Advanced Placement Students
My Advanced Placement students begin the unit with the reading of Viramontes's novel which will be paired with some selected passages from
Go Tell it On The Mountain
by James Baldwin and
Johnny Got his Gun
by Dalton Trumbo, which present similar themes (the specific excerpts are in the Teaching Strategies Section of this unit). The first reading of the novel will be assigned as homework. In class, we will reread either entire chapters or specific excerpts. This section, however, focuses on the discussion of the main character, Estrella, and how she is characterized by the narrator. We will also discuss how the setting contributes to the characterization and what effects it has on the main character as well as on her family and the young boy she falls in love with, Alejo. Each class will also analyze and discuss the themes that emerge and what they tell us about human nature. This analysis, in particular, will help my students find responses to their wondering about life in today's society. Every segment of part one contains specific close-reading exercises (analysis), essay writings, and class discussions.
College Students
My College Students class begins the unit in a completely different way. First of all, our first lesson focuses on an initial analysis and discussion of the problems and issues they experience at school, with friends, and at home. We will write about these issues, and we will also discuss the causes and consequences. I will also ask them to research one or more lyrics about their most important issue and after the presentation of the lyric(s), I will lead them to a close reading/analysis of the text. In particular, I want them to use a familiar and easy-to-understand text(s) to discuss the theme(s), and all the literary devices that the author has used to express his/her perspective of the problem. The second class will always focus on the initial understanding and discussion of the unit theme, but I will use visual materials. I also want to include a third lesson with a short article from
The New York Times
. The specifics of how these texts will be taught are in the Teaching Strategies section of this unit.