Esperanza Rising talk - Book Report/Review Example

Book Report/Review: Esperanza Rising Table of Contents A. 3 B. Booktalk 3 C. Reason for Selection 3 D. Curricular Connections 4 E. Activity Ideas 4References 5A. AbstractThe book talks about the life of a young girl named Esperanza, who was forced to migrate and work the lands in California after a life lived in privilege as part of a landed family in a prosperous farm in Mexico. The death of the father and the unraveling of their lives following that death led them to the migrant life in California, where they were left to fend for themselves in the midst of waves of migrants willing to work for little and making conditions tough for all migrants and Mexican American workers there.

The chapters are crafted to convey that Esperanza has profound ties with the rhythms of the land and the passing of the seasons (Ryan, 2000; Pwxyz, 2000). B. Booktalk It is tale of heartbreak and the struggle for survival of one family, who was uprooted from a life of privilege to till the soil in the foreign land. Yet what is inspiring about the story is the sense of meaning that a young girl derives out of all that pain. It is transcends the harshness of life as much as it portrays some of ts more brutal elements.

Life is hard sometimes, and full of unexpected twists and turns, but it is also full of things that inspire. The life of this young girl and his deep and heartfelt relationship with nature and the seasons of her life is one such source of inspiration. Read this book and find your own source of inner strength and beauty (Ryan, 2000).C. Reason for Selection The publication, Scholastic, the young heroine in her early teens, the depiction of the life of Mexican migrants into California in the 1930s, all indicate that this would make a good selection for inclusion in a class to broaden student perspectives on values such as inner fortitude and beauty, and the attitude of mind to transcend personal hardships that are important for young people to understand and to develop in themselves.

Young people of all races, not just Mexican Americans, and especially adolescent females about the age of Esperanza, will be sure to relate and connect with the book and the story of the young woman. This would be ideal for inclusion in reading lists for students from 6th to 8th grade, given the nature of the work and the age of Esperanza. This is for young teens just coming into adolescence. I would rate the novel 4 stars out of 5, for the overall relevance of the novel to the contexts that I just mentioned, and the overall excellence of the writing, the values espoused, and the appeal to young people (Ryan, 2000). D. Curricular Connections Given the emphasis on agriculture and on the passing seasons, this can be integrated into Science classes, with emphasis on earth science, biology, and studies relating to the weather and the seasons (Ryan, 2000). E. Activity Ideas1.

Students can be made to read aloud passages in the work that they can relate to, and explain how they relate to the work (Ryan, 2000)2. Students can be made to report in groups on particular chapters of the book, tying up the contents with their own experiences of the seasons (Ryan, 2000)3. Students can form groups and dramatize sections of the novel in front of the class (Ryan, 2000). ReferencesPWxyz (2000). Esperanza Rising. Publishers Weekly. Retrieved from http://www.publishersweekly.com/978-0-439-12041-8Ryan, P. M. (2000).

Esperanza Rising. Scholastic Inc. Broadway, New York.