Reading Assignment
1. The House of The Spirits & 2. Memoirs of a Geisha
By Isabel Allende by Arthur Golden
1. What effect do the numerous instances of
foreshadowing and flashback have on the novel's
development? How do they effect the perception
of time?
2. Compare and contrast the characters of Clara
and Esteban. How do they develop throughout the
novel? What makes them get married?
3. What is the significance of the big house on
the corner?
Writing Assignment
Write a comparative study in English on an aspect of at least two of the three World Literature works studied in Part 1 of the booklist. The assignment will be as follows: Part A, Proposal; Part B, First Draft and Part C, Final Work. Soft copies of Part A and B are to be posted on the blog address below. Part B and C must have hard copies as well.
http://mrcliterature.blogspot.com/
Part A Proposal (due on June 19, Thursday)
Submit a proposal in one or two paragraphs which briefly outline:
v the appropriate, focused aspect of the World Literature works of your
v the works on which your writing assignment will be based
v the area and focus of your assignment, defining the specific topic
v the proposed title of your assignment
v the secondary sources which you intend to consult, if necessary.
Part B First Draft (due on June 26, Thursday)
It must be 1000-1500 words in length and the number of words used must be stated at the end of the assignment. Quotations from works must be included in the word count, but footnotes and bibliographies are not to be included.
Part C Final Work (due on July 17, Thursday)
49 comments:
Writing Assignment Proposal
My essay will be based on the comparison of narrative technique such as magic realism between the novella Kitchen by Banana Yoshimoto and the novel Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel.
The proposed title of my essay is “The effect and the importance of magic realism upon the novella Kitchen by Banana Yoshimoto and the novel Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel.”
-Harry-
Do you plan to explore other narrative techniques? I suggest you focus on just magic realism as it is broad enough for a paper of this size/length. I strongly urge you to read The H.O.T.S. before you decide on the novels for your paper as it is rife with illusory techniques/magic realism. Otherwise, the topic and title seem to be enough.
Eng Proposal
This comparative study of World Literature works on part 1 of the IB booklist will focus on the comparison of an aspect of the two novels''Kitchen'' by Banana Yoshimoto and ''Like Water for Chocolate'' by Laura Esquivel. In both novels, the main characters face difficulties while growing up. The study will compare how these characters deal with their difficulties and the effectiveness of their approaches. The assignment wil be titled: ''Overcoming the problems life deals you''
by the way Mr c, do you know where i can get the novel H.O.T.S ??
i went to many kinokunias and they dont have it :(
mr c. when will the books be arriving, well you see, its 16 already and we have little time to read the book b4 the due date which is 19?
I mean only magic realism.
Umm I chose the two novels because i've read them before and i've not read the H.O.T.S.
Can I use the proposed title of my essay?
i was wondering...since i hvnt read the HOTS..if "water" plays an important role in the novel.. bcause i think one of the novels my essay will be based on is memoirs of geisha..i can right? n if there's anything about water in the HOTS i'd like to compare their importance and effects to the story or something...
but i think water is not such an important element in the HOTS, does it?
when will the HOTS be sent to jkrta mr c????
Sir, the book hasn't arrived in Binus.. so i haven't read HOTS yer but i'm hoping i'll find it soon. is it okay if my essay is about the role magic realism plays in both HOTS and Like water for chocolate (if i'm able to read HOTS this holiday)? can i change it once i've read HOTS soon?
World Literature Essay Proposal
In this essay, I will discuss about the role of the female protagonist and it's impact on the story.
The title for the essay would be "The Female Role on Literature" and it will be a comparison by using the novels Kitchen by Banana Yoshimoto and Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel.
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On another note sir, I can't seem to find the HotS anywhere. May I change my topic if I have found and read it?
English A1 world literature essay proposal
For the world literature comperative essay I have decided to compare and contrast the families that are featured in the novella Kitchen, by Banana Yoshimoto and the novel The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende. I will be focusing on the relationships between the major characters as a family and point out how their lives are affected by each other. I have decided to use the title “The importance of family in our lives” since it relates to the topic I will be focusing on.
The major characters in both works of literature have to face difficulties, obstacles, important decisions or even happiness in their lives because of the existence of their family members that either agree or do not agree with many aspects or they do or do not treat each other appropriately or they live or do not live together in harmony.
I am waiting for the arrival of The H.O.T.S. in BiNus with baited breath. I am communicating with our librarian from where I am outside Indonesia. I am willing to push the submission of the essay but I recommend that you guys look online for a brief of the book as you will encounter many summaries there to give you some idea of the book.
Let me reiterate that the only book options for this assignment are The HOTS, Like Water For Chocolate and Kitchen. Memoirs of A Geisha is a reading assignment to be used for the oral presentation but not for the written comparative study.
Tiffanie, your topic is okay.
Felix, I will extend the deadline a week.
Harry, you may.
Venissa, youy may not use Memoirs for the essay.
Bea, I'm working on getting it to BiNus asap.
Chatara, go ahead.
Samantha, go ahead. The title may be improved though.
World Literature Proposal
For my world literature i was thinking of comparing how an attraction to the opposite sex affects the decisions of the main characters and overall direction of the story along with the extent to which magic realism plays a role in these decisions in the novels Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel and The House of Spirits by Isabel Allende. I'm still waiting for The HoTS but from what i read about it on the internet theres is quite a lot of 'love' revolving around the main storyline.
The title of my essay would be "The rewards and consequences of love and lust". The essay will mainly focus on how an attraction to the opposite sex, whether for love or lust, affects what the main characters do and how magic realism affects these decisions in the story along with the resulting direction of the storyline.
in my essay i will write about will be a comparison of how women play an important role in the novel between Like Water for Chocolate and Kitchen.
my essay shall be entitled "leading women characters and their roles" and will mainly be comparing Mikage from Kitchen with Tita from Like Water for Chocolate
My essay would be based on two literary works, which are Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel as well as The House of The Spirits by Isabel Allende.
Since the setting (place) of both novels is found to be the same, I would like to discuss about the similarities of the social warfare in Latin America at different eras, and how they put an influence on the development of characters and relationships that cultivate throughout the novels.
the title of my essay would be "The Social Warfare between Individulats of Latin America".
does it need to be improved?
Asyraaf, I think you might use the word PASSION in your title. But, go ahead.
Venissa, what type of warfare are you referring to? Is it the social upheravl which is the setting of baoth books? Are you focussing on the writers' use of setting?
Alex, can you explain your topic and title further?
not exactly.. my intention is to use the setting and explain how it contributes to the whole idea of the story, the character and the relationships between them. not the 'setting' as in explaining about the author's use of it in the context of a 'literary term'.. im using setting as a linking idea for both books to show similarities between them
In both novels Kitchen and Like Water for Chocolate, the main characters are women. I intend to write a comparison essay comparing the characters of the women in both novels and how their roles are important to the novel
For the world literature essay, I am planning to write about the power of women and how it influences the plot of the story in the novels Like water for Chocolate by Laura Ezquivel and house of the spirits by Isabel Allende.
