that Rafael approves of Elba although he does not approve of his wife's spiritism? 

• Guzmán admits to having very little money and states that he wishes to return to the island (229-30, Cofer). Does this revelation change your perspective as a reader at all? How do you think that it changed Ramona's and Marisol's view of him if at all? Did you see this coming? Why or why not?

• Towards the end of the chapter, Santiago summarizes the issue as to why the spiritist meeting is a big mistake. It would be hard to tell the police that the gathering is not a labor strike, and it also would be hard to tell the women who are organizing the spiritist meeting to stop the cultural practice that they think would be beneficial. Given the situation, why do you think Santiago remains impartial to the situation? How do you as the reader feel that it seems like the women are being the rash ones while the men are being the “voice of reason”?

Chapters 11, 12, and Epilogue

• Nagel, in their article, “Constructing Ethnicity: Creating and Recreating Ethnic Identity and Culture,” writes that “Cultural revivals and restorations occur when lost or forgotten cultural forms or practices are excavated and reintroduced, or when lapsed or occasional cultural forms or practices are refurbished and reintegrated into contemporary culture (163). Although PR culture is not ancient or forgotten, what does it mean to assimilate one’s culture into the more modern “American” one? What kind of essentiality does that hold?  More specifically, does Èl Building represent a liminal space and conduit for immigrant trauma and double consciousness?  

• Marisol calls Rafael “my father” in this chapter while reverting to calling her mother “Ramona”. Is this a new perception colored by trauma or is this a shift in maturity?   

• Even after losing their physical home, the process of “assimilation” is unavoidable now that the microcosm of El Building is destroyed. Yet, in what ways do we see the characters grapple with concepts like “home”, “belonging” or “identity” and the trauma of their home being destroyed alongside it? What does the future hold for characters like Ramona and Marisol? What about the other characters?   

• In the Epilogue, we see Guzman and Sarita get married, but is this story really “wrapped up so neatly” (Cofer 290) or is it a lie to say that “this is the end”? (291). What did you expect the ending to look like and why?

• It's revealed that Ramona's story is told to Marisol by Ramona herself, bringing us back to our previous discussions about the reliability and romanticization of Ramona's story in chapter 6. How does this new information change your opinion of the retelling of that event? In some ways, there are multiple levels of unreliable narrators, how does this affect your reading of the story?

• Mary Beth Cancienne's journal article "Using Metaphorical Thinking to Understand a Literary Archetype: The Hero's Journey" offers an introductory lesson into the Hero's journey, outlining essential characteristics and key objectives. She goes on to discuss Synectics II a method of teaching the Hero's journey which is "defined as bringing together that which is apart or, as it is known in creativity theory, 'making the strange, familiar'". (Cancienne 60) How does our novel do this? Does it follow the first alignment and bring separate things together to provide more clarity or unique insights, particularly in the epilogue? Does it alight with the second definition of making strange "othered" things more familiar? Does the Epilogue offer any unique insights into this by showing the connection between Rosa's daughter and Guzman?

• How is El Building described in The Latin Deli? Describe the sights, sounds, and smells? How does the narrator view El Building? How does this fit into JOC’s larger canon of works? 

• We see a lot of colors in this short story. The cold, gray day is mentioned multiple times, the white dress of Eugene's mother, the black worn by the funeral goers, as well as the green door of Eugene's house. Based on the description of Verde-Esperanza (which directly translates to "green hope"), what might the other colors symbolize in this story? How does the use of color in this story affect the mood of the given sentence that it inhabits (if at all)?

• Isolation is a major theme of this poem, with El Building almost inhabiting its own liminal space even though it's such a large and imposing block of buildings, and Elena spends most of the story alone and observing other families and their day-to-day. How does this theme relate to the title, "American History"? What other elements are present that exemplify this theme?

• Advanced Biology is a chapter that deals with a few different types of losses. What were those types and what impact did they have on the characters?

• This chapter takes place in two different areas, Paterson, New Jersey and Augusta, Georgia. What are some of the similarities/parallels and differences in the locations and scenarios that took place?

