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“They were disclosing her secret shame: her body was changing. The girl she had back home in Spanish was being shed. In her place - almost as if the boys’ ugly words and taunts had the power of spells - was a hairy, breast budding grownup no one would ever love.” (page 153)

This seems important because it represents how so many girls feel during the developmental stage and the racial prejudice that Hispanic women face. Carla was taunted by boys on her way to school for the way she looked and talked. She was even sexually harassed by an older man in his car. This makes me empathize with Carla and makes me wonder how this treatment will affect her later on in life. I think that what Carla went through will play a big role in her ability to date men and form relationships in the future. This form of trauma can change how she sees herself in terms of her body and the color of her skin, which can be so detrimental as a young girl.

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The point of view in this story is important since each chapter is told from a different character's point of view. This is interesting, as it results in the audience only hearing one character's side of a story.

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While I was reading this book I learned that some of the daughters had had some traumatic things happen to them causing them to go into therapy and other things in order to help them. There was a sister who had to go into therapy because she was anorexic. However there was a whole chapter on the sister Yolanda, and how she needed to go into therapy because of the trauma she faced with her ex lover. She was a young innocent poet who had fallen in love with a guy in college. He wanted things that she didn’t want causing dispute among the couple. Yolanda finds herself doubting her self-worth and worrying about her cultural background and how she was raised differently. She later breaks up with her boyfriend and falls in love with another guy. She finds herself becoming more and more like him, using words he would use, and talking like he would. She eventually breaks up with him but finds that she can’t stop talking in this poetic way due to how heartbroken she is.

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Question: How does the point of view change throughout the story? What effect does it have on the reader?
Question: How have the predicaments that the girls have found themselves in changed as the book has progressed?
One thing which I noticed while reading through the next to chapters of the book was the way that the point of view changed. While "Daughter of Invention" was in the third person point of view, "A Regular Revolution" was in the first person plural point of view, using world like "we" and "us" while narrating the story. The author chose to have the points of view vary because it shows how big the family is and gives the readers the sense that each person has their own story to tell. It's almost like there is a different person telling each story. The point of view also, in a way, sets the tone for the chapter. "A Regular Revolution" is told from the perspective of the girls who are quite young, and therefore the topic is going to be something more frivolous like drugs or boys. However, "Daughter of Invention" is a much more touching story, due in part to the fact that it's being told from a third person point of view. Simply, it has a much more mature tone than the previous chapter. As the subject and tone of the book change, so do our views of the characters. We meet them first as adults, and the stories growing more and more heartfelt and personal as the book progresses evokes the sense that they are real people who have real stories behind them.
Something else which I found interesting was the author's use of lists. In "Daughter of Invention", there are two lists use to describe the parents. The first list, on page 137, lists the inventions of the mother: "Soap sprayed from the nozzle head of a shower when you turned the knob a certain way? Instant coffee with your creamer already mixed in? Time-released water capsules for your potted plants when you were away? A keychain with a timer that would go off when your parking meter was about to expire?" This is obviously a little more comical. It shows the lighthearted and quirky nature of the mother. However, the list used to described the father on page 147 is different: "She would have realized her father had lost brothers and friends to the dictator Trujillo. For the rest of his life, he would be haunted by blood in the streets and late night disappearances. Even after all these years, he cringed if a black volkswagen passed him on the street. He feared anyone in uniform: the meter maid giving out parking tickets, a museum guard approaching to tell him not to get too close to his favorite Goya." This shows that he is much more serious and has a darker backstory.

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Questions: How do the girls transition from Dominican life to living in America and how does it affect them? How do cultural norms affect their dating life?
How the girls value their Dominican cultural identity differs among the four different sisters. Yolanda gets ridiculed for her appearance and not speaking Spanish by her family members after moving back to the Dominican Republic from the United States. She felt embarrassed by her accent when talking in class. Yolanda also describes how she became Americanized enough to let go of her Dominican and Catholic upbringing. When she started dating and having sexual relationships he felt ashamed for her conservative parents' view on sex. When the girls moved to America they faced a cultural shock and were bullied for being Hispanic. Sofia also struggles with dating American men and adapting to a new culture.
Their parents also face hardship with the move to America. The girl's mother, Laura, feels that while she was a good Dominican mom, she is not a good mom by American standards.

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The author uses compare and contrast to show the difference in choices made by Sandi. The author devotes a whole chapter to Sandi in order to show her character development. She hates her growing body hair and and heavy accent and the author shows this by showing her disgust in her words. In this one scene Sandi’s family goes to an expensive restaurant where they meet Mr. and Mrs. Flannigan. Mrs. Flannigan has a little bit too much to drink and becomes drunk. She starts being loud and and embarrasses her husband, who desperately tries to calm her down. Sandi then says she needs to use the bathroom, when her dad decides to accompany her. Mrs. Flannigan announces that she also has to use the bathroom so she goes with them . On their way there, Mrs. Flannigan gives Sandi’s dad a kiss on the lips. Sandi notices and her dad tells her not to tell anyone. For the rest of the night, Sandi is very frustrated with Mrs. Flannigan and shows rude manners, which her mother is against. The author uses the compare and contrast method to show the good mannered choices that the other sisters make, in comparison to the choices that Sandi makes. They say thank you, she doesn’t say anything. They say no to a barbie doll, she says yes. They clap as the dancers flamingo on the stage, she turns her back towards them and ignores them. The author uses this to show how frustrated Sandi is that this tall, skinny, ugly American woman kissed her married father.

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"Four girls", the fat one says, rolling his eyes. "No boys?" They shake their heads. "Your father better get good locks on the door." A worried look flashes across Fifi's face." (Pg 199)

This passage represents how people in the Dominican Republic have different customs than America and more reinforced gender roles. The girls are young, and this man is alluding to the danger they might face, being women. This makes me feel sad for the girls who had to hear this, and fear for their safety. I wonder what was the author's motivation behind including this dialogue. What reaction was the author hoping for when including this segment? I now see a connection between one's gender and race and how they are treated. The girls were made to be scared of men from such an early age, because of their gender.

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The author switches from present and past tense. I think present tense is used to narrate the character's sense of tension and urgency. It can be used to show that while they are looking back on memories, they are still relevant to their current day. The chapter "The blood of the conquistadores" switches between different characters' perspectives. This is an interesting choice that I think was chosen to reinforce how each person may feel and experience things differently. It also emphasizes that the family's last day on the island had major individual consequences for all of them.

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There are a few things to note when reading this book:

1) Currency exchange:

In part two, the events unfold from 1960-1970. So, while 10$ for a Barbie doll like the one being offered at the restaurant might seem reasonable to us today, it would actually cost anywhere in the range of 70-90$. The same is true for a Coke. When their mom says that "a can of Coke might cost a few dollars", that seems completely reasonable to us. However, a few dollars is the equivalent of at least 20 dollars.

2) Demographics of the USA

While Dominican immigrants today are certainly not widely accepted in mainstream American culture, this was even more true in the middle of the 20th century, when this book takes place. Up until the 1960's, out of the 20 largest immigrant groups in America, only one was Hispanic, who were Mexicans that mostly lived in the southwest. So, in a way, the family are double outsiders. Even in New York, dominated by immigrants, there isn't a strong Dominican community that they can build bonds with, and are thus outcast by the outcasts. I think one quote sums it up perfectly:

"Here they were trying to fit in America among Americans; they needed help figuring out who they were, why the Irish kids whose grandparents had been micks were calling them spics."

TQE: