High School Students Responses to Alternative Value Stances Associated with the Study of Multicultural Literature

This article relates directly to Esperanza Rising because it deals with multicultural texts in the classroom. I think that dealing with multiculturalism through literature can sometimes be difficult because students are not able to see the struggles that the characters face as they cross cultural barriers, but rather they must visualize the conflicts through the reading. I think that sometimes cross-cultural awareness comes easier to students through visual aids, like films. In Esperanza Rising, the use of Spanish language integrated into the text could be a difficult aspect for a young reader to deal with, but I think that the author purposely inflicts this struggle on the reader so that he/she will feel the same outsider-ness as Esperanza. In Anzaldua's works, something that I've been reading for an American Literature course, you see the same use of Spanish language in an English piece for the purpose of oppressing the oppressive society -- the English-speakers deserve to experience the challenges of the Spanish-speakers as they code switch and mingle languages to form "spanglish" and other dialects.

Research Paper

I have been putting this blog off because I am not sure of what I'd like my research topic to be. As of yet, I haven't found a thread in my books that is concise enough to write a paper on. At first I was playing around with the idea of "hope." In almost all of the books there has been a theme of hope and hopefulness in the main characters. For example, Esperanza hoped for a better life in America, Harry hoped to make friends and live well at Hogwarts, Bella hoped to marry Edward and live in love forever, and Ameri hoped to escape slavery. The books that I have read independently for my book reviews have shown this theme as well: in "Oh The Places You'll Go" there is a hope to achieve greatness in the future, in "New Moon" Bella still hopes to marry Edward, in "Terabithia" Jesse hopes that the imaginative land and Lelie will last forever, and in "Part-Time Indian" there is a hope that prejudice will end and Indians can be seen as equals. There are more instances of hope in each of these, as well as specific lines and situations that refer to the theme directly.

It seems that "hope" is a favored theme in the Young Adult genre of literature, perhaps because it directs the many developments of main characters. In a religion class I took last semester, the professor often stated that "religion is the vehicle of hope." In many works belonging to the literary canon, religion is the common thread. In real life, too, religion can be a common thread among people. For many people, religion is the way that they can find reasons for things that happen and still hope that life will work out as they planned. I may try to tie "religion" into my research paper topic along with "hope." But as of now, nothing is set in stone.

Esperanza Rising

Once I finished reading Esperanza Rising, I felt as though I had been enlightened about the Mexican culture through the reading. The text describes Esperanza's life in Mexico as something of a fairytale. Just as I was beginning to enjoy reading about the young girl's carefree life, all that she had is taken away from her. I began to sympathize with her condition, and I felt for her and Ramona as they crossed the border and searched for work for the first time. The work that Ramona and Esperanza did was demeaning to them because they had lived such a privileged life in Aguascalientes. I can't imagine being as strong as thirteen-year-old Esperanza was in the situations that she faced. In hardships she endured and did not resist to learn. She was even very eager to learn English.

The idea that a story like Esperanza's is true for many Mexican Americans today is eye-opening. I think that especially for a young audience, it is shocking to know that all the things you love can be so easily taken from you. It is important for the readers to see that people from other cultures lead fragile lives, and also to see that living as an American is a dream in itself. Esperanza Rising is a book that belongs in an English classroom for more than it's cross-cultural qualities. It is a heart-warming tale with historical context that allows the reader to put himself into the shoes of someone struggling to survive. As is stated in Dong's article, it is necessary that English teachers expose students to "varied ways of living and knowing." The way that Esperanza lived her thirteenth year on the run is something that I, for one, have never experienced before. Although I hope to never be uprooted from my home like Esperanza was, I am glad for the knowledge that I have gained about a young girl in such a situation. Reading Esperanza Rising gave me a true insider's view on coming to America and changing your way of life.