Ana Castillo

Info.

Born June 15th 1953 in Chicago Illinois Occupation: Writer, Poet, Educator

A reviewer for Publishers Weekly called "one of the country's most provocative and original writers."

Why Admire Her

Little encouragement Went against flow Demand for justice Many awards

Influenced the world

Taught others about sexism and racism, classism, and identity

Issues explored

“I started having dreams that there was a home for me there. The desert motivates me in a very different way than the city. There's a very harsh brutality that calls upon your survival instincts. It's a harshness that is very beautiful to me. I feel very much a part of this wilderness”

Society

Society cruel to her Better person- helps others Learned about topics by

personal experiences Helps others when she had

none

Characteristics

unity- across-difference

Self disciplined (Mexican heritage)

Courage Literary adversity

Troubles

No adversity Learned from experiences Sexism, racism, classism

Remember her

Made up “Xicanisma” Made her have identity Hardships Created chicana literature

Well being of Others

Peaceful Teaches them adversity Wrong treatment Poetry form of social protest

“Being of Mexican background, being Indian-looking, being a female, coming from a working-class background, and then becoming politicized in high school, that was my direction . . . I was a Chicana protest poet, a complete renegade--and I continue to write that way”

Reflection

In her stories and poetry she tells many different stories of people who had hardships but have to work hard to get where they want to be. She also writes about personal experiences and topics that happen regularly that she wants to stop.

Cultures

Showing Experiences Literature(her work) Short stories(21) Poetry

Sources

http://www.gale.cengage.com/free_resources/chh/bio/castillo_a.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ana_Castillo

http://www.jrank.org/cultures/pages/3689/Ana-Castillo.html