How To Get a Girlfriend

In Junot Diaz's "How to Date a Browngirl, Blackgirl, Whitegirl, or Halfie," Yunior presents us with step-by-step tutorial of courting various females. Written in second person, it gave me a flashback to Lorrie More's Self-Help. As with the stories in that book, however, I began contemplating the deeper meaning of the information he was presenting us with, especially in the context of his personal life.

Admittedly, the guide itself gives some pretty harmless dating advice I think we've all been through at some point or another. For instance, it's not a bad idea to get rid of old embarrassing pictures before inviting a person of interest to one's home. Doing some minor house cleaning is also expected. "Make sure the bathroom is presentable. Put the basket with all the crapped-on toilet paper under the sink" (144). On the surface, all of the instructions so far seemed fairly ordinary, but upon taking a closer look at the story I began noticing Yunior's dissatisfaction with himself and his culture.

The fact that the title literally lists a few of Yunior's "types" is already a bit revealing of the importance of race. From the beginning, when he's preparing his home for the girls, he mentions, "hide the pictures of yourself with an Afro" (143). Additionally, we notice his slight panic as a white mother comes to meet him at his door. "Run a hand through your hair like the whiteboys do even though the only thing that runs easily through your hair is Africa" (145). Then, throughout the story, he mentions how he should adjust his mannerisms based on a girls' race. Besides this, these girls don't really seem to have any individual or memorable personalities that require special adjusting.

As the story progresses, Yunior continues to tell us his tips for the various outcomes one might encounter when trying to date. It was at this point, however, that I started pondering if what he was telling us was purely educational, or if his subconscious was making its way into the story, too. On several occasions, we seem to realize that Yunior is no more suave than some of the boys at Uni High. He struggles to make conversation at times, but is still quite respectable and takes what he can get. After one such encounter, a girl says, "you're the only kind of guy who asks me out," as if it's a bad thing. Here, we see Yunior further questioning his legitimacy as datable material.

Overall, I personally liked the way this story was written. It had a good pace (and length), and several comedic twists that made if more interesting to read. That being said, though, I struggled to understand if this was the dating advice of a confident, debonair guy who likes paying attention to details, or a nerd who finds every situation slightly uncomfortable, and has made a guide to deal with it.

I Tried to Become a Writer

Unlike many people, I actually enjoyed writing as a child. In fact, I'm pretty sure if someone had asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up, I'd say an author. From writing bizarre stories about the secret lives of my pets, to documenting the mundane activities of my family members, I always relished capturing moments on paper. However, as I matured, I somehow lost this interest for writing I had once possessed.

In Lorrie Moore's "How to Become a Writer," Francie considers herself destined to become a writer. The story literally opens with, "first, try to be something, anything, else" (119). Over the course of the story, we see Francie struggling with this fate. She tries to go to college as a psychology major, yet somehow ends up in a Creative Writing class. She starts writing, but no one even likes her work anyways. I found this sad, because she seems to become depressed as a result. However, what made her actions admirable to me was her persistence. Eventually, her whole life turns into a source of inspiration for her actual works. Though I saw some similarities between me and Francie, I think we also have several key differences between us.

As opposed to Francie, I seem to have come to terms with the fact that I will not become a professional writer anytime soon. While it would be really cool to become the next J.K. Rowling, I don't think I have the diligence required to make that happen. Additionally, whenever I wrote as a child, it was mostly for fun. If I am required to write stories for a class that meet a certain deadline and length requirement, I can't focus on the content at hand as well. (The fact that this blog is late is probably indicative of that, too.) What makes Francie such an admirable character, then, is her disregard for the rules as she continues to write her wacky stories.

One thing that also came into my mind as we were discussing "How to Become a Writer" was whether or not Francie's work was actually any good. Even though Lorrie Moore's story was very successful and we all seemed to enjoy it, a few of us were quick to assume that Francie eventually became successful, too. Nothing in the story hints at such a future, and her stories are honestly pretty weird. In this sense, I wonder if the criticism she was getting from the people around her was close-minded, or actually true. Then again, the story is called "How to Become a Writer," and depending on our definition of "Writer," this could very well mean she eventually became successful, or at least happy with where she is. Overall, this story really made me rethink what it means to become a writer, and how little input writers can have in their destinies.