Wow! Cisneros uses so many different writing techniques throughout her work...it’s been fun to study them! I chose to write about a few stories where the different stylistic techniques stood out to me.
Woman Hollering Creek
One thing that I found interesting that was brought up in my discussion group in class is the author’s use of short, choppy and often fragmented sentences. We have a great example of this on pg 53, “...just a loan, for the baby’s medical expenses. Well then if he’d rather she didn’t. All right, she won’t. Please don’t anymore. Please don’t....But please, at least for the doctor visit. She won’t ask for anything else. She has to. Why is she so anxious? Because.” By using these abrupt and unfinished sentences, Cisneros is able to poignantly illustrate the scattered feelings of anxiety, and apprehension, experienced by the female protagonist, Cleófilas.
Another aspect of style which was brought up in class is the author’s use of one sided conversations; those of which portray the standpoints of the female characters. It seems like Cisneros is providing a sharp contrast here with giving voice only to the women, in attempts to shed light on a past where the right to have a voice, forcibly belonged only to men. Cisneros gives this right to the women in her stories and does not allow, what I feel she implicitly communicates as, the ‘overpowering’ voice of a man to be heard.
Eyes of Zapata
I was a little bit confused with the timeline of this story because it is totally out of order. However I believe it starts in the present, then travels to the past, and comes back to the present. This transition between the present and past happens repeatedly, and adds even more colour to the already vibrant style of Cisneros’ work. These flashbacks help to illustrate the main character’s past dreams versus the reality of her present life, which like so many of the other characters’ lives in Cisneros’ stories, is filled with hardships. The last line of this story emphasizes the importance of these transitions through time, “Let me look at you. Before you open those eyes of yours. The days to come, the days gone by. Before we go back to what we’ll always be.” This quote sums up the dreaded reality of the protagonist’s life, which for the reader, is enhanced by the author’s mixture of flashbacks and present time.
There Was a Man, There Was a Woman
In this short narration, Cisneros uses a lot of repetition. She basically tells the exact same story twice, one being the story of a man, and the other being that of a woman. It seems like this is one of the only times the author portrays both male and female as equal, giving both a voice. Both sexes are struggling through life, looking for answers at the bottom of a bottle. I think that this use of repetition provides a way to show that men and women are equal and both struggle with the same issues. The fact that the man and woman in this story never meet due to having opposite pay days, seems to be a reflection of how the women and men in Cisneros’ work never seem to connect and therefore can never understand each other. Both struggle with similar issues but are so consumed with their own problems that they miss the opportunity to work together and unite through their common hardships.
There are so many more aspects to Cisneros’ writing style that I would like to comment on...so little time...:)
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2 comments:
I liked your comment about how Cisneros may be giving voice only to the female characters because this is what they were denied during those times. Although I had attributed this to a feminist writing style, I hadn't thought of it that way. Also a very nice observation in the "There was a man, there was a woman" story regarding how this man and woman never cross paths. I think it was very insightful to relate this to the theme of the book which outlines the lack of connection and understanding between genders.
I agree, the short sentences Cisneros uses are almost like thoughts, and as we all know, thoughts and musings don't always come in the form of a complete sentence. She is really able to capture the fleeting anxious feelings of Cleofilas. Great observations.
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