My Broken Language: A Memoir

Discuss the different forms of religion and spirituality that appear in the text. How does Quiara feel about religion, and how does it influence her as a child? How do these experiences of religion tie into broader notions of colonialism, racism, and/or belonging?

What are Quiara’s relationships like with her different cousins? What role do they play in her life? How do her cousins’ lives expose socioeconomic disadvantages and structural racism in the USA?

How do setting and location function in the text? What are the key locations in the story, and how does Quiara feel in each one?

English and Spanish words are often combined in the text’s narrative, and Hudes often uses phonetic spellings to reflect her family member’s speech. What effect does this combination of languages have on the story? How does it speak to its themes of language and belonging?

How does My Broken Language explore the nature of familial ties? How do the Puerto Rican and Jewish American sides of Quiara’s identity shape her understanding of family, love, and selfhood?

The Perez family consists mostly of women. How does this affect their family dynamic? How does the text explore the nature of femininity and the various experiences of female bodies and personhood?

The text occasionally includes flashbacks describing the Perez family’s history and migration story. How does this information enhance the narrative and add context to better understand the struggles Quiara faces?

How do the various forms of language in the text—e.g., linguistic, cultural, artistic, social—interact with one another? How does each form of language shape Quiara’s experiences and illuminate the text’s key themes and ideas?