essay about esperanza rising

In Esperanza Rising , author Pam Muñoz Ryan shares the story of Esperanza Ortega, a young child forced to flee her home in Mexico after her father is murdered. After a long, difficult journey, Esperanza and her mother settle in a camp for Mexican farmworkers in California and endure hard labor, financial struggles, and discrimination.

For young readers of Esperanza Rising , this novel provides an opportunity to learn about the plight of Mexican workers during the Great Depression and reflect on what it takes to rise above tragedy, adversity, and the harsh realities immigrants often face . This novel also presents complex themes related to race, class, courage, and compassion to your students, while introducing them to the power of passionate storytelling .

During reading, encourage your students to reflect on the experience of Esperanza through writing and discussion. The following 18 prompts will not only help boost your students’ comprehension of the story, but they’ll also help your young readers connect with Esperanza’s inspiring story in a deeper and more meaningful way.

1. Why does the author open with a scene of Esperanza and her father lying down to hear the heartbeat of the earth? How does this shared experience seem to affect Esperanza's relationship with her father?

2. Explain Mama's reasons for leaving Mexico. Would you have been willing to make the same decision if you were in her situation? Why or why not?

3. Esperanza and Miguel take a train ride together as young children. Compare this train ride to the one they take when going to live in America.

4. What does Esperanza mean when she says to Miguel that there is a "deep river" that runs between them? Does this change in California? If so, describe how their relationship changes and give reasons for why this might happen.

5. Describe the cabin where Esperanza must live in America. How does this home compare to her home in Mexico? When Esperanza points out these differences, why does Mama become angry with her? Is Mama right to be angry with her? Why or why not?

6. A poor woman on the train to Los Angeles explains that although she is poor, she is rich. How can a poor person be rich? How can a rich person be poor?

7. Why does Esperanza dislike Marta when they first meet? What makes Esperanza change her mind about Marta?

8. After the dust storm, Mama is the only one of the workers in the cabin to become ill. Why is this so? How does her illness affect Esperanza? Why does Esperanza agree to cut the eyes out of the potatoes?

9. When Esperanza is told she cannot visit her mother for several weeks, she describes her life as going through "the motions of living." Have you ever felt this way? If so, describe how. What does Esperanza do to increase the amount of joy in her life?

10. Why does Miguel drive out of his way to shop at the Japanese store? What does Alfonso mean when he tells Miguel that Mr. Yakota is "getting rich on other people's bad manners"?

11.  Compare the strikers' camp to the camp in which Esperanza lives. How does seeing this camp and its inhabitants affect Esperanza?

12.  Alfonso and Miguel keep telling Esperanza that if is she does good work the farmers will keep employing her. Do you believe that philosophy applies in today's world? Why or why not?

13.  What do you think of "voluntary deportation"? Is this a peaceful or violent way to handle the situation with the strikers? Did Esperanza do the right thing by helping Marta and risking the chance of being deported herself?

14.  Papa's words, "Wait a little while and the fruit will fall into your hands," are said by Miguel in a heated argument with Esperanza. How does this idea relate to the titles of the chapters in this novel? How does this relate to the end of the novel when Esperanza is retelling all the events from California to Abuelita?

15.  When Esperanza finds out Miguel has taken her money orders, she is devastated. Describe how she must feel when Alfonso comes to take her to the train station to pick Miguel up. Is she justified to feel this way? What was Miguel's reason for taking the money? What do his actions mean?

16.  The last section of the novel has Esperanza and Miguel listening to the heartbeat of the earth. What does this parallel to the first chapter mean?

17.  The novel ends with Esperanza teaching Isabel how to crochet the zigzag stitch. How do the "mountains and valleys" compare to the plot of the novel? Is there a skill or talent that someone in your family has that you have learned or would like to learn? Please describe.

18.  Read the last sentence of the novel and explain how it relates to the book's themes.

After reading, invite your students to imagine being taken out of their life right now and put in a work camp like Esperanza’s. Encourage your students to reflect on how they would react and how they would overcome the harsh realities of their new life using the lessons they learned from Esperanza Rising .

Order your class copies of Esperanza Rising below! You can find all books and activities at The Teacher Store . For more teacher resources on the expansive works of Pam Muñoz Ryan, check out this discussion guide .

• Lesson Plans
• Teacher's Guides
• Media Resources

Esperanza Rising : Learning Not to Be Afraid to Start Over

Mexican woman farm laborer picking tomatoes in a California field, 1938. These were the very same circumstances and times that Esperanza lived and worked in as a child.

Library of Congress

When Esperanza is a young girl learning with difficulty to crochet, her grandmother unravels all of her rows and advises, "Do not be afraid to start over." Although Esperanza does not realize it at the time, this advice will become her guiding principle as she learns to confront some of life's harsher realities.

A Spanish-language edition Esperanza Renace is also available.

Guiding Questions

What challenges must Esperanza overcome when she leaves her home in Mexico to live in the United States?

What is the source of Esperanza's "hope" for happiness?

Why does Esperanza's story resonate today?

How do familial relations influence how we view and interact in the world?

Learning Objectives

Analyze and identify the structural elements of the novel and how they contribute to meaning.

Use specific examples from the text to support interpretations of the story.

Situate the novel in historical context and explore connections between literature and history.

Draw upon text-based evidence and interpretation of historical documents to analyze the novel and understand the historical context of the Mexican Revolution and Great Depression

Draw connections between the historical fiction in the novel and the present day, focusing on immigration and the experience of immigrants to the United States

Lesson Plan Details

Esperanza Rising  was inspired by the stories author Pam Muñoz Ryan was told as a child by her grandmother, Esperanza Ortega Muñoz. Set in the early 1930s, twenty years after the Mexican Revolution and during the Great Depression, Esperanza Rising tells the story of a young Mexican girl's courage and resourcefulness when at the age of thirteen she finds herself living in a strange new world. Esperanza, whose name means "hope" in Spanish, is born to a world of pampered comfort and privilege on a large and successful ranch. But when her father is killed by bandits, she and her mother are eventually forced to flee their life of privilege and travel to the United States where they survive as best they can as migrant farm laborers. When her mother falls ill with Valley Fever, Esperanza learns the value of family and friends. She finds ways to care for her mother and cope with the difficulties of making a new home, rising again like the mythical phoenix in the stories her grandmother told her when she was a child.