• The main conflict of Advanced Biology is the matter of religion vs. science. In the article I found, Relationships between the Religious Backgrounds and Evolution Acceptance of Black and Hispanic Biology Students, it talks about how "religion is often an important support for students of color who are navigating science, technology, engineering, and mathematics culture that privileges White nonreligious students." And that "Black/AA students tend to be more religious and less accepting of evolution than any other racial/ethnic group and Hispanic students tend to be slightly more religious and slightly less accepting of evolution than white students." If you believe this tracks within the chapter, how do we see it affect the characters and why might one or the other (science/religion) be more appealing to different groups of people.

• To begin the section called “Color,” the narrator says, “In the animal world it indicates danger: the most colorful creatures are often the most poisonous. Color is also a way to attract and seduce a mate. In the human world color triggers many more complex and often deadly reactions” (135-136). Throughout this section, we see that skin color is a touchy topic in the US and more openly spoken about in Puerto Rico, and we see the narrator’s first experience with color discrimination. Where might the danger and seduction of color play into these situations?

• For the last section, called “Looks,” the narrator talks about how her mother’s good looks influenced her own in early childhood. When the narrator is later looking forward to going to a dance with her white crush, her mother warns her to be prepared for disappointment. The narrator’s date canceled on her, saying his father wouldn’t let him date a Puerto Rican girl, and she is heartbroken. Her mother comforts her. “My mother did not say ‘I warned you,’ and I was grateful for her understanding silence” (146). How did the mother already know there would be disappointment? Why does the boy Gary not incite this predicted disappointment but Ted does?

• In Susan Harter, Patricia Waters, and Nancy R. Whitesell’s 1998 article “Relational Self-Worth: Differences in Perceived Worth as a Person across Interpersonal Contexts among Adolescents,” the authors categorized influences on global-self worth across relational contexts (family, teachers, female peers, and male peers). They found that, for the majority of adolescents, their level of self-worth differs depending on the context and may change drastically according to their relationships. This means that for our narrator in “The Story of My Body,” her global self-worth is going to be independently affected by her different relationships, all of which are presented in the story in different contexts. Additionally, two articles I found support the idea that Puerto Ricans especially do not correlate peer acceptance and ethnic/race discrimination with their self-esteem or academic achievement, but they do impact their levels of anxiety and depression. (Delgado, et. al. 2015; Szalacha, et. al. 2003). Thinking particularly to the section called “Size,” do you see any of this playing into the narrator’s experience? Is their emotional state, self-esteem, and/or academic achievement compounded by the different contexts of their relationships? Does the discrimination they experience not impact their self-esteem or academic achievement but instead decrease their mental wellness?

• In this story, Judith discusses how her father had “the fair skin and light brown hair of his northern Spanish family background” and how he could’ve passed for European, but her, her brother, and her mother could not. How is the concept of “white passing” relevant to this story, and the other works that we have read so far? How is this concept still prevalent in our society today?      

• This story holds several references to a “woman’s place” and the gender roles that she observed growing up. How do these gender roles show similarities or differences to those found in the south?

• In this story, Judith mentions not understanding until later in life what happened to her cousin and how she believes her mother would not have told her about the abortion if she asked, or she would have been punished for asking. In the article “Unequal Treatment: Confronting Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Health Care” we see how women of color often experience racism when seeking care. How does the type of secrecy described in the story, combined with the racial discrimination found in the article, keep women of color in the dark about their own health, and how can this, combined with restrictive and/or discriminatory healthcare prevent women from seeking medical assistance? Is this still prevalent today?

• The beginning of this story features the idea of “cultural schizophrenia”, something we see in The Line of the Sun as well, which the narrator appears to connect to the idea of feeling “disconnected from her body” and “living simultaneously in two cultures” (Ortiz Cofer 124). One example of this is that the narrator attends a private school where “Most of them were middle class Italian and Irish kids. I was the only Puerto Rican student”, which causes her to feel “lost in the sea of bright white faces” (Ortiz Cofer 125). What other examples of the narrator feeling out of place did you find pertinent in the piece and why would Cofer have chosen to use these specific examples? 

