Pizza and Pages Book Club: Week 3
A Book Discussion Project by Ryann Uden for LIS404LE, Spring 2005
Esperanza
Rising by Pam Muņoz Ryan
Synopsis /
Discussion Questions /
Bibliography /
Back
to Book List
Esperanza enjoys the life of a princess on her family's ranch in Aquascalientes, Mexico until her father is killed and she is forced to escape to California with her mother and her family's former servents. Life on a farm labor camp during the Great Depression is hard, and Esperanza struggles as she comes to terms with her new future. It becomes quiet clear how pampered her old life was when she realizes she does not even know how to sweep a porch. She is also introduced to controversies that surround labor camp conditions and a first hand view of prejudice in America. Things get even more difficult for Esperanza when her mother falls ill to the Valley Fever and must be hospitalized, and Esperanza chooses to work in labor camp to help make ends meet. After this year of toil and trouble, Esperanza does rise above her situation and realizes that you don't have to have a lot of money to be rich.
Discussion Questions:
1. Consider the title, Esperanza Rising. What does
it mean to you? How does she rise throughout the story? How
does she change?
2. How is the future in California different for Alfonso, Hortensia, and Miquel than it is for Esperanza and her mother? (p37 - You were right, Esperanza. In Mexico we stand on different sides of the river. - Miguel).
3. Why couldn't Esperanza hear the earth's heartbeat when she first arrived in California?
5. How are the roses that Miguel and Alfonso bring from Mexico like Esperanza's story?
6. Why do people feel so strongly about whether to strike or not in the work camps? What are the pros and cons of the situation? What does Esperanza think about it?
7. What does Esperanza mean when she thinks "Isabel had nothing, but she also had everything" (p. 176)?
8. Was Esperanza right to help Marta when she was hiding from the immigration officials?
9. At the beginning of the book, Esperanza felt strongly about the difference between herself and the peasants. By the end of the book, how does she her feelings change about putting people into classes? (angry that Mexicans all together are treated like a lesser class.)
Rockman, Connie. (2000). Esperanza Rising. Last accessed on May 6, 2005 from http://www2.scholastic.com/teachers/authorsandbooks/teachingwithbooks/producthome.jhtml;jsessionid=I0103DVY2T30ICQVAKNSFFAKCUBMOIWA?productID=12576&collateralID=11008&displayName=Discussion+Guide&displayName=Discussion%20Guide.
Ryan, Pam Muņoz. (2000). Esperanza Rising. Scholastic Press: New York, NY.