Latino/a/e/x Communities in the US

Asynchronous Assignment on “The Sound Catalog”

Instructions:

1. Read the short story “The Sound Catalog” by Achy Obejas.

2. In the comment section down below answer ONE of the following prompts (25o-word minimum).

Deadline: 2/15 before the class

OPTION ONE

By bringing concrete examples from the stories, compare how Achy Obejas centralize hearing to tell her story. In what ways has your perspective on the characters’ bodies and interior world expanded thanks to this narrative approach?

OPTION TWO

In Remembering and Forgetting the Cuban Revolution Michael J. Bustamante argues that “popular visions of the Cuban Revolution’s legacies today are in many ways polarized” but “polarization conceals more nuanced, evolving viewpoints, and it is the result of political processes that were and continue to be anything but neat.”

How does Achy Obejas elaborate on the contested narratives about Cuba in Chicago’s diasporic communities? How do Obejas’ characters have different responses to those perspectives?

OPTION THREE

Pick one of the sounds from “The Sound Catalog” by Achy Obejas and through that section, examine the complex gains and losses of the main two characters while in the diaspora.

21 thoughts on “Asynchronous Assignment on “The Sound Catalog””

  1. Option 3
    It seems Dulce remembers her memories through sound as she doesn’t have the best hearing. The story is introduced with, “the radiator hissing”. Then she goes to describe how the radiator and her surroundings feel and sound. The sounds seem to almost always make her think about her time back in Cuba. In the same paragraph in the next sentence she says, “ She’d never seen such a thing in Cuba, never heard its song, never touched it before.” This can be seen as a complex gain, she seems to be so fascinated by something as simple as a radiator and it takes her back to Cuba, to when she’s never ever seen or heard of a radiator. Given they don’t need a radiator in Cuba, since it’s pretty much always warm. In the sentence after that, she talks about getting her first apartment with her Cuban ex-lover. This can also be a complex gain, in Cuba she lived with her ex-lovers family, but now in the US she has an apartment that Dulce can call her own. In the end of that part of the short story, Dulce talks about putting on her hearing aid. So I am not sure if she had a hearing aid while in Cuba. I am assuming the hearing aid was something she was able to get in the US. If that is the case, then this can also be a gain for Dulce. Not being able to hear properly back in Cuba due to hearing problems, then coming to the US and receiving hearing aids.

  2. Option One:

    Achy Obejas is very detailed when explaining her story. It is evident throughout the short story that the author uses sound to create a vivid experience for the reader. Her narrative approach of concentrating on different sounds throughout the story helps the reader visualize what is happening and it can appeal to the reader’s senses. This is done when one of the characters “Dulce” reminisces about certain life experiences by acknowledging the sounds of certain objects. For her, the sounds of certain objects remind her of certain memories. At the beginning of the story, the hissing of a radiator reminds Dulce of when she first moved to the states with her Cuban ex-lover but it also is a reminder of how she never saw one in Cuba before. In addition, Dulce talks about quitting coffee and how she drinks tea now but the sound of a coffeemaker hissing reminded her of what she used to drink in Cuba. She explains how she would drink coffee with milk and peas to stretch the coffee back in Cuba. She reminisces on how the best part of that drink was the peas because of the fiber it would give. The sound of the coffee maker is a reminder of a memory back home but she does not miss the coffee or sound. My perspective on the characters’ bodies and the interior world has expanded from this narrative approach because I was able to empathize with certain parts of the story. The narrative approach of focusing on sounds helps me visualize what is happening and helps me to be interested throughout the whole reading.

