Esperanza Rising

NAME: ______PERIOD: _____

ESPERANZA RISING

Reading Project
(100 possible points)

Your assignment is to complete the activities and requirements related to the literature study we are doing in class. Please follow the checklist below.

Checklist:

_____ 1. Answer the discussion questions on a separate piece of paper

using complete sentences. (50 points)

_____ 2. Complete the Characterization Chart and Summary

(15 points)

_____ 3. Complete the Problem and Solution Chart (25 points)

_____ 4. Choose an experience from your own life to write about.

Describe an event or dream, or express your feelings about

something using free verse, a haiku, or a rhyming poem.

(10 points)

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

1924 and Las Uvas

1. How is Hortensia like Mama? How is she different?

2. What words would you use to describe Esperanza before Papa died?

Las Papayas

3. Reread page 37. How was Esperanza’s old life like dolls lined up in a row? Create a simile for how her life is now.

4. Think about how the laws and customs in a country affect people’s lives. How would the story be different if Mama had been able to own land?

Los Higos

5. Esperanza felt as if she had left Papa at the ranch. Tell about a place that reminds you of someone. Explain.

6. Reread page 51. What did the zigzag of the blanket show? What form of figurative language is this?

Las Guayabas

7. How did you feel when Mama, Esperanza, and Hortensia were hiding in the wagon? Have you ever had a tense experience like that? Explain.

8. What did Carmen mean when she said on page 76, “I am poor, but I am rich”?

9. What did Miguel say about the color of a person’s skin? Why do you think Esperanza had never noticed this before?

Los Melones

10. Esperanza made a judgment about Marta when she met her. This is called a “first impression.” Tell about a time when you met someone and had a first impression. Did you judge that person correctly?

11. What did Marta say that hurt Esperanza? Do you think Marta should have said these things? Why or why not?

12. How were the fields in California different from the land of Aguascalientes?

Las Cebollas

13. What was the feeling in the camp? What was life like for the workers?

14. Everyone in the camp knew about everyone else’s life. Do you think this was good or bad? Why?

Las Almendras

15. Esperanza went to the Jamaica even though she still felt foolish. Think about a time when you felt foolish. Was it hard to see people after that? What did you do?

16. Why did Marta say that the workers were kittens? What kind of figurative language is this? What did she want them to do?

Las Ciruelas

17. Esperanza took care of babies and tried to help Mama when she got sick. Do you help people where you live? What do you do?

18. After the dust storm, everyone went back to work as if nothing had happened. Why do you think the people acted like this?

Las Papas

19. Have you ever protested against something? What was it? What happened?

20. How did Esperanza feel about her old life?

21. How do you think this chapter relates to the theme “Making It Through Tough Times”?

Los Aguacates

22. Suppose Marta had asked you to join the strike. What would you have done? Why?

23. Miguel took a railroad job from a worker who left to join the strike. If you were that worker, how would you feel about Miguel?

Los Espárragos

24. How did you feel when Esperanza helped Marta? Have you ever helped someone you didn’t really like? How did it make you feel?

25. Name one thing about Marta and Esperanza that is the same. Name one thing that is different.

26. On page 213, what could the broken piñata represent?

Los Duraznos

27. Esperanza gave her doll to Isabel. Have you ever given something you loved to a friend or stranger? What was it? How did it make you feel?

28. Reread page 224. How was Esperanza’s life like the zigzag in the blanket? Is your life like a zigzag or a straight line? Why?

Las Uvas

29. Reread what Abuelita said about the phoenix on page 50 and what Esperanza thought about it on page 250. How was Esperanza like the phoenix?

30. On page 91-92, Esperanza could not hear the heartbeat of the earth. Why could she feel it at the end of the story?

NAME: ______PERIOD: ______

CHARACTERIZATION

An author uses various methods to tell us about a character: indirectly and directly. This is characterization. In the table below, write at least 2 words that describe the main character in each box, but the words you use must begin with a letter in the box. For example, you could write “Amiable” in the “A” box if it fits Esperanza’s character. Feel free to use a dictionary and thesaurus to expand your vocabulary and fill up all of the boxes. Then, after the worksheet is filled up, summarize this character in a written paragraph using some of your adjectives used to describe the character.

A, B / C, D / E, F / G, H
I, J / K, L / M, N / O, P
Q, R, S / T, U / V, W / X, Y, Z

______

____________

As you read each chapter of Esperanza Rising, use the Problem and Solution Chart to show how Esperanza and her family and friends solve their problems.

Chapters / Problems / Solutions
1924
Las Uvas
Las Papayas
Los Higos
Las Guayabas
Los Melones
Las Cebollas
Las Almendras
Las Ciruelas
Las Papas
Los Aguacates
Los Espárragos
Los Duraznos
Las Uvas

EXTRA CREDIT: Each worth a possible 10 points.

1. Esperanza traveled from Mexico to Southern California and Abuelita from Spain to Mexico. If you look at a map, you can track their journeys and see for yourself the distances they traveled. Research your own family and find out which of your ancestors was the first one to travel to another country. Investigate your family, their journey, find old family photographs, and dig up tidbits about the cities or towns where family members have lived.

2. Research the Dust Bowl and write an essay on how the weather changed the way of life for hundreds of thousands of people in the 1930’s, and how that affected the entire country.