50 pages • 1 hour read
Julia AlvarezHow the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents
Fiction | Novel | YA | Published in 1991A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Essay Topics
This novel is written in reverse chronological order, exposing the most recent events first and the oldest events last. Consider why Alvarez made this choice, and discuss the pros and cons of the novel’s structure. How would the novel have been different had she employed a more traditional structure?
Consider the spiritual elements of the novel, particularly Catholicism and the “voodoo” of the Haitian women. What are the Garcia girls’ attitudes toward religion and spirituality? What impression does the novel as a whole give about spirituality?
The Garcia girls heavily criticize the machismo of men in the society of the Dominican Republic. How do wealthier Dominican women justify how this system works in their favor? Why are the Garcia sisters so against it?
The girls go through different sexual awakenings in the novel. Some of these come at an older age and involve consensual sexual activity, while others occur at much younger ages and confuse and scare the girls. How do the Garcia girls’ sexual experiences affect the girls in different ways?
Consider the speech Yoyo has to give at her school. What finally allows her to open up and write a speech that she is proud of? Why did her mother love the speech, and why did her father hate it? What does this reveal about both the speech and their values?
The novel begins with an exploration of where the Garcia girls are in the present. How successful have they been in navigating American culture and achieving their goals and dreams? Of the girls, who seems the most successful, and who seems the least successful?
How are the Garcia girls treated when they first come to America? What prejudices do they face, and what hypocrisy do they uncover through these prejudices? Consider the social situation in the Dominican Republic. While there, do the Garcias act in a prejudicial manner themselves?
Compare the surrounding landscape in New York and that of the Dominican Republic, as well as the living situations of the Garcias in each location. How do they differ? What do these details reveal about the values of each location, as well as the situations the girls find themselves in?
The Garcia girls criticize their upbringing because it was hard to differentiate themselves due to being seen, and dressed, collectively. Consider how the novel depicts each sister. Is it easy or difficult to get a clear picture of who each woman is? Where and how are lines blurred?
Hospitalization due to mental illness occurs twice in the novel. What led to each of the two hospitalizations? What helped the women heal? What overall impression does the novel give about mental illness?
Related Titles
By Julia Alvarez
