Personal Response Essay - "The Loons"
G. Laracas
Professor DePasquale
English - 1A
07 October 2008
Personal Response Essay
“The Loons”
I’ve chosen to do my personal response essay on the short story “The Loons,” because in a way I can sort of relate to the main character Piquette Tonnerre. I felt that Margaret Laurence did an exceptional job by choosing the appropriate tone for the story because I can honestly say that I could feel the alienation that Piquette must of felt, during her time of living, in a cruel society. She was rejected because she represented an ethnic group, which society then classified as a half-breed, “neither Cree nor French.“ Though I cannot say that I have personally experienced, to the same extent as Piquette, the same type of alienation, I would have to say that I can relate to her with regards to being a “half-breed.”
Coming from a family of multicultural backgrounds I’ve never really noticed, that unlike most full blooded Filipino’s, I actually stood out because I looked different when compared to them. On my dad’s side of the family, my great grandpa was Spanish, which explains my last name Laracas, which isn’t your typical “Filipino” last name. On my mom’s side of the family, My great grandma was full Chinese and my great grandpa was half Portuguese, which I think explains some of our distinct features such as our lighter skin and browner eyes. So with that in mind, when everything came together, you get me!
Many have told me that I don’t look full Filipino, some even say I don’t
look it at all, but the one question that really sticks out in my head is when
people would just randomly ask me, “So what are you?” I know they don’t mean to be rude, it sometimes comes off to me as a little puzzling because if I tell them Filipino then they don’t always believe me and then more questions come and this is usually when I begin to feel as if I need to explain myself! Although this doesn’t bug me much, there are stereotypes and names that people would...
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