Week Three

Welcome to Week Three of the Discussion! This weeks discussion will run from Monday, March 9 to Sunday, March 15.

This week's discussion will be on figurative language and literary elements in your book. Please find an example of these in your book and POST a 10-sentence comment on it. Don't forget to comment on 5 other posts on this blog. You have all week to complete this assignment, please don't wait until the last minute.

Post 2: Setting

The setting in this book isn’t described nearly as well as the characters, so it can be hard to picture or understand. So far, the novel takes place in Chicago and Mexico, two places that are very different from each other. But since theses places have such varying cultures, you would think there would be more descriptive passages about them, especially noting that Lala is observant of almost everything around her. There were a few passages, though that went into great detail about one particular place. One passage was when Lala and the family go to her Aunty Ninfa’s house. She uses up three pages of the book just to talk about her aunt’s house and all of the furniture and knick-knacks in it. She also says that her Aunty Ninfa is from Italy, so maybe she spends time describing her house to sort of describe that culture. After all, most of her family is Mexican, so maybe she doesn’t feel the need to describe things that are familiar to her – they just don’t stand out as much. Lala also becomes descriptive when they cross the border into Mexico. She illustrates the landscape and the people and even the sounds. So there are certain parts of the book that are explained, perhaps the more significant settings. And then there are others that aren’t.

Setting Blog 2

The book mostly takes place in Mexico, but it also has some parts in Chicago. This helps the reader understand that Lala is American, but has Mexican roots. The time period is, well there aren't exact dates, but it is while Lala was a child. There is also the time period while the Awful Grandmother is telling Lala the story. The setting impacts Lala because it makes her accept her family more. The setting is pretty hard to imagine. It's not as well described as the characters are. However, like Linnea said, the setting can be understood, mostly through what the characters do. Or if a character has a certain personality, the setting around them tends to match it. The book really couldn't have a different setting, and be the same story. If the book had a different setting, there would have to be a different heritage described. And if that were the case, different cultural aspects of the story would have to change. And culture seems to be a big part of this book.

Blog #2

The setting in Caramelo seems variable. Firstly, Lala travels from the United States to Mexico. Secondly, the book changes time periods from part 1 to part 2. I'm not quite sure what the time period is, but I think it is fairly current since Lala talks about her grandmother being young around the time of the Mexican Revolution. Since the time period switches, I think the thing the reader needs to understand about the time period is which one it is: old or current. The setting impacts Lala greatly. She talks about the change of setting (from the United States to Mexico) as a family tradition. Also, she encompasses the change of setting, being both American and Mexican. I can understand the setting. I think the author's description of characters is more precise than the setting, but the description of characters helps the reader visualize the things going on. For example, when Soledad goes to Aunt Fina's house, the description seems focused of Fina's disorganized and distressed character, but through this I am able to understand the setting. This book would not make sense at all in a different setting! I feel like the main focus of the book is Lala tracing her heritage through her grandmother and connecting to her Mexican roots. Therefore, it wouldn't make sense if she weren't in Mexico.

Week Two

Welcome to Week Two of our discussion. This discussion will last from Monday, March 2nd to Sunday, March 9th.

This week's discussion is on Setting. Please POST a 10-sentence comment on setting. Don't forget to comment on 5 other posts on this blog. You have all week to complete this assignment, but waiting is not recommended!

Post 1: Character

I like the way that the main character, Lala, thinks. She is very descriptive and provides unusual anecdotes during the story. It’s interesting to have her narrate the novel because you get to see her opinion of each character. The reader can discover what she thinks of all her cousins and how much she despises the Awful Grandmother. (Interjection: I also find it interesting that she uses epithets for a lot of the characters and that she places “the” in front of their nicknames. Just a side note.) Her thought process is fascinating to follow. She has the attention span and enthusiasm of a child, which she is at this point in the book. She is very observant of everything that is going on around her. And despite being the baby of the Reyes family, she has some very mature thoughts. I like that the book is set up this way, so that the reader starts at the beginning of Lala’s journey and (hopefully) gets to see her progress and mature throughout the book.

Character Blog 1

The main character in Caramelo is Lala Reyes. She is Mexican and lives in Chicago. Every summer, her family travels to Mexico. She loves both Mexico and Chicago. She has a very large family (6 siblings and 6 cousins). Lala is able to describe everything she sees very well. It makes it a lot easier to imagine what is going on. Lala also has a very good memory. It is so good that she can even remember events that happened before she was born! Well, really she just remembers the stories, but someone always has to correct her to make sure she mentions that she wasn't alive yet. Or that she was too little to remember what happened. She is influenced by Awful Grandmother, both directly and indirectly. Father always does exactly what Awful Grandmother tells him to do, and sometimes Awful Grandmother bosses Lala around, as well. Because of this she spent one whole year without her brother, Rafa, because he stayed in Mexico to learn more Spanish. Lala also had to get all of her hair chopped off at Awful Grandmother's orders.