Reread Junot Diaz’s “How toDate” and read “Drown.” What are the issues of masculinity Diaz is
highlighting in these texts? What do you think is Yunior’s relationship and history with Beto?
How does that relationship and history mirror his mother’s relationship with his father? How do
you think Yunior’s attitudes about masculinity might affect his relationship with Beto? How does
Yunior’s ethnicityoperate in these stories? What are his attitudes regarding masculinity and how
are these tied to his ethnicity?

You only have to answer 3 of these questions.

Yunior’s struggle with masculinity is related to his culture and the ways most Dominican boys were raised as well as the fact that as an immigrant he was subjected to social pressures and had a harder time “fitting in”. Most Latin boys grow up fatherless and they aspire to fill the shoes of their fathers; becoming “macho” and tough is almost mandatory. His friendship with Beto has fallen apart because Beto acted in a homosexual way with him but their friendship was strong and they had a close bond prior to this.

This thesis is only a working thesis and can be changed.

I have three secondary sources

Riofrio, John. “Situating Latin American Masculinity: Immigration, Empathy And Emasculation In Junot Díaz’s Drown.” Atenea 28.1 (2008): 23-36. Literary Reference Center. Web. 19 Nov. 2015.

Mora, Richard. “‘Dicks Are For Chicks’: Latino Boys, Masculinity, And The Abjection Of Homosexuality.” Gender & Education 25.3 (2013): 340-356. Academic Search Premier. Web. 22 Nov. 2015.

Moreno, Marisel. “Debunking Myths, Destabilizing Identities: A Reading Of Junot Díaz’s “How To Date A Browngirl, Blackgirl, Whitegirl, Or Halfie..” Afro-Hispanic Review 26.2 (2007): 103-117. Academic Search Premier. Web. 22 Nov. 2015.

I will try to submit these files but if i cant im sure you can locate the articles through the citation.

The primary sources are the two short stories by Junot Diaz “Drown” and “How to Date”

I will also try to submit these.

I need to use all three secondary sources and both primary sources.

Please email me if you have any questions.

Thank you