Angie Grajeda

Professor Lao
College One
October 22, 2014
Reading Response Journal # 8
1. Chapter 6 from the novel The Madonnas of Echo Park, by Brando Skyhorse deliberately gives us a
view into the life of a man named Freddy Blas. We enhance loads of information from this character.
We learn about his past, and the trouble he got into for several years. We learn a little more about
who he is: 42 years of age, born in Mexico, and raised in East L.A, spent 19 years of his life locked
up, grew up in Boyle Heights, he is a big man to be a Mexican, has massive lobster-claw hands, was
a short-order cook at a 24 hour taco stand for about 8 months, dropped of school, was smart, ran
away, etc. In the chapter he tells us a few stories about his past such as, when he helped capture a
serial killer on East Hubbard Sheet in 1985, stealing the peoples money when he worked at a taco
Stand, he also told us the story of how he meet his wife, Cristina. Another story he told which I
thought was the most important one was the one that caused him to be sent to jail, was when he
worked as a valet at a club in West Hollywood. The story goes something like this, he got into a car
saw a wallet with loads of dollar bills, decided to get some, as he saw the owner heading toward him
he put the bill in his hand, ducked to pick up the wallet but panicked and accidently punched the
accelerator hitting a guy slamming his head into the bar and causing much more destruction. Later,
he goes into the present talking about Cristina. He goes to her house expecting everything to the
same, and discovers that she is dead. Lastly, he gets beating up for doing some trick on a guy, to
earn some money and heads toward a city bus, where we once again encounter Efren Mendoza, the
bus driver and takes him to his destination
2. While reading chapter 6 from the novel The Madonnas of Echo Park, by Brando Skyhorse, I found
this chapter to be quite interesting and rich of information. I thought this because I liked how the main
character deliberately told his stories, with such sincerity and ease. Such as the story of when he met
his wife and the car incident. The one thing that really tormented me was finding out with the main
character that his wife died. The character and I are as clueless, of exactly happened to his wife, we
are both left on a cliffhanger. I think till today we can see some of this kind of behavior such as when
people come out of prison and lose contact of their relatives and expect them to be at the same place
and realize several years have passed and they have moved or something happen to them. I feel sad
for them because they technically have no one, because they cannot find them. Throughout the
chapter, I encountered anger and laughter of the things he said. I was angry when he mentioned the
times he would come home all late, and drunk, being with other women and still will manage to get
inside Cristinas bed. I encounter when he mentioned at the beginning of the chapter that he could
make a large profit selling neck braces to Mexicans who nod their heads all the time because they
never opened their mouth to speak up. Overall, I cannot wait to find out more on Cristina his wife, and
find out where is Angie, etc.
3. Do you think Cristina knew Freddy was a cheater? Why do you think she always end up forgiving
him?
At the end of the chapter he gets himself in the bus, do you think he is on his way to look for Angie?
4. While I was reading, chapter 6 this particular reading went smoothly for me, I had no difficulties while
reading it. I was able to comprehend everything the author was saying. Most importantly, I was able
to draw conclusions and make connections between characters from previous chapters such as the
bus driver, Efren and Hector, Cristinas ex-husband. Now that I am familiar with the authors present
and past writing, I am now able to shift with the reader while reading, I do not get confused any more.
Some strategies that I used while reading this chapter were questioning to understand and
remember, outlining important information, and lastly visualizing. One thing that I use as advantage
are using post-it-notes, in my book. Post-it-notes help me jot down my thinking, and it is a great way
to go back and recall upon information when asked. Therefore, this reading kept me motivated to
continue reading, cause I was able to understand everything not like previous chapters.

5. As I was reading this chapter I encountered some struggles with words and its definition. I found it
challenging because when I came upon the word I would skip or just glance at it and not know what
that word meant. A few words that that I encountered in my reading and that I did not know were:
Muff, Flailing, Perch, Caulking, Tirade. I felt the knowledge of a specific word in its context I was
misled by the information being given. Keeping track of words that you do not knowing in any kind of
reading can benefit you greatly, gives you more understanding in the given reading and more
knowledge of words that you can later use in talking or writing. It is very important to know all sorts of
vocabulary words.
Muff:
a thick, tubular case for the hands, coveredwith fur or other material, used by womenand girls for
warmth and as a handbag.
Flailing:
an instrument for threshing grain,consisting of a staff or handle to one end ofwhich is attached a fr
eely swinging stick orbar.
Perch:
a pole or rod, usually horizontal, serving asa roost for birds.
Caulking:
to fill or close seams or crevices of (a tank, window,etc.) in order to make watertight, airtight, etc.
Tirade:
a prolonged outburst of bitter, outspoken denunciation