Only Daughter : By - Sandra Cisneros

Only Daughter 

                                     By: Sandra Cisneros

Things to Remember

 This essay is a narrative story of Sandra Cisneros herself. She is the daughter of Mexican- American mother and a Mexican father. She is the only girl child in her family of 7 children. She has six brothers. She says she is the only daughter and only a daughter. Being a daughter in the family and being only one daughter (girl child) in the family, she is never acknowledged or in other words she is not given respect, she is not even counted as a daughter. Her father never said that he has six sons and a daughter. He always said "I have seven sons". Her brothers too never played with her because playing with girl was shameful activity during that time. When she is not acknowledged, when she is not allowed to mix up with her brothers, she spent most of her time in loneliness. But this loneliness was preparing her as famous writer of future. Her father allowed her to join college thinking that she would find a suitable boy to marry but when she didn't get married after college her father thought that her college education was waste. For her father girls mean only the wife of somebody else. She became famous writer/poet of USA. Many of her writings were translated into Spanish and when her father read one of her Spanish translated story, he wanted more copies for his relative which was the most wonder thing for the writer.

 

Summary

Sandra Cisneros' essay "Only Daughter" is about her growing up the only daughter in the family with six brothers. All her life her father always said he had seven sons and she never corrected him. It seemed all she wanted was to be recognized as his daughter and not one of his sons. After ten years of writing professionally one of her books was sold to a major New York publishing house. Cisneros flew home to Chicago for Christmas to be with her family and she brought a story that was translated into Spanish. She gave the story to her father to read and he loved it, wanted to make more copies for their relatives. This became the most wonderful thing that has happened to Cisneros in the past year.

Not being recognized by your parents can be heartbreaking. You hope to be accepted by them and you want them to believe in you. All Cisneros wanted was her father to accept her for her and maybe look at her differently than her six brothers. He seemed to think all of his children were alike and fail to recognize their differences.

Growing up in a family with all boys must have been very tough. Her brothers can all play and be with each other because they have things in common while she was left to play by herself. All her brothers did not want the embarrassment of playing with a girl in public so they never played with her. Although Cisneros states, "But that aloneness, that loneliness, was good for a would-be writer". Cisneros believes that she became a better writer because she was left alone so it gave her time to write.

Comprehension :

1. What does Cisneros mean when she writes that being an only daughter in a family of six sons "explains everything" ?

Ans:- Sandra Cisneros means that she is in the minority and less important among her six brothers. The way  people judge her and her personality in the beginning is just like having no importance in male dominated society. She had to struggle hard to establish her identity.

2. What distinction does Cisneros make in paragraphs two and three between being "the only daughter" and being "only a daughter"?

Ans:- The only daughter just means that she is the only female child, whereas "only a daughter" feels like she is less than she would be if she were a boy. Being only a daughter meant just to be someone’s wife as per the idea of then Mexican society. Being an only daughter forced her to spend a lot of time by herself as her brothers felt uneasy to play with her in public.

3. What advantages does Cisneros see in being "the only daughter"? "In being "only a daughter"?

Ans:- Being "the only daughter" allowed her time to be alone and her loneliness became a boon for her to develop her mind as a successful writer ahead. The sense of loneliness allowed her time to think, imagine read and prepare a lot to be the perfect writer.

Being "only a daughter" meant that her father wouldn't question her choice of major in college as long as she went.

4. Why does her father think she has wasted her education? What is her reaction to his opinion?

Ans:- Her father states that she wasted her education because her father sent her to college not because she could get education but because she could find a husband for her. After four years in college and two more in graduate school, she did not find her husband.

As it states in the text, she wanted her father to understand what she was writing and for him to introduce her as "His only daughter, the writer." Not as "This is only my daughter, she teaches."

5. Why is her father's reaction to her story the "most wonderful" thing that happened to Cisneros that year?

Ans:- The reason her father's reaction was the most important thing that happened in her life that year is because all she wanted was for her father to be proud of her for her accomplishments. In the essay, she states that everything she had ever written had been for him and to win his approval.

She later says that she always was writing for her father, and writing for mainstream culture. Ten years went by, and now she is now a professional writer creating works of art. Her father has developed an un-well sickness. She gives her father some of her own story to read in Spanish (Father’s native language), and he likes it a lot. At the end of reading, the father becomes very proud of her daughter knowing her calibers and capabilities as a good writer..

Purpose and Audience :

1. Although Cisneros uses many Spanish words in her essay, in most cases she defines or explains these words. What does this decision tell you about her purpose and her audience?

Ans : By using Spanish words by Cisneros in her essay, she wants to show the case not only to Mexican-American readers, but also by explaining these Spanish words, they also help American readers understand where she comes from.

2. What is Cisneros' thesis? What incidents and details support this thesis?

Ans : Cisneros' thesis states that being the only girl born in a family of six boys meant that she would have to overcome hard obstacles in her life. Some incidents and details that support this thesis is the fact that her brothers would not play or spend time with her as they felt that she was beneath them. This opportunity gave her the time to think, imagine, and read for herself to become a successful writer.

3. Do you think Cisneros intends to convey a sympathetic or an unsympathetic Impression of her father? Explain.

Ans : Cisneros conveyed a sympathetic impression of her father due to the fact that her father does not believe that a female can be well educated. Her father's thought of college was meant for a girl to find a suitable husband. She proved her father wrong by showing him that the value of education in college is more than just a place to find a suitable husband.

Style and Structure :

1. Where does Cisneros in only daughter interrupts a narrative passage to comment on or analyze events what does this strategy accomplish?

Ans : She interrupts the passage to comment on the event that her father always said he had 7 sons. She mentioned how proud he was of this statement, even though he had 6 sons and a daughter. She felt like that was a sign of her being erased or being replaced for a boy. She didn't seem to let it bother her too much. She also mentioned how he would say it to anyone, hoping to get at least a tad bit of praise. I think that when he said this, she felt like she was less significant than her brothers and that her dad always preferred them over her comment.

2. Are the episodes in this essay presented in chronological order? Explain.

Ans : The essay was not presented in a chronological order. Cisneros would jump back and forth throughout the years to tell small parts of her life story.

3. What transitional expressions does Cisneros use to introduce new episodes?

Ans :Cisneros would use words like "well", "in a sense", "when", and "last year" to introduce a new episodes as a way of transitional expressions

4. Cisneros quotes her father several times. What do we learn about him from his words?

Ans : We can infer that her father was born in a time where females were only meant to stay home, cook, and clean while the males in the family would work and bring home the money. We can also infer that her father has not been to college or else his thoughts of college would not be to find a suitable husband.

5. Why does Cisneros devote so much space to describing her father in paragraphs 17-21?

Ans :Cisneros devoted so much space in describing her father in paragraphs 17-21 to help the reader imagine and understand the emotion that would transpire when her father realize that.