Starting with the title, "Quinceanera," a reader can detect hidden meanings. In the Spanish language, the word quinceanera means that a new voice will be heard as a girl becomes of age, a fifteen-year-old girl's coming out party in Latin cultures. In the poem "Quinceanera," by Judith Ortiz Cofer, she tells the story of when she turned fifteen. Cofer demonstrates the tone of the poem very well. The denotation of tone states that one conveys an attitude toward the person addressed, however the attitude is clear to the reader. For e

Although quinceaneras are of the Latin culture, each one has its own special touch. Each girl who is involved experience many of the same feelings and emotions, but the way they are displayed is what makes the girl become the woman that she is expected to be. By the tone of the story and the figurative language that is expressed, is what makes the reader feel and imagine what the writer is going through or what they have already experienced.

Cofer, Judith Ortiz. "Quinceanera" in Literature, 7th Ed. New York: Library

The reader can also observe figures of speech in the poem. First of all, similes are throughout the entire poem. For example, the first three lines of the poem states that "My dolls have been put away like dead / children in a chest I will carry / with me when I marry, is an example of a simile that has great meaning to it. This quote has a meaning that sin

Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 594
Approximate Pages = 2 (250 words per page double spaced)