On one important level Esperanza Rising is a heartwarming story of a young girl who learns the importance of love and sacrifice for family and friends, but on another level it is also a lesson in the cultural as well as personal struggles that poor families, especially immigrants and farm laborers, must experience.

The novel begins with Esperanza as a child of six in 1924, then jumps ahead six years to the eve of her thirteenth birthday. An EDSITEment feature, The Centennial of the Mexican Revolution, 1910-2010 , provides a comprehensive background on The Mexican Revolution. Although the Revolution officially ended with the proclamation of the new Constitution of 1917, fighting continued until 1920, and instances of lawlessness and revolutionary activity lingered with the assassinations of Emiliano Zapata in 1919, of Carranza, the first President elected after the proclamation of the new Constitution, in 1920, and of Pancho Villa in 1923. At the time of the story, bandits, some of them former revolutionaries, were still active, especially against the large landowners like Esperanza's family. This historical background lends depth and richness to the plot and setting as well as to the characters.

The novel is set on a large ranch in Aguascalientes, Mexico, which a decade earlier had been a center of revolutionary activity, and in migrant labor camps near Arvin, California.

The opening chapters of the book introduce students to the class divides in early 20th-century Mexico, which, like similar distinctions in the United States, were based not only on social class and education but on economics and ethnicity. In the early decades of the 20th century there was great discontent among Mexicans over the distribution of land and wealth as well as over participation in Mexican politics. The  Getty Museum website online exhibition on " Mexico from Empire to Revolution " includes photographs and background information on the lives of ordinary people in the time of the revolution.

Although the Revolution of 1910 brought political reform, some remained unsatisfied with the results. Pam Muñoz Ryan mentions at least two occasions when bandits attack the ranch owned by Esperanza's family, and it was bandits who killed her father, Sixto Ortega, and set the story of Esperanza's immigration to the United States in motion. These bandits, sometimes former revolutionaries, continued to carry out raids against the large landowners many years after the revolution. And even though Esperanza's father is generous and has given land to his campesinos , or field workers, there are still those who remember the revolution and the great resentment over the unfair distribution of land and the divide between the rich and the poor. During and after the Mexican Revolution many Mexicans who could not find work immigrated to the U.S. where they often became migrant farm laborers on the large farms of California. 

Esperanza Rising is also set in the midst of the Great Depression that affected much of the world in the 1930s. The website for the another PBS documentary, Surviving the Dustbowl , has helpful background on The Great Depression and other events leading to the enormous internal migration of American farm families from the dustbowl of the American Midwest. These displaced families were the Okies made famous by John Steinbeck in his Grapes of Wrath and also referred to in Esperanza Rising . The Dustbowl website includes a timeline of related historical events.

The Okies were as desperate for work as the Mexican farm laborers and their growing numbers were creating a labor glut in California. Farmers and growers were able to take advantage of this situation and reduce labor costs, paying lower wages and providing only the bare minimum in the way of accommodations. Some of the farm laborers attempted to form a union and encourage other laborers to strike for better working conditions and higher wages. In time the U.S. Government stepped in and attempted to force repatriation of many of the Mexican farm laborers, some of whom were born in the U.S. or had become citizens. The U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service conducted raids and deported many thousands of Mexican laborers and their families. Photos of the Great Depression are available on the American Memory website at the Library of Congress. 

Among the many hardships that Esperanza and her mother experience is the very difficult case of Valley Fever that Ramona, Esperanza's mother, catches after the dust storm. Although medical care is expensive for Esperanza, it is available in the county hospital. You can learn more about this disease, Coccidioidomycosis , from Medline Plus on the National Institutes of Health website.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.CCRA.R.1. Read closely to determine what the text says explicitly and to make logical inferences from it; cite specific textual evidence when writing or speaking to support conclusions drawn from the text.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.CCRA.R.2. Determine central ideas or themes of a text and analyze their development; summarize the key supporting details and ideas.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.CCRA.R.3. Analyze how and why individuals, events, or ideas develop and interact over the course of a text.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.CCRA.R.4. Interpret words and phrases as they are used in a text, including determining technical, connotative, and figurative meanings, and analyze how specific word choices shape meaning or tone.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.CCRA.R.5. Analyze the structure of texts, including how specific sentences, paragraphs, and larger portions of the text (e.g., a section, chapter, scene, or stanza) relate to each other and the whole.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.CCRA.R.6. Assess how point of view or purpose shapes the content and style of a text.

This lesson assumes that students have already been asked to read Esperanza Rising , and although some of the activities could begin while they are reading, the fourth activity requires knowledge of the entire novel.

Prior to assigning activities

• Review the lesson plan and the websites used throughout. Locate and bookmark suggested resources and websites. Some of the websites with large numbers of photographs should be used with careful guidance from the teacher to help put the images into an appropriate context for the study of the novel.
• Listen to the interview with Augustus Martinez and two interviews with  Jose Flores,  two Mexican migrant farmers who experienced this reality firsthand, archived by the Library of Congress mentioned for Activity 3. These audio files offer a wealth of relevant material. They can be assigned as homework, but will reward group listening and discussion in class. Each interview is approximately 8 to 10 minutes long.
• Preview the materials available on the EDSITEment LaunchPad , the Immigration Worksheet. The Library of Congress offers a teaching resource featuring the history of  Immigration from Mexico.  Preview materials for the EDSITEment Launchpad, the Story Worksheet.

Note: Students can use the Student Activity page for this lesson, which guides them through these activities.

