Discussion Questions

                                                     Discussion Questions #6A-D

6A) The title suggest to me before reading the selection that the chapter would be about a

woman who had problems with a specific person and was not comfortable being around that

person.

6B) After reading the selection, I understood that the title means that this woman, Maria Sabida, ended up marrying this man because she didn’t want the fear of this man stop her from doing what she wanted to do. An example in the story that connects to what the writer believes and the title is on page 80. “To marry the killer means to me that the artist has wedded the negative forces in her life that would keep her from fulfilling her mission and, furthermore, that she has made the negative forces work for her instead of against her. This shows that she didn’t want the fear of this man get in the way of accomplishing her goals.

6C) I think that the writer intended her readers to not allow fear to set you back from following ones dreams. She uses this man to be what we call “fear” and Maria Sabida plays the role of us woman. She also talks about love. Not necessarily, the love that a man and woman has but the love that you have for something that you wish to do. An example is “But a writer, I choose to interpret the tale of the woman who outmaneuvers the killers, who marries him so that she does not have to fear him, as a metaphor for the woman creator.”

6D) The title helps me figure out the significance of the selection by knowing that this figure of speech is usually said when someone wants keeps an out look out on someone or something because they are scared or unsure of someone or something. In this case, the woman slept with one eye open because she feared her husband.

7A) The characters in the book that engage my interest are Sister Rosetta and the narrator 

because as a fourteen year old girl; the narrator is still trying to find who she wants to be as a person and what interest her and Sister Rosetta sees that. Sister Rosetta helps the narrator find herself and opens her eyes to see things in a different perspectives. Sister Rosetta reminds me of my grandmother because Sister Rosetta was there for the young girl through those rough times in a young girls life as she is still trying to find herself as a person. My grandmother has always been a role model to all her nephews and nieces and thats what Sister Rosetta did for the narrator. 

B) One conflict in the book that I can identify with is the part in the story where the mother tries to encourage the narrator that men have a greater role. Growing up in a Hispanic background, I have witnessed my family members do this to their children when in reality, both men and women have an equal say in anything they do. 

C) A major problem in the book was when Sister Rosetta begins to protest for the change of 

nun’s uniform. This was a major problem  because it goes to show what society expects from not only nuns but from women in general. This problem is soon resolved when Sister Rosetta wins her campaign to change the clothing. 

E) While reading the story, I have noticed the change in  the narrator. She goes from a 14 naive fourteen year old girl to now an English Professor teaching at a southern university. The narrator has now transitioned from a young girl to an adult. I can personally  connect with the author in this book through the use of the Latino background in the book and how the author gives examples of there traditions mentioned in the book as well.