The Daughter of Invention

The typewriter in “Daughter of Invention” relates to the theme of Language, Communication, and Writing. Laura first brings up the typewriter when she bursts into Yoyo’s room while she is writing. She claims she’ll buy Yoyo a typewriter and hire her a typist when she makes money from her inventions. A typewriter gives Yoyo’s writing legitimacy and possibility beyond her writing in her room at night. It signifies an investment in Yoyo’s future as a writer, and her parents’ acknowledgment that her success and recognition will likely come from her ability to communicate in English. Yoyo receives a typewriter from Carlos, though, not Laura. Laura stops inventing after being discouraged, and Carlos only gives Yoyo a typewriter after she agrees to change her speech. By the end of the story, the typewriter represents the compromises Yoyo will have to make in America to gain the success she desires.

The newspapers in “Daughter of Invention” relate to both the theme of Language, Communication, and Writing and Historical Memory and Trauma. Carlos chooses to read Spanish newspapers each night to get news from home. Laura, on the other hand, reads the New York Times to learn about Americans.