1. “Antojos” Latin American Author
Julia Alvarez
“Antojos”
Latin American Author

2. Background
Born in NYC
Raised in Dominican Republic until the age of 10—fled as political refugees
Used writing as a way to find her cultural identity being uprooted so young

3. Works
Volumes of poetry: Homecoming (1984), The Other Side (1995), and The Woman I Kept to Myself (2004).
Novels: How the García Girls Lost Their Accents (1991), In the Time of the Butterflies (1994), ¡Yo! (1997) and In the Name of Salomé (2000).
Her fiction, like her poetry, deals with both the immigrant experience and her own bicultural identity.

4. “Antojos”
Became the first chapter of How the Garcia Girls lost their Accents
Antojos means “cravings” in Spanish
Craving—connotations?
Why title it in Spanish and write it in English?

5. Setting
A windy country road in the Dominican Republic. It is specific because this is about a journey that the main character takes and her cultural confusion which can only take place outside her home in a place that should be her home.
Yolanda’s journey—like a windy country road

6. Tone
The tone is elegiac/nostalgic longing for something…maybe a bit illusive and confused

7. Conflict
Main conflict: internal it is her struggle to find a closer connection with her homeland even though she feels somewhat alienated at times.
Sub-conflicts:
Man vs. nature/technology: she struggles to fix her car and remove herself from danger.

8. Literary Elements
Flashback: thinking about her home; thinking about her time with her aunts
Foreshadowing: the bumpy road indicates something might happen
Motif: Palmolive
Symbolism: guavas==antojos—possession by an island spirit demanding its due—clue to the conflict

9. Theme
Values are connected to culture and we need to focus in on the values that we really feel rather than ones we can never attain.
Language is power
Life is journey