My Title will be “The defiance of women and their right to be free”. I will be focusing on how the women in both novels opposed to be mistreated and fight for their rights with their own distinctive method and how these struggles leads towards the events in the story.
mr c,, how will the oral presentation be like?? and may i know when is it?
Venissa, it sounds interesting. Go for it.
Alex, sounds vague. Can you make it more specific? Don't get me wrong. It seems like a good idea but I hope that you can make it clearer what you want to say about the women. Maybe the title will make your essay more grounded. Go ahead but just make sure that you have a definite objective and that your points are clear and well supported. Go ahead with the essay:)
Tiffany, the oral presentation details will be posted soon. It'll be at the end of July until early August.
We are missing just a few classmates here but otherwise, it's been a very productive summer so far. To the ones who've logged in, good job.
Mr.C, for the first draft, do we post our essay on this blog or we send it to u through mail?
Um Sir, since we haven't really read HotS, how are we supposed to decide the essay topic? I mean, are we just supposed to read the summary and derive the main storyline from there, and then make the essay title? and if we've read the whole novel, can we change the topic?
Thankyou,
Dalia
mr c.....can u prospone the due date to friday please?
and can i send it through your email instead of posting in the blog?
sir, my dad said that the HOTS will arrive on thursday. i'm just not sure that i'd be able to write the essay by the 26th. so i'm just saying my assignment will be late.. i'll read it right away ince i get the book!
i mean ONCE i get the book...
sir, should the cultural setting have something to do with magic realism in the case of my topic?
Writing Assignment
The aim of this assignment is to compare the effect and the importance of magic realism upon the novella Kitchen by Banana Yoshimoto and the novel Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel. Magic realism itself can be defined as the magical events that cannot be explained in the real world or it can also be the blending of reality and fantasy. There is a lot of magic realism used throughout the story as minor effect “staring at the whiteness of the sheet; only for a few seconds, but long enough to cause sort of blindness” and major effect “Just then, somehow, I knew. The room in the near corner, the window reflecting green light-that was Yuichi’s.” Though in both the novella Kitchen and the novel Like Water for Chocolate magic realism is not the major theme, it plays a role in the story. Symbol is a part of magic realism which also has a strong effect on the characters and the events, for example, the moon in Kitchen and the food in Like Water for Chocolate (which will be discussed further in this essay).
The moon in Kitchen is used as a symbol of magic realism. The moon often appears in the story which leads to significant magical events. One of these events is when Mikage, the protagonist, woke up after she shared the same dream as Yuichi, her friends. In the dream, they start singing a song starting with the line “To avoid disturbing the Moonlight shadows”; this event implies that the moon has magical effect which strengthened their relationship. This is important because it clarified to the readers that both Mikage and Yuichi have a strong bond. It also clarified the next magical event when Mikage wanted to deliver some katsudon for Yuichi.
Another event is when Mikage wanted to deliver the katsudon to Yuichi. At that point of the story, she was in the middle of the night when a taxi passed by. This can be called magical event because suddenly a taxi approached and stop in front of her as when she was thinking to deliver the katsudon to Yuichi. On the way to Isehara, where Yuichi is at that time, Mikage felt asleep but then suddenly she woke up with her arms and legs still sleeping. When she looks out of the window, where she sees “The moon shone down from high above, crossing the sky, erasing the stars in its path.” The rest of her body came to life as if the moon resurrects her from the deep restful sleep. This event is vital because if it does not happen, Mikage would not been able to see Yuichi that night.
Other than moon, food can also be a symbol of magic realism. Throughout the story of Like Water for Chocolate, Tita de la Garza, the protagonist, uses food as a medium through which her emotions is being transmitted. This happens when Tita cooks a special meal called “Quail in Rose Petal Sauce” from the petal of roses that Pedro, her true love, gave her. The transmission of Tita’s passion for Pedro into the food causes intense effect to her second sister, Gertrudis, whom “began to feel an intense heat pulsing through her limbs.” This is significant because this is a link to the event when Gertrudis returns to the ranch as a general of her troops, which illustrates how women can go from zero (living in the brothel) to hero (a brave general).
The wedding cake made by Tita also brings magical events which ruin the wedding party “then she couldn’t hold back anymore, and she spewed out great noisy mouthfuls of vomit, like an erupting volcano.” Tita subconsciously pours her sadness into the cake by the means of her tears, which causes incessant vomiting and a sense of loss among the guest and even Rosaura, Tita’s eldest sister. This clarifies the readers about how strong is the feeling of love between Tita and Pedro.
The intense heat in the novel is being repeated several times to illustrate the symbol of desire and love. The uses of heat could be as a source of strength as in Pedro’s lustful gazing at Tita when Gertrudis playing a waltz called “The Eyes of Youth” or a force of destruction in the case when Tita and Pedro make love that causes “The dark room was transformed into an erupting volcano.”
In both novella and novel, most symbol of magic realism is used to link one event with another event which is the key events to the storyline. Some symbols like the moon and the food can be used in different perspective. In Kitchen, moon is used as a setting where magical events take place while food in Like Water for Chocolate is a medium through which magical events happens. As both the story is associated with kitchen, the kitchen itself can be a symbol. In the novella Kitchen, it is a symbol of happiness. The kitchen is portrays as a living being which has a magical effect that can accompany her when she feels sad and lonely “The hum of the refrigerator kept me from thinking of my loneliness.” While the kitchen in Like Water for Chocolate is a symbol of origin because the story starts at this place as Tita was born “prematurely, right there on the kitchen table” and spends most of her time there. As it is the place where she made the food that causes magical effect, it strengthened the argument that prove kitchen as one of the symbol of magic realism. The true intention of using magic realism by the author is to impress the readers of how reality can be stretched beyond the boundary of “real”.
In conclusion, magic realism is important for both the novel and the novella as most significant events in the story will not happened without the effect of magic realism. Though kitchen is a place which brings happiness to both Mikage and Tita, it has different magical effect as shown as above. The ways in which they are used strongly affect the events and the storyline which make it crucial. In my opinion, narrative technique such as magic realism makes the story more appealing and more enjoyable for the readers as it give images of fantasy.
Word count: 1053
I'm moving the writing assignment deadline to next thursday, July 3. This is due to the delay in arrival of yur the HOTS copies. Please take your copies from the school as soon as you are informed by ACOP.
sir, can u check mine n comment on it?
sr, it's the 30th already n i haven't received any notification from Acop that the book has arrived.. they only mentioned about memoirs of geisha.. what are we supposed to do?