  3. Option Three

    In “The Sound Catalog”, the main character is a Dulce, Cuban woman who is hard of hearing, who reminisces on her life back in Cuba and the time she spent with her Cuban ex-lover by listening to the sounds in her house. One sound that I came to notice was the sound of a tea pot whistling. In this context, Dulce is remembering how she used to drink coffee in the morning with grinded up peas while preparing herself some tea instead. I believe this simple passage is meant to symbolize how Dulce gained some footing while living in the United States with her new Non-Cuban lover, but has also lost something that had connected her back to Cuba. The Coffee with milk and grinded up peas was a drink she would drink quiet frequently when she used to live in Cuba, but she has replaced Coffee in favor of tea that her non-Cuban lover introduced to her.

  4. Option 3:

    Oddly enough when you are away from your country/home the more you value the little snippets you get from it. Whether it is food, music, people/ conversations etc. In Dulces case I was able to see how her way of missing her country was found in the smell of Coffee. Again very relatable for me whenever I am away from home for too long (most specifically my moms morning coffee) when I get to experience waking up to that smell again it is an instant rush of dopamine. Then when Dulce found a Diaspora in Chicago, she was able to find that the people valued the things that she valued as well, like the national anthem and singing songs of patriotism and pride for where you’re from, pride of the beauty of where you came from and not necessarily pride about the things that the people there are actually doing. She was able to realize that being around this specific group is where she felt most at home in comparison to the other group for lesbian Latinas, and that also might have to do with the fact that in these latin American countries it is not part of the culture to adopt something like a lesbian Latinas club, so it made sense that the other diaspora was the one where she felt the most comfortable being a part of.

  5. Option # 3:

    The story begins with the “radiator hissing” from their apartment, when this part is mentioned it reminded dulce about the noise made when ironing a linen shirt back in Cuba. The sounds that she hears give her a sense of comfort because it reminds her of home. In the story it states “She liked the sound of the radiator…what she was really listening to was the memory of it.” You also see how surprised she is by the radiator as well. It was something she never saw in Cuba given that in Cuba it is never cold so there was never a need for a radiator. It is a new experience for her but at the same she’s grateful to have it, it gave her memories of back home. Now while Dulce is somewhat enjoying her time away from her home her Cuban ex-lover is having a hard time adapting to the changes. She misses the simplicity of things back home and how even without money there was always something to do. Her lover stated “Hated that there was so little to do (unless you had money) and so much trash on TV, and she found the thirty different kinds of soy sauce overwhelming.” Here you see how her Ex-lover was finding everything in the U.S a problem. While Dulce is enjoying the change, she loves that there are thirty different kinds of soy sauce. The story also mentioned that while Dulce did as well miss the simplicity of life back home that she was glad to get rid of certain things. When you look at both these characters you see that one is happy to have some change in her life even if she had to sacrifice a lot to get to where she’s at now. While the other character instead of being grateful for having a change for the better , she just complains. One character is willing to adapt while the other is just doing it because she has too.

  6. Option 3:
    The announcement of the PA system is a section that intrigued me the most because it relates to my family’s experience of coming to America. Achy Obejas talks about the struggle of constantly worrying about survival and trying to preserve due to political influence. How depressing it is to know that you can’t raise a significant level even with studying or work. But even after immigrating Dulce reminisces the familiarity of her neighborhood and community, and essentially misses belonging somewhere. This is what I heard from my mom growing up because the sense of routine in America is around working and struggling and grinding. This is one of the losses. Something that can be seen as a gain or loss is the frivolity of America as it is described in the text. Like there being 30 different kinds of soy sauce. Dulce seemed to like this but the Cuban ex-lover didn’t. It comes down to variety and whether you’re a type of person that likes this such as Dulce. The Cuban ex-lover is used to a simpler life and simpler taste and having a lot all around you definitely can be overwhelming. This was expressed where she was yelling at the top of her lungs in the store wanting “normal soy sauce” and the guards coming in with guns to see what was going on.

