The Only Daughter and Just Only a Daughter

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THE ONLY DAUGHTER AND JUST ONLY A DAUGHTER What if you are the only daughter in a family of many sons? All of us have various answers basing on cultures, or parents’ bias/ stereotypes, or ourselves’ minds. In a short story “Only Daughter” by Sandra Cisneros, Cisneros is “the only daughter in a family of six sons” (Cisneros 620). She spent a long time to make her father understand that she could achieve more than what “the only daughter in a Mexican-American family” (620) could. I am also the only daughter in a family of four children, which effected on my life so much. From experience of both Cisneros and I, I think that the differences between our parents and us not only frustrated, but also motivated us to succeed. Cisneros was “the only daughter in a family of six sons” (Cisneros 620), so “[her father’s] only ambition for his daughter was marriage” (620); whereas, she was very interested in studying, especially in writing. This difference not only discouraged her, but also motivated her to achieve. Cisneros have loved studying since she was a little girl. When she just “was in fifth grade” (Cisneros 621), she had “[her] plans for college”. Then she shared them with her father and he said, “Que bueno, mi’ja, that’s good” (621). Instead of being happy, she was so disappointed when she knew that “[her] father thought college was good … for finding a husband” (621).Moreover, her father was very proud of his oldest son who graduated from medical school. He did not expect his daughter to achieve something wonderful as her brothers. In other words, he did not believe that Cisneros could gain achievements in her future instead of “[becoming] someone’s wife” (Cisneros 621). Cisneros loved writing and she expected that by reading her works, her father could understand what she was doing. However, her expectation was hopeless because “[her] father [could] not read English

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