Yeah, Sir! My dad went to binus today and he said it still hasn't arrived.. the one that arrived on thursady was the memoirs of a geisha...
sir,should i post my essay here?
Tiffanie, post your essay here.
Everyone, ofcourse due to the delayed arrival of the book the homework is moved further back.
Harry, both the structure of the essay and the grammar can be improved. Did you make an outline of the essay before writing it? You will benefit from creating an outline to ensure that you cover all the importanbt points and that your opinion is well-supported with details from both books. Though the essay may need to be proofread and editted, you made some interesting points in your essay, one of them is how the kitchen is a significant source of magic in both novels.
This comparative study of the books “Like Water for Chocolate” by Laura Esquirel, translated from Mexican Spanish by Carol Christensen and Thomas Christensen and “Kitchen” by Banana Yoshimoto, translated from the Japanese by Megan Babkus, both written in the late 1980s, will compare the two books from the aspect of the struggles and difficulties the main characters are given to face by the author, and how they are given to resolve them. The study will compare the struggles set by the authors and compare the solutions that resolve these struggles, and in conclusion the writer will give her option of the effectiveness of the books compared.
In the novel “Kitchen”, death surrounds Mikage, the main character, giving her a feeling of loneliness. However, she develops a liking for kitchens where she finds solace, slightly as if she were in the womb. “The place I like best in this world is the kitchen.” (Pg3 Ln1), “I want to breathe my last in a kitchen”(Pg4 Ln6). Mikage had began her orphan life at early age and lost her grandfather during her Junior high school years. “My parents both died when they were young. After that my grandparents brought me up.”(Pg4 Ln15). When Mikage’s grandmother died few years after the death of her grandfather, Mikage became aware that she had been living in a state of insecurity, deep inside expecting her grandmother to die at any time. “I can’t help thinking that deep down I was always, at all times, afraid Grandma’s going to die.”(Pg20 Ln10). Her grandmother’s death had a strong effect on Mikage, leaving her a state of confusion. “Three days after the funeral I was still in a daze. Steeped in a sadness so great I could barely cry…”(Pg4 last prgrh). Unexpectedly, a rescue came in the form of the Tanabe’s family; Eriko Tanabe acting as Mikage’s fairy godmother.
In the novel “Like Water for Chocolate”, the main character’s life, Tita, is recounted by her great niece. Tita, being the main character and the youngest daughter is expected to remain unmarried and look after her mother, Mama Elena, a wicked witch. Tita is not aware of this until she has already fallen in love with a young man named Pedro. Tita did not suffer until her mother decided Tita’s eldest sister, Rosaura, to marry Pedro and they move in to the ranch house. Tita, who has always enjoy cooking, now finds that cooking becomes the vehicle through which her passions seek fulfillment. Here, the fairy tale element of the novel emerges, as Tita’s food provokes extreme reactions to anyone who eats it through various degrees of love to desperation and hatreds. Unlike Mikage, whose passion for kitchens is like a return to security and the womb, Tita cannot stop her passions bursting forth from her cooking to envelop all who eat her food.
When Mikage moved to live with the Tanabe’s family, it has given her a feeling of security and a new hope in life. However, she soon discovered that her fairy godmother, Eriko, was in fact Yuichi’s transvestite father. The relationship between her and Eriko grew deeper than that between her and Yuichi. Like a bombshell, Eriko was murdered by a man who was obsessed with her. Eriko’s death led Mikage to realize how important Eriko had been in her life. “I remember thinking to myself, my grandmother is dead, I’ve lost my last blood relation, and things can’t get any worse. But now they had. Eriko had been enormously important to me.”(Pg55 Ln27). Eriko’s death not only had a huge affect on Mikage but also on Yuichi. Yuichi did not have the strength to face death like Mikage, and run away home to an Inn to isolate himself against the world, until his money ran out.
Tita’s problems like Mikage’s had been emerged. Pedro’s moving into the ranch house with Rosaura caused Tita unbearable pain, although Pedro’s love towards her was never- ending. Tita could not bear to be separated from Pedro and watched by her terrifying mother all the time. Mama Elena then forced Pedro, Rosaura and Roberto, their son, to live elsewhere to avoid the situation between Pedro and Tita and Roberto and Tita, damages Tita’s heart again, as the relationship between Roberto and Tita are like mother and son. News that Roberto has died cause Tita to accuse her mother of having killed him and Dr John Brown, who secretly loves Tita, rescues her and carries her away to his house. Nursed back to health by John’s attention, Tita agrees to marry him, and Pedro who has returned with his wife knowing the engagement, behaves incredible harshly towards Tita, causing her more anguish.
Mikage is confused about her relationship to Yuichi. Chika, who has taken over Eriko’s night club, phones and arranges to meet Mikage to talk about the unusual behavior of Yuichi after the Death of Eriko. Talking to Yuichi, Chika was hit by the realization that Mikage and Yuichi were in love even though they had not realize it themselves. Chika gave Mikage the address and phone number of the Inn where Yuichi had run away to and suggests her to visit Yuichi. Mikage took her advices and climbed up to the balcony of Yuichi’s room. Mikage and Yuichi declared their feelings to one another and resolution is achieved in comparison to the passions of Tita and Pedro.
Though Tita had agreed to marry Dr John Brown, she and Pedro consummated their love while John was fetching his aunt. This gave Tita enormous joy and at the same time, a terrible need to call off her engagement to John. Many years pass until Esperanza, Pedro and Rosaura’s daughter is to get married. Through the food that Tita has prepared for Esperanza’s marriage feast, her passions in the food gave her guest a delightful feelings and urge to get away as soon as possible to make mad passionate love anywhere. Tita and Pedro also feel an overwhelming need to consummate their love through a tunnel of light to wherever it leads, thus resolving their problems, this time free from Rosaura, who died with a disgusting death and Mama Elena who died by spasms.
To conclude, both of the novels contain touches of the fairy tales such as in “Kitchen” Yuichi’s transvestite father being the fairy godmother of Mikage and in “Like Water for Chocolate” the exaggeration of the consequences of Tita’s passions through the food. In “Kitchen”, Mikage’s problems were solved with ease compared to “Like Water for chocolate”, Tita’s problems. Death and loneliness that Mikage has faced in her life were solved easily with the help of tiny magic realism or coincidence, while in “Like Water for chocolate” Tita’s problems were not solved as ease. Although both novels are fairy tales like, “Kitchen” has lack of the dark side of the fairy tale which provides the contrast needed for the magical resolutions fairy tales to end with. The result of this comparative studies show that Laura Esquirel has produced a better effectiveness compared to Banana Yoshimoto because she has managed to capture the reader’s attention with her unique style of writing, such as beginning every chapters with a recipe which was later used to express Tita’s passions through out the story. The reader is bound up in the passion of Laura Esquiel’s novel while on the other hand finds ease with Mikage’s problems resolved rather weak and unreal, fairy tale like. The reader finds “Like Water for Chocolate” a passionate read, whereas “Kitchen” is overly gentle in comparison.