  7. Option #3:

    Throughout Achy Obejas’ “The Sound Catalog,” she uses different sounds that she hears living as a diasporic Cuban in Chicago to compare or reminisce on the life she left behind in Cuba. For example, the hiss of her radiator reminded her of the sound of ironing linen, and the whistle of the teapot reminded her of brewing the coffee she used to drink. Hearing the PA announcement at the grocery store with while with her ex-lover, she contemplates how her life has changed, and the differences in how she and her ex-lover see their new lives in Chicago. She longs for the community she was a part of and the simplicity of life she had in Cuba, but welcomes the relative stability in her material conditions, not having to deal with the reality of another person having left the island, and the superficial freedom of being able to choose between thousands of tv channels and 30 soy sauces. Her ex-lover on the other hand dislikes how there’s not much to do unless you have money, how there was “so much trash on TV,” and was overwhelmed by the redundance of 30 different brands of soy sauce. Her ex-lover began to adapt and try to settle into their new life, but could never fully adjust and eventually went back to Cuba. Dulce was able to adapt and settle to her new life in Chicago, but the sounds she hears everyday bring her back to her life in Cuba.

  8. Option 3:
    The zzzzz of zippers. This sound basically symbolized the new beginning for Dulce and her Cuban ex- lover. Every time she hears this sounds, she is reminded of when they first left Cuba and went to the United States. While both of them were excited that they had received visas for the US, the Cuban ex-lover was still disoriented by the changes between Cuba and the US. When first coming to the US, they learned of the acceptance that the parents had for their relationship since it wasn’t a relationship between a man a woman even though the parents already knew, they just didn’t explicitly say they did. However, it seems like the Cuban ex-lover couldn’t really adapt to the ‘Latino’ culture in the US. The brother had told about social gatherings for couples just like them and when both of them went, the Cuban ex-lover stated she didn’t like it since it wasn’t really something they do, they didn’t have anything in common with them. In addition, the Cuban ex-lover didn’t like how the linguistics professor spoke since it wasn’t spoken in a way she was used to. In other words, the gains associated with the zip sound is, one, the fact that they were able to come to the US together, and two, in the US, society was much more accepting of Latina lesbians and there were actually more couples like them which in turn allowed them to feel comfortable enough to tell the parents about them and the parents accepted them. However, the changes in the US left the Cuban ex-lover feeling disoriented since there were things that she wasn’t quite use to yet.

  9. Before I mention the sounds for option three, I want to bring up a gain/ loss. It came to my attention because many immigrants illegal/legal, come to the U.S for a better life, but start to face new issues that also make it hard to reside in the U.S. Dulce experiences this when she gets her diagnoses as to why she can’t hear. It’s due to a tumor, and she knows she needs to seek medical help. However, she does not have medical insurance, and without it, she cannot afford the treatment she needs overall. This would not be an issue if she were in Cuba. However, in Cuba she fears the hospital because theres chances where the lights could go off during her treatment, overall the safety hazards the hospitals have in general. It’s a gain that she is in “the land of opportunity” but a loss because she is limited to the resources due to not being from there.

    Sounds playing a huge role in this story is ironic to me, because she has a hearing issue. However, I feel like it makes it more meaningful when a sound resonates with her and connects her back to her origin. The first tine this is seen is the beginning when she hears the radiator, reminding her the sound an iron used to make when she would iron. The whistling from the teapot also gave her the same feeling. The radiator also reminded her of the coffee maker that would hiss back in Cuba. When she would wear her scarves, it would brush up against her ears and remind of her of the hurricane noises she would hear from back home.

    This reminds me of how much my mom used to compare the United States to Nicaragua, now she barely mentions Nicaragua in that way. However, As years go by, more and more family members are coming from there and they always remind me of my mother when they first get here because of how homesick they get. Sometimes it’s sad to see how used they get to being in the U.S and little by little they stop mentioning Nicaragua as often as they used to.

