Only Daughter

Questions on Meaning:
1) What do you take to be Cisnero's main PURPOSE of this essay?
I think Cisnero's main purpose of this essay was to let people know how and why she became to be who she is today. She basically says that she felt her father neglected her when she was younger. She says that when her father went out to public places he would tell people that he had seven sons instead of six sons and one daughter. She also says she felt that she let her father down when she didn't get married right away. She says she became a writer to get her father's approval. She says everything she's ever written has been for him. I think that she felt like she had to become someone in order to get his love. She felt that maybe if she was someone important her father would forget the fact that she wasn't married and love her as much as he loved her brothers.
Cisnero's also says that her brothers played a role in helping her become a writer. She says they often left her alone because they didn't want to play with a girl in public. She used this sense of loneliness to write. She says it allowed her to think, to imagine, and to prepare herself. It didn't bother her that they too neglected her, she used what time she could to write to get her fathers love.
Questions on Writing Strategy:
4) Perhaps a third of Cisnero's essay is devoted to a NARRATIVE and DESCRIPTION of a Christmas visit home. Why do you think Cisneros related to this incident in so much detail? What do we gain from knowing what was cooking, what her father was watching on tv, or what questions he asked as he read Cisnero's story?
I think Cisneros related to this incident in so much detail because it shows that her family didn't change. It shows that her family will always be the same no matter how much she, herself, changed. I think she tells what her father was doing and what he was watching tv to also show that he didn't change. Not even after all his daughters done he remains the same man he's always been. I think Cisnero's uses this to give herself confidence. She's about to give her father, the reason why she is who she is, a story that she's written and got translated into spanish. She gives them the story and he reads it. She doesn't expect him to read it, but he does. After he reads it I expect, she expects to be turned down. Instead he finally approves and asks her when can he get copies for his family. After Cisneros hears this you could tell she finally reached her goal. Her goal of getting her father's approval was completed and she was finally proud of herself.