(1256 words)
Sir, after reading the HotS, i have decided to change the topic of my essay.
World Literature Essay Proposal
My essay will be about how well magic realism is interwoven into literature and how it effects the way the story develops. It will be a comparison between the three works; the House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende, Kitchen by Banana Yoshimoto, and Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel.
The proposed title for my essay would be "The Weaving of Magic Realism into Works of Literature"
The aspect “culture” is in no doubt one of the most important and influential aspects in people’s lives. It shapes human beings; our characters, our personalities. The norms behind different cultures create different perceptions amongst society, some more distinctive than others. Two of the nations, or regions, notorious for their cultural societies are Japan and South America, which happen to be the settings of the novels in discussion, respectively Kitchen by Banana Yoshimoto, and The House of The Spirits by Isabel Allende. The influences of cultures in both novels differ in importance, and distinctiveness. In The House of the Spirits, Allende’s portrayal of the del Valle and Trueba families are hugely affected by the cultural setting of the novel, which takes place in Lima, Peru during pre- and post-World War II. In Yoshimoto’s Kitchen, the setting is relatively implicit, and only affects the characters to a certain extent. However, every character is brought up by the place they call “home”, and thus, although implicitly, every setting counts as a significance in the lives of all of the characters.
The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende tells the story of four generations of the del Valle family within the course of fifty years. Many things have happened in between in the course of history, and although the novel is fictional, it is supposedly based on a true setting. The Second World War introduced communism, followed by anarchy, which builds strength in some of the characters’ personality. The suffragette movement of the 60s also affect the way in which some of the women in this novel think. The most apparent person affected by the historical setting of the novel is Esteban Trueba, and Pedro Tercero García, Blanca Trueba’s lover.
The defiance of women and their struggle for freedom in “The house of the spirits” and “Like water for chocolate”
The issue of segregation of women is the problem aroused at the late nineteenth century and reached its climax in the twentieth century, when women starts to explicitly fight for their equal rights. The two novels “Like water for chocolate” by Laura Ezquivel and “The house of the spirits” by Isabel Allende depict women as the major role of the story. The setting is in Mexico during the early 1900s and South America in the late mid 1900s respectively. In “Like water for chocolate”, both Tita, the protagonist along with Mama Elena are shown are two strong female figures that have the courage comparable to men. In the order hand, the protagonist in “The house of spirits”, Clara, Blanca and Alba was shown as a more feminine character that passively fights for their rights and freedom. In this essay, I will be focusing in how the main female characters in both novels struggle against gender inequality and how each of their specific act of defiance against the segregation influence the total flow of the plot.
Josefita or Tita was first introduced that she “made her entrance into this world prematurely, right there on the kitchen table” (page 5-6), this reflect to her love of kitchen and her specialty in making creative new recipes and cooking. Her love of kitchen would be her only console after Mama Elena denies her love for Pedro and ordered Rosaura to be Pedro’s mate. According to the tradition, Tita, the youngest daughter of Mama Elena must serve her mother until the day she dies. Thus, she had to bear all the loneliness and live a virgin’s life. At midst of her troubled love life, Tita showed that she is a composed character. The fact that Pedro’s marriage to Rosaura was a motif in order for him to be able to live near Tita, and Mama Elena knew that there is something going on between Tita and Pedro makes her contantly in enrage and starts to beat Tita harshly. Tita cannot do anything other than to endure, and again her relief her stress by doing job she adores, that is cooking. Unlike her older sister Gertrudis, who ran away with soldiers in order to escape the ranch, she chooses to stay. This event shows that Tita is a persistent figure that is not easily overcome by problems. After the departure of Pedro, Rosaura and her beloved niece to San Antonio as the result of Mama Elena’s resolution to keep Tita and Pedro apart, she became denial to her mother and starts to ignore her chores in the ranch. This leads to a change in her character where initially she was more passive but after the raid of the federal troops into there ranch and took all the doves, which are the only medium she can communicate with Pedro, she changes to be more explicit in expressing her anger to her mother, “I’m sick of obeying you!” (Page 99) and even to the ghost of her mother, “Once and for all, leave me alone; I won’t put up with you! I hate you, I’ve always hated you!” (Page 199)
Another important figure in “Like water for chocolate” is the antagonist Mama Elena. She is portrayed as a selfish and evil mother that forbids Tita’s plan to marry Pedro, as by tradition Tita, who is the youngest daughter in the family must take care of her until her death. Even though Mama Elena is portrayed as a very negative character, she is still a significant figure in the ranch as being the head of the family and her harsh temper is developed by the constant pressure that she have to solely protect her daughters. This is shown during the raid of the federal troops to her ranch, “The next shot is for you, and I assure you that I can shoot you before they kill me.” (Page 90) Living in harsh surrounding develops her violent attitude towards Tita that is shown in (Page 173) “Yes, it is! I curse it! It and you, forever!” These two character from “Like water for chocolate”, Tita and Mama Elena depicts the struggle of women in lower classes of South America. These women who are calm and feminine by natural can also change due to her surrounding; the perfect example of that will be Tita and Mama Elena as at the end of the novel we found that the factor that changed Mama Elena was her broken love life too.
REWRITE
This comparative study of the books “Like Water for Chocolate” by Laura Esquirel, translated from Mexican Spanish by Carol Christensen and Thomas Christensen and “Kitchen” by Banana Yoshimoto, translated from the Japanese by Megan Babkus, both written in the late 1980s, will compare the two books from the aspect(REDUNDANT I.E. THE COMPARATIVE WILL COMPARE? REWRITE) of the struggles and difficulties the main characters are given to face(REPHRASE) by the author, and how they are given to resolve(REPHRASE) them. The study will compare the struggles set by the authors and compare(USE YOUR THESAURUS) the solutions that resolve(USE YOUR THESAURUS) these struggles, and in conclusion the writer will give her option(I DON’T UNDERSTAND WHAT YOU MEAN. WHO WILL GIVE HER “OPTION”) of the effectiveness of the books compared.
