After twenty years published, watch Pam Munoz Ryan answer questions on Esperanza Rising on an author fan face-off.  Will she answer correctly?

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Muñoz Ryan, Pam. ESPERANZA RISING. New York: Little, Scholastic, 2000. ISBN: 0-439-12042-X.

PLOT SUMMARY:  Esperanza lives a wonderful life with her parents and grandmother at their ranch in Aguascalientes, México.  Things change when a tragedy strikes the family.  Under the new circumstances, Esperanza and her mother have no option but to run away to California leaving her grandmother behind.  In California, Esperanza struggles to adapt to her new living conditions at a camp for Mexican workers.  Esperanza finds that she must overcome the many obstacles she is facing in her new life and rise to the occasion when her mother gets very sick. 

NALYSIS:  At her young age of thirteen years old, Esperanza goes through changes in her life that make her have a different outlook in life.  She was used to living a very comfortable life where she was dotted on her by her parents and her grandmother.  At times she was a bit condescending with the servants’ son, Miguel.  Esperanza goes through having it all to having to work to survive.  What Esperanza goes through makes her turn into a girl that needs to take charge to help her mother and herself. 

SETTING: The story starts off at El Rancho de las Rosas where  Esperanza lived with her family.  Some of the workers they have are the servants, vaqueros and campesinos.  During this time period, it was not uncommon for well-off families to own their own ranch and have different types of workers.  When Esperanza and her mom move to California, they end up at a Mexican labor camp.  The camp is for families therefore there is a need to have a male head of household.  The cabins are only two small rooms. 

During the summer there is a jamaica, another word for fiesta.  In the jamaicas, people from the camp get together to enjoy some music and food.  Some of the foods mentioned are the flan de almendras, machaca burritos, tamales, agua de jamaica, and tortillas.

THEME:  The theme of the story is immigration.  The author presents a family’s journey as they immigrate to the United States and how their life is when they arrive.  During this time, in the 1930s, people working in labor camps, were segregated and there were also strikes for better working and living conditions. 

CULTURAL MARKERS

Authenticity in description of the diversity within the book.

The author mentions important events that are part of the Mexican culture. One of them being the big fiestas that are thrown in ranches like the one that Esperanza lived in.  To celebrate her birthday, like every year, there were preparations happening to have a fiesta in her honor.  A special event for young ladies, the quinciañera, is also mentioned which is equivalent to a sweet sixteen celebration in the United States.  The author also demonstrates how important Abuelita was in Esperanza’s family.  In Latino culture, grandparents are significant members of the family and many live with their children.  In the Mexican culture, as part of their religion, people have a lot of faith in the Lady of Guadalupe.  Esperanza prays to her and Miguel and his dad make a shrine around a statue of the Lady of Guadalupe when they arrive to the camp. 

Use of non-English words

Non-English words are spelled correctly within context except for the word papa and mama. When coming across those two words I was reading them in English which gave a different feel to the sentence.  I think it would have been better to present them in Spanish with the accent at the end of the word like they are written in Spanish: papá and mamá.  For the most part, after a Spanish word or phrase, the English translation was presented. 

Author qualifications to write relating to the culture

At the end of the book there is an author’s note where Munoz Ryan shares the similarities between her grandmother’s life and the life of Esperanza.   Munoz Ryan was able to pull from her grandmother’s experiences to write the story.   She also shares information about the strikes and the Mexican Repatriation where many Mexicans and Mexican Americans were sent back to México.  Munoz Ryan also took the time to interview people who lived in the same camp as her grandmother.  

CONNECTIONS:  

Focusing on Esperanza’s experience, students will come up with questions they can ask a person who has immigrated to the United States.  After their interview, they can complete a template on a double bubble map to compare and contrast the person they interviewed to Esperanza.  Students will do a gallery walk to see each other’s work. 

https://templaterepublic.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Bubble-Map-04.pdf