Question

Based on the essay, compare the dreams of the author and her mother. Support your answer with relevant and specific details from the essay. (The essay is Volar by Judith Ortiz Cofer)

Answer 1

Answer:

In the essay, Judith Ortiz Cofer presents the same yet different dreams of the mother-daughter duo. While both seemed to wish for the same wish of the ability of flight, their objectives behind the wish are not that similar.

Explanation:

In Judith Ortiz Cofer's essay "Volar", she mentioned in the first paragraph her own dreams of having superpowers, like her hero Supergirl. Then, she would "would get on tip-toe, arms outstretched in the position for flight and jump out my fifty-story-high window into the black lake of the sky [....] and look inside the homes of people who interested me". She believed herself to be the same as the fictional superhero, but waking up to the same "tiny bedroom [....] back in my body: my tight curls still clinging to my head, skinny arms and legs . . . unchanged".

The second paragraph focuses on the parents who would have their "time" before she was woken up by her mother "exactly forty-five minutes after they had gotten up". The mother wishes to visit her relatives, her "familia on the Island" or go to the beach and have a vacation. And in a loving manner, these propositions will be brought down by her husband. And right before she went to wake up her daughter, she;'d say "Ay, si yo pudiera volar" which is basically meant to say she wish she could fly.

In a way, both the mother and the daughter seem to have the same desire of flight as their wish, though they may also differ in their objective. The mother's wish was to be able to get to her "familia" while the young daughter’s wish was to escape from her reality and be a superhero like her idol Supergirl.