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When I Was Puerto Rican

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When I Was Puerto Rican When I Was Puerto Rican THE TEACHING OF THE NOVEL II. Content Standards After reading, discussing, and analyzing the novel assigned to the level, the students will: A. Identify and analyze the elements of non-fiction 1. Plot a. Single Plot Esmeralda recalls her childhood in Puerto Rico. As a child she lives with mami, papi, and her younger sisters. She talks about the birth of her other siblings and about the constant fighting of her parents. Eventually, mami and the children move to another house and she starts to work in a factory and leaves the children with, Gloria, a neighbor. Later on mami tells Esmeralda that she’s going to have to start helping with the children and the housework. One day, while mami is at work and Esmeralda is taking care of the children, Esmeralda’s cousin Jenny starts to give rides to the children in her new bicycle. Jenny overrides Esmeralda’s demand that their siblings must come home and takes Raymond on a ride with her. Raymond’s foot is mangled in the chain of the bike and he’s taken to the hospital. Esmeralda feels responsible though everyone agrees that it was Jenny’s fault. Raymond's foot continues to be a problem and the doctors begin talking about amputation, which prompts mami to take him to New York in an effort to find better medical treatment. Esmeralda is left behind with her cousins and is angry, not at being left but at being left out of her mother's plans. Mami soon makes another trip to New York and this time returns with a new hairdo, new clothes and a new sense of confidence. Esmeralda's father soon tells her that her mother is planning to move to New York. Once in New York, mami becomes involved with another man, Francisco, with whom she fathers a child, but Francisco soon dies of cancer. Esmeralda hates her life in New York, saying that she misses the nature of Puerto Rico. She hates the fact that there is so much crime in the city that she is seldom allowed away from the house alone and that all the children are kept cooped up inside most of the time. Esmeralda is asked by a school official what she wants to do and she gives it some thought, eventually gaining some help gaining admittance into a school for performing arts. In the Epilogue, Esmeralda reveals that she was admitted to that school, that she graduated there and was preparing for graduation from Harvard. b. Multiple plots Chapter 1: Jibara When Esmeralda Santiago is four years old she and her family move to Macun. The family's house is made of tin and the children sleep in hammocks. Esmeralda is called "Negi" because of her darker skin. Esmeralda's mother tells her to stay out of the way as her father repairs the house, but her father lets her help. When Esmeralda picks up the wood, it is filled with termites which bite Esmeralda. She believes she has been punished for disobeying her mother. Chapter 2: Fighting Naked Esmeralda's father leaves the family behind to go into town and mami accuses papi of an affair. During one of her parent’s fight, Esmeralda hears the name "Margie", and later learns that Margie is her half- sister. Esmeralda starts school and she learns about other types of families. One day Esmeralda comes home from school and finds out that she and her family are going to move to the city. Chapter 3: Someone is coming to take your Lap The family moves into a house at La Parada in Santurce outside San Juan. Esmeralda struggles to fit in and the children in school call her "jibara". Esmeralda's mother becomes pregnant with Alicia. Papi visits more frequently after his daughter is born, and eventually, mami and papi reconcile and they all move back to Macun. In Macun, Esmeralda befriends Juanita. When Juanita's grandfather dies, papi participates in the funeral and Esmeralda and Juanita lead the funeral procession to the cemetery. Ramona gives birth to Edna. During a storm in May, Ramona allows the children to play in the rain. Since it is supposed to be lucky. Chapter 4: American Invasion of Macun The parents are invited to a meeting where they are educated about proper nutrition and hygiene. Mami stores the food samples they received for when they are hungry and don’t have anything. Esmeralda goes to Macun Elementary School and receives a polio vaccine. Esmeralda acts brave so she will not be teased. Esmeralda hates the school's breakfast, but Juanita loves it. Esmeralda is told by a classmate that the breakfasts are a political