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#35174
Passage Discussion
This passage discusses the innovations found in several of the autobiographies, written by women of
Latina heritage, that were introduced in the 1980’s, concluding that the writers discussed changed the
boundaries of the autobiography with their revolutionary approaches.
Paragraph One
This paragraph introduces the subject of the passage: Latina autobiographies, a new genre of U.S.
Latina writing that emerged in the 1980s in addition to the poetry, short story anthologies, and novels
that were being written in the U.S. by women of Latin American descent. The author notes three
autobiographical collections in particular: Cherrie Moraga’s Loving in the War Years: Lo Que Nunca
Paso Pro Sus Labios; Getting Home Alive, written by Aurora Levins Morales and Rosario Morales;
and Gloria Anzaldua’s Borderlands/La Frontera.
Paragraph Two:
Here the author reveals an admiration for the works under discussion, pointing out a list of
innovations of these autobiographical collections: first, they test traditional language boundaries
by mixing Spanish with English, and second, they deal with multi-cultural issues of ethnicity,
gender, and language. In exploring such issues, the authors use several different approaches to their
presentation, including poems, essays, sketches, short stories, and journal entries, without relying
primarily on any particular writing form.
Paragraph Three:
In the third paragraph the author discusses each of the three autobiographical collections in greater
detail:
1. First, Borderlands/La Frontera, in which author Anzaldua goes back and forth between
poetry and narrative sequences in presenting her own history as well as that of her entire
Mexican American community.
2. Second, Loving in the War Years, in which author Moraga, like Anzaldua, also mixes genres.
Moraga also makes the point that the events of her life are presented in terms of her political
development rather than chronologically—an important distinction, according to one critic,
between the women’s autobiographies and men’s.
3. Third, Getting Home Alive, which represents an even greater departure from the standard
approach to the autobiography, by weaving together the writing of two authors, a mother
and daughter, who both contribute narratives and poetry and sometimes commenting on one
another. While this may seem confusing, the author of the passage notes, this experimental
structural mix is an intentional effort to parallel the complex formations of the two authors’
identities.
Paragraph Four:
In the closing paragraph, the author reasserts a tone of admiration, and pointing out that in writing
the collections discussed in the passage, the authors chose not to conform to the standard approach
to autobiographies, and instead “revolutionized the genre,” with a “strong determination to speak for
themselves in a world that they feel has for too long taken their silence for granted.”
VIEWSTAMP Analysis:
The main Viewpoint presented is that of the author, who is impressed by the innovations manifest in
the autobiographical collections discussed.
The Structure of the passage is as follows:
Paragraph 1: Introduce the subject of the passage, three collections representing
a newly emerging genre of U.S. Latina writing during the 1980’s.
Paragraph 2: Discuss various innovations in the collections, including a non-traditional
bilingual mix of English and Spanish, exploration of political multicultural
issues, and varied writing structures.
Paragraph 3: Present the specific innovations manifest in each of the three autobiographical
collections.
Paragraph 4: Point out that with such innovative choices, the Latina authors discussed were
revolutionaries who changed the traditional boundaries of the autobiography
to better express their own experiences.
The author’s Tone is one of clear appreciation for the works discussed and admiration for the authors
whose works are presented in the passage.
The Main Point of the Passage is to discuss three autobiographical collections and the authors who
revolutionized the genre in the 1980s.
This passage discusses the innovations found in several of the autobiographies, written by women of
Latina heritage, that were introduced in the 1980’s, concluding that the writers discussed changed the
boundaries of the autobiography with their revolutionary approaches.
Paragraph One
This paragraph introduces the subject of the passage: Latina autobiographies, a new genre of U.S.
Latina writing that emerged in the 1980s in addition to the poetry, short story anthologies, and novels
that were being written in the U.S. by women of Latin American descent. The author notes three
autobiographical collections in particular: Cherrie Moraga’s Loving in the War Years: Lo Que Nunca
Paso Pro Sus Labios; Getting Home Alive, written by Aurora Levins Morales and Rosario Morales;
and Gloria Anzaldua’s Borderlands/La Frontera.
Paragraph Two:
Here the author reveals an admiration for the works under discussion, pointing out a list of
innovations of these autobiographical collections: first, they test traditional language boundaries
by mixing Spanish with English, and second, they deal with multi-cultural issues of ethnicity,
gender, and language. In exploring such issues, the authors use several different approaches to their
presentation, including poems, essays, sketches, short stories, and journal entries, without relying
primarily on any particular writing form.
Paragraph Three:
In the third paragraph the author discusses each of the three autobiographical collections in greater
detail:
1. First, Borderlands/La Frontera, in which author Anzaldua goes back and forth between poetry and narrative sequences in presenting her own history as well as that of her entire Mexican American community. 2. Second, Loving in the War Years, in which author Moraga, like Anzaldua, also mixes genres. Moraga also makes the point that the events of her life are presented in terms of her political development rather than chronologically—an important distinction, according to one critic, between the women’s autobiographies and men’s. 3. Third, Getting Home Alive, which represents an even greater departure from the standard approach to the autobiography, by weaving together the writing of two authors, a mother and daughter, who both contribute narratives and poetry and sometimes commenting on one another. While this may seem confusing, the author of the passage notes, this experimental structural mix is an intentional effort to parallel the complex formations of the two authors’ identities.Paragraph Four:
In the closing paragraph, the author reasserts a tone of admiration, and pointing out that in writing
the collections discussed in the passage, the authors chose not to conform to the standard approach
to autobiographies, and instead “revolutionized the genre,” with a “strong determination to speak for
themselves in a world that they feel has for too long taken their silence for granted.”
VIEWSTAMP Analysis:
The main Viewpoint presented is that of the author, who is impressed by the innovations manifest in
the autobiographical collections discussed.
The Structure of the passage is as follows:
Paragraph 1: Introduce the subject of the passage, three collections representing a newly emerging genre of U.S. Latina writing during the 1980’s. Paragraph 2: Discuss various innovations in the collections, including a non-traditional bilingual mix of English and Spanish, exploration of political multicultural issues, and varied writing structures. Paragraph 3: Present the specific innovations manifest in each of the three autobiographical collections. Paragraph 4: Point out that with such innovative choices, the Latina authors discussed were revolutionaries who changed the traditional boundaries of the autobiography to better express their own experiences.The author’s Tone is one of clear appreciation for the works discussed and admiration for the authors
whose works are presented in the passage.
The Main Point of the Passage is to discuss three autobiographical collections and the authors who
revolutionized the genre in the 1980s.