|
Santiago and Rodriguez:
Different Stories, Common Ground
By Debbie Dickerson Overview In this lesson, students have an opportunity to compare and contrast the
experiences Esmeralda Santiago describes in her memoirs, When I Was Puerto Rican and Almost a Woman, with those that Richard Rodriguez portrays in his book, Hunger of Memory: The Education of Richard
Rodriguez. Students will read Rodriguez' book to explore what life was like for a Mexican American who came to California as a child knowing only 50 words of English but who also endured to make it to the
college. Students will analyze Rodriguez' experience of being socially and academically successful while also being alienated from his family and culture with Santiago's own experiences of alienation from her
homeland and culture. This lesson focuses on immigrants' alienation from and embracing of their native cultures, as well as the war between being successful in a new land and being true to your heritage. Students
will demonstrate this understanding in a six-paragraph essay; three paragraphs to compare the experiences, and three to contrast. This lesson is appropriate for most upper-level high school or college students.
Objectives Students will:
I. Comprehend the experiences and the underlying messages from Rodriguez' book. II. Evaluate the similarities and differences between Santiago's and Rodriguez' books. III.
Organize those similarities and differences in a six-paragraph essay comparing and contrasting each author's alienation from and the embracing of his/her culture.
Skills Attained Students will be able to:
I. Analyze the texts for the similarities and differences between the two authors. II. Compare and contrast the feelings of being alienated and embracing that both authors experience. III. Organize their interpretations of those similarities and differences and feelings of being alienated and embracing in a six-paragraph essay.
Lesson Outline I. Anticipatory Set 1. To ensure students clearly understand Esmeralda Santiago's experiences, have the class discuss her feelings of being alienated and embracing before students
begin reading the Rodriguez book. Make sure they write journal entries as if they were Santiago returning to her homeland. You may give them these questions to prompt their writing:
a. What changes in Santiago did people in Puerto Rico see, making them say she was no longer Puerto Rican? b. If you had been Santiago, what would you have said or done in response to no
longer being Puerto Rican? c. Pretend you were Santiago's best friend. You did not leave Puerto Rico. What could you do or say to help her in this situation of feeling there is no place
where she fits, no place to call home.
2. Then, show students view the film, Almost a Woman. II. The Lesson 1. Give students some background information (see below) about Rodriguez before they start
reading the book: Richard Rodriquez is an American-born writer and social commentator. He is the son of Mexican immigrant parents and was born in the 1950s. In this book, he shares his
experience of growing up as part of two different and distinct cultures. Rodriguez shares the emotional and political consequences of controversial issues like bilingual education, biculturalism and affirmative
action, and how they have affected his life. 2. Use the same format for students to follow each day as they read the book. To do this, first base the amount of daily reading you will assign your students on
their reading level. Then, have them begin reading once you have introduced the book and told them about the essay they will write. Instruct students to write questions, either their own or ones someone else could
answer if they had done the required reading, while they read. (This is to help ensure student accountability and comprehension.) 3. The next day, have them meet in groups of four or five students to discuss
the previous day's reading, making sure they focus on the questions they wrote the day before. This discussion will help students remember the text, be accountable for reading the assignment, and better understand the
text through discussions with other students. Have them follow this daily procedure until they have finished the book. 4. Remind your students to focus on the dual roles Rodriguez and Santiago had to play: the
traditional son/daughter adhering to cultural traditions, and the Americanized teenager wanting to become independent. (If your students find the format lacks the variation they need to meet their objectives, then
alternate between the above format and one in which you assign a chapter(s) to a group of students to read, then have each group give a summary of their chapter to the class.) Assessment Use the Six-Trait Writing Rubric to grade student papers. This assesses
organization, word choice, sentence fluency, voice, writing conventions, and ideas and content. To learn more about the criteria and how to use the rubric, click here: http://6traits.cyberspaces.net/. Suggested Related Works A Fabricated Mexican by Rick P. RiveraRivera, Rick P. A Fabricated Mexican
. Houston, Texas: Arte Publico House, 1995.
Culture Across Borders: Mexican Immigration and Popular Culture by David R. Maciel and Maria Herrera-Sobek
Maciel, David R. and Maria Herrera-Sobek. Culture Across Borders: Mexican Immigration and Popular Culture. Tucson, AZ: University of Arizona Press, 1998.
Assimilation, Colonialism, and the Mexican American People by Edward Murguia Murguia, Edward. Assimilation, Colonialism, and the Mexican American People. Lanham, Maryland: University
Press of America, 1989. Online Bibliography
NewsHour Online: Rodriguez on the Pacific Northeast: search.pbs.orgRodriguez and Morago on Justice Issues: http://www.oxy.edu National Hispanic Foundation for the Arts: http://www.hispanicarts.org Interdisciplinary Links Teachers could easily link history lessons to this one. For
instance, students could explore the history of immigration to the United States from the early 1900s to the present day, especially as the social climate in the United States shifted drastically during this period. Or,
students could examine events causing social unrest during the time the authors were growing up; namely, the Civil Rights Movement, the assassination of President Kennedy, and the Vietnam War. How did these events
affect the experiences of immigrants to the United States?Debbie Dickerson is a social studies teacher in Kansas. |