Activity 1. A Birthday at El Rancho de las Rosas

After students have read at least the first three or four chapters of Esperanza Rising , ask them to imagine what Esperanza's life was like as the pampered child of a wealthy landowner. The goal of this activity is to introduce students to some elements of Mexican culture from the novel, but also to emphasize some of the stark contrasts between Esperanza's privileged position early in the story and her later experiences. Students should also begin to understand the various social and class distinctions as well as the economic divisions between Esperanza's immediate family and their servants and farm workers.

To introduce some of these important differences ask students to take part in a short dramatic sketch reenacting Esperanza's birthday party. You may want to begin by asking your class to locate Aguascalientes on a map of Mexico such as the one on the  National Geographic website . Then ask them to imagine what it would have been like to be Esperanza on her birthday? This activity could take the form of a short play that the students write in which they assume the roles of the family and farm workers and friends from the area celebrating Esperanza's birthday, the one prior to the family tragedy.

Ask students to use details from the novel to create a birthday celebration for Esperanza. Encourage them to mention food, games, gifts, and the birthday song, as well as the parts played by the family, friends, and servants. The Texas State Library has online audio files of Las Mañanitas , the Birthday Song. Before they begin ask them to discuss and answer the following questions.

• Who comes to Esperanza's birthday party?
• How many friends her own age does she have?
• What gifts does she expect to receive?
• What are the games they play and songs they sing?
• What is the birthday song?

When they have written and performed their play, ask students to discuss what they have learned about Esperanza and her family from the birthday party? Try to get them to notice and comment on any cultural differences that occur to them, such as the absence of a birthday cake and the relatively small number of children Esperanza's own age.

Activity 2. Immigrating to the United States

After students have looked at the web resources and have read at least the first six chapters of the book, through "Los Melones" (cantaloupes), ask them to imagine what it would have been like for Esperanza and her mother to decide to leave their family's ranch and travel to California. The goal of this second activity is to encourage students to appreciate some of the jarring dislocations that Esperanza and her mother, Ramona, and grandmother experience after the death of Esperanza's father, Sixto Ortega. Their family tragedy is made worse by the greed and cruelty of Esperanza's uncles, Tío Marco and Tío Luis, who force Ramona to decide whether to marry her brother-in-law Luis and stay on in Aguascalientes, along with all the hardships that would bring, or to take her daughter and flee with her former servants Alfonzo and Hortensia and their son Miguel and begin a new life in what for them will be a strange new country.

In preparation for this activity, students will benefit from reviewing some of the following web resources. You can assign some of this as homework, using the EDSITEment Study Activity , but you may want to introduce some of the many photographs on these sites, not all of which will be relevant to Esperanza Rising , in class. A good place to start is by asking students to return to Aguascalientes on a map of Mexico, such as the one on the National Geographic website; then ask them to find Mexicali, the railroad terminus on the California border, and Los Angeles and Arvin (which is not named but is near Bakersfield) on the National Geographic map of California. This should help them to appreciate the great distance that Esperanza and her mother must travel (and that Miguel will have to travel later in the story to bring Esperanza's grandmother Abuelita to join them in California).

There is some helpful background information on the history of the Mexican Revolution of 1910 and its aftermath on the  EDSITEment-reviewed Latin American Network Information Center. Students can also learn more about the lives of ordinary people like those in the story and look at a collection of photographs on the "Mexico from Empire to Revolution" on the EDSITEment-reviewed website of the Getty Museum . 

This activity, which encourages critical thinking and analysis, can be assigned individually or to small work groups. Ask students to make lists of the pros and cons to help them understand what was at stake for Ramona and Esperanza when they had to decide whether to stay in Aguascalientes or flee to California. Encourage them to think about what the consequences might be for each decision. Students may also want to trace the route of the trip to the United States on a map. As they work on the assignment they will be asked to consider the following questions:

• Why is Ramona opposed to marrying Tío Luis?
• Why must Abuelita, Esperanza's grandmother, be left behind?
• What do Esperanza and her mother and their friends take with them on their journey?
• What is the hardest part of the journey for Esperanza?
• What food do they eat and where do they get their food?
• How far do they travel and how many days does the trip take?
• What would it be like traveling such a great distance by train?
• Who are some of the other passengers they meet on the train?
• How does Esperanza react to the strangers she meets?

When they have finished answering these questions and making their lists, assemble the entire class for an opportunity to compare their lists and to discuss Ramona's decision. Most students will very likely conclude that Ramona made the right decision, but if some conclude she should have stayed and married her husband's brother, Tío Luis, that will provide the basis for a better discussion. If none of the students favor Ramona's staying, be sure that their discussion fully acknowledges the numerous hardships of leaving home and of the journey itself, as well as the natural reluctance to face an uncertain future in a new country. The goal is to help students appreciate the difficulty of such a decision and to understand the hoped for rewards as well as the hardships. A good way to add depth to this discussion is to ask if anyone in the class has had to make such a journey or knows someone, perhaps in their own families, who have done so.

Activity 3. A Day in the Life of Farm Laborers

What would it be like to be a migrant farm worker in the 1930s? When students have nearly completed their reading of the novel, at least through the chapter titled "Los Esparagos" (asparaguses), they will be ready for the third activity in this lesson. One goal of this activity is to encourage students to appreciate the many hardships and difficulties that Esperanza encounters and eventually overcomes in her new home. But another related goal is to introduce some of the historical background that Pam Muñoz Ryan uses to add depth and detail to her story.

Once again, in preparation for this activity, you can go over the web resources in class or ask students to review some of them on their own using the EDSITEment Study Activity . The online resources for the PBS documentary " Surviving the Dustbowl " provides information about The Great Depression and the migration of the Okies as well as a timeline of related historical events. Oakland Museum of California, host of the EDSITEment-reviewed California Gold Rush site, also has resources and photos related to Mexican and Mexican American migrant laborers . The Library of Congress has a photo library of images from farm labor camps and migrant labor camps . Not all of these photos will be appropriate to the story of Esperanza, so you may want to select a few examples of families of migrant workers and photographs of farm labor camps for viewing by the class as part of the preparation for this activity.

