Names/Nombres

Julia Alvarez is the author and first-person narrator of “Names/Nombres.” The essay describes Alvarez’s childhood, from the time she returned to the United States with her family at 10 years old to her high school graduation. Although Alvarez was born in the United States, she grew up in the Dominican Republic, and returning to New York City made her feel like an outsider. Her essay thus highlights The Desire to Assimilate Versus Staying Connected to One’s Culture.

Upon arriving in New York, Alvarez describes her young self as being proud of her name and culture. She hears “Alvarez” as an “orchestra of sound” and longs to correct the many ways English speakers mispronounce it (Paragraph 1). However, as she grows up, she begins to distance herself more and more from her Dominican heritage as she feels the pressure of cultural assimilation. She makes friends with American classmates who show their affection with playful nicknames like “Jules” and “Alcatraz.” Slowly, Alvarez’s Spanish name becomes a source of shame, and she only reluctantly answers questions about her home country. She and her family return to the United States at a time when “ethnicity [is] not yet ‘in,’” and Alvarez longs to “merge with the Sallys and the Janes in [her] class” (Paragraph 16).