• The article I chose, “‘Cold/Hot, English/Spanish’”: The Puerto Rican American Divide in Judith Ortiz Cofer's ‘Silent Dancing’” takes part of its title from a quote in this story in which the narrator discusses moving back and forth from the United States to her grandmothers’ house in Puerto Rico when her father left for Europe: “Cold/Hot, English/Spanish; that was our life” (Ortiz Cofer 129). Teresa Derrickson writes of the contrast of the narrator’s mom wanting to create the “casa” in the mainland U.S. (Ortiz Cofer 127), while their father “had no yearning to return to the island that held no promise for him” (Ortiz Cofer 129). She explains,  

“Ortiz Cofer is mindful of this dynamic as she literally maps it out for her reader in a line that reads, "Cold/hot, English/Spanish; that was our life" (129). The juxtapositioning of the antithetical terms of each set (e.g., "cold/hot" and "English/Spanish") mimics the territorial juxtapositioning of the American and Puerto Rican cultures” (Derrickson 129). 

How can we see the effects of this clash between “English/Spanish” on how the narrator interacts with her parents? How does this seemingly affect her relationship with her sense of self? 

• This story ends with the narrator’s father telling them that he will be going to Europe, and they must move back to Puerto Rico for a while, and the narrator explains that she realized, “if love were easy, life would be too simple” (Ortiz Cofer 137). This can be seen as a reference to her romantic encounter with the older boy, but also could be connected to her relationship with her parents as she struggles to adjust to two very different living situations when they move. How else do you think you can see the connection between this quote and this story as a whole? 

• Both this piece and “The Line of the Sun” talk about being in front of the sun. What is the sun? What does it mean to be standing in it?

• There is a lot of juxtaposition between religious ideas, imagery, and traditions and those of science. It tends to be that the mother is more religious and the daughter is more scientific, but they are both Puerto Rican and artists. How do we see this connection between art, science, and religion all within Puerto Rico?

• What is the importance of being in the airport while the narrator is talking about all of this?

• Victoria Cabrera-Polk talks in her 2017 article about how “Woman in Front of the Sun” is mainly focused on feminist approach to breaking patriarchal traditions as well as the “mestiza consciousness” from Gloria Anzaldúa’s examination of hybrid cultural identities and navigating cultural intersections. Is this piece a feminist piece? A cultural piece? Are they separate ideas at all?

• “El hambre” y “los hombres” son dos cosas diferentes. In the poem Beans: An Apologia for Not Loving to Cook, Judith Ortiz Cofer uses the Spanish words “los hombres,” or “the men,” and “el hambre,” or “hunger.” Consider the similarity of the spelling of these terms. What might this indicate about the speaker’s relationship with gender and gender roles? Is it coincidence or an artistic choice on Ortiz Cofer’s part? What hunger do the women feel? (Stanza 3)

• Consider the lines, “I resisted the lessons of the kitchen then, fearing/the Faustian exchanges of adults, the shapeshifting nature/of women by the fire” (stanza 4). Faust is the main character of a Germanic poetic drama who makes a deal with Mephistopheles for material gain until all semblance of his spiritual morals have vanished. What might the author’s purpose be including this allusion? What might “the Faustian exchanges of adults” entail? What does the speaker fear?

• Consider the essay, “Crossing Borders: Multicultural Counseling With Puerto Rican Migrant Women” by Lillian Comas-Diaz. It reads, “As U.S. citizens, Puerto Rican women travel between the island and continental United States without status restrictions. Additionally, many engage in a circular migration… traveling back and forth between Puerto Rico and the United States. Such circular migration has profound effects on their identity development” (2). The essay evaluates the mental, emotional, and overall psychological effect of migration on Puerto Rican women. Based on Beans and other texts, what effect does migration, especially circular migration as described above, have on migrant women?

• In an article titled, “Judith Ortiz Cofer and the Ecology of Creating Identity” written by Donna Gessell under the subtitle: “Dislocation and Resisting a Simple Relocation”, Gessell states how Cofer writes about her immigration from Puerto Rico to Paterson, New Jersey and her move to Augusta, Georgia, but focuses on how “her exploration is made even more complex” (Gessell 28). Gessell notes that “Instead of simply exploring dislocation and relocation, she explores restoration, a more sophisticated ecological model that involves constructing an interwoven web of culture. She does so through the use of metaphorical conceits as well as her use of cuentos (“stories”)” (Gessell 28).  