move to gain supporters for the election; which is true since the program ends when the election is over. Chapter 5: Why women remain jamona Esmeralda goes with her father to spend a week with her grandmother. Esmeralda attends mass with her. When papi is supposed to pick her up, Esmeralda waits in her best clothes, but he never comes. Eventually Ramona comes to pick Esmeralda up, and speaks to Esmeralda's grandmother about papi. Esmeralda decides that being "jamona" cannot be worse than having a neglectful husband. Chapter 6: Mami gets a job Esmeralda's mother has another child, Raymond. Mami leaves the children with a neighbor, Gloria, because she has to work to sustain her family. Glorida talks to Esmeralda about the ways of womanhood. The family begins to feel the society's scorn for Mami's decision to take a job. Esmeralda must begin to look after her siblings. The children have a spoiled cousin named Jenny. When Jenny gets a new bicycle, she gives each of them rides. When Raymond wants a ride, Esmeralda tries to stop him, but doesn’t succeed. The bike falls, injuring Raymond's foot. Esmeralda feels responsible, but the adults blame Jenny. Esmeralda and her family move to the city. Chapter 7: El Mangle Mami and the children arrive at El Mangle. The family is staying with a friend of mami in a house on the pier. Esmeralda is refuses to use the outdoor commode. Esmeralda starts school and realizes that she is behind and that her teacher seems to dislike children. Chapter 8: Letters from New York The family moves to the back of a bar where they can hear the jukebox and the bar's drunkards at all hours. Papi moved back in with the family. Raymond's foot doesn’t get better and the doctors start talking about amputation. Mami takes Raymond to New York to find a better medical treatment. When mami returns from New York, she picks Esmeralda up at her cousin’s house and takes her to the family's new house. Chapter 9: Casi Señorita Mami sends the children to church so she can have time alone. Papi works in exchange for Esmeralda's piano lessons with Don Luis. When Don Luis touches her inappropriately, Esmeralda attacks him. Mami and papi speak to Don Luis and he leaves her alone. The family lives at Calle Castro Vina and is near Esmeralda's grandmother's home. Mami travels again to New York and leaves the children with Titi Generosa who is easily manipulated. Papi is still living at home but it is almost never there. Esmeralda and the siblings decide to misbehave so that Papi calls Mami and make her come home. Chapter 10: Dreams of a better life Mami returns from New York and finds out that Papi has moved to Macun with the five children. Mami's appearance has changed, she returned with a new hairdo, new clothes and a new sense of confidence. Mami and Papi start a deli service from a truck but it fails. Mami and Papi keep fighting about their relationship. Esmeralda attends Ramon Emererio Betances School and tries to find an escape in school whenever her parents are fighting. Just before her thirteenth birthday, Papi tells Esmeralda that Mami is planning to move to New York. Chapter 11: Angels on the ceiling Esmeralda travels on the airplane to New York, arrives in Brooklyn, and meets her mother's mother, whom she calls Tata. Mami and the children soon move into an apartment of their own, which has angels painted on the ceiling. Although she was in eight grade in Puerto Rico, Esmeralda is told that she'll have to be held back a year while she learns more English. Esmeralda objects, and the principal agrees to let her try eighth grade for six months. Mami begins seeing a man named Francisco. He spends a lot of time with the children and he makes Mami laugh. Mami, Francisco and the children soon move to an apartment of their own. Chapter 12: You Don’t want to know Mami gets pregnant with Francisco’s son. Francisco is diagnosed with cancer and dies at his parents' house. Mami mourns and lights candles for him for a year. Mami asks Esmeralda to translate whenever she has to apply for public assistance. Esmeralda fears that she'll translate something wrong and their request will be denied. Also, Esmeralda does not like translating for people who lie. During a fight with her mother, Esmeralda says she hates America. Chapter 13: A shot at it Esmeralda talks to the school counselor about her future and tells him that she wants to be a model. He suggests acting, and she agrees. Esmeralda is scheduled to perform a monologue at PA 66, a school for performing arts.
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