Aubrey Roahrig
English 1109, M-W at 10:30 am
09/22/20
Response Exercise
The chapter in The House on Mango Street that has made the connection to my own experiences in the chapter titled "Chanclas". In this chapter Esperanza is excited to get a new pair of shoes, and clothing from her mother for her cousins baptism. While changing for the baptism she forget to put her new shoes on because she was too tired too. This led to Esperanza being overly aware of her brown and white saddle shoes because they were scuffed and crooked and in her opinion look "dumb" with her new dress. She says specifically, "My feet scuffed and round, and the heels crooked that look dumb with this dress ..." (Cisneros 47). Despite being self conscious about her old shoes, her Uncle Nacho makes her feel beautiful anyway and dances with her, which everyone loved the dance so she wasn't as self conscious about them anymore.
This chapter connected to me about how my uncle makes me feel, and has made me felt ever since I can remember. Every holiday when we are with family, mostly Thanksgiving he's always most excited to see me. He has always been a source of self-esteem boost for me, he compliments me just like Uncle Nacho did for Esperanza. Even when I certainly feel like I look absolutely horrid he always has said how pretty I look that day, and he's always been a light in my life for that.
These old dog tags are definitely something nobody, other than me would ever want, but they hold such a significant sentimental value to me. My very first dog was when I was just three years old, he was a Corgi just the cutest guy ever. And he lived to be 15 and a half years old which is insane. My family and I were so lucky he lived that long. But the reason these hold just sentimental value to me is because he recently passed away on May 7th of this year. He was such a trooper with everything, when he was getting older, I would say around 13 he started loosing his ability to use his back legs and that disease (degenerative myelopathy) eventually worked up his body and he lost his front leg mobility as well. These tags are something I never want to lose, I miss him everyday but I know he's somewhere running around being the happiest he's been in a while.
I also connected to this chapter and it is cool to see how you related to it in your own way. It is nice to have someone in your family that is almost a constant reminder of happiness. I'm also sorry to hear about your Corgi, he looks like the sweetest dog. I can't relate directly to losing a pet until recently my brother got two kittens and the thought of them one day being gone is heart breaking.
ReplyDeleteI loved your connection to this Chapter, I also have an Uncle who is like my best friend and always makes me feel happy! Your picture made me smile once I saw your dog and I think it's really beautiful that you kept your dogs dog tags all these years!
ReplyDeleteI never had any dogs in my life, but I the dogs from my neighborhood provided that childhood dream I always wanted as a kid. There was a Golden Retriever named Bentley, the best dog I have ever known. He would come up to me and stand between my legs as I rubbed his waist. When news came that he died of cancer, I couldn’t believe it.
ReplyDeleteMy family also is very happy to see me during the holidays they live far away so it is nice to see them when we all get together. I also had a dog pass away a few years ago and he was with my since I was born. I feel your pain with your corgi he looks so cute and sweet.
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