The Library of Congress American Memory website also has audio recordings of interviews made in 1940 and 1941 at migrant work camps in California. An interview with Augustus Martinez and two with Jose Flores discuss work in the fields and life in the camps as well as labor issues and discrimination against Mexicans. Each interview lasts approximately eight to ten minutes.

After students have reviewed the web resources and finished reading a sufficient portion of the novel, divide the class once again into small work groups and ask each group to choose a subject for a short dramatic scene describing some activity from a day in the life of a farm laborer or a member of a farm laborer's family. These scenes should be based on their reading of Esperanza Rising as well as their background research. Some students may want to take the roles of union organizers who visit with the others and try to persuade them to join the union and strike. Others may describe a shopping trip at the Japanese grocery or preparing a meal after a day in the fields. While the class works on their dramatizations based on the novel, ask them to consider some of the following questions:

• Where do the farm laborers keep their food?
• What household appliances do they have available to them?
• Where do they take a bath or go to the restroom?
• What kinds of food do they have to eat?
• Where do they sleep?
• Where do they buy their food and clothing?
• Where do the children play or go to school?
• What is Valley Fever? Why were Esperanza and her mother especially vulnerable?

When they have completed their dramatic scenes, let the students share them with the assembled class. They can either read them or act them out. The goal is to get students to identify with the hard work and living conditions, but also with the camaraderie among the laborers and their families. Ask the students what they have learned about the difficulties of Esperanza's life in California and the ways she has had to adapt to her new role and her new home.

Activity 4. Taking an Inventory of the Novel

While the previous activities have been directed at the setting and historical context of Esperanza Rising , the goal of this activity is to focus student attention on the literary qualities of the novel as well as the larger themes and the lessons learned by Esperanza from her experiences. Once again it may be more productive to divide the class into small work groups. Ask each group to make a chart on which they list the parts of the story, the setting, the characters, themes, symbols, imagery, etc. Then ask them to create an outline of the plot of the story. Use the story worksheet in the EDSITEment Study Activity  for this activity. Students should be encouraged to begin by asking and answering some of these questions:

• Who are the main characters in the novel?
• Where does the story take place?
• 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?
• What are the important actions in the story, when something important happens?
• What lessons and meaning do you take away from your reading of the story?

When each group is finished, ask them to compare results with one another. It is likely that each group will see the story in slightly different ways, but as they compare their worksheets, they should begin to see how Pam Muñoz Ryan uses the various elements of the story to make some larger points about the importance of family and friendship and courage and strength of character. Some students may have difficulty identifying symbols and images. Try to get them to notice the way that the author uses the names of fruits and vegetables in the titles of the story's chapters. Ask them to identify all of the objects that seem to have special meaning for Esperanza or one of the other characters.

This activity is a good preliminary to the discussion questions and writing assignments in the assessment section of this lesson. If the class has completed reading the entire novel before beginning this lesson, this activity could be used as the first activity in preparation for the others.

Here are some discussion questions that can also be used as writing assignments:

• Have each student construct a timeline of the changes that Esperanza experiences by the end of the novel. Ask them to describe the most important lesson or lessons that Esperanza learns from her experiences. How has Esperanza grown as a young woman from her experiences?
• Have students write a letter home to Abuelita, Esperanza's grandmother, in which they imagine they are Esperanza describing what life is like for her and her mother in the United States. They should include as much news as they can, but try not to alarm their grandmother unnecessarily by writing only of bad news.
• Have students 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?
• Have students 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?

Although there is a Spanish language edition of this book, some teachers may also want to ask students reading the English language version to learn some of the Spanish words used in the story. As they read Esperanza Rising , ask students to make a list of all the Spanish words they encounter along with the English equivalents. Encourage students to look up the definitions in a Spanish-English dictionary . When they have finished their reading, ask them to compare their lists. If there are Spanish-speaking students in the class, ask them to comment on the Spanish words and discuss the similarities and differences between the Spanish and English equivalents that Pam Muñoz Ryan provides:

• Campesino  is translated as field worker, the root of the word is campo , or field.
• Vaqueros are cowboys, vaca is the Spanish word for cow.
• Quinceañeras , which Pam Muñoz Ryan refers to as the "presentation party" held on a girl's fifteenth birthday derives from the Spanish quince años , literally "fifteen years."
• There are many Spanish words in the novel, from the very common and familiar ones, such as gracias , thank you; de nada you're welcome, buena suerte , good luck; dulces , sweets; to more complex words, such as una palanca , a lever, meaning some kind of "connection" which Miguel says he would need to get a job on the railroad in Mexico.
• Pam Muñoz Ryan also uses the Spanish names of various fruits and vegetables as chapter titles, to mark the progress of the story and the passing of time with the seasons of the harvests.

If there is time, especially if you team teach with someone in social studies, you may want to introduce the story " We didn't go to el Norte to gather flowers ," told by Don Miguel Gutiérrez in May, 1992, one of the oral histories collected by the Mexican Migration Project, a link on the EDSITEment-reviewed Latin American Network Information Center . The similarities and differences in this true story of a Mexican migrant worker and his family may help place Esperanza Rising in an even more contemporary context. This story is one of several told by recent immigrants in both Spanish and English.

Selected EDSITEment Websites

• Surviving the Dustbowl

Great Depression

• Okies (Mass Exodus from the Plains)
• Las Mañanitas
• Coccidioidomycosis (Valley Fever)
• " We didn't go to el Norte to gather flowers "
• Mexico from Empire to Revolution
• Collins Online Dictionaries
• National Geographic
• Gold Rush! California's Untold Stories
• Depression 1930s in California
• Interviews with Jose Flores
• Interview with August Martinez
• Farm Labor Camps
• Migrant Camps

Materials & Media

Esperanza rising: immigration worksheet, esperanza rising: story worksheet, related on edsitement, esperanza renace: aprendiendo a no temer el comenzar de nuevo, hispanic and latino heritage and history in the united states, spanish language learning resources, "sí, se puede": chávez, huerta, and the ufw.

