A documentary artist by Jaime manrique
In the story “The Documentary Artist”, Jaime Manrique writers of a new student who joins one of his film-directing class. The new boy called Sebastian is vocal unlike the other students in his class. He does not hide his love for horror movies. Unlike the other students, he is funny in a special way something that makes the lecturer love him (Colchie, 2002). The lecturer is attracted to the boy particularly the way he reacts when narrating a horror movie he had seen on one of the street theaters. The boy had a real passion for the movies. Though the lecturer did not love them, he was moved by the boy’s reactions.
Sebastian burst into the lecturer’s office and takes a seat without invitation and excitedly started narrating about the movie called the evil mommy which he had seen in one of the street theaters that he frequented (Colchie, 2002). He gives the details of the scene in a masterly performance inducing feelings and constantly checking on the teacher’s reaction. He wanted to confirm that even the lecturer was moved by the story. The passion in the boy for horror movies moved the teacher such that despite him not being a fan of such movies, he was moved by the short scene presentation which was impressively presented.
The lecturer loved the boy and was not so much attracted to him but rather he found Sebastian’s energy a bit unnerving. Unlike the other students, he was not colorless or lethargic (Colchie, 2002). He had an enchanting aura and drollness that he cultivated. The attraction prompted the lecturer to make a quick decision of staying away from the boy. The question raised in the story is, is the lecturer gay? Why does he get attracted to a boy- Sebastian?
Samba Rumba by Sandra Maria Esteves
The poem by Sandra Esteves talks of a girl who is joyfully singing and dancing imitating the birds. The girl has a lot of things to be happy for (Christie & Gonzalez, 2006). She jumps with her feet and sways her hips signaling how happy she is as she dances. The dancing heats her body and awakens her spirit as she drinks water from her soul. This shows the satisfaction of the dance which causes happiness to the girl.
The joy and happiness is so much that the girl sheds tears of joy as she dances mimicking the birds that she normally admires. She rubs the tears and dances the more. She prays for rain a midst the joy of the harvest she has got. She dances all the best she can as she tries to break from the confined world. She dances to get the freedom she envies. Now that she has enough harvest and she is not crying any more, she has all the reason to sing and dance with all her energy.
The girl does not cease to dance. She has obtained her freedom from hunger, sorrow and bondage; she is like a bird in the air (Christie & Gonzalez, 2006). The wounds are healed; she has been massaged to lessen the tiredness. She is fresh and she dances with such vigor and a high feeling. She feels light than air that whirls with the wind. She is overcome by joy. The poet in this poem writes of a happy girl who has been delivered from some form of problem. It shows her reaction in celebrating through dancing.
References
Christie, J. S., & Gonzalez, J. B. (2006). Latino boom: An anthology of U.S. Latino literature. New York: Pearson/Longman.
Colchie, T. (2002). A whistler in the night world: Short fiction from the Latin Americas. New York, N.Y.: Plume.
