Mis(s) Education: Narrative Construction and Closure in American Girl Item Type text; Electronic Dissertation Authors Perez, Sonja Zepeda Publisher The University of Arizona. Rights Copyright © is held by the author. Digital access to this material is made possible by the University Libraries, University of Arizona. Further transmission, reproduction or presentation (such as public display or performance) of protected items is prohibited except with permission of the author. Download date 26/09/2021 04:48:14 Link to Item http://hdl.handle.net/10150/556826 MIS(S) EDUCATION: NARRATIVE CONSTRUCTION AND CLOSURE IN AMERICAN GIRL by Sonja Z. Pérez ____________________________ A Dissertation Submitted to the Faculty of the DEPARTMENT OF COMPARATIVE CULTURAL AND LITERARY STUDIES In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY In the Graduate College THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA 2015 2 THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA GRADUATE COLLEGE As members of the Dissertation Committee, we certify that we have read the dissertation prepared by Sonja Z. Pérez, titled Mis(s) Education: Narrative Construction and Closure in American Girl, and recommend that it be accepted as fulfilling the dissertation requirement for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy. _______________________________________________________________________ Date: April 20, 2015 Sandra K. Soto _______________________________________________________________________ Date: April 20, 2015 Carol Brochin _______________________________________________________________________ Date: April 20, 2015 Francisco J. Galarte _______________________________________________________________________ Date: April 20, 2015 Lydia R. Otero Final approval and acceptance of this dissertation is contingent upon the candidate’s submission of the final copies of the dissertation to the Graduate College. I hereby certify that I have read this dissertation prepared under my direction and recommend that it be accepted as fulfilling the dissertation requirement. ________________________________________________ Date: April 20, 2015 Dissertation Director: Sandra K. Soto 3 STATEMENT BY AUTHOR This dissertation has been submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for an advanced degree at the University of Arizona and is deposited in the University Library to be made available to borrowers under rules of the Library. Brief quotations from this dissertation are allowable without special permission, provided that an accurate acknowledgement of the source is made. Requests for permission for extended quotation from or reproduction of this manuscript in whole or in part may be granted by the head of the major department or the Dean of the Graduate College when in his or her judgment the proposed use of the material is in the interests of scholarship. In all other instances, however, permission must be obtained from the author. SIGNED: Sonja Z. Pérez 4 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Just as it takes a village to raise a child, it takes a village to write a dissertation. I am lucky to have so many wonderful people that have helped me with this undertaking. I am thankful for my spiritual community, Unity of Houston. During my year of illness and convalescence, I credit this community for my perfect and wonderful restoration. I thank Reverend Howard Caesar for your many powerful lessons and Reverend Farolyn Mann for your meditations that have made me “be still and know.” I am thankful for Reverend Michael Gott’s music for carrying me through wonderful times and difficult ones. I am also thankful to visiting renowned scholar, Dr, Jill Carroll. I appreciate your close and careful readings of religious and philosophical texts and the way in which you fuse your intellectual mind with your compassionate heart. I offer a special thank you to my mentor, friend, and “soul sister,” Cecile Eatherley. You are truly your namesake by leading those who cannot see. You have seen my light and shown me the way. Simply put, this is one of the many beautiful results of our Wednesdays together. I will always be grateful for your kindness and generosity. I am grateful to have many good friends that have also offered years of encouragement. I am grateful to Kirsten S. Desai for being in my life through it all. Thank you for lovely wrapped presents and beautifully written cards, always offering “tea and sympathy,” and of course, for sending me a copy of Meet Josefina when I was struggling to find a dissertation topic. You are one of the most kindest and loving people that I know. I am a better person because of our twenty-six years of friendship. I am grateful to Alisha Iserman for saying, “just get it done,” especially because it was exactly what I needed to hear. I am also grateful for our Jane Austen reading group and for taking breaks with me to work on our baking skills. And so, I am looking forward to more freshly baked pies in the rolling plains of Iowa. I am grateful for my friend, Dr. 5 Angela Crow, for your wit, your artistic and intellectual curiosities, and for seeing the good in me those many years ago. I am also grateful to my good friend, Dr. Anthony Chappelle, for being a constant source of encouragement and inspiration throughout the years. You have always seen the higher possibility in me and for that, I will always be grateful. I am grateful for my son’s many wonderful teachers. At Hearts of Home, Ms. Brenda, Ms. Cheryl, Ms. Temeshia, Ms. Laura, Ms. Maritza, and Ms. Tassy are excellent examples of educators. I will always be inspired by the patience and love with which you mold young minds. I am also grateful to the Briargrove Elementary School community and to the many friends that I have made there. I am thankful for Teodoro’s current teacher, Jaime Sawyer. I wish you had been my kindergartner teacher. Perhaps I would have done better in geometry. I am grateful to the “room moms” who show up for flash cards, field trips, and mystery reader, to name a few. Thank you, Victoria Ffrench for being such an excellent example of someone who juggles it all and with such grace and Crystal Wade for always showing up with snacks and waters for all us. And I am grateful to Rasheeda Haynes for your generous sense of humor that has kept me sane this semester. I am thankful to all of you for helping make our first year in this community a fun and relatively easy one. I am looking forward to the years to come. I am tremendously thankful to my committee for their support and encouragement. For my chair, Dr. Sandra K. Soto, I am thankful for your brilliance and the grace with which you move in the academy. You supported and encouraged me when I felt weary. For this, I will always be grateful. I thank you for making all of this happen by believing in my project and ushering me through the process. I am grateful for “mi hermana,” Dr. Carol J. Brochin for her perfect timing. You came into my life at the very time that both this project and I needed you. I am grateful for your insightfulness, thoughtfulness, and constant encouragement. I look forward 6 to more future projects together. I thank Dr. Lydia Otero for being there from the beginning and seeing the value in this project. I will always be grateful for your encouraging emails and showing up for me through it all. I am grateful for Dr. Francisco J. Galarte for asking me the difficult questions and for pushing me to own my contributions. I am also tremendously grateful for SLAT Program Coordinator Kelley Merriam Castro who has helped me complete all of the required forms. Although she is a busy working mother who is also writing her own dissertation, she has always found the time to generously help me not only with the intricacies of graduate college forms but also with her constant encouragement. I look forward to the day when you file. Of course, I must also thank my family. I am grateful to my mother for all of her rosaries during my convalescence and my writing and for taking care of my home, and my son, Teodoro when I have needed it most. I am grateful for your wisdom and your words of encouragement. And I am thankful that you started my piano lessons at a young age. Sixteen years of practicing the piano has served me well. I am thankful for Eddie Taylor, for being a wonderful Pops and a kind friend. I am grateful for my brother who has been there for me, especially during hard times. I am thankful to my sister, Yolanda, for showing up when I needed you the most. I am grateful for my sister, Cristelia, for helping my family in so many different ways. I thank you for being my second mom. You have been an excellent teacher and a good friend. The completion of this dissertation also belongs to you. I also thank my family in Iowa. My father and mother-in- law, Donald and Linda Kinney welcomed me into the Kinney family eighteen years ago. I am grateful for the times we share together on your beautiful and relaxing farm. I am also grateful for the many ways in which you have supported and encouraged me during this endeavor. I am also grateful to have two family members who are excellent examples of academicians, both of whom have been integral to my own education. I am grateful for Dr. 7 Nicolas Kanellos, my brother-in-law who is also my second father. I am inspired by the work that you do and the legacy that you are leaving in recovering and publishing Hispanic literature. I am thankful to you for teaching me to be a better writer and thinker and for reading to me during my convalescence.