Esperanza Rising

57 pages • 1 hour read

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Character Analysis

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The True Meaning of Wealth

As the novel begins, Esperanza leads a charmed life. She is surrounded by wealth and a loving family. She has no reason to assume her fortunes will ever change, but her father’s murder throws her into a world devoid of all the material comforts she has taken for granted. Initially, Esperanza doesn’t react well to the many deprivations that she and her mother suffer. The author uses Esperanza’s distaste for poverty as a starting point for an examination of what it means to be truly wealthy.

When Esperanza and her mother are forced to take a train ride among dirty peasants, Esperanza recoils in horror. She believes she is better than these lowly people and begrudges a peasant girl the chance to look at her new porcelain doll. Ramona rebukes her for her bad manners. “Esperanza suddenly felt ashamed and the color rose in her face, but she still pushed the valise farther under the seat with her feet and turned her body away from Mama” (70). To make up for her daughter’s rudeness, Ramona fashions a yarn doll for the little peasant girl. The child reacts with delight, which surprises Esperanza.

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Writing to Inform: Threats to Human Rights in Esperanza Rising

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In this unit, students continue to read Esperanza Rising by Pam Munoz Ryan to make connections to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. They also compare and contrast characters' reactions to situations and events in which their human rights have been threatened and interpret metaphors woven throughout the story to determine how they convey themes. For the mid-unit assessment, students independently interpret a metaphor that is woven throughout the novel and determine a theme that it conveys. They also analyze and compare the reactions of two characters to an event in Esperanza Rising .

In the second half of the unit, students choose an event in the novel to write a literary essay that compares and contrasts the reactions of two characters. Students begin by writing a two-voice poem with a partner to really get inside the minds of the characters during that event. They then follow the Painted Essay structure, writing their literary essay one part at a time after analyzing a model. For the end of unit assessment, students revise their literary essay for linking words and phrases, specifically those that signal contrast.

Big Ideas & Guiding Questions

• What are human rights, and how can they be threatened?
• Human rights belong to everyone, but they can look different to different people in different places.
• We can better understand how human rights can be threatened by reading about the experiences of fictional characters in stories.
• We can raise awareness of human rights issues by writing about the issues fictional characters face.
• Topic: Human rights
• Task: Students reread a literary text, and answer selected response questions and write a paragraph about it (mid-unit assessment). Students revise a literary essay comparing and contrasting character reactions to events that threaten their human rights in Esperanza Rising (end of unit assessment).
• Targets (standards explicitly taught and assessed): RL.5.1, RL.5.2, RL.5.3, RL.5.10, W.5.2c, W.5.2d, W.5.5, W.5.6, W.5.9a, W.5.10, L.5.2d, L.5.5a, and L.5.6 . 
• Text: Esperanza Rising and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights

Each unit in the 3-5 Language Arts Curriculum has two standards-based assessments built in, one mid-unit assessment and one end of unit assessment. The module concludes with a performance task at the end of Unit 3 to synthesize their understanding of what they accomplished through supported, standards-based writing.

This module is designed to address English Language Arts standards and to be taught during the literacy block of the school day. However, the module intentionally incorporates social studies content that many teachers may be teaching during other parts of the day. These intentional connections are described below. 

College, Career, and Civic Life C3 Framework for Social Studies State Standards:

• D2.Civ.3.3-5: Examine the origins and purposes of rules, laws, and key U.S. constitutional provisions.
• D2.Civ.4.3-5: Explain how groups of people make rules to create responsibilities and protect freedoms.
• D2.Civ.7.3-5: Apply civic virtues and democratic principles in school settings.
• D2.Civ.10.3-5: Identify the beliefs, experiences, perspectives, and values that underlie their own and others' points of view about civic issues.
• D2.Geo.2.3-5: Use maps, satellite images, photographs, and other representations to explain relationships between the locations of places and regions and their environmental characteristics.
• D2.His.2.3-5: Compare life in specific historical time periods to life today.
• D2.His.4.3-5: Explain why individuals and groups during the same historical period differed in their perspectives.
• D2.His.14.3-5: Explain probable causes and effects of events and developments.
• D3.4.3-5: Use evidence to develop claims in response to compelling questions.
• D4.6.3-5: Draw on disciplinary concepts to explain the challenges people have faced and opportunities they have created, in addressing local, regional, and global problems at various times and places.

Habits of Character/Social-Emotional Learning Focus

Central to EL Education's curriculum is a focus on "habits of character" and social-emotional learning. Students work to become effective learners, developing mindsets and skills for success in college, career, and life (e.g., initiative, responsibility, perseverance, collaboration); work to become ethical people, treating others well and standing up for what is right (e.g., empathy, integrity, respect, compassion); and work to contribute to a better world, putting their learning to use to improve communities (e.g., citizenship, service). 

In this unit, students work to become effective learners . Throughout Unit 2, students practice perseverance and collaboration as they work in pairs to write a literary essay. They practice initiative and responsibility as they revise their essays using peer feedback.

The following student learning targets are a focus for this unit. Please refer to Teaching Notes in the lessons:

• I work to become an effective learner:
• I take initiative.
• I take responsibility.
• I persevere.
• I collaborate.

Each unit is made up of a sequence of between 5-20 lessons. The “unit at a glance” chart in the curriculum map breaks down each unit into its lessons, to show how the curriculum is organized in terms of standards address, supporting targets, ongoing assessment, and protocols. It also indicates which lessons include the mid-unit and end-of-unit assessments.

