Nuntapramote 1

Titichot Nuntapramote
Professor Heringer
College 1
Nov 18, 2014
The Madonnas of Echo Park
Summary and response journal 9 La Luz y la Tierra
1 Summary
Her mother named Aurora after her grandmother, the person who evicted from Chavez Ravine,
where Dodger Stadium located now, and her last name, Esperanza, means hope. She had a
relationship with Gerald that didnt go well because of her unsure about her own identity. She comes to
help her mother clean her house one a month. When she arrived, she forgot to lock the house door,
leading to Blackjack, her mothers dog, ran away. They went to Vinces house, the mothers boyfriend, to
check whether Blackjack come here. It turned out that Aurora had to look for Blackjack by herself; plus,
she receive a key from Vince that ask for deliver to Lorenzo. In Lorenzo place, he surprised to see Aurora
which make him remind about her as a child. She received a chair that she was asked for deliver to Coat
Queen and the star sticker that is meaningful to her. She also met Mr. Charles MacArthur or Crazy Mac,
the track coach. In the Coat Queen house, she delivered the chair and gave her the coat that she wear.
She found Blackjack with the Lord but misunderstand which leading to fight. She also met Angie by
accident but doesnt they are related. In the Lotus Festival, she saw Coat Queen throw away her coats
and had a fight with the Lord about Blackjack. After getting beat from four men, Aurora saw Morrissey
and then passed out. After her mother left her to San Francisco with Vince, Aurora looked at the photo
of the little Madonnas accident, leading to her regret about the relationship with her mother after the

Nuntapramote 2
accident. She appreciated people that related to her childhood that make who she is today which she
didnt appreciate in the past.
2 Response
According to Brando Skyhorses speech, Aurora is the closest character to his personality which
make me thinking about this chapter or the book differently from the way I did. Same as Brando
Skyhorse, Aurora has many men who are the parts of her life that make who she is today. Hector was
created by his imagination how his biological father would be. Hector cheated on his wife and left his
daughter same as Brando Skyhorses father left him during his childhood. Vince did his best as a father
which is opposite to Hector, who didnt take his responsible as a father. As the author describe how
Lorenzo look at Aurora, he would be another person whom she think as a father. He looks at Aurora as a
child who come to hang out when her own mother were busy. Aurora also looks at him as a father too.
Mr. Charles MacArthur was her track coach. He helped her joy in high school. Those men in her life refer
how she grew up become who she is. When Aurora visited Coat Queen, Coat Queen cried after listening
about Auroras relationship with her mother. Even though they dont they were related, she cried
because her life have never received love from her own mother or give love to her daughter. They are
completely strangers, but Aurora gave her a coat, which make Beatriz think this is a sight of love that
make her warm, leading to her decision to throw her coats away. Aurora regrets about her reaction
after the accident which make not to listen to her mother and wants to reestablish the relationship. Her
mother left her this time not because she doesnt love Aurora, but she see that she has grown to be
adult and ready to take care of other. Overall, Aurora didnt appreciate everything about her childhood
as she grew up her opinion changed. We can see that she tried to fit in her family again.
3 Open-ended Question

Nuntapramote 3
Even though the boy didnt mean to but how did Aurora think after she was told that she didnt
belong here? How does it lead to opinion after she have been around current Echo Park? How does she
think about Echo Park in the past and now?
Why did Coat Queen, Beatriz, cry after Aurora told her about her mother?
What I saw in that photo was my mother staring in disbelief that my body had the audacity to
rise up to her height. What does Aurora think about her mother after looking at the photo? What
different on how she thought in the past? Is she regret about ignoring everything that her mother said?
How does she feel after her mother had left?
In Brando Skyhorses speech, he said that Aurora is the closest character to his personality. Does
other characters also express his feeling or his life? For example, he wrote Hector base on his
imagination how his father would be.
4 Reading Process
Since this is the last RRJ for this class, I would like to go as depth as I could. It is the longest
chapter and it also connects the whole story together. Plus, the two-week gap is very harmful because I
mostly forget who they are for some characters as they show up in the chapter. I decided to rewrite the
character map. On the white board, red numbers represent chapters so that I could recall each
character as they show up in the chapter. Blue color refers to the last chapter. I also eliminate some
characters that is not important in my opinion in order to fit in this small white board. Also, I went to the
last book club. I got a lot of information, such as Emilys opinion about how Aurora think or very small
details that hard to notice in the first time reading, there that is useful for writing a response.

Nuntapramote 4

5 Vocabulary
Land (N) the part of the earths surface occupied by continents and islands.
Since they were kicked out from where they belonged, land would refer to the place where they
had happy lives. It also refers to the community of Chavez Ravine.
Home (N) a house, apartment, or other shelter that is the usual residence of people.
Home could be referred to Echo Park where Aurora grew up but not current Echo Park that she
doesnt feel belong to.
Faith (N) confidence or trust in a person or thing; belief in God or in the doctrines or teaching of religion.
As Aurora describe about the color of her faith was Morrissey, but I think the color of her faith is
trying to become a part of her family again. The word doesnt seem to have direct meaning in this
chapter. I think it can refer to her belong or identity.