Please answer ONE of the questions below. You do not necessarily have to answer all the parts of the question, but your essay should be organized by an identifiable argument or claim you are making and have clear topic sentences at the start of each paragraph. You must use citations and quoted evidence from Butterfly Boy to support your response. 2 pages minimum-3 pages max.
Please clearly indicate which prompt you have chosen on your paper.
*** Note: These prompts are purposefully broad. Whatever you choose to write about, I recommend that you narrow down to a specific focus, outline, and make sure to draft a strong argument or claim which clearly identifies your topic. ***
Toxic Masculinity/Machismo: bell hooks writes, “The first act of violence that patriarchy demands of males is not violence toward women. Instead patriarchy demands of all males that they engage in acts of psychic self-mutilation, that they kill off the emotional parts of themselves.” Write an essay that explores the ways in which a culture of toxic masculinity not only harms women, but harms the relationships between men in the book Butterfly Boy. How does toxic masculinity affect Rigoberto’s relationship with his father and other men? How is masculinity defined by Gonzalez’ grandfather and father? How is tenderness killed and/or forbidden between men in this memoir? How do we see these men damage their relationships with other people and each other?
Literacy and Education: Write an essay that explores how Rigoberto’s education impacts and/or transforms his life. How does reading help him survive his daily life? In what ways does his education remove him from his family? What is the significance of literacy in his family, and how does the power of reading and writing offer him a way out of his traumatic upbringing? Although this is a painful book, the language is often really beautiful: what might writing about his painful experiences, and putting it into language do to help him and others with similar struggles heal?
Abuse and Love: Writer bell hooks says, “When we understand love as the will to nurture our own and another’s spiritual growth, it becomes clear that we cannot claim to love if we are hurtful and abusive. Love and abuse cannot coexist.” Think about the dimensions of abuse in Butterfly Boy. Write an essay that explores how abuse informs and/or distorts Gonzalez ideas of love. What are examples of love in the book, if there are any at all? Where does Gonzalez see love, if at all in this text? How is abuse normalized and what does abuse do to Gonzalez’ as he grows into other relationships?