In the novel “Kitchen”, death surrounds Mikage, the main character, giving her a feeling of loneliness. However, she develops a liking for kitchens where she finds solace, slightly as if she were in the womb. “The place I like best in this world is the kitchen.” (Pg3 Ln1), “I want to breathe my last in a kitchen”(Pg4 Ln6). Mikage had began her orphan life at early age and lost her grandfather during her Junior high school years.(ALL THESE LINES DO NOT HAVE ANY CLEAR CONNECTION TO YOUR POINT IN THE PARAGRAPH) “My parents both died when they were young. After that my grandparents brought me up.”(Pg4 Ln15). When Mikage’s grandmother died few years after the death of her grandfather, Mikage became aware that she had been living in a state of insecurity, deep inside expecting her grandmother to die at any time. “I can’t help thinking that deep down I was always, at all times, afraid Grandma’s going to die.”(Pg20 Ln10). Her grandmother’s death had a strong effect on Mikage, leaving her a state of confusion. “Three days after the funeral I was still in a daze. Steeped in a sadness so great I could barely cry…”(Pg4 last prgrh). Unexpectedly, a rescue came in the form of the Tanabe’s family; Eriko Tanabe acting as Mikage’s fairy godmother.
In the novel “Like Water for Chocolate”, the main character’s life, Tita, is recounted by her great niece. Tita, being the main character and the youngest daughter is expected to remain unmarried and look after her mother, Mama Elena, a wicked witch. Tita is not aware of this until she has already fallen in love with a young man named Pedro. Tita did not suffer until her mother decided Tita’s eldest sister, Rosaura, to marry Pedro and they move in to the ranch house. Tita, who has always enjoy cooking, now finds that cooking becomes the vehicle through which her passions seek fulfillment. Here, the fairy tale element of the novel emerges, as Tita’s food provokes extreme reactions to anyone who eats it through various degrees of love to desperation and hatreds. Unlike Mikage, whose passion for kitchens is like a return to security and the womb, Tita cannot stop her passions bursting forth from her cooking to envelop all who eat her food.
YOU NEED TO EXPLAIN WHAT YOU MEAN BY YOUR EXAMPLES AND QUOTATIONS FROM THE NOVEL
When Mikage moved to live with the Tanabe’s family, it has given her a feeling of security and a new hope in life. However, she soon discovered that her fairy godmother, Eriko, was in fact Yuichi’s transvestite father. The relationship between her and Eriko grew deeper than that between her and Yuichi. Like a bombshell, Eriko was murdered by a man who was obsessed with her. Eriko’s death led Mikage to realize how important Eriko had been in her life. “I remember thinking to myself, my grandmother is dead, I’ve lost my last blood relation, and things can’t get any worse. But now they had. Eriko had been enormously important to me.”(Pg55 Ln27). Eriko’s death not only had a huge affect on Mikage but also on Yuichi. Yuichi did not have the strength to face death like Mikage, and run away home to an Inn to isolate himself against the world, until his money ran out.
YOU NEED TO EXPLAIN WHAT YOU MEAN BY YOUR EXAMPLES AND QUOTATIONS FROM THE NOVEL
Tita’s problems like Mikage’s had been emerged(WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?). Pedro’s moving into the ranch house with Rosaura caused Tita unbearable pain, although Pedro’s love towards her was never- ending. Tita could not bear to be separated from Pedro and watched by her terrifying mother all the time(UNCLEAR SENTENCE). Mama Elena then forced Pedro, Rosaura and Roberto, their son, to live elsewhere to avoid the situation between Pedro and Tita and Roberto and Tita, damages Tita’s heart again(UNCLEAR SENTENCE), as the relationship between Roberto and Tita are like mother and son. News that Roberto has died cause Tita to accuse her mother of having killed him and Dr John Brown, who secretly loves Tita, rescues her and carries her away to his house. Nursed back to health by John’s attention, Tita agrees to marry him, and Pedro who has returned with his wife knowing the engagement, behaves incredible harshly towards Tita, causing her more anguish.
YOU NEED TO EXPLAIN WHAT YOU MEAN BY YOUR EXAMPLES AND QUOTATIONS FROM THE NOVEL
Mikage is confused about her relationship to Yuichi. Chika, who has taken over Eriko’s night club, phones and arranges to meet Mikage to talk about the unusual behavior of Yuichi after the Death of Eriko. Talking to Yuichi, Chika was hit by the realization that Mikage and Yuichi were in love even though they had not realize it themselves. Chika gave Mikage the address and phone number of the Inn where Yuichi had run away to and suggests her to visit Yuichi. Mikage took her advices and climbed up to the balcony of Yuichi’s room. Mikage and Yuichi declared their feelings to one another and resolution is achieved in comparison to the passions of Tita and Pedro.
Though Tita had agreed to marry Dr John Brown, she and Pedro consummated their love while John was fetching his aunt. This gave Tita enormous joy and at the same time, a terrible need to call off her engagement to John. (SO?)Many years pass until Esperanza, Pedro and Rosaura’s daughter is to get married. Through the food that Tita has prepared for Esperanza’s marriage feast, her passions in the food gave her guestS a delightful feelings and urgeS to get away as soon as possible to make mad passionate love anywhere. Tita and Pedro also feel(VERB TENSE) an overwhelming need to consummate(REDUNDANT) their love through a tunnel of light to wherever it leads, thus resolving their problems, this time free from Rosaura, who died with a disgusting death and Mama Elena who died by spasms.
To conclude, both of the novels contain touches of the fairy tales such as in “Kitchen” Yuichi’s transvestite father being the fairy godmother of Mikage and in “Like Water for Chocolate” the exaggeration of the consequences of Tita’s passions through the food. In “Kitchen”, Mikage’s problems were solved with ease compared to “Like Water for chocolate”, Tita’s problems. Death and loneliness that Mikage has faced in her life were solved easily with the help of tiny magic realism or coincidence, while in “Like Water for chocolate” Tita’s problems were not solved as ease(EASILY?). Although both novels are fairy tales like, “Kitchen” has lack of the dark side of the fairy tale which provides the contrast needed for the magical resolutions fairy tales to end with. (REPHRASE) The result of this comparative studies show that Laura Esquirel has produced a better effectiveness compared to Banana Yoshimoto because she has managed to capture the reader’s attention with her unique style of writing, such as beginning every chapters with a recipe which was later used to express Tita’s passions through out the story. The reader is bound up in the passion of Laura Esquiel’s novel while on the other hand finds ease with Mikage’s problems resolved rather weak and unreal, fairy tale like. The reader finds “Like Water for Chocolate” a passionate read, whereas “Kitchen” is overly gentle in comparison.
YOUR CONCLUSION WAS IN NO WAY CONNECTED TO YOUR ESSAY. NONE OF THE POINTS YOU MENTIONED IN THE CONCLUSION CAN BE FOUND IN THE ESSAY.
