Final post

My overall thoughts of Rain of Gold is that it was a good, well written book. There was only one problem with it. The story wasn't very interesting. It didn't seem very special or unique. It was just about hard times, like so many other books like Grapes of Wrath. Also, the characters weren't very unique. They seemed common to me. Those type of characters seem to come up in books often. What I did like about it is how well written it was. Villasenor's way of expressing his character's feelings were very impressive, as were his ways of expressing the landscape.

Rain o Gold Post 4

Throughout Rain of Gold, Lupe expresses her life and each part of the day as a miracle, produced by god. As Lupe grows older and progresses through school, how do you think her views will change? Or will they change?

Literary Elements/Figurative Language

Metaphor: In Rain of Gold, the author uses lots of metaphors. He says, "Then the sun, the right eye of God, was going down behind the towering cliffs." He often relates major objects on earth or in the universe to God. He does this because Lupe's Family is very religious. He wants to express this as often as he can, while being coy about it. He does this to the point at which the reader doesn't notice the subtleness of it. Some figurative language the author uses is when he says "Her mother was sitting at the end of the bed, surrounded by long spears of silvery moonlight coming through the cracks in their lean-to."  The long spears is the figurative part. Its a good simple way of expressing moonlight through a crack, though they are obviously not spears. These simple was of expressing things are also a good way to relate to Lupe. At 6 years old, it is understandable how she would think of the world this way. The figurative language and metaphors used by Villasenor are very well used. He really captures the idea of his characters and their setting.

THe main character in Rain of Gold is Lupe. Lupe is very shy especially when people talk about her beauty. Usually, when a stranger comes and says she is beautiful, she will just stay quiet and look away. One part of Lupe I find very interesting is her outlook on the world. For a 6 year old, it is pretty advanced. Lupe sees many of the main parts of her life as miracles. For example, when she wakes up, she calls it the first miracle of the day. Spending the morning with her family is another miracle. When the sun goes down, she calls it the final miracle of the day. I think that these ideas where told to her by her mother, Dona Guadalupe. Its the type of belief that mothers commonly tell their children, along with seeing every moment as an opportunity to do good deeds and achieve great things.