Literary Devices in How the García Girls Lost Their Accents
Symbolism, Imagery, Allegory
Setting
The Dominican Republic, or "the Island" as the family likes to call it, remains an idealized place in the García family imagination, but in reality it's a little more complicated. Sure, it's a lus...
Narrator Point of View
It's tricky to try to identify the narrator in this novel, because each chapter is told from a different perspective. In fact, some chapters contain more than one perspective. So confusing. Most of...
Genre
We could think of How the García Girls Lost Their Accents as an example of each of these categories of literature. Let's tackle them one-by-one, shall we?First of all, this novel is all about fami...
Tone
Irony and Criticism—Tough LoveWhat do we mean when we say that the tone of How the García Girls Lost Their Accents is ironic? We mean that what the characters say they want and what the author k...
Writing Style
We think it's pretty neat when a novel's structure mirrors its subject matter. And How the García Girls Lost Their Accents manages to do that... three times over. At least. Check this out:Lots of...
What's Up With the Title?
The title of this novel has a very explanatory ring to it: How the García Girls Lost Their Accents. Reading that, you expect to hear an explanation, right? Okay, Ms. Alvarez. How did they lose tho...
What's Up With the Epigraph?
No epigraph, but the author does include this super handy family tree!Hm, a family tree, you say? Seems like "family" might be a pretty important concept in this novel. But let's take a close look...
What's Up With the Ending?
One of the best things about this book is that the ending is really, really creepy. What can we say? Our favorite holiday is Halloween. Our ideal Friday involves horror movies.The final chapter is...
Tough-o-Meter
How The García Girls Lost Their Accents is a page-turner. Trust us, you won't have trouble making it through the novel, because it's basically a collection of really addictive little stories.So wh...
Plot Analysis
There are a couple of ways to analyze the plot of How the García Girls Lost Their Accents. You could examine the story of the family's escape from political persecution in the Dominican Republic...
Booker's Seven Basic Plots Analysis
Yolanda's journey of self-exploration is really just a metaphorical voyage—but it's one way in which her story can be matched up with a Booker Basic Plot.Anticipation Stage ('Fall' into the other...
Three-Act Plot Analysis
If García Girls were a three-act play, we think the acts would be divided up according to the three major sections of the book (conveniently numbered I, II and III). Let's take a look at how this...
Trivia
When it was published in 1991, How the García Girls Lost Their Accents was the first major novel written in English by a Dominican author. Now that's cool.
(Source.)Do you have a sneaking suspicio...
Steaminess Rating
How the García Girls Lost Their Accents is, in many ways, a coming-of-age story. It's a backwards coming-of-age story, but still. And you know what's a big part of becoming an adult? Yup. Hormones...
Allusions
Charles Dickens (1.2.9)Wallace Stevens (1.3.60, 1.4.115)Edgar Allan Poe, "Annabel Lee" (1.3.62-64)Freud (1.3.101)Darwin (1.3.101)Nietzsche (1.3.101)Erikson (1.3.101)Dante (1.3.102)Homer (1.3.102)Ce...