This is important to understand considering Cofer’s work as Gessell highlights that “Through her use of extended ecological metaphors and cuentos, her process of restoration recognizes the complexity of societies as well as that of the interstice between the two. The ecologies she employs invoke a myriad of interconnections among the forces she explores. She acknowledges her dislocation, refusing a simple restoration; instead, she claims more sophisticated processes for constructing an identity. This ecological model, because it allows for system interdependence, more nearly describes the process of negotiating between cultures. Likewise, as she rejects a static, single notion of identity, she appropriates a more ecological model of identity, one simultaneously lodged in the imagination, yet linked to her environment, fully evoking their interlaced complexities.” (Gessell 29).  

In Cofer's poem, “First Job: The Southern Sweets Sandwich Shop and Bakery” seen in Cofer’s body of work titled, “A Love Story Beginning in Spanish”, she has already relocated to Georgia, which she describes as a “strange country”. Through her experience, at age fifteen, working inside this sandwich shop and bakery, how does she describe the environment in relation to her identity? What emotions are evoked from the word usage and metaphors within? Why do we think she wrote about her first job amongst other stories she could have written about?

• In this poem, she writes about two other females: Lillie Mae and Margaret, her two co-workers. What does her interaction with them tell us about femininity in the South? Are there similarities or differences with other female characters throughout Cofer's other works? 

• Finally, in comparison to Paterson, New Jersey and Puerto Rico, how does Augusta, Georgia, as a setting, differ? What negotiations do we see between cultures, for Cofer, as a young Puerto Rican woman? 

• The title of the poem, "La Tristeza," means "The Sadness" in English. Did the title change how you viewed the poem, either before or after reading it? How does it connect to the title of the collection, Reaching for the Mainland, and the idea of immigrating from Puerto Rico to the United States?

• Blackbirds can represent multiple different things, such as Spirit messengers, change, mystery, etc. Lines 17-18 say, "And the women: timid blackbirds, lower / their eyes in his presence." What do you think that means for the interpretation of women in this poem? How does it relate to the ending with the idea of a woman's body compared to a dark stain on clean white sheets?

• Throughout JOC's work, the motif of walking is commonly used. We see it in how characters get from one place to another as well as the idea of immigrating and moving in general. In the article, Kressner says, "In many of Ortiz Cofer's writings, the descriptions of how the characters walk become indicators of these characters' perceptions of themselves and their surroundings. Thus, the descriptions of their minimal kinetic movements and momentary acts of self-positioning in space can be read as approaches to a new concept of the self based on space and on writing as an activity focused on movement" (41). In this poem, what does the idea of walking "bareheaded / among the people, to show his disdain" (lines 6-7) have to say about the self-image of the character? What about the idea of escaping through books and writing?

• Throughout the scope of JOC’s work, women are discussed in tandem with food. The women of JOC’s work slave over stoves, try to stall the “dog at the screen door…who whimpered and waited for the scrap” (“Beans: An Apologia”). In some cases, food seems to be directly tied to femininity. Cofer describes the titular character in “The Way My Mother Walked” as having a “caramel candy body.” What is Cofer’s aim here? What does this tell us about the relationships between men and women?

• Cofer’s mother characters throughout her pieces seem to consistently appear stony and formidable. They are wise, strong characters that at times refuse to verbalize and confess their feelings and emotions. The mother within this poem is no different; she walks with the “morse code of her stiletto heels sending/their Mayday-but-do-not-approach into/the darkened doorways” (Lines 9-11) and teaches her daughter “the braille of her anxiety” (Line 15).  What does the mother’s inability to communicate verbally say about her? What does this indicate? If her mother had used another mode of communication, would the relationship she have with her daughter change?

• Baber, in their article Dilemmas of Multiculturalism writes,

This is the most serious dilemma that confronts members of racial and ethnic minorities: maintain your cultural difference and you will be rejected for refusing to assimilate; lose your cultural difference and you will be rejected anyway; recognize your outsider status and you will be taken to reject assimilation.

Within Cofer’s poem, the mother is cloaked in heavy religious and mythical imagery. She wears “an amulet on a gold chain/an ebony fist/to project her” (1-3) and takes her “holy ascension” to the safety of the apartment. When putting these two instances into the terms of Baber’s article, how does Cofer use this mysticism and objects to speak on the immigrant experience? Why is the apartment such a safe space for the mother?

Baber, H. E. “Dilemmas of Multiculturalism: An Introduction.” The Monist, vol. 95, no. 1, 2012, pp. 3–16. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/41419011. Accessed 19 Mar. 2023.