After students become familiar with a story through reading or/and listening to it on tape, we will discuss, characterize, and analyze the voice of a main character. We will surely register all of our findings on chart paper, as I prefer doing it after any kind of discussion in my class. (I believe it is beneficial for them to hear two of the stories read by skillful readers, like Robert Ramirez and Sandra Cisneros, whose professional presentation makes voices of main characters stand out even more evidently.) I would like to highlight beforehand the key words and phrases in the text that clearly indicate the voice and its modifications. I think this would provide our discussions with the desired flow and the sense of direction.
I will draw special attention to the use of Spanish words and phrases in most of the stories. How do they impact the voice of a narrator? Are they important to the voice of this or that character? What do they express in a particular situation? In what kinds of narrations and situations are Spanish words used? For example, in
In My Family
by Carmen Lomas Garza, Spanish words mostly mean the names of things and people:
empanadas
- sweet turnovers;
cascarones
- eggshells; a
curandera
- a healer;
la Llorona
- the weeping woman, etc. They bring a sense of authenticity and cultural awareness into the narration. They also educate and excite readers about another language, and in terms of my students, they help them to identify themselves with Latino culture through language. In
If the Shoe Fits
by Gary Soto, Spanish words are also included in the conversations of the characters, which, first, reflect the way Latin Americans speak, and second, provide the characters' speech with the charm of their cultural belonging: "You want to keep your life
o que
?" Others examples show that subtle shades of meaning can be shown only in another language, in this case Spanish. For instance, why does Gary Soto use the phrase "the biggest
vato
of all
vatitos
" instead of "the biggest bully of all bullies"? After we define how and when Spanish words are used in stories and record these observations on chart paper, I will encourage students to incorporate their Spanish in writing of their own pieces.
After we work with a story, students will have an opportunity to write a piece that is based on the theme of the story. For example, after analyzing the voice in the chapters by Sandra Cisneros, I will have students write about hairs of their family members, or the origins of their names, as Cisneros did. I believe that writing extensively on the topics dealing with their cultural background will assist students to discover and present their own Latino voices.