View the unit-at-a-glance chart

The ability to read and comprehend texts is the heart of literacy instruction. Comprehension is taught, reinforced, and assessed across both components of this curriculum: module lessons and the Additional Language and Literacy Block. Refer to the 5M1 Module Overview for additional information.

In this unit, students continue to read research texts independently for homework, collect new academic and domain-specific vocabulary, and engage in frequent research reading shares during the module lessons for accountability.

The Meeting Students' Needs column in each lesson contains support for both ELLs and Universal Design for Learning (UDL), and some supports can serve a wide range of student needs. However, ELLs have unique needs that cannot always be met with UDL support. According to federal guidelines, ELLs must be given access to the curriculum with appropriate supports, such as those that are specifically identified as "For ELLs" in the Meeting Students' Needs column.

• Prioritizing lessons for classrooms with many ELLs: To prepare for the Unit 2 assessments, consider prioritizing and expanding instruction in Lessons 1-4, which establish the pattern of reading and analyzing character reactions to events in Esperanza Rising , and interpreting metaphors and answering questions about their meaning. Also prioritize the analysis of essay structure using the color-coding system and the Language Dive in Lessons 12-15. If necessary, consider condensing instruction in Lessons 6-9, which continue the patterns established in previous lessons, but do not introduce as many new concepts.
• Language Dives: ELLs can participate in an optional Language Dive in Lesson 12. This Language Dives is designed to help students notice and apply the English subject-predicate structure using the subordinating conjunction while. Most lessons also offer optional Mini Language Dives for ELLs. Language Dives are guided conversations about the meaning of a sentence from the central texts, models, or learning targets. The conversation invites students to unpack complex syntax, or "academic phrases," as a necessary component of building both literacy and habits of mind. Students then apply their understanding of language structure as they work toward the assessments and performance task. All Language Dives follow a Deconstruct-Reconstruct-Practice routine, in which students discuss and play with the meaning and purpose of the sentence and each chunk of the sentence; put the chunks back together into the original order and any possible variations; and practice using the chunks in their own speaking and writing. To maximize language practice and accommodate time, consider dividing or reviewing each Language Dive over multiple lessons. A consistent Language Dive routine is critical in helping all students learn how to decipher complex sentences and write their own. In addition, Language Dive conversations can hasten overall English language development for ELLs. Avoid using the Language Dive Guide to lecture about grammar; the Guide is designed to prompt students as they grapple with the meaning and purpose of the chunks and the sentence. Consider providing students with a Language Dive log inside a folder to track Language Dive sentences and structures and collate Language Dive note-catchers. Assure students that this log will not be graded; however, consider inviting students to use their log and note-catchers to gauge the progress of their speaking and writing skills. For more information on Language Dives and supporting English language learners, see the Tools page . 
• Diversity and inclusion: Investigate the languages, routines, practices, rituals, beliefs, norms, and experiences that are important to ELLs and their families. An ideal context for inclusiveness emerges as students are invited to add their feelings and experience in regards to Esperanza Rising and the UDHR. Create a safe space for students to express their experiences and feelings, in both their home language and English, about the sensitive issues embedded in the texts, knowing that these discussions may help create equity or unearth trauma or both. Consider integrating this background into the classroom as students discuss Esperanza's immigrant experience, culture, history, and language in E speranza Rising , and as students read about human rights in the UDHR. Consult with a guidance counselor, school social worker, or ESL teacher to further investigate diversity and inclusion.
• Goal 1 Conversation Cues: Continue to encourage productive and equitable conversation with Conversation Cues, which are questions teachers can ask students to help achieve four goals: (Goal 1) encourage all students to talk and be understood; (Goal 2) listen carefully to one another and seek to understand; (Goal 3) deepen thinking; and (Goal 4) think with others to expand the conversation (adapted from Michaels, Sarah and O'Connor, Cathy. Talk Science Primer . Cambridge, MA: TERC, 2012. Based on Chapin, S., O'Connor, C., and Anderson, N. [2009]. Classroom Discussions: Using Math Talk to Help Students Learn , Grades K-6. Second Edition. Sausalito, CA: Math Solutions Publications). Refer to the Tools page  for the complete set of cues. Goal 1 Conversation Cues are introduced in Unit 1, Lesson 3. Heightened language processing and development is a primary potential benefit for ELLs.
• Strategic grouping: As students are invited to pair up to analyze characters' reactions to events in Esperanza Rising , to make connections between the events and the UDHR, and interpret metaphors and theme, seriously consider grouping ELLs with partners who have greater language proficiency. The conversations that happen as a result of such strategic grouping will greatly serve the language development of both partners. Be aware that partnering with, looking at, talking with, or touching the opposite gender may be uncomfortable and inappropriate for some students. In addition, some students may believe it is inappropriate to speak with other students at all during class. Let them know that, in the United States, speaking with a peer of either gender when the teacher gives the signal is appropriate, and it is one way that students can become independent learners and develop their content knowledge and language ability. At the same time, tell them you respect their needs, and if necessary, seek alternative arrangements for students according to their cultural traditions. 
• Metaphor and theme: Students will analyze metaphors in Esperanza Rising and explore how metaphors that run throughout the story contribute to themes in the book. Support student understanding of the concept of metaphors by inviting students to share examples of metaphors and their meanings in their home languages, and consider working closely with students who need additional support in understanding the figurative language and answering questions about metaphors.
• Essay organization: Students will receive explicit instruction in how to craft an informational essay: introductory paragraph, focus statement with points 1 and 2, Proof Paragraphs 1 and 2 with a transition, and concluding paragraph. Students will use the Painted Essay format. Organization may be difficult to grasp for some students who may struggle to comprehend the language itself. Use color-coding and manipulatives inspired by the Painted Essay routines, such as sentence strips, to support this skill. Also, this essay structure may be different from the text structure students may be familiar with in their home languages. Compare and contrast home language text structure whenever possible. As students work on writing complete sentences, color-code sentences to support students' understanding of subject-predicate sentence structure.
• Celebration: Celebrate the courage, enthusiasm, diversity, and bilingual assets that ELLs bring to the classroom.

