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My Broken Language


A Pulitzer Prize–winning playwright tells her lyrical coming of age story in a ...
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How do you think the reaction of other students influenced Quiara throughout her academic career? Were you bullied as a child? If so, how did it shape the person you became?

Created: 01/06/22

Replies: 9

Posted Jan. 06, 2022 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
davinamw

Join Date: 10/15/10

Posts: 3442

How do you think the reaction of other students influenced Quiara throughout her academic career? Were you bullied as a child? If so, how did it shape the person you became?

Quiara stopped telling her peers her full name because she’d been bullied because of it. How do you think the reaction of other students influenced her throughout her academic career? Were you bullied as a child? If so, how did it shape the person you became?


Posted Jan. 06, 2022 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
PinkLady

Join Date: 01/22/18

Posts: 187

RE: How do you think the reaction of ...

She hid herself well because of the bullying and this may have contributed to her doing so well academically. She could escape to her education. Yes. I was bullied. Both for my weight and nor coming from old money which was a big deal in the high school I went to. I've felt it and work very hard at not letting anyone feel it from me.


Posted Jan. 07, 2022 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
melanieb

Join Date: 08/30/14

Posts: 265

RE: How do you think the reaction of ...

I was picked on sometimes as a kid so I learned to talk my way around conflict and tried hard to get along with everyone on a friendly level. I felt like Quiara was doing the same thing especially around her father and stepmother.


Posted Jan. 08, 2022 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
paulak

Join Date: 04/21/11

Posts: 264

RE: How do you think the reaction of ...

I was not bullied but there were many times I felt the outsider, which I realize is much different than being bullied. I think most teenagers go through that and, adding bullying to the mix makes this development even more difficult. Another factor was Quira's "white" appearance which provided an additional area of confusion especially when her mother was mistaken for her nanny or household help. I agree with PinkLady that her music and reading provided an outlet for her which turned out to be a remarkable road into her future. Anecdotally, it seems that many successful artists experienced painful youths and I wonder how much that factors into their achievements.


Posted Jan. 11, 2022 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
Marcia S

Join Date: 02/08/16

Posts: 505

RE: How do you think the reaction of ...

I will focus on her college education. When she tried to introduce her culture to music or writing, it wasn't always accepted. I also think of the theater writing when the classmates bragged about what they'd produced or their field of specialty. She had to swim against the stream and find a voice that spoke of who the was.


Posted Jan. 14, 2022 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
melissa c.

Join Date: 01/10/21

Posts: 111

RE: How do you think the reaction of ...

While other students' opinions were probably intimidating for Quiara, I also think she found them refreshing and stimulating and helped her modify and improve upon her projects.


Posted Jan. 14, 2022 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
Maggie

Join Date: 01/01/16

Posts: 434

RE: How do you think the reaction of ...

I agree with PinkLady because of the bullying she could escape through her love of education and her music. Bullying was not a term used in my childhood so many years ago. I was always the smallest in my class and my best friend from my neighborhood the biggest. I did not realize until a few years ago in therapy that she certainly did bully me. After 70 years we are still friends and as of yet I have not confronted her with this knowledge.


Posted Jan. 16, 2022 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
christinec

Join Date: 03/09/20

Posts: 25

RE: How do you think the reaction of ...

Can understand her feeling like such an outsider - so glad she was raised to be proud and confident- it could have so easily gone the other way and made her feel “less than” - instead she embraced the beauty of her culture and experience


Posted Jan. 19, 2022 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
acstrine

Join Date: 02/06/17

Posts: 438

RE: How do you think the reaction of ...

I didn't feel like Quiara really touched on her relationships with other students very much. She mentioned them in passing- -friends did not spend the night at her house- -but I don't recall her specifically mentioning "friends" in her memories (other than "the boy"). She seemed to insulate herself from others. She had her own interests: reading, studying SanterÍa, piano lessons, and she did these alone. Was this a reaction to something she felt from classmates? A way of protecting herself from teasing or bullying? It seems a magnet school in Philadelphia would have a pretty diverse student body, so I wonder if Quiara was really as unique as she thought she was.

I saw more of a reaction, like Marcia S did, when Quiara was studying at Yale. It does not sound like her music program included a wide range of musical styles. Quiara, who had been self-educating herself for years already, did so again here. So I want to say that her reaction to being dismissed or made to feel less than because her interests were so varied was to ignore the ridicule or weird looks and get busy learning what she wanted to know herself. She didn't depend on others to give her what she needed. I'm so grateful that there was one special educator who directed her to the fellowship program where she was able to expand her musical horizons. It was through this program that she met other Hispanic students when she cast them in her play.

Did her dad and step-mother's attitudes toward her Puerto Rican family cause Quiara to feel like everyone would look down on her for being who she was? Was she always anticipating to be rejected? If so, she certainly did not let these fears or feelings prevent her from getting the very most out of her personal experiences!


Posted Feb. 03, 2022 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
gaylamath

Join Date: 02/11/20

Posts: 39

RE: How do you think the reaction of ...

I was bullied as a teenager because I had psoriasis. It was really bad and really noticeable and other girls my age were horrible to me because of it. I was kind of a loner which made it even worse. The only good thing I can say about moving to Texas (mentioned in another question) is that the people I met were much nicer and more gracious to me and didn't pick on me because of it.


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