  10. OPTION3:
    The story starts with the radiator hissing and although Dulce can’t hear much, she hears that, and it triggers many memories. She says “never heard its song, never touched it before” which could represent a technological gain from migrating, in Cuba they didn’t have radiators since it’s usually warm majority of the time. She also talks about the sound of a whistling teapot, that reminds her of the coffee she used to drink and now she drinks tea. I interpreted that part as a loss as maybe she had a tradition she enjoyed that she no longer has. Almost like reminiscing. My takeaway from the short story was the feeling of nostalgia, and making room for new things. Life goes on and as much as we hold certain moments and memories close, life is forever changing and all they are, is a memory.

  11. I picked the sound “A bell” which resembles the noise of the bell ringing and causing anger to turn to a swing. Dulce would go to ESL class to advance her English better, but she had no one to go with her family was already advanced. The only person who can go with her was her former lover who happens to be Cuban. However, she never wanted to go with her because it was too boring for her. So, they would argue between them and connect back to the bell. This caused tension and conflict between the two characters because Dulce has learned something, and her Cuban ex-lover did not seem to pay any interest in her sayings. Dulce is gaining from this because she is coming to a new country where she must learn from scratch which she is trying her best to get a better sense of the community her Cuban ex-lover wants to keep the same lifestyle and doesn’t think she needs to learn. Rather than bonding they are doing things separately. When she moves in with her non-Cuban partner, she learns a new meaning to the bell “an angel earns its wings” which meant like a relief for one person. One will learn new things, but it won’t be the same and it is fine because everyone is different in their own ways. Dulce was able to see a complete difference between her Cuban ex-lover and her non-Cuban lover and how you shouldn’t just let things be without putting effort so you can win a match.

  12. The zzzzzzz of the zippers.

    The character Dulce usually listens to sounds to remind her of certain events in her life. We learned during our reading of “The sound catalog” that Dulce has a hearing impairment. In the section of the reading called the zzzzzzz of the zippers the author describes Dulce’s and her Cuban ex-lover’s thoughts and attitude. In most of the “Sound” sections Dulce usually has a better attitude and vision on life. Her experiences in the USA have a better outlook then what her Cuban Ex-Lover envisions or feels. During this particular section Dulce is thinking about her Cuban Ex-Lover and how she may be disoriented because of all the changes happening so quickly. They had both received their visas and had left the island of Cuba to live in Chicago. In Chicago they were received by Dulce’s family instead of living with the Cuban Ex-Lovers family. Dulce’s family and the community were a bit more open with the fact that they were lesbians. In Cuba people knew, but it was a topic that was less spoken about. During the section the Cuban ex-lover complains about being bored going to the Latina lesbian club and that she didn’t have anything in common with them. Dulce on the other had expressed how much she like the restaurant owner and the linguistic professor. You can see that the two had different attitudes on similar experiences. It demonstrates how while in diaspora Dulce was enjoying and embracing her new experiences as the Cuban Ex-Lover was just always comparing people and things to her experiences in Cuba. The last line of the section the author describes Dulce zippering up her coat, boots and gloves and how Dulce was surrounded by the cold comfort of the snow around her. Which demonstrates again the fact that Dulce was enjoying the snow and enjoying the experience of being in Chicago. I also wanted to point out that the author calls the character Dulce by her name during the short story and Dulce’s partner the Cuban Ex-Lover. This distinguishes the way he addresses both characters. I feel like the author described the Cuban ex-lover in that way because she has lost her identity while in the diaspora and on the other hand the opposite is happening to Dulce.

