Here they were trying to fit in America among Americans; they needed help figuring out who they were, why the Irish kids whose grandparents had been micks were calling them spics. Why had they come to this country in the first place? . . .

They talked about it among themselves, . . . as they often did now about the many puzzling things in this new country. . . .

In the close quarters of an American nuclear family, their mother's prodigious energy was becoming a real drain on their self-determination. Let her have a project. What harm could she do, and besides, she needed that acknowledgement. It had come to her automatically in the old country from being a de la Torre. "Garcia de la Torre," Laura would enunciate carefully, giving her maiden as well as married name when they first arrived. But the blank smiles had never heard of her name. She would show them. She would prove to these Americans what a smart woman could do with a pencil and a pad.

This section of How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents, by Julia Alvarez, exemplifies the traditional gender roles within an extended family that is moving into the realm of the nuclear family. Laura has gone from a culture where her name was something to be proud of to one that greets her name with "blank smiles." Woven within the American Dream is the concept of meritocracy, and Laura is determined to "prove to these Americans" that she can succeed on her own merits. This not only demonstrates the movement out of traditional gender roles; it also shows a willingness to assimilate to fulfill the American Dream. Furthermore, the daughters are facing discrimination and shock while trying to assimilate, and they find their mothers’ actions draining "their self-determination." The daughter’s resent the fact that their mother is moving out of her traditional role. Laura is not helping them "puzzle any of this out." Alvarez is subtly pointing out the generational tensions in an ironic way as Laura is trying to do the exact same things her girls are doing; they are all trying to find their place in this new culture. But, even in within their new "nuclear family," the daughters want their Old World mom around while they are assimilating. [SK 2001]

This quote came from Julia Alvarez’s How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents.

The Garcia family is going through stages 3 and 4 of the immigrant narrative in this quote: Shock, resistance, exploitation, and discrimination, and assimilation to the dominant American culture and loss of ethnic identity. The quote says that they are facing discrimination at the hands of the children and possibly grandchildren of other immigrants who faced discrimination. The quote also says that they are trying to "fit in" in America, so they are trying to assimilate. The quote says that they talk among themselves about how puzzling America is, so they are obviously experiencing some shock as they are learning about the American culture. The quote shows that they have in a way lost their ethnic identity because now their name "Garcia de la Torre" does not mean anything anymore. However, Laura has assimilated to the American point of view because she is now determined to try to gain respect based on her own merits with her "pencil and pad" instead of relying on her family name. [DT / anon 2001]

 [Excerpt from in-class exam]

By coming to America the mother leaves her Old World behind. Over in Santa Domingo everybody knows her by her last name and it connects to her social class. In the New World, the self has to change. Her name does not matter, but only what she can accomplish, and how smart she is: "She would prove to these Americans what a smart woman could do." This is meritocracy; Americans judge people by their merit. In an Americanized culture, identity is based on self accomplishments. [HM 2001]