(1256 words)
DALIA
The aspect “culture” is in no doubt one of the most important and influential aspects in people’s lives. It shapes human beings; our characters, our personalities. The norms behind different cultures create different perceptions amongst society, some more distinctive than others. Two of the nations, or regions, notorious for their cultural societies are Japan and South America, which happen to be the settings of the novels in discussion, respectively Kitchen by Banana Yoshimoto, and The House of The Spirits by Isabel Allende. (SUMMARIZE OR MAKE IT MORE SPECIFIC)The influences of cultures in both novels differ in importance, and distinctiveness. In The House of the Spirits, Allende’s portrayal of the del Valle and Trueba families are hugely affected by the cultural setting of the novel, which takes place in Lima, Peru during pre- and post-World War II(FACTUAL SUPPORT FOR THIS ASSUMPTION?). In Yoshimoto’s Kitchen, the setting is relatively implicit(MEANING?), and only affects the characters to a certain extent. However, every character is brought up by the place they call “home”, and thus, although implicitly, every setting counts as a significance (MEANING?)in the lives of all of the characters.
The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende tells the story of four generations of the del Valle family within the course of fifty years. Many things have happened in between in the course of history, and although the novel is fictional, it is supposedly based on a true setting. The Second World War introduced communism, followed by anarchy, which builds strength in some of the characters’ personality. The suffragette movement of the 60s also affect the way in which some of the women in this novel think. The most apparent person affected by the historical setting of the novel is Esteban Trueba, and Pedro Tercero García, Blanca Trueba’s lover.(THIS WHOLE PARAGRAPH SOUNDS LIKE ANOTHER INTRODUCTION. YOU MIGHT BEGIN GIVING YOUR FIRST POINT)
FELIX
The defiance of women and their struggle for freedom in “The house of the spirits” (CAPITALIZATION OF A TITLE OF A WORK) and “Like water for chocolate”(CAPITALIZATION OF A TITLE OF A WORK)
THIS IS NOT A SENTENCE.
The issue of segregation of women is the problem aroused at the late nineteenth century and reached its climax in the twentieth century, when women starts(S-V) to explicitly fight for their equal rights. The two novels “Like water for chocolate” by Laura Ezquivel and “The house of the spirits”(CAPITALIZATION OF A TITLE OF A WORK) by Isabel Allende depict women as the major role of the story(MEANING?). The setting is in Mexico during the early 1900s and South America in the late mid 1900s respectively. In “Like water for chocolate”, both Tita, the protagonist along with Mama Elena are shown are(AS) two strong female figures that have the courage comparable to men. In(oN) the order hand, the protagonist in “The house of spirits”, Clara, Blanca and Alba was shown as a more feminine character that passively fights for their rights and freedom. In this essay, I will be focusing in(ON) how the main female characters in both novels struggle against gender inequality and how each of their specific act of defiance against the segregation(WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY SEGREGATION HERE?) influence the total flow of the plot.
Josefita or Tita was first introduced that she “made her entrance into this world prematurely, right there on the kitchen table” (page 5-6), this reflect to her love of kitchen and her specialty in making creative new recipes and cooking. Her love of kitchen would be her only console(CONSOLATION?) after Mama Elena denies her love for Pedro and ordered Rosaura to be Pedro’s mate. According to the tradition, Tita, the youngest daughter of Mama Elena must serve her mother until the day she dies. Thus, she had to bear all the loneliness and live a virgin’s life. At midst of her troubled love life, Tita showed that she is a composed character. The fact that Pedro’s marriage to Rosaura was a motif in order for him to be able to live near Tita, and Mama Elena knew that there is something going on between Tita and Pedro makes her contantly in enrage and starts to beat Tita harshly. Tita cannot do anything other than to endure, and again her relief her stress by doing job she adores, that is cooking. Unlike her older sister Gertrudis, who ran away with soldiers in order to escape the ranch, she chooses to stay. This event shows that Tita is a persistent figure that is not easily overcome by problems. After the departure of Pedro, Rosaura and her beloved niece to San Antonio as the result of Mama Elena’s resolution to keep Tita and Pedro apart, she became denial to her mother and starts to ignore her chores in the ranch. This leads to a change in her character where initially she was more passive but after the raid of the federal troops into there ranch and took all the doves, which are the only medium she can communicate with Pedro, she changes to be more explicit in expressing her anger to her mother, “I’m sick of obeying you!” (Page 99) and even to the ghost of her mother, “Once and for all, leave me alone; I won’t put up with you! I hate you, I’ve always hated you!” (Page 199)
Another important figure in “Like water for chocolate” is the antagonist Mama Elena. She is portrayed as a selfish and evil mother that forbids Tita’s plan to marry Pedro, as by tradition Tita, who is the youngest daughter in the family must take care of her until her death. Even though Mama Elena is portrayed as a very negative character, she is still a significant figure in the ranch as being the head of the family and her harsh temper is developed by the constant pressure that she have to solely protect her daughters. This is shown during the raid of the federal troops to her ranch, “The next shot is for you, and I assure you that I can shoot you before they kill me.” (Page 90) Living in harsh surrounding develops her violent attitude towards Tita that is shown in (Page 173) “Yes, it is! I curse it! It and you, forever!” These two character from “Like water for chocolate”, Tita and Mama Elena depicts the struggle of women in lower classes of South America. These women who are calm and feminine by natural can also change due to her surrounding; the perfect example of that will be Tita and Mama Elena as at the end of the novel we found that the factor that changed Mama Elena was her broken love life too.
GRAMMAR ERRORS AND WORD USAGE MUST BE CHECKED.
CONTENT-WISE, THE POINTS YOU ARE TRYING TO MAKE ARE YET UNCLEAR. THIS MAY BE MADE CLEARER ONCE YOU HAVE WRITTEN THE COMPARISON BUT THEY MIGHT ALSO BECOME EVEN MORE UNCLEAR. BE CLEAR WITH WHAT YOU WANTR TO SAY.
THIS WHOLE PARAGRAPH SOUNDS LIKE ANOTHER INTRODUCTION. YOU MIGHT BEGIN GIVING YOUR FIRST POINT)
---> so sir should i include the paragraph in the introduction or do u think that the information in this paragraph is unnecessary? thankyou.
In the novels, “The House of the Spirits” by Isabel Allende and “Like Water for Chocolate” by Laura Esquivel, magic realism plays not only as one of their major themes, but also important roles (MEANING THAT MAGIC REALISM IS A CHARACTER IN THE STORY? PLEASE CLARIFY WHAT YOU MEAN.) in each novel, albeit there are similarities and differences between them. Magic realism is defined as a feature of a piece of writing that includes anything out of the ordinary. Isabel Allende’s “The House of the Spirits tells of the life and events a family experiences in a span of 50 years, through the journals of a spiritually-gifted character. Laura Esquivel’s “Like Water for Chocolate”, however, tells the story of a girl, destined to follow a tradition where she, as the youngest, has to take care of her mother until the day she dies, who, in conflict to her mother’s wishes and to the said tradition, falls in love. In both cases, magic realism is definitely a theme in each novel and also acts as a bond between certain events in the story. There are, however, differences between the roles of magic realism in each piece of literature as well.
