It's time for everyone's favorite English class pastime -- PASSAGE ANALYSIS!
Oh, I know you just cheered wildly and that wasn't a groan I heard echoing all the way to my house!
Select a passage from the text that you find significant in some way; perhaps it is particularly interesting, essential to the novel thus far, or even just plain confusing. Type out the passage and then analyze its significance.
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Passage: But then i thought, why not?....It was from that moment on that i realized all these hopes were bigger than me, more important than any one person.(106)
In this passage, Chino finally realizes that Bodega's dreams are important. Nazario has just explained what Bodega's plans are and how he is getting the community involved. Chino realizes that Bodega is really trying to bring up Spanish Harlem by bringing up everyone individually. He states later on in the paragraph "If Sapnish harlem moved up, we would all move up with it"(106). Chino begins to see this project in the eyes of Bodega and even in the eyes of his old teacher, Mr. Tapia. All his life, Chino has believed that Spanish Harlem moving up in society was impossible. Now he has begun to realize that with Nazario,anything is possible. Although these may not be the intentions of
Bodega and Nazario, Chino is fully convinced that they are.
- alekhya revur
Stephanie Alkhatib
Passage: "I could already see that Nazario was a chameleon. He had the uncanny ability to stoically cold under pressure and extremely warm with the people. It was Nazario who, by blending his education and politeness, had made himself be looked upon with love, respect, and a little fear throughout the neighborhood. His smile could be magically disarming but his head was crowded with practicality and genius. Unlike Bodega's eyes, which were pools of ghosts and sadness, Nazario's were black holes, nothing could escape them, not even light, as if he could read your mind. He inspired and at the same time intimidated me" (98).
This quote is important for the development and introduction of the character Nazario. It also compares Nick Carraway from Gatsby and Chino, for they both internally analyze characters based on assumptions they make about them, as well as their appearances and actions. Chino describes Nazario as a “chameleon,” noting that he could be “stoically cold under pressure and extremely warm with the people.” This description shows the potential of Nazario, and perhaps foreshadows his character’s actions. Nazario comes off to people as kind, warm, and polite, but he never the less established “a little fear throughout the neighborhood.” Chino believes that Nazario’s impression he gives to people is deceiving. Also, Chino makes a note of Nazario’s eyes being like “black holes,” which also makes him seem ominous, as if he “could read your mind.” These descriptions also add to the idea that Nazario is not as warm-hearted and polite as he displays himself to be.
I wanted to tell him he was crazy. But then I thought, why not? Why not us? Others have dreams, Why not us? It was from that moment on I realized all these hopes were bigger then me, more important than any one person. If these dreams of theirs would take off, El Barrio would burn like a roman candle, bright and proud for decades. If Spanish Harlem moved up, we would all move up with it. (P. 106)
This quote occurs when Nazario is trying to make Chino understand what it is that Nazario and Bodega are doing. It is in this passage that the reader sees that even though Chino wants to stay out of Bodega's business, he understands that Bodega is doing and can see its possibilities. It is here that Chino becomes more interested in what is happening. Prior to meeting with Nazario, Chino wanted as little to do with Bodega as Possible but in this passage we see hope in Chino's words. Not just hope for himself or Bodega but for all of Spanish Harlem. This it can become a better place than it is. "If these dreams of theirs would take off, El Barrio would burn like a roman candle, bright and proud for decades. If Spanish Harlem moved up, we would all move up with it." Here it shows how Chino believes that Bodega and Nazario’s work can raise the neighborhood to a new level and if they did, the lives of all the inhabitance would be bettered by it. Chino believes that Bodega's dreams can better every aspect of not only Chino's life but the lives of every person around him.
James Ackley
"'I'm going to jail, so why bother, right?' Sapo kept drawing.
'Yo'r the smart guy here, right, can't you figure that out yo'self?'
The class went 'Oooooh,' which blessington took as a challenge.
'You'll be lucky to even make jail,' he said to Sapo.
'Why you snapping at me? I said you were right.'
