Note 1. Smith is describing a situation that she went through at the dentist when she was younger and how hard it was for the dentist to do his job. Then she compares that to a time when a teacher got mad at her for speaking Spanish instead of English at school. The teacher was forcing her to speak only English.

Note 2. Irena is talking about how she came to a realization one day that the Spanish language is a male discourse. She came to this realization after two women said “nosotras” instead of “nosotros” which was how it was supposed to be said. She felt infuriated by this.

Note 7. Melanie Kay/ Kantrowitz is using her experience as a feminist to describe how women feel harassed when they pronounce a word the wrong way and how only women can feel like that and relate to that.

Note 9. Gershan Kaufman talks about how she speaks both English and Spanish. She also explains that what defines a person’s identity is their personal experience which also consists of the language they use to talk to their families, friends, and other people.

Questions:

1. Are there any American cartoons that can be compared to Cheburashka?
2. How did communism affect the people living in the Soviet Union?
3. How is life in the United States different from life in the Soviet Union?
4. Are there any other Russian cartoons that have communistic ideologies incorporated into them?
5. Why did people in the Soviet Union not agree with communism and try to go to the United States for a better life?