Critique of Life in Mexico
In her many letters, and through her journals, Fanny Calderon de la Barca has left us a very informative eyewitness account of nineteenth century Mexico. Although these writings can be very useful in studying this period of time, it is important to note some of the factors that may have affected what she wrote. Fanny Calderon de la Barca's own social identity was one of the factors that had the most profound impact on her writings and observations. It is because of this social identity that her writings can be used advantageously as a source for social history...However, it is the same social identity that will help alter and be disadvantageous to using her work as a source for social history. Through examples of her writing this paper will argue these merits and show how this work can and can not be used as a source for social history. It is important to understand Fanny de la Barca's social identity, in order to help clarify the pros and con's of her work. She was the fifth child of ten born. Her father was well to do landowner, as well as a legal writer in Scotland. Her mother was related to the Earl of Buchan, in addition to other noble Scottish families (pg.5). She was very well educated as a child. She did see
I believe Fanny's writings can be useful as a source for social history. One reason is because she was there. She was able, for the most part, to see and observe the trials and tribulations, good times and bad, almost firsthand. It is important to understand how her writings have been affected and bias. This is imperative in determining the merits of her work as a source for social history. Her work will only be a beneficial source for social history if you consider her biases and opinions that could affect her writing. If these issues are not considered, this work could be an informative source, but not one that illustrate the time and events clearly. I believe that by keeping her own ideas and experiences in mind when using this source for social history, will make her accounts useful. and face some adversity growing up. This adversity and experiences help to shape her social identity, and her as a person. Her family went bankrupt, they were forced to move, soon after her father passed away. Her family moved to Boston where the remaining family members, her included, started a school. The school was temporarily successful and then closed due to a mishap. The family then moved yet again to Staten Island. Her childhood was filled with ups and downs. Throughout it all she maintained a positive attitude and grew as a result. It is obvious that losing a loved, especially one as close as a parent will have a profound impact on a person. Seeing her family go bankrupt and having to move many times has showed Fanny that anything can happen at anytime, even if your are financially secure. Experiencing these ups and downs in her family life helped to open her eyes to the tria
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Approximate Word count = 1149
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)
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