'I know I'm right. I'm doing all you people a favor. I say these things to you so you can maybe prove me wrong. Now, it's sad to say, but I've yet to see one of my Puerto Rican students, just one, prove me wrong. And I know it's not going to be Sapo here.'" (90)
People like Blessington are the exact reason why East Harlem wasn't improving much. Rather than actually caring what happened to his students and how they did academically, Blessington essentially told his students that they would never amount to anything and that no amount of education would keep them off the streets. This is exactly what Bodega dreams about changing. He wants East Harlem to become a more productive neighborhood and basically not a ghetto anymore. Blessington and people like him were holding the children (who are also the future) of East Harlem back from their full potential by telling them that they would just end up in jail and never amount to anything more than a gang member, just like Tony. This really goes to show that there wasn't much being done to change the future of East Harlem and to impact the future lives of children.
-espresso black
espresso black=tony
“There was something honest in his dishonesty. Unlike Blanca, I believed it was dishonest people that brought change. It was paradoxical people like Bodega who started revolutions” (38).
In this passage, Chino reflected on how he believed that behind Bodega’s dishonesty and paradoxical beliefs was something greater. What he seems to be saying is that people who are willing to start a revolution may be dishonest in their methods of initiating change, but are honest in their reasons for wanting to initiate change. Chino recognized that it took a man like Bodega who believed in the future of the Spanish Harlem to bring change to the neighborhood, regardless of his methods of doing so. As he goes on to say, Chino said that people needed a fast change in the Spanish Harlem and that he didn’t believe honest people were capable of bringing a change like that. Instead, it would take a man like a Bodega to bring necessary changes to the Spanish Harlem.
-MK Reynolds
"I didn't know what Sapo meant but I didn't press him about Blanca because back then I didn't know how important she was to Bodega" (41).
I think this is important because Quinonez uses powerful foreshadowing to develop the character of Willie Bodega, and how there is more to him than meets the eye. What Julio, the narrator, doesn't know at this point in the novel is that once you get invovled with Bodega, there is no backing out. At first the reader believes that Bodega is only asking Julio to help him by working with Nazario, but then later discovers that Bodega actually needs Julio for his wife, and her connections to her aunt Vera, who Bodega happens to be in love with. Bodega involves innocent others in his plans in exchange for their loyalty, which is vital for his success in the future.
--Allie Nix
"There was something honest in his dishonesty. Unlike Blanca, I believed dishonest people brought change. It was paradoxical people like Bodega who started revolutions" (38).
This passage, right after Chino meets Bodega for the first time, is a reflection on Bodega's true character and how it has benefitted their society. The motif of change plays a huge role in the novel as well as the methods used to acheive this change. Chino knows that Bodega has not always been an "honest man" or obeyed the law; however, there is an honest feeling in him that truely wants to help others and the neighborhood as a whole. Just because he does not always do things the "honest" way, doesn't mean he isn't "honest" in his feelings. It it is the want for something greater that is the true honesty inside of Bodega. It is this "honest" feeling that "brought change" to the world they live in. And Chino believes that if it is benefitting so many people it is good change. Bodega is a prime example of a "paradoxical" person, or someone who is self-contradictory, because he is truely honest in his dihonesty. And it is this people that "start revolutions" and change their world.
-MEGHAN DOHERTY :)
Passage: I walked over to him and realized that all this time we had been talking, never had we looked each other in the eyes. All this time, when we'd spoken we'd looked at the artwork. It was a good way to relieve tension and just talk... And Bodega finally faced me and looked in my eyes. "But its something good. Don't worry." (Page 81)
Chino may not admire Willie Bodega, because of the drugs that Bodega sells, but he definitely respects him. He knows that Bodega wields a lot of power, and that making Bodega angry would be a bad idea. By not facing Bodega directly, Chino can be honest with Bodega, pointing out Vera's reasons for marrying the rich Cuban, aside from the fact that the Cuban was rich. This passage reflects many of the street politics and ideas of East Harlem. Bodega explains his love of Vera, and provides more information on the Young Lords. Few people would speak to Bodega like Chino does, contradicting him, but it shows that Chino has no care for the petty politics of the neighborhood, and wants to get out of Spanish Harlem. He is going to college, working, trying to raise a family away from the drugs and crime, and the way he speaks to Bodega reflects his ideas.
-tom barnes
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