  13. Option 3:
    The sound of silence, though technically not a sound at all, solidifies the underlying theme of existentialism. For Dulce, sound is the only mechanism that connects her to her identity. Whether it be the sounds of Cuban coffee or the unfamiliar apartment radiator, it is her primary way of sensory processing. She can connect newer sounds to older ones to begin to find a place and purpose in America. Her partner, on the other hand, does not seem to process emotions in a similarly effective way, which is why she is so easily overwhelmed. Every preceding sound represents a point in their lives and relationship, also examining the differences in their reactions. One of the more striking examples is the contrast in the openness of meeting new people, where Dulce is notably more hopeful and excited. Her partner is less receptive because she cannot understand what is happening, and she can only relate her feelings to stagnant, past Cuban experiences. This dichotomy extends to the reactions to the silence itself, where her partner’s return away from the loud, American excess is the only way that she can remain happy. Dulce has an opposite understanding, as she has to “decode” the silence of her new life. Sound is the biggest contributor to imagery and lends to the chronological progression of events. The absence of sound, then, becomes a symbol of uncertainty that forces both characters to rethink the intent of their ambitions. “The Sound Catalog,” titularly, thus represents an extended metaphor for life.

  14. Option 3
    The sound that I chose to discuss is a bell. In this section, Dulce is associating that sound with the memory of her ESL teacher explaining an American expression to the class. From what Dulce hears the expression is”Whenever you hear a bell ring, anger turns on a swing.”(Obejas,55). Dulce does not understand this expression but attempts to come up with possible meanings for it. Years later she finds out what the actual expression means when her Cuban ex lover explains that the correct expression is, “Whenever you hear a bell ring, an angel earns its wings”(Obejas, 56). After learning this Dulce really acknowledges the struggle she has with picking up the English language. While she struggles to pick up the language her Cuban ex-lover seems to have an easier time assimilating into the culture. Her Cuban ex-lover seems to gain some of the knowledge of the American culture.

  15. Option 3:

    Of all the sounds Obejas includes in the passage, the idea of how our backgrounds can influence the perspective of those we would even consider friends is never more apparent when her ex-lover gets into a fight with one of the people who helped her get a loan to start her own small business. “You fucking communist!” (Obeja 64) The passage mentions a long conversation between the two centered around what patriotism and martyrdom mean to them, and given its subjective nature would most likely vary between people regardless of background. This case in particular though was rife with inflammatory potential considering the geopolitical context of the conflict between Cuba and the united states, creating ideological tension which broke through in a violent outburst from the business partner brandishing a fork as a weapon on grounds that the ex-lover was a communist. Not in self-defense or any other justified means of using this kind of violence, but because of the perception this person attached to the ex-lover as a result of learning of her background and the perspective she gained from it. At this moment I believe Dulce and her ex-partner saw where they truly lie in the eyes of some of their new neighbors in Chicago, potentially leading to a sense of non-belonging and hostility from the new environment. As for a potential gain from this terrible occurrence, Dulce might have learned to better coexist in this clearly hostile environment by concealing that part of her identity, in some ways detaching herself from her Cuban roots for the sake of avoiding conflict as her ex-lover experienced, creating a heightened sense of self-awareness as a survival tactic.

  16. Option #3
    The sound of a teapot whistling is the sound I would like to focus on. The sound of the teapot whistling brought her back to when she was in Cuba. The sound reminded her of when her mother and ex-lover would crush peas in order to fill the coffee maker. It is very interesting to me how a certain sound can take us back to a memory we have. For me, every time I hear students walking in the halls of Baruch after class, I remember my high school days and how excited my friends and I would be to see each other after each class. And whenever I hear someone cooking and using pots in the kitchen, I remember when my grandma used to make me breakfast or dinner while I would stay over at her house. I also find it very interesting that after years of not really liking the Cafe con leche and peas, Dulce realizes that Peas was the best part of the Cafe con leche. To conclude, this story does an amazing job at making us feel as if we are in the moment. When she talks about all the different sounds I put myself in her shoes and imagine what does sounds and try to listen. This story opened my eyes on the importance of sounds and how some sounds have a greater meaning than others.

