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Her personal experiences and anecdotes comprise of more then half of the text. Her personal experience strengthens her argument by providing the uniqueness and authenticity that are not eminent with general ideas. Her experience also provide for her a concrete foundation for developing her main argument and is a good starting point to transition her ideas and clarify them even further.

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In the 1st paragraph, "Maria" explains a personal anecdote. In that experience, she reacts in a unique way, which most people would not have: "...managed my version of an English smile: no show of teeth, no extreme contortions of the facial muscles..." The reader most likely expect her to react in a more enthusiastic manner, perhaps a bigger smile or ?. This makes the reader more curious to find out why she reacted in such a different manner. The use of a personal anecdote mirrors her anger which is then translated into the readers, resulting in them wanting to know more.

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The experience of her attire being sexually characterized even though she was in her casual attire was mind boggling.This relates to the theme "don't judge a book by its cover",another example would be when when she attended and events as a speaker, she was seen as nothing but help. In the book she relates this to how hispanic women are seen as inferior to americans.

Cj>Tobi Cj>Caleb

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Question #7 Jerry Kurinksy, Vanessa Maldonado

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Question #7 Jerry Kurinksy, Vanessa Maldonado

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Cofer's essay would not have been more effective if she had included more Spanish words. Her piece would have been irritating to read aloud if you didn't naturally speak Spanish. Her language shows some of the culture from where she originally comes from. Her language shows knowledge of it, which makes her seem more credible , giving it even more effect. She uses words that the audience can easily recognize when it comes to the Spanish language. Had she used more Spanish vocabulary, it would have ruined the effect.

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This strategy does not work mainly because she is playing into the stereotype. She says "it is custom, however, not chromosomes that leads us to choose scarlet over pale pink" By giving this statement, she is basically saying that people will choose certain colors because of "customs" which is not true for everyone. If she wanted to help with her argument, she could've counter argued it, and gave better examples. Most people have their own preferences in choosing their own colors and it doesn't always have to do with customs.

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Her personal experiences compromise more than half the text. Her personal experiences strengthen her arguments by adding authenticity. In doing so she provides concrete evidence based on experience rather than ideas.

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Cofer experienced stereotypical responses from the people she encountered on the bus, in the hotel, and at the poetry reading; she responded in the same manner. Even in the unintentional circumstances that she was mistreated verbally, she was still able to keep her composure and respond calmly. Her response to the man at the "classy" hotel was reciprocated in the same terms of harsh judgement that she received. The man assumed that she was an easy target, and she then replied in assumption that he was disrespectful to women during his service in the army-giving him a taste of his own medicine.

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Question #6 (Alec, Roman, Esraa, Sierra)

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Question #6 (Alec, Roman, Esraa, Sierra)

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Cofer's allusions to popular culture, such as "Maria," Evita, and "La Bamba," were used in order to give readers a point of reference as to why men in her essay reacted the way they did.  It helps readers understand how a lack of knowledge about latin culture can influence people's perceptions of Latin Americans.

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Her ending is effective because it sums up her message and it serves as a final way to get her point across. By ending it with her own poem, it tied the story back to her own experience and how it affected her and her personal life.

-Lizzy and Alysson

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In the short story "I Just Met a Girl Named Maria", Cofer's audience may look like the general public, but it's much more deeper than that. Throughout the story, Cofer makes sure to emphasize on just how much she "resented the stereotype that [her] Hispanic appearance called forth from the many people [she] met". She recounted several prime examples from her past to help the reader better understand where her deeply rooted disdain for her ethnicity -- or more so the negative connotations it seems to be plagued with -- comes from. "You can leave the island, master the English language, and travel as far as you can, but if you are latina" all you are is "merely Elita or Maria". The short story begins to come to a close with one final memory that leaves the reader with a bitter-sweet aftertaste of it all. It was on the day of what was supposed to solely be a happy memory, her joyous bubble was bursted when she was beckoned over by a woman who "ordered a cup of coffee from [Cofer], assuming that [she] was a waitress". But, soon that bubble gets blown back up when she gets the satisfaction of "read[ing] to that woman...her lowered eyes telling [Cofer] that she was embarrassed". Cofer's audience is centered around those who strongly believe in the idea that those of other cultures (in this case,  Hispanic) are all one set way -- uneducated. She proved that to be false with every memory she recounted with the readers. And, as infuriated as Cofer found herself being, it never failed to "[remind her] of what [she] had to overcome for anyone to take [her] seriously".