Texts to Buy

Texts that need to be procured. Please download the Trade Book List for procurement guidance.

See full list of texts, including recommended texts

• Prepare two individuals (e.g., students, other teachers, adult guests, etc.) to perform the model two-voice poem in Lesson 11. This will require them to read parts both independently and in unison.
• Prepare materials for the Painted Essay lesson plan in Lesson 12:
• Paintbrushes (one per student)
• Read, yellow, blue, and green watercolor paint (one set per pair)
• Cups of water (one per pair)
• Painting an Essay lesson plan (for teacher reference) 
• Red, yellow, blue, and green colored pencils (one set; for teacher modeling)
• Prepare technology for students to type their final literary essays in Lesson 16. 
• The following materials are introduced in this unit and referenced both throughout the module and the school year:
• Peer Critique Protocol anchor chart
• The Painted Essay template
• Painting an Essay lesson plan
• Working to Become Effective Learners anchor chart
• Parts of Speech anchor chart
• Linking Words and Phrases handout

Technology and Multimedia

• Google Docs  - Complete note-catchers: Students complete their note-catchers, write their essays and monologues, and create their programs in Google Docs.
• Speech to Text (Many newer devices already have this capability)- To create writing by speaking: Students complete their note-catchers and create written work by speaking rather than writing or typing.
• Seesaw  - Create student learning portfolios to share with other students, families: Video/audio record students reading aloud their monologues to share with families and other students.
• The Mexican Revolution  - Additional reading and research: Students read more about the Mexican Revolution with adult support. 
• Knight, Alan. "The Mexican Revolution." History Today May 1980: n. pag. History Today. Web. 20 Apr. 2016.
• The Mexican Revolution: November 20th, 1910  - Additional reading and research: Students read more about the Mexican Revolution with adult support.
• "The Mexican Revolution: November 20th, 1910." EDSITEment. National Endowment for the Humanities, n.d. Web. 3 June 2016.
• Mexican Revolution  - Additional reading and research: Students read more about the Mexican Revolution with adult support.
• "Mexican Revolution." PBS. PBS, n.d. Web. 20 Apr. 2016.
• Immigration Past and Present  - Additional reading and research: Students read more about immigration.
• "Immigration Past and Present." Accessed June 3, 2016.
• Teach Unicef  - Additional reading and research: Students read about current events that are threats to human rights.
• "Teach Unicef." Unicef. Web. Accessed Jun 3, 2016.
• Human Rights Education  - Additional reading and research: Students read about current events that are threats to human rights.
• "Human Rights Education." Amnesty International. Web. Accessed Jun 3, 2016.
• Human Rights Watch  - Additional reading and research: Students read about current events that are threats to human rights.
• Human Rights Watch. Web. Accessed Jun 3, 2016.

The Additional Language and Literacy (ALL) Block is 1 hour of instruction per day. It is designed to work in concert with and in addition to the 1-hour Grades 3-5 ELA "module lessons." Taken together, these 2 hours of instruction comprehensively address all the Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts.

The ALL Block has five components: Additional Work with Complex Text; Reading and Speaking Fluency/GUM (Grammar, Usage, and Mechanics); Writing Practice; Word Study and Vocabulary; and Independent Reading.

The ALL Block has three 2-week units which parallel to the three units of the module.

ELA G5:M1:U2:L1

Analyzing character reactions: esperanza rising: “las cebollas”, ela g5:m1:u2:l2, metaphors in esperanza rising: “las almendras”, ela g5:m1:u2:l3, analyzing character reactions: esperanza rising: “las ciruelas”, ela g5:m1:u2:l4, metaphors in esperanza rising: “las papas”, ela g5:m1:u2:l5, making connections: “los aguacates” and article 2 of the udhr, ela g5:m1:u2:l6, analyzing character reactions: esperanza rising: “los espárragos”, ela g5:m1:u2:l7, analyzing character reactions: esperanza rising: “los duraznos”, ela g5:m1:u2:l8, writing a character reaction paragraph: esperanza rising: “los duraznos”, ela g5:m1:u2:l9, metaphors in esperanza rising: “las uvas”, ela g5:m1:u2:l10, mid-unit 2 assessment: interpreting metaphors and analyzing character reactions, ela g5:m1:u2:l11, character reactions in esperanza rising: writing a two-voice poem, ela g5:m1:u2:l12, writing a literary essay: analyzing a model, ela g5:m1:u2:l13, writing a literary essay: introduction, ela g5:m1:u2:l14, writing a literary essay: proof paragraphs, ela g5:m1:u2:l15, writing a literary essay: conclusion, ela g5:m1:u2:l16, end of unit 2 assessment: revising a literary essay, optional: community, experts, fieldwork, service, and extensions.

• If students have families with experience with some of the issues described in Esperanza Rising , consider inviting them in to speak to students about their experiences.
• If students come from Spanish-speaking families, consider inviting adults to come in to share some words with students in Spanish.
• If you have a number of English language learners speaking the same native language, invite family members to come into the classroom to talk with ELLs in their native language about human rights.
• If students have families with experience of some of the current threats to human rights that students will read about in research in Lesson 9, consider inviting them in to speak to students about their experiences.
• Invite experts on local human rights issues or immigration in your area to come in to talk to the students about the work that they do and about the local population.
• Have experts on human rights or immigration come in to talk with the students about the work that they do.
• Have experts on dramas and plays come in to talk with students about writing and performing monologues.
• Take students to exhibitions about immigration or about Mexican history or culture.
• Take students to performances of monologues.
• Reach out to local immigration charities to find out if students can participate in any charity events or work or if they can raise funds for a specific cause.
• Identify a local threat to human rights that students could learn more about and take action on.

