Part 2, Chapter 7

Before Quiara was born, her mother was a carpenter. However, in Philadelphia, she lived across the street from a pair of feminists from whom she began learning about unions and workers’ rights. Virginia became involved in organizing and cofounded a group called Tradeswomen in Nontraditional Jobs. Organizing and advocacy “made her come alive” (44), and soon, Virginia began working for a reproductive health and childcare hotline called CHOICE. Quiara recounts how her mother’s passion for advocacy began in her youth. While giving Abuela a massage, Virginia noticed a scar on her mother’s belly. She learned that, in the 1950s, many towns in Puerto Rico, including her hometown of Arecibo, offered poor women cash incentives for “cutting-edge birth control” (45). Women were sterilized with no mention of the procedure’s permanence at a rate that became the highest in the world. The government knew that no Puerto Rican woman “would publicly declare her barrenness” (46), so there were no ramifications.&nbsp; When Quiara learns the story of Abuela’s “operación,” she is in fourth grade, helping her mother prepare a conference on sterilization abuse. She has trouble believing that the story is true. However, she understands that her doubts add to the “silence” that allowed this abuse to occur.

Part 2, Chapter 7 Summary: “Latina Health Vocab from the Late ’80s”

Part 2, Chapter 8

Part 2, Chapter 8 Summary: “Spanglish Cousins on the Jersey Turnpike”

Part 2, Chapter 9

Part 2, Chapter 9 Summary: “Body Language”

Part 2, Chapter 10

Part 2, Chapter 10 Summary: “Sophomore Year English”

Part 2, Chapter 11

Part 2, Chapter 11 Summary: “Things Go Unsaid Long Enough…”

Part 2, Chapter 12

Part 2, Chapter 12 Summary: “Possession’s Voice”

Part 2, Chapters 7-12

Part 2, Chapters 7-12 Analysis

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Quiara Alegría Hudes

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Background

My Broken Language Background

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Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Part 1: “I Am the Gulf Between English and Spanish”

Part 1, Chapters 1-6

My Broken Language Part 1, Chapters 1-6 Summary & Analysis

Part 2: “All the Languages of My Perez Women, and Yet All This Silence…”

My Broken Language Part 2, Chapters 7-13 Summary & Analysis

Part 2, Chapters 13-21

My Broken Language Part 2, Chapters 14-21 Summary & Analysis

Part 3: “How Qui Qui Be?”

Part 3, Chapters 22-25

My Broken Language Part 3, Chapters 22-25 Summary & Analysis

Part 3, Chapters 26-29

My Broken Language Part 3, Chapters 26-29 Summary & Analysis

Part 4: “Break Break Break My Mother Tongue”

Part 4, Chapters 30-35

My Broken Language Part 4, Chapters 30-35 Summary & Analysis

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My Broken Language: A Memoir

Part 2, Chapters 7-12Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Part 2: “All the Languages of My Perez Women, and Yet All This Silence…”

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