| Title �The Chicano Movement, Esperanza, and Us� Overview By completing various readings and follow-up writing exercises, students in this middle-school English class will be able to understand the historical context of Sandra Cisneros� The House on Mango Street, to empathize with those they perceive as different from themselves, and to find similarities between their own lives and the life of Esperanza, the book�s main character. Goals ? To understand the context for the Chicano movement of the 1960s. ? To understand the thinking processes of Cisneros when she wrote The House on Mango Street. ? To draw conclusions about your own life by comparing it to Esperanza. Materials or Resources The House on Mango Street, and Cisneros� �Introduction� from the 1993 version of the novel, handouts of the �Chicano Manifesto� by Armendo B. Rendon (1971), and articles from the Spanish edition of the Miami Herald. Activities or Procedures Students should read excerpts from the Chicano Manifesto. Discuss the historical significance of the document, touching upon the mass immigration of Spanish-speaking peoples into the U.S. in the 1960s and 1970s. Talk about some of the difficulties these immigrants faced upon arrival, such as racism, job discrimination, and language barriers. (10 min.) Then, pass out the Spanish editions of the Miami Herald, and call on students to read articles out loud. (They obviously will not be able to; this will allow them to understand how it feels to be an �outsider� in a different country.) Students will break up into small groups, debating the pros and cons of adopting Spanish as the second official language of the United States. (20 min.) Next, students will read Sandra Cisneros� �Introduction� to The House on Mango Street, paying particular attention to the closing paragraphs (see attached). Assign the attached writing assignment and allow students to spend the remainder of the hour drafting a Cisneros-style vignette that �tells the story� of their lives. They may use their own name, or use a pseudonym, for the main character in their vignette. I will also be drafting my own story. Accommodation I believe this lesson can work with a variety of learning styles and levels. It can help students feel more connected to recent American history, as well. A different option, in consideration of the visually impaired, may be bring in students from the school�s Advanced Spanish class and have them begin asking questions of my students, in Spanish, to illustrate how it feels to be an outsider looking in. Extensions Other options for this lesson may be to invite a Spanish-American community member into the class to talk about his or her experience, and what he or she does to remain faithful to the heritage in this great �melting pot.� Another option may be to show the movie �Stand and Deliver,� which tells the story of Latino students in a typical Los Angeles high school in the 1970s, the obstacles they faced, and the victories they won. Assessment Students will receive credit for turning in a rough draft of their vignette. The vignette will be given a final grade after revisions and editing. |
| The House on Mango Street Lesson Plan |
| Introduction The House on Mango Street |
| Writing Assignment Read the following excerpt: Am I Esperanza? Yes. And no. And then again, perhaps maybe. One thing I know for certain, you, the reader, are Esperanza. So I should ask, What happened to you? Did you stay in school? Did you go to college? Did you have that baby? Were you a victim? Did you tell anyone about it or did you keep it inside? Did you let it overpower and eat you? Did you hurt someone? What happened to Margarita, Fat Boy, Gizmo, Angelica, Leticia, Maria, Ruben, Silvia, Jose, Dagoberto, Refugia, Bobby? Will you go back to school, and find somebody to take care of the baby while you�re finishing your diploma, go to college, work two jobs so you can do it, get help from the substance-abuse people, walk out of a bad marriage, send paychecks to the woman who bore your child, learn to be the human being you are not ashamed of? Did you run away from home? Did you join a gang? Did you get fired? Did you give up? Did you get angry? You are Esperanza. You cannot forget who you are. From �Introduction�: The House on Mango Street Sandra Cisneros November 1993 Now, pretend you are a young author like Sandra Cisneros was when she wrote The House on Mango Street. I want you to write the story of YOU, answering some or all of the questions that Cisneros asks above. You may write it in the present tense, or you may use your imagination and create a future for yourself. Be original, and have fun!!! |