Bless Me Ultima Def

Lopez 1 Tiffani Lopez Ms. Carlos Period 4 March 4, 2013 DEF Term: Pathos Definition: the quality or power in an actual life experience or in literature, music, speech, or other forms of expression, of evoking a feeling of pity or compassion. (http://dictionary. reference. com/browse/pathos? s=t) Example: In Chapter 6 of Rudolfo Anaya’s Bless Me Ultima, Anaya uses pathos, “For the first time I would be away from the protection of my mother (Anaya51). Function: The pathos used on the above example is significant because it explains the amount of love and attachment Antonio has towards his mother, Maria.
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It shows how she big of an impact she is in his life. It also portrays the typical relationship between son and mother. In which, the mother is playing the protective, nurturing guardian. While her offspring –son (in this case) – is naive to the “real world. ” In the text where it states that this would be the first time Antonio would be leaving his mother, can be compared to the baby bird leaving the nest. The character of Maria could relate to the nest and the baby bird to Antonio. The nest representing protection and security, and the baby bird represents fear and shyness. This Lopez 2

Comparison foreshadows how naive and timid Antonio becomes in the absence of his mother at school. This pathos sets up a mood of compassion. The mood is compassion because Antonio’s fear and angst is understandable. The author is arguing that Antonio wants mature and become a man, but is fearful because this is something completely new to him. The overall tone of this example of pathos is worried. The tone is this because you can sense Antonio’s worry for himself without his mother. The point of the pathos was to bring attention the importance of a maternal figure in Antonio’s life.
The overall theme communicated by using this pathos is that life is a learning experience; learning something new, you learn scared. Plath’s point was to evoke concern whether Antonio will “survive” school. The pathos relates to the entire chapter 6 because throughout the chapter Antonio admits to wishing for his mother’s presence because he is lonely, but expected to become a man. Works Cited “Pathos. ” Dictionary. com Unabridged. Random House, Inc. 03 Mar. 2013. <Dictionary. com http://dictionary. reference. com/browse/pathos>. Anaya, Rudolfo A. Bless Me, Ultima. New York: Warner Books, 1994. Print.