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The American Dream: Myth or Reality?

by María L. Trigos-Gilbert

Before I explain what the American Dream is, it’s imperative to discuss the meaning of one’s dream. So let’s ask some fundamental questions at hand. What’s a dream? Where do we conceive our dreams? Where does a dream end? How does a dream get materialized? What happens after it is materialized? A dream is hope’s image. You hope what you don’t have until you get it. Then your hope is fulfilled. A dream is conceived in one’s mind. We start imagining. In your mind everything is just right, all what you want, when you want it, and with whom you want it. If those aspects of your dream come true, then you may shout BINGO. That’s when your dream ends. By then, you are supposed to be satisfied.

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Venezuela & Hugo Chávez Frías

by María L. Trigos-Gilbert

Though I have named my article “Venezuela & Hugo Chávez Frías,” this is not really about one person for one country, in this case Venezuela one of the Latin American countries. On the contrary, what makes a country is not just its president, but its people. We talk a lot about democracy in the USA, but do we really know the meaning of it? Most of you may say that yes, you know all about democracy because this is your political foundation, and indeed your belief. Yet I do also have my belief. My belief tells me that things are not just black and white. By the way, the colors allusion is not about people’s skin color. This is just a term referring that we should not look at life with one glass spectrum. Democracy is like a pot luck. All of the contributions are voluntarily. Everybody has a vote. Is this reality? Absolutely the answer is NO. We may talk a lot, write a lot and debate a lot. In the end we may not be heard by our politicians, just like in any communist country. At times, in those communist countries people may be heard a lot more closely than we indeed presume in our so-called perfect system.

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Ana María Matute: The Fantasy of a Surrealist Writer

by María L. Trigos-Gilbert

Some of you may think surrealism is a plastic art term, from the paintings and sculptures that different artists create. Yet when I think about Ana María Matute, I associate her with Mr. Salvador Dalí, the most famous Spaniard surrealist painter. Mrs. Matute is pretty much a surrealist, though I’m not so sure if she would appreciate this title to her writing.

The first time I read one of Mrs. Matute’s work, I felt hypnotized. I wanted to keep reading, thought the short fiction came to an end. My eyes kept staring at the last words, “Yes, yes, yes.” There were so many possible answers since Mrs. Matute had left the readers’ imagination and content to fill in the explicit questions or arguments. I became at that very moment one of those expected readers, looking for answers.

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Verbal Crimes

by María L. Trigos-Gilbert

When we think about a verbal crime, we reject the thought because indeed it doesn’t seem a bit realistic. It is as when you look at a person with eyes like bullets. If looks could kill, the world’s amount of people would be near to the number zero. Yet the question is still pending: What’s a verbal crime? It’s when one uses the wrong word to describe or to define someone or something. Of course, I’m not talking about those times when we forget the exact word that our mind searches. I’m talking about when we intentionally ill-use adjectives, nouns, and even verbs to approach any given subject, person, or situation.

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Wal-Mart or Wal-Bad?

by María L. Trigos-Gilbert

“Have a good day.” “How are you doing today?” “Did you find everything okay?” “Thanks for shopping here.” Those words are nice after you have spent a pretty good amount of money in any given store. Certainly the amount of importance varieties from one customer to another. For example, if I spend $100.00 in one place, this may not be a big amount of money for you, though it may be a big deal for me. The case is that we all want good service, in spite of the amount of money that we may spend in a store, restaurant, or any other place.

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