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David Lopez

Professor Batty

English 101

15 May 2017

Rosa: The Sophisticated

Agua Mansa is a little town east of Downtown Los Angeles, located in the Inland Empire.

It is your typical Mexican Southern California town, with Mexican styled food markets tattoo

shops, and the business that stands out the most is a botanica ran by a woman named Perla. Perla

is the spiritual healer of the neighborhood and she helps out all the people in Agua Mansa.

Whether it is for candles, love spells, or regular advice on life, Perla is significant to the

community around her. Perla has a loyal customer named Rosa. Rosa is a young woman trying to

find and change herself while dealing with negativity of the people around her. She deals with

problems that women have dealt with in the past, and remains true to herself as a kind person on

her own search of the pursuit of happiness. That is what makes Rosa the most saint-like.

Weight loss is an issue men and women around the world deal with. I have dealt with

weight loss and so has Rosa. Rosa seems dull and shy, but mostly positive with, Im lucky that

my weights mostly my belly because stretch marks there are easy to deal with. (Espinoza 14)

She knows she has some stretch marks to deal with later, but its like it doesnt matter because

she knows that can be fixed. Shes positive but she also knows she is not perfect because its

hard to be confident when you weigh as much as I do. When your bodys so big that even

breathing is hard. (Espinoza 13) Rosa wants to be confident. Rosa wants to feel sophisticated

like her sister Blanca once said. Only that in this case, she knows that it is her weight that is
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stopping her. The online health website EMPOWHER.com have an article written by Rheyanne

Weaver. Weaver writes, Overweight teens who have a higher body satisfaction and positive

body image tend to have higher self-esteem. Rosa does have self-esteem issues, and she works

on these by trying to lose weight. Having the empowerment to work on transforming herself is

what I like about Rosa. This makes her saint-like because being hopeful to lost weight is a

normal thing to worry about. That makes her a normal person one can relate to. She also sets an

example in the story for all young girls in the real world trying to lose weight, thus making her

admirable at the same time.

Rosa listens to her people around her. Her sister,her mom,her boyfriend Miguel Angel,

her boss at work, and Perla, making her obedient. Sort of along the lines of a push over. She

seems like a nice girl, but maybe too much of a nice girl. A good and bad character trait to carry

along with you in life. She only talked back to her mom when her mom would really get out of

hand with her words making me think she is respectful and wouldnt treat her mother badly even

though her mom treats her not well. She can stand up for herself, but she is also weak minded

for letting her get pushed around by her mom. She has a mind of her own, but is she using it?

More yes than no because, she had the guts to rebel and made up her own mind when left her

house after the fight with her mom. It was actions like her leaving that relate to her trying to find

herself. Miguel Angel helps her find herself.

Rosa is the most kind to Miguel Angel. Rosa allows him to talk to her, take her to his

house, and defends him against her own mom. She has kindness for him. Her mom finds out

about Miguel Angel and disapproves by saying, Men like him are always up to something. You

better watch it. (Espinoza 29) Miguel is on parole and I appreciate Rosa for not judging a man

like him. Torey Richards, a licensed mental health counselor, makes a good statement on his
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website, young people are trying to come into their own and often rebel against their parents.

Rosa overcomes the disapproval of her mom and rebels against her only because she knows that

Miguel means well. This makes her saint-like and ties up to her being kind and open-hearted.

Mothers always want what is best for their children and they will help their children in

any way possible. I know my mom loves and cares for me and will help me in any of my rough

times. The only thing is that my mom doesnt always know how to express her love or say the

correct words in order to get her point across. Rosa has a mom that is applying pressure and is

helping her out, but in the wrong ways. She is forcing medicine down her throat that never

works. Childmind.org has a list written by Juliann Garey on how to help your daughters self-

esteem. The seventh bullet on this list says, help her build skills that are independent of

appearance, meaning that Rosas mom isnt helping her build a skill to feel good, she is

teaching her all these methods of working out and buying these potions to make her, not help her,

look good. Rosas mom is like a sheriff rather than a coach by stating, just look at yourself.

Look at that body. Do you want to go on living like that? (Espinoza 24) She is dealing with

tremendous pressure that I dont blame her for being a rebel. You have to make yourself happy

someway, somehow.

Rosa from Agua Mansa is the most real life character in this book because she overcomes

weight loss, self esteem issues, a love life, and parental disapproval that men, not just women,

deal with. Sometimes parents say words that cant ever be taken back, and I felt like I related to

Rosa the most because I myself have had my mom talk down to me for being lazy and being fat.

My mom has said I looked like a hoodlum, and its cruel words and comments that actually push

children and young adults to rebel. Rosa rebelled for the better not for the worst; she didnt end

up on the streets smoking meth and selling her body for money like some girls do when they
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have heavy issues at home, making Rosa a hopeful, kind hearted young woman that deals with

whatever life throws at her. Rosa sets a tone for all young girls her age trying to lose weight. She

is the perfect example that you can feel great and look great no matter what is going on.
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Works Cited

Garey, Juliann Raising Girls With Healthy Self-Esteem

<https://childmind.org/article/raising-girls-with-healthy-self-esteem/>

Weaver, Rheyanne Rheyanne How to Improve Body Image and Self-Esteem Issues in

Overweight teens

<http://www.empowher.com/mental-health/content/how-improve-body-image-and-

self-esteem-overweight-teens>

Richards, Torey Teenage Girls And Older Men: What Every Parent Should Know 13

Feb. 2013,

<https://licensedmentalhealthcounselor.org/2013/02/20/teenage-girls-and-older-men-

what-every-parent-should-know/>