Extensions:

• Encourage students to read other articles of the complete version of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
• Encourage students to consider other ways to raise awareness about human rights issues.

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Esperanza Rising

Pam muñoz ryan, ask litcharts ai: the answer to your questions, alfonso quotes in esperanza rising.

“My father and I have lost faith in our country. We were born servants here and no matter how hard we work we will always be servants. Your father was a good man. He gave us a small piece of land and a cabin. But your uncles . . . you know their reputation. They would take it all away and treat us like animals. We will not work for them. The work is hard in the United States but at least there we have a chance to be more than servants.”

“But Mama and Abuelita . . . they need . . . we need you.”

“My father says we won’t leave until it is necessary.” He reached over and took her hand. “I’m sorry about your papa.”

His touch was warm and Esperanza’s heart skipped. She looked at her hand in his and felt the color rushing to her face. Surprised at her own blush, she pulled away from him. She stood and stared at the roses.

An awkward silence built a wall between them. She glanced quickly at him. He was still looking at her, with eyes full of hurt. Before Miguel left her there, he said softly, “You were right, Esperanza. In Mexico we stand on different sides of the river.”

Mama looked at Esperanza. “I don’t think it would have hurt to let her hold [the doll] for a few moments.”

"Mama, she is poor and dirty . . . ” said Esperanza.

But Mama interrupted. "When you scorn these people, you scorn Miguel, Hortensia, and Alfonso. And you embarrass me and yourself. As difficult as it is to accept, our lives are different now.”

The child kept crying. Her face was so dirty that her tears washed clean streaks down her cheeks. Esperanza suddenly felt ashamed and the color rose in her face, but she still pushed the valise farther under the seat with her feet and turned her body away from Mama.

“What will we do tomorrow?” asked Esperanza.

“The grapes are higher off the ground,” said Alfonso. “The trunks of the vines are covered but the fruit was not affected. The grapes are ready and cannot wait. So mañana , we will go back to work.”

The next morning, the sky was blue and calm and the dust had left the air. It had settled on the world, covering everything like a suede blanket. Everyone who lived at the camp shook out the powdery soil, went back to work, and came home again, as if nothing had happened.

Esperanza lay in bed that night and listened to the others in the front room talk about the sweeps and the deportations.

“They went to every major grower and put hundreds of strikers on the buses,” said Juan.

“Some say they did it to create more jobs for those coming from the east,” said Josefina. “We are lucky the company needs us right now. If they didn’t, we could be next.”

“We have been loyal to the company and the company will be loyal to us!” said Alfonso.

“I’m just glad it’s over,” said Hortensia.

“It is not over,” said Miguel. “In time, they will be back, especially if they have families here. They will reorganize and they will be stronger. There will come a time when we will have to decide all over again whether to join them or not.”

On the morning of her birthday, Esperanza heard the voices coming from outside her window. She could pick out Miguel’s, Alfonso’s, and Juan’s.

She sat up in bed and listened. And smiled. Esperanza lifted the curtain. Isabel came over to her bed and looked out with her, clutching her doll. They both blew kisses to the men who sang the birthday song. Then Esperanza waved them inside, not to open gifts, but because she could already smell coffee coming from the kitchen.

They gathered for breakfast: Mama and Abuelita, Hortensia and Alfonso, Josefina and Juan, the babies and Isabel. Irene and Melina came, too, with their family. And Miguel. It wasn’t exactly like the birthdays of her past. But it would still be a celebration, under the mulberry and chinaberry trees, with newborn rosebuds from Papa’s garden.

Esperanza Rising

By pam muñoz ryan, esperanza rising mexican immigration to the united states in the 1930s.

The Great Depression in the United States had a far-reaching global impact. Before 1929, the majority of Mexico's crops were exported to the United States but the decline in trade resulted in many job losses in Mexico. Many Mexican farmers emigrated to the United States in hopes of a better future, but found a similarly dire situation.

Unemployment was sweeping the United States. Coupled with the Dust Bowl storms destroying crops in the Midwest, many Mexican immigrants faced antagonism from Americans who were competing for dwindling jobs in farming. To combat workplace hostility and job shortages, American immigration officials began to crack down on illegal (and legal) immigrants - many were deported (as is the situation in Esperanza Rising ).

The market changed again after World War II. The United States faced a labor shortage because many American men were fighting overseas in Europe and Japan. To fill the open agricultural positions, the United States enacted the Bracero Program in 1942. The temporary labor program was hugely successful and many Mexican farmhands were dispatched all over the United States.

Esperanza Rising Questions and Answers

The Question and Answer section for Esperanza Rising is a great resource to ask questions, find answers, and discuss the novel.

What happened to Esperanza's hands? What did Hortensia do to make them better?

Due to all of the work she has been doing, Esperanzas's hands have become rough and calloused. Hortensia makes an avocado salve to soothe her injuries, but Esperanza knows that no remedy will ever restore her hands to their former softness.

I'm sorry, did you have a question regarding Esperanza rising?

What are some things the strikers do to try to accomplish their mission? Do you agree or disagree with their methods? Explain.

There are people holding signs all over the camp, urging everyone else to join the strike. Some throw rocks and hurl insults at the workers going in. I can understand their frustrations at the bad working conditions and low pay. It seems like a...

Study Guide for Esperanza Rising

Esperanza Rising study guide contains a biography of Pam Muñoz Ryan, literature essays, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis.

• About Esperanza Rising
• Esperanza Rising Summary
• Esperanza Rising Video
• Character List

Lesson Plan for Esperanza Rising

• About the Author
• Study Objectives
• Common Core Standards
• Introduction to Esperanza Rising
• Relationship to Other Books
• Bringing in Technology
• Notes to the Teacher
• Related Links
• Esperanza Rising Bibliography

Wikipedia Entries for Esperanza Rising

• Introduction
• Plot synopsis
• Main characters and personalities
• Background information
• Critical reception