Only Daughter By Sandra Cisneros: A Comparative Analysis

The two articles that I will compare and contrast will be “A Partial Remembrance of a Puerto Rican Childhood,” written by Judith Ortiz Cofer, and “Only Daughter,” written by Sandra Cisneros. Both female Hispanic authors talk about how they divided their childhood between two countries and the meaning of being a woman in their cultures. They also describe family structures and relationships between parents and children in an immigrant family.
Judith Ortiz Cofer was born in the small town of Hormigueros, Puerto Rico. She came to the U.S with her parents and they settled in Paterson, New Jersey. Similar to Cisneros, she had a divided childhood. She spent portions of her childhood between the tropical island and the cold city. She constantly
She describes how early her parents began a circular migration between Chicago and Mexico City. Cisneros’ father was from Mexico, so she moved frequently during her childhood. Cisneros was “ the only daughter” in a family of seven children. In these circumstances, she used to spend a lot of time by herself because she didn’t have friends and her brothers didn’t want to play with “girls”. Consequently, Cisneros felt alone and displaced. She began to read extensively finding comfort in books. Cofer describes how her father and brothers attempted to make her assume a traditional female role because Mexican women are stereotyped as housewives. She went to college only because her father thought it was a good place to look for a husband. Even though she finished college, she didn’t find a husband and her father thought it was a waste of time. Cisneros’ father treats her differently from the sons. Since she remembers, her father always forgot to mention the only daughter that he had. He used to say, “I have seven sons”. Cisneros felt ignored and rejected by her father. She always wanted the recognition and appreciation of his father. She wrote thinking of her father all the time. Finally when Cisneros’ book was translated into Spanish, she showed to her father. He enjoyed it and asked her, if she can get more copies for the family. She remembers how this day changed her life forever because her father for first time was proud of his