Esperanza Rising

Written byPam Munoz Ryan

Background about Pam Munoz Ryan

•Esperanza Rising•Questions and Answers•Family Photos•Pam Munoz Ryan

Chapter 1-4

Find Aguascalientes, Mexico • map of Mexico

A Birthday at El Rancho de las Rosas

Birthday Song

1. Who comes to Esperanza's birthday party? 2. How many friends her own age does she have? 3. What gifts does she expect to receive? 4. What are the games they play and songs they sing? 5. What is the birthday song? 6. What it would have been like to be Esperanza on her

birthday? 7. What have you learned about Esperanza and her

family from the birthday party? 8. Did you notice any cultural differences between

Esperanza’s birthday party and your birthday parties?

Read through "Los Melones"

FindMap of Mexico• find Aguacalientes then find the

route to Mexicali Map of California • find Los Angeles and Arvin which is

not named but is near Bakersfield

Life and Times

Lives of Ordinary PeoplePicture of a childColumba Quintana Water Carrier in MexicoPortrait of indigenous man Portrait of indigenous men Lechero )Milkman)Tlachiquero (Maguey cutter)

Mexican RevolutionMexican Revolution Pictures

Read through "Los Esparagos"

Great DepressionPictures during the Great Depression

Mass Exodus from the Plains

Timeline of the Dust Bowl

Migrant Farm WorkersInterviewHouse CarsSquatter CampArkansas Squatter Camp

Use the Immigrant Worksheet and answer the following

questions.1. Who are the main characters in the novel? 2. Where does the story take place? 3. Can you identify any objects, like the rose bushes that

Miguel and his father save from the fire, which act as symbols or seem to have some deeper meaning in the story?

4. What are the important actions in the story, when something important happens?

5. What lessons and meaning do you take away from your reading of the story?

• http://edsitement.neh.gov/lesson_images/lesson739/The%20Story_Worksheet.pdf

• Write a personal response to the changes that Esperanza experiences by the end of the novel. Describe the most important lesson or lessons that Esperanza learns from her experiences. How has Esperanza grown as a young woman from her experiences?

• Write a letter home to Abuelita, Esperanza's grandmother, in which you imagine you are Esperanza describing what life is like for her and her mother in the United States. You should include as much news as you can, but try not to alarm your grandmother unnecessarily by writing only of bad news.

• Compare Esperanza's experience with leaving her home in Mexico for the United States with the stories Abuelita tells her in the chapter titled "Los Higos" (figs) about leaving Spain to come to Mexico when she was a young girl. Does her grandmother's experience help to prepare her for her own? How does the story of the phoenix seem to fit with the life Esperanza experiences in California?

• Compare the camp where the strikers are staying to the camp where Esperanza is living and the new camp being built for the Okies. What do the differences in the living conditions at these camps suggest about the differences among the social status of these different groups of laborers?

Final Project

Extension Activities

•Mexico for Kids