  17. We can see that Dulce recollects her memories through sound. She doesn’t have the best hearing so this is her way of feeling the world. We can see that Dulce is hearing things that bring her back to her homeland. At the start, she brings up the idea of the hissing radiator. This is a complex gain to her because she probably never had a radiator before she got to the US and she probably never need one. For her to have her own apartment is another gain because she expressed that she lived her with her ex-boyfriend while she was in Cuba. At the end of the radiator hissing paragraph she always says, “She flipped it open, plucked out a creamy pink hearing aid, and poked it int her right ear, then the other in her left.” Hearing aid are not cheap especially if you don’t have any medical care or help. She came from a poor country so just like her living on her own, having a hearing aid was also a complex gain. All of these gains ultimately can become a lost because once you develop a new identity with a country or culture you can start to lose the identity you had before you came to this new place. Dulce is started to lose her connection with her culture and replacing what she knew with new things like the pot and the radiator etc. Dulce also found a diaspora in Chicago, she started to see that people value things and you can find pride in where you come from. Dulce had many loses and gains as she transitioned to this new place.

  18. Option 3:
    One of the sounds that Obejas mentions in “The Sound Catalog” is the announcement over the PA system at the grocery store. I think that inclusion of this sound strongly displays the contrasting characteristics of the concept of assimilation versus acculturation by the two characters, Dulce and her ex Cuban lover. We see the ex Cuban lover shows her anger of the concept of assimilating with the American culture and letting go of the culture you came from through her anger against the soy sauce selection at the grocery store. The fact that there are multiple options bother and frustrate her as she wishes life can be as easy as it was “back home” where there was simplicity and just one soy sauce option. While Dulce in this scene reminisces on her old life but is glad things are just different now and not what they used to be. In the diaspora we can see the two ways on can choose to live their lives away from “home.” There are pains and gains that come with it depending on the decisions you make of your life.

  19. Option Three
    A Bell. A simple but impactful sound for Dulce. Through this sound Dulce discovers why she can’t hear as well in English compared to Spanish. In her ESL class, Dulce first discovers the phrase “Whenever you hear a bell ringing, the anger turns on a swinging.” This phrase doesn’t make sense to her, so she asks her ex-cuban lover what this could mean. Her ex-cuban lover explains that maybe it’s about boxers, but this still doesn’t make complete sense. She’s attending the ESL classes by herself because her ex-cuban lover is angry that she would have to learn English to live off the island comfortably. The bell, for her ex-cuban lover, was ringing. We cut to the present when Dulce asks her non-cuban lover about the phrase, they respond with the true phrase “Whenever you hear a bell ring, an angel gets its wings.” This is a direct contrast to the anger her ex-cuban lover describes. Though English isn’t Dulce’s language, one day she will hear her bell ring, and earn her wings through English.

  20. Option 3

    Achy Obejas used various sound to describe the feeling Dulce was feeling. I think a lot has to do with the fact that Dulce was having hearing complication and Obejas wanted to show her side of how she understanding and express herself. For example hearing the teapot whistling remind her of coffee. But it didn’t just remind her of any coffee it remind her of home a place where her ex lover or her mother would be crushing peas to stretch the coffee. She said “that would hiss like the radiator she didn’t know yet,” regardless of Dulce condition now she find ways to stay connected to who she use to be and remembering certain sounds give her joy and hapiness. Dulce definitly carry with her those beautiful memory from back home but also seen to accept her new home that she know has a lot of more opportunity but also new difficulties.

  21. A sound that is mentioned in the “The Sound Catalog” by Achy Obejas is that of an announcement being relayed over a PA system. This sound is an example of how Dulce has become more adjusted to her life in the US, as she seems more intrigued with what the announcements have to say as there could be something she wants to buy. While her ex cuban lover doesn’t really care for the announcements and just wants to be back in Cuba, his acclimation to his new country and city is not going well, unlike Dulce’s. Dulce, though having similar feelings of wanting to be home she is able to somewhat fit in, she’s giving it a try, while he’s not really trying. The ex ex-cuban lover is somewhat angry at the idea that you have to have money in order to find enjoyment in his new setting.

Comments are closed.