![]() ![]() "Her name is Mao-ree-shee-ah," my mother said to the group. My mother thought it the ugliest name she had ever heard, and she talked my father into what she believed was an improvement, a combination of Mauran and her own mother's name, Felicia. Her mother-in-law had recently died, she apologized, and her husband had insisted that the first daughter be named after his mother, Mauran. My mother blushed and admitted her baby's real name to the group. "Why'd ya give her an Irish name with so many pretty Spanish names to choose from?" one of the women asked. My mother was embarrassed among the Sallys and Janes and Georges and Johns to reveal the rich, noisy name of Mauricia, so when her turn came to brag, she gave her baby's name as Maureen. After the delivery, Mami and some other new mothers were cooing over their new baby sons and daughters and exchanging names and weights and delivery stories. My mother often told the story of how she had almost changed my sister's name in the hospital. We had been born in New York City when our parents had first tried immigration and then gone back "home," too homesick to stay. Ironically, although she had the most foreign-sounding name, she and I were the Americans in the family. *[bracket} evidence that Draw a picture:ΔΆ My older sister had the hardest time getting an American name for herself because Mauricia did not translate into English. Who would ever trace her to me? Analyze : How does the narrator feel and why? The. JUDY ALCATRAZ: the name on the wanted poster would read. Friends called me Jules or Hey Jude, and once a group of troublemaking friends my mother forbade me to hang out with called me Alcatraz." I was Hoolee-tah only to Mami and Papi and uncles and aunts who came over to eat sancocho' on Sunday afternoons, old world folk whom I would just as soon go back to where they came from and leave me to pursue whatever mischief I wanted to in America. By the time I was in high school, I was a popular kid, and it showed in my name. My family had gotten into the habit of calling any famous author "my friend" because I had begun to write poems and stories in English class. "You know what your friend Shakespeare said, A rose by any other name would smell as sweet. But my mother argued that it didn't matter. ![]() ![]() I wondered if I shouldn't correct my teachers and new friends. It took a while to get used to my new names. ![]() But at school I was Judy or Judith, and once an English teacher mistook me for Juliet. I, her namesake, was known as Hoo-lee-tah at home. It's not a toy." When we moved into our new apartment building, the super called my father Mister Alberase, and the neighbors who became mother's friends pronounced her name Jew-lee-ah instead of Hoo-lee-ah. I was too afraid we wouldn't be let in if I corrected the man's pronunciation, but I said our name to myself, opening my mouth wide for the organ blast of the a, trilling my tongue for the drumroll of the r, All-vah-rrr-esl How could anyone get Elbures out of that orchestra of sound? At the hotel my mother was Missus Alburest, and I was little girl, as in, "Hey, little girl, stop riding the elevator up and down. My father shook his head no, and we were waved through. At Immigration, the officer asked my father, Mister Elbures, if he had anything to declare. Names/Nombres By Julia Alvarez When we arrived in New York City, our names changed almost immediately. Underline the setting(s) Step 4: Summarize and ask a question Step 5: Analyze and bracket evidence SAY Name: GAPP? Genre? Audience? Purpose? Point of View? Summarize: Explain what happens in each chunk (Give a 1-2 sentence summary). Reread chunk in pairs: Circle names of people that mispronounce her Name. The biggest gift was a portable typewriter from my parents for writing my stories and poems.1 5 Steps When Annotating for a Purpose: Step 1: Quick Read Step 2: Number the Chunks (or paragraphs) with teacher Step 3: Close Read Explain: I do, we do, you do in pairs, you do. There were many gifts - that was a plus to a large family! I got several wallets and a suitcase with my initials and a graduation charm from my godmother and money from my uncles. I just wanted to be Judy and merge with the Sallys and Janes in my class. My initial desire to be known by my correct Dominican name faded. Our first few years in the States, though, ethnicity was not yet "in". She was plain Anne - that is, only her name was plain, for she turned out to be the pale, blond "American beauty" in the family. My little sister, Ana, had the easiest time of all. I was Hoo-lee-tah only to Mami and Papi and uncles and aunts who came over to eat sancocho on Sunday afternoons - old world folk whom I would just as soon go back to where they came from and leave me to pursue whatever mischief I wanted to in America. In which passage from "Names/Nombres" does Julia Alvarez explore the influence of popular culture?. ![]()
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