“Like Water for Chocolate” by Laura Esquirel, translated from Mexican Spanish by Carol Christensen and Thomas Christensen and “Kitchen” by Banana Yoshimoto, translated from the Japanese by Megan Babkus, both written in the late 1980s. This study will compare the two novels from the aspect of the struggles and resolutions set by the author to the main characters and which author produced an effective work. The struggles given in both novels are alike in our everyday lives such as accepting death and the antique family traditions going from generations to generations.
In the novel “Kitchen”, death surrounds Mikage, the main character, giving her a feeling of loneliness. However, she develops a liking for kitchens where she finds solace. When Mikage’s grandmother died few years after the death of her grandfather, Mikage became aware that she had been living in a state of insecurity, deep inside expecting her grandmother to die at any time. The death of her grandmother had a strong effect on Mikage, leaving her a state of confusion. Unexpectedly, a rescue came in the form of the Tanabe’s family; Eriko Tanabe acting as Mikage’s fairy godmother.
In the novel “Like Water for Chocolate”, the main character’s life, Tita, is recounted by her great niece. Tita, being the main character and the youngest daughter is expected to remain unmarried and look after her mother, Mama Elena, a wicked witch. Tita is not aware of this until she has already fallen in love with a young man named Pedro. Tita did not suffer until her mother decided Tita’s eldest sister, Rosaura, to marry Pedro and they move in to the ranch house. Tita, who has always enjoy cooking, now finds that cooking becomes the vehicle through which her passions seek fulfillment. Here, the fairy tale element of the novel emerges, as Tita’s food provokes extreme reactions to anyone who eats it through various degrees of love to desperation and hatreds. Unlike Mikage, whose passion for kitchens is like a return to security and the womb, Tita cannot stop her passions bursting forth from her cooking to envelop all who eat her food.
When Mikage moved to live with the Tanabe’s family, it has given her a feeling of security and a new hope in life. However, she soon discovered that her fairy godmother, Eriko, was in fact Yuichi’s transvestite father. The relationship between her and Eriko grew deeper than that between her and Yuichi. Like a bombshell, Eriko was murdered by a man who was obsessed with her. Eriko’s death led Mikage to realize how important Eriko had been in her life. Eriko’s death not only had a huge affect on Mikage but also on Yuichi. Yuichi did not have the strength to face death like Mikage, and run away from home to an Inn to isolate himself against the world, until his money ran out.
Tita’s problems had been emerged just like Mikage’s. To see Pedro moving into the ranch house with his new bride and being eye watched by her terrifying mother had caused Tita unbearable pain. Mama Elena has always tried to avoid Tita from seeing Pedro by watching Tita most of the time, however this plan did not pleased her fully. She decided to forced Pedro, Rosaura and Roberto, their son, to live elsewhere to avoid the situation between Pedro and Tita and Roberto and Tita from getting deeper. Tita’s heart was torn knowing the news as the relationship between Roberto and Tita are like mother and son. The news that Roberto has died cause Tita to accuse her mother of having killed him and Dr John Brown, who secretly loves Tita, rescues her and carries her away to his house. Nursed back to health by John’s attention, Tita agrees to marry him, and Pedro who has returned with his wife knowing the engagement, behaves incredible harshly towards Tita, causing her more anguish.
Mikage is confused about her relationship to Yuichi. Chika, who has taken over Eriko’s night club, phones and arranges to meet Mikage to talk about the unusual behavior of Yuichi after the Death of Eriko. Talking to Yuichi, Chika was hit by the realization that Mikage and Yuichi were in love even though they had not realize it themselves. Chika gave Mikage the address and phone number of the Inn where Yuichi had run away to and suggests her to visit Yuichi. Mikage took her advices and climbed up to the balcony of Yuichi’s room. Mikage and Yuichi declared their feelings to one another and resolution is achieved in comparison to the passions of Tita and Pedro.
Though Tita had agreed to marry Dr John Brown, she and Pedro consummated their love while John was fetching his aunt. This gave Tita enormous joy and at the same time, a terrible need to call off her engagement to John. Her love towards Pedro had returned and she could no longer accept the promised she had made. Many years pass until Esperanza, Pedro and Rosaura’s daughter is to get married. Through the food that Tita has prepared for Esperanza’s marriage feast, her passions in the food gave her guests a delightful feelings and urges to get away as soon as possible to make mad passionate love anywhere. Tita and Pedro also felt an overwhelming inside them and their love lead through a tunnel of light to wherever it leads, thus resolving their problems. Tita and Pedro were finally free from the presence of Rosaura, who died with a disgusting death and Mama Elena who died by spasms.
In conclusion, both of the novels contain touches of the fairy tales such as in “Kitchen” Yuichi’s transvestite father being the fairy godmother of Mikage and in “Like Water for Chocolate” the exaggeration of the consequences of Tita’s passions through the food. In “Kitchen”, Mikage’s problems were solved with ease compared to “Like Water for chocolate”, Tita’s problems. Death and loneliness that Mikage has faced in her life were solved easily with the help of tiny magic realism or coincidence compared to “Like Water for chocolate” Tita’s problems. The result of this comparative studies show that Laura Esquirel has produced a better effectiveness compared to Banana Yoshimoto because she has managed to capture the reader’s attention with her unique style of writing, such as beginning every chapters with a recipe which was later used to express Tita’s passions through out the story. The reader is bound up in the passion of Laura Esquiel’s novel while on the other hand finds ease with Mikage’s problems resolved rather weak and unreal, fairy tale like. The reader finds “Like Water for Chocolate” a passionate read, whereas “Kitchen” is overly gentle in comparison.
(1111 words)
One of the many different life processes is the process of reproduction, or in other words, sex. Though after awhile, the actual purpose of the process has been varied to suit the desires of people and as a result, society has been shaped through these impulses. In the novels The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende and Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel, the main characters are significantly affected because of sexual tensions that arise as they interact with each other, giving the drive for the storyline.
In The House of the Spirits, the earliest and most apparent occurrence of sexual attraction is Rosa, a girl whose beauty is said to be that of an angel. Although many adore her from a distance, her attractiveness intimidates most men as they know by being with her, they would have to protect her from the lust of other men the rest of their lives. However, one person does eventually approach her, Esteban Trueba. At first sight he is entranced by her and decides on the spot that he will not love any other than her. When he finally asks for her hand in marriage, she agrees to it, but he decides to secure himself financially before the actual wedding. Unfortunately, Rosa dies due to accidental poisoning and they never get to be together.
Rosa’s beauty in the novel is a close example of magic realism as it transcends normal realistic beauty, with green hair, yellow eyes, and translucent skin. But through this it can be clearly seen how much her beauty affected Esteban Trueba. At the time, he had said to himself that he would not possibly want any other girl other than her, but after he lost her and went to find another way to make a living, he is taken over by his sexual desire and forgets Rosa and starts to rape peasants.
