Vocabulary 1
Another word for "a higher level"
What is the name of the narrator in "I Go Along"?
Gene
What is the poem about?
(Not the theme or message)
The teacher has asked a student to write a paper for an English class.
How do readers know a text is in first-person perspective?
It uses the pronouns I, me, and my.
Who is the narrator of The House on Mango Street? What is the name of the narrator's sister and friends?
Esperanza.
Sister is Nenny. Friends are Rachel, Lucy, Meme Ortiz, Cathy, Louie, Darius
A group or set of items that are alike or similar
category
Not in a joking manner, opposite of kidding
What is the name of the girl who sits next to the narrator on the bus?
Sharon
Who is the audience (the one who is going to read this) of the poem?
The instructor of the class.
What does first-person perspective help readers understand?
The narrator's thoughts and feelings.
What is a simile?
A simile is a comparison of two different things using the words 'like' or 'as'.
The cloud looks like a pig.
The boy runs as fast as a cheetah.
A person who writes poems
To know a meaning well, to comprehend
The narrator is surprised by what the poet looks like. Explain why.
The poet looks like a normal person. Jeans, a belt, boots. He's young.
The narrator thought he would be dressed differently and look differently or older.
Why is the speaker in a special situation with his class?
The speaker is the only colored student in his class. His classmates and instructor are white.
How can a first-person narrator be unreliable?
1. When a narrator does not fully understand a situation
2. When a narrator is guessing what other people experience, feel, or think
3. When a narrator remembers incorrectly
What are sensory details?
Details use the five senses to help readers visualize and picture the story.
Sensory words that help readers use sight, touch, taste, smell, or sound to experience the story.
A planned event, like a TV show or a concert
program
To have ability or possibility to do something
potential
In the reading, the poet reads two poems to the audience. What are the topics of the two poems.
The first poem's topic is about waking up in the morning and seeing the poet's wife asleep.
The second poem is about the poet's bad experiences in high school.
What detail is important for the cultural identity of the speaker? (Not skin color)
He is connected to the music of Harlem.
A person who tells a story is a narrator.
A person who tells a poem is a...
In "The Family of Little Feet", Esperanza and her friends get some high heels and walk around their neighborhood. They receive some unwanted attention from different men. Explain why this happens.
The high heels represent sexuality, and the girls are too young to wear those shoes. Mr. Benny tells the girls they shouldn't wear those shoes, and the girls get hit on by the man on the bicycle and the bum man. The girls are uncomfortable because they are too young to understand why the men are hitting on them.
"Right offhand I can't think of anybody who wants to ride a school bus thirty miles to see a poet"
What does 'right offhand' mean?
At the moment
Right Now
On the spot
"I pull my ball cap down to my nose and lace my fingers behind my head and kick back in the seat."
What does 'kick back' mean?
To lean back
To relax
Why does Sharon tell the narrator that he should join the advanced English class? Explain how the narrator feels.
Sharon thinks that the narrator is smart and would enjoy being with the advanced class.
The narrator thinks about what class will be the next day, and he begins to think that he may not enjoy the normal English class.
How does the speaker feel about the teacher? What is the speaker's message?
What are some features of a poem?
List at least 2.
The words of a poem are arranged into lines.
Poems are short in length, and they use a lot of figurative language.
Poetry has a musical quality, rhythm and the sounds of the words.
Poetry often use rhyme, where the last syllables of lines have the same sound.
How is the theme of "Dreaming of a Better Life" represented in The House on Mango Street?
Esperanza and her parents dream of a better house than the one they live in.
Marin is waiting for someone to save her from her situation.
Alicia wants to go to college to make a better life and future for herself.
Cathy dreams of being related to the queen of France.