Short Stories Unit:

PART II

Who Am I?

Lessons in Identity

“Barrio Boy”

by:

Ernesto Galarza

Name:

Period:

ELA 7 Red

Mrs. Militello

“Barrio Boy” by Ernesto Galarza: VOCABULARY

Vocabulary:

Word & Part of Speech / Definition / Sample Sentence / Your Sentence
Reassuring
(adjective) / Comforting; giving hope or confidence / The soft way she spoke to the child after his nightmare was reassuring to him.
Contraption
(noun) / Strange machine or gadget / They built a contraption in the garage that could wash their cars for them.
Assured
(verb) / Guaranteed; promised confidently / The doctor assured his patient that she would survive the surgery.
Formidable
(adjective) / Awe-inspiring; impressive / The travelers took many pictures of the formidable Great Wall of China.
Phonetic
(adjective) / Relating to speech sounds / We learn to pronounce words in a new language using phonetic exercises.

IMAGERY:

Imagery is all about images, which are nothing more than a picture in the reader’s mind. Using imagery makes literature more interesting and clear for the reader.

Show me, don’t tell me!

Imagery is a lot like characterization. Just as audiences prefer indirect characterization (showing how a character is) to direct characterization (telling the audience about a character), readers also react more enthusiastically to literature written using imagery because it shows us an image instead of telling us what it’s like.

Example:

  • TELLING: I was sad because my boyfriend broke up with me.

VS.

  • SHOWING: The rainy day matched my mood perfectly. My swollen eyes and the pile of crumpled tissues that pooled at my feet were a result of hours of crying. The radio was silent because the sweet romantic ballads that usually filled my heart with joy were now only a reminder of what I lost, and what would be no more.

Notice how the second example used some of the 5 senses to show the emotion rather than tell it.

List the 5 senses:

1.2.3.

4.5.

Give 2 examples that show a sense revealing the emotion:

1.

2.

Class Practice:

Let’s take the following “telling” sentence and “show” it using imagery instead. Remember to use some of the five senses to add to our description!

The cars crashed.

Annotation Prompts for “Barrio Boy”

In addition to your annotations, please find the following:

Page 3 (125):

  • Point of view
  • Genre
  • Setting
  • Imagery
  • NOTE Vocab:
  • Reassuring
  • Contraption

Page 4 (126):

  • Internal Conflict
  • NOTE Vocab:
  • Assured

Page 5 (127):

  • Characteriaztion
  • direct
  • indirect
  • NOTE Vocab:
  • Formidable

Page 6 (128):

  • Characterization
  • Setting
  • NOTE Vocab:
  • Phonetic

Page 7 (129)

  • Conflict
  • Characterization
  • Theme

Post-Reading Study Guide:

  1. How does Ernesto feel about Miss Hopley?
  1. How does Ernesto feel about Miss Ryan?
  1. What does Ernesto mean when he says that Miss Ryan was not only “with it” but “with us”?
  1. How does the makeup of Ernesto’s class compare to that of his neighborhood?
  1. How does Miss Ryan encourage her students to learn English?
  1. What does the Lincoln School want students to remember about why they are at school?
  1. How does Lincoln School honor its students’ original languages and customs?
  1. At school Ernesto learns tolerance for other cultures and races. Where does he learn intolerance?
  1. Fill out the Venn Diagram to compare and contrast the school experiences between Julia Alvarez and Ernesto Galarza.