TopicReadingresponse to A Cup of Water Under My Bed
ACup of Water Under My Bedis comprised of stories organized in three parts including growing upas a child of immigrants in New Jersey, going through sexuality withperil and power and facing racism in the US in the twenty firstcentury. The book is organized in a thematic manner rather thanchronologically and it is effective since it utilizes poeticlanguage. For example, in order to demonstrate indications ofsexuality, the author presents a description of finding consonancewith a lover. The author uses metaphors carefully to provide adepiction of the world where she lives. Further, her chapterconcerning power, race and money is also a meticulous and among thelimited clear eyed assessments of money and credit presented from ayoung woman’s viewpoint.
Infirst chapter, Before Love, Memory, the author tells of her initialrelationship with language and the manner in which becomingproficient in English in the end created some form of alienation fromher family and was also a source of pride. Achieving proficiency inEnglish and even being able to earn a living through the language wasa-dream-come true for her parents and at the same time implied someform of rejection as the author states that one betrays the parentsif he or she does not turn out like them (Hernandez 13). In thismanner, the author implies that words are very powerful in a numberof ways.
Ultimately,the reading explores sexuality, gender and race gracefully andbeautifully while at the same time mapping hybrid spaces. She goes onto explore what it means to be Latina from various ethnicities as herfather is from Cuba and her mother is Colombian, various traditions,religious as well as numerous sexual desires.
Workscited
Hernandez,Daisy. ACup Of Water Under My Bed. Boston:Beacon Press, 2015. Print.