post for Tuesday feb. 24th

Drown by Junot Díaz was an excellent read because it definitely brought a new environment into my perspectives. Whenever I read something that has a connection with a different way of life, it always startles me on how much I do not know of other cultures. The Spanish words and some of the phrases were indeed hard to grasp at first, but after awhile understanding them was key to know how a culture like Diaz's runs.
I was drawn to the protagonist Yunior quite a bit in the stories because he seemed like the character that tied everything together since much of his life was through tough experiences and struggles.
The Dominican Republic atmosphere throughout Drown did provide a good look into the realness of the people and culture. It is good to understand the racial conflicts that the characters are faced with to provide extra raw emotions and biases.
All together, the use of raw language was the one thing that made this piece of work worth while. Without it, the stories wouldn't have seemed real or authentic, but the power of Diaz's use of slang and Spanish phrases really put an emphasis on the quality of life the characters were faced with.
The use of providing the reader with the aspects of living in poverty also brought a new insight to me. It is a powerful realism in his storytelling and makes for a excellent read on understanding a different look on identity.