Responses to Patrick Jose’s “No Cats in America”

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Responses to Patrick Jose’s “No Cats in America”

1.         Generally, the different settings in the article by Patrick Jose play an imperative role in exhibiting an understanding of the narrative theme within different points. The use of context allows the narrative to be set up in a certain place. The creation of a place permits the narrative’s development such as the author’s description of his Filipino life.

2.         The narrative’s pivotal moment occurs when the author informs the reader of his father’s potential move to the United States, specifically California. The point is climactic due to the sudden change it imposes on the author’s emotions as well as the whole narrative thereby forcing it into a new direction rather than the rosy one panted by the author.

3.         Accordingly, the image of the ‘no cats’ function in Patrick Jose’s narrative corresponds metaphorically to the concept of the American Dream. The United States has always been viewed as the land of dreams as well as opportunities whereby everything is achievable. The author’s family moved across the world in order to chase this dream. However, the same image would later show the author’s disinclination from it.

4.         Indeed, it was rational for the author to maintain the description of the parties that he experienced in the Philippines as a child. In fact, the descriptions work well in illustrating the elusiveness and outright misleading notion of the American Dream. Metaphorically, the parties are a representation of the joyous and happy local life that the author experienced with his family further proving that it was unnecessary to move to America. After all, everything they needed was right there: in the Philippines.

5.         The decision by the author to utilize specific ethnic names for party games and foods is agreeable. Such names allow the reader to have a sense of the author’s culture. In this respect, the author’s use of words functions as a form of a rhetorical appeal such as logos that convinces the reader that the story is told from an actual point of view.