Literature Analysis #1

1. Briefly summarize the plot of the novel you read.

First of all the name of the main character is Antonio. Ultima is a curandera(healer) that uses herbs and sympathetic magic to help and cure people. She comes to live with Antonio and his family. Ever since Antonio was born his parents have argues whether he will be a Luna like his mom and follow in the steps of becoming a priest or a vaquero (cowboy) like his father. Him and Ultima get a long well and he helps her gathering plants and doing little jobs for her. Antonio is the witness of the death of a man named Lupito who was shot. He then begins to wonder about religion, sin, heaven, and hell. Gabriel (Antonio's father) and Maria (Antonio's mother) argue a lot because Gabriel does not believe in the religious ideas of Maria and he wished to live out in the llanera (prairie) but Maria prefers to live close to church. One day his brothers come back home from the war they are in but they let Gabriel down because instead of staying as a family they are ready to move out and keep exploring and they are also traumatized by the war. Through the rest of the story Antonio faces obstacles that once again make him think twice as to who he shall becomes. Him and Ultima establish a great relationship and her soul becomes an owl that takes care of him. At the very end of the story Tenorio was angry and shot the owl because he knew it was Ultima and thought she was the cause to all the bad that was going on in his life with his daughters. When the owl is shot Antonio begins the process of burying the owl as Ultimas wishes. With herbs and so on Ultima dies peacefully in the proper burial of Antonio. That is where it ends with a new Antonio full of new knowledge.

2. Succinctly describe the theme of the novel. Avoid cliches.

To me personally I think the theme that screamed at me was that no matter how much others wish to control you and the person you are to become they can not and you control who you become. Sometimes those people that try to control your future don't know about half the things that you experienced in your life time and therefore they can't have much say. I feel that in this story in particular that is a theme that is not a prominent but is consistent through out and should be noticed. You are who you wish to become no matter how much others say that you sill become something that they want you to be.

3. Describe the author's tone.  Include three excerpts that illustrate your point(s).

I feel the authors tone is very serious but very thoughtful at the same time. Also I feel the tone progresses with the main character of the story because Antonio starts off as a young innocent boy and after begging to see the real world he becomes very mature and so does the tone of the story. For example when Ultima first moves in it talks about the happy times they spend out collecting the plants for all of her remedies and how close they were becoming. After the first  killing we then notice a change as Antonio goes to reflect on his own and wonders all about life and what he should do in his future because he starts to wonder about sin and religion. The last part is towards the very end when Tenario becomes very angry with Ultima there is a lot of seriousness and very uptight writing leading up to the incident.

4. Describe five literary elements/techniques you observed that strengthen your understanding of the theme and/or your sense of the tone.  Include three excerpts (for each element) that will help your reader understand each one.

One literary device that I found that helped me was imagery for example that Antonio had at the very beginning of the story which was a dream:

"I do not mean the beginning that was in my dreams and thestories they whispered to me about my birth, and the people of my father and mother, and my three brothers"

This really gave me an idea as to the controversial dilemmas the story would carry.

The other elements I used were the sophisticated diction Anaya(the author) used in the book. I feel that by using the actual Spanish words for some areas like curandera, el llano, and so on give you a different outlook to the story and make the setting change.

I also really like the description of the surroundings. The reason I feel this helps further my understanding of the theme is because you need to know he is not in a big city like L.A. were killing might be common but in a small town of very religious morals where killings are not aloud and you will be punished if you commit a murder. 

One last tool that really helped me to understand this story was the symbolism that was used. The use of symbolism was so great from beginning to the end it really put an emphasis on the type of story this was. It was fictional but at some points realistic. I feel the owl as a representative of Ultima was one of the best uses of symbolism in this story.