The novel The House of the Spirits introduced us to a world of magical events of the Trueba family from generation to generation. Along with twists of love and hatred that enclosed the family for centuries, Isabel Allende, none other than the author of the literary work itself, presents the readers with the past and future lives of her characters throughout the novel, imposing gender and social equality issues that descended upon them in chorus. “In her notebooks that bore witness to life”, Clara, the youngest daughter of Severo and Nivea del Valle, also recorded one prominent concern that grew to live until the days of the heirs and heiresses of the Trueba family: women’s struggle in the social world of Latin America in the twentieth century.
The struggle of the women of Trueba and their acquaintances along the way may strike yet another social upheaval in a novel written by Laura Esquivel, Like Water for Chocolate, or may also be known as Como Aqua Para Chocolate, in which the rich family traditions and values are served along with Tita De La Garza’s extraordinary monthly recipes. Taking place in the late nineteenth century in Mexico, Latin America, the De La Garza sisters endure diverging social confrontations that the role of each woman becomes a significant part of the novel in the midst of miraculous events and romances.
With a reference of the social situations in South America as a background of these fiction novels alike, of which occurred in a time period of close proximity, Isabel Allende and Laura Esquivel, as two female authors, bring the readers to a world of women’s lives amongst the social civilizations where they belonged to, of the old days, through the creations of their hands and imaginations.
World Literature
Magic realism is an element of narrative technique that blends reality and fantasy. In novels where this literary feature is present, it can be found in the theme, setting and also in the imagery. This essay will compare the different uses of magic realism in the novel Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel and the novella Kitchen by Banana Yoshimoto and will also discuss which novel has used it better.
The common theme in both novels is food, and throughout the storyline of Like Water for Chocolate, Tita De La Garza the protagonist, uses food as a medium through which her emotions are being transmitted. This happens when she cooks a special meal, the “Quail in Rose Petal Sauce,” from the petals of roses that Pedro (the love of her life) gave her. The transmission of Tita’s passion for Pedro into the food causes an intense effect to her second sister, Gertrudis, who “began to feel an intense heat pulsing through her limbs.” (Like Water for Chocolate, pg 51) As food is essential for the survival of living beings, it is also essential to the storyline because every chapter contains a recipe that is used either as a remedy (quote) or a disaster (quote). The “Quail in Rose Petal Sauce” is significant because it is a link to the event when Gertrudis returns to the ranch as a general of her troops, which illustrates how women can revolutionize from zero (working in the brothel) to a hero (a brave general) which is then similar to Fransisco Pancho Villa who plays a strong role in the Mexican revolution.
The wedding cake made by Tita also causes the magical event which devastated Rosaura’s wedding until “she couldn’t hold back anymore, and she spewed out great noisy mouthfuls of vomit, like an erupting volcano.” (Like Water for Chocolate, pg 40) Tita had subconsciously poured her sadness into the cake by the means of her tears, which causes incessant vomiting and a sense of loss among the guest. It also clarifies to the readers of Tita and Pedro’s desire for love which is one of the themes in the story.
As mentioned earlier, food is essential to all living beings and it has no exception in different cultures. Katsudon is one of the famous Japanese dishes that can be found in most parts of the world. It can also be found in Kitchen when Mikage “spotted the light coming from a small eatery that was still open.” (Kitchen, pg 89) It was in the middle of the night when she unexpectedly found the restaurant that serves extremely delicate katsudon “This katsudon, encountered almost by accident, was made with unusual skill, I must say.” (Kitchen, pg 92) The katsudon and the rice were made with the right degree of heat that causes excellent firmness. If the katsudon is not made flawlessly, Mikage would not been able to meet Yuichi that night.
Food is commonly made and prepared in the kitchen, where in both novels it is used as the setting where magical events take place. The article “Romancing the Cook” by Susan Lucas Dobrian stated that “The kitchen becomes a veritable reservoir of creative and magical events, in which the cook who possesses this talent becomes artist, healer, and lover.” which strengthened the argument above.
In the novella Kitchen, it is the setting where the dream between Mikage the protagonist, and Yuichi occurred. In their dream, Yuichi said that “After we finish cleaning up here, I really feel like stopping at the ramen noodle stand in the park.” (Kitchen, pg 39) This foreshadows the next event when they both woke up, “I just woke up and I’m starving. I was thinking, hmm, maybe I’ll make some ramen noodle.” (Kitchen pg, 39) The kitchen is significant because if the setting is in bedroom, Yuichi would not thought of eating ramen and Mikage would not thought of making it for him. Which then their relationship will not grow stronger because they will not think of the dream as a sign of their destiny.
While the kitchen in Like Water for Chocolate is a place of origin because Tita was born “prematurely, right there on the kitchen table” (Like Water for Chocolate, pg 6) with a flood of tears caused by Mama Elena and it is also the place where she cooks and spends most of her time there. If Tita was not born in the kitchen, she would not have the ability to cook food that brings magic realism to her surroundings.
Magic realism is also shown through imagery which can be seen when Mikage wanted to deliver the katsudon to Yuichi. At that point of the story, she was in the middle of the night when the moon shone brightly in the night sky. When she thought of delivering the katsudon for Yuichi, a taxi suddenly approached and stops in front of her as if her mind causes the phenomenon to happen. On the way to Isehara, where Yuichi is at that time, Mikage felt asleep but then suddenly she woke up with her arms and legs still sleeping. When she looks out of the window, where she sees “The moon shone down from high above, crossing the sky, erasing the stars in its path.” (Kitchen, pg 94) The rest of her body came to life as if the moon resurrects her from the deep restful sleep. This event is vital because if it does not happen, Mikage would not been able to see Yuichi that night.
As heat is an essential element needed to cook food with magical effect, it is also used to symbolize the strong desire for love. Heat could be used as a source of strength as in Pedro’s lustful gazing at Tita when Gertrudis playing a waltz called “The Eyes of Youth” “The heat that invaded her body was so real she was afraid she would start to bubble” (Like Water for Chocolate, pg 16) or a force of destruction in the case when Tita and Pedro make love that causes “The dark room was transformed into an erupting volcano. It cast stone and ash in every direction.” (Like Water for Chocolate, pg 245)
In both novels, most symbol of magic realism is used to link one event with another event which is the key events to the storyline. But, the way magic realism is used in Like Water for Chocolate is more significant and appropriate to the storyline. Food in the novel is shown to the reader as the most important theme through the uses of magic realism. Without the magical effect the food has on the characters (the home remedies), the storyline would not be that interesting to the readers. The way magic realism is used by Esquivel can be seen clearly and that is to impress the readers of how reality can be stretched beyond the boundary of “real”.
1154 words (without conclusion)
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sir, could u help me with the conclusion? i don't know what i should write..
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