PEOPLE & PLACES
ELA TOOLKIT
VOCAB WORDS
FIGURATIVE OR LITERAL?
MEXICAN CULTURE & CONTEXT
100

This Mexican muralist painted huge frescoes on public buildings and was the husband of Frida Kahlo.

Diego Rivera

100

This is the term for the BIG point or message that an author wants the reader to take away from a text.

What is the central idea (or main idea)?

100

This word is used to describe a young person who breaks the law or fails to do what they are supposed to do — like a kid who skips school repeatedly.

delinquent

100

“The artist climbed down from the scaffold and walked across the room.”


literal

100

This green dip, made from ripe avocados, is a classic Mexican food that Frida prepared in the kitchen of her home.

guacamole

200

This Mexican painter was famous for her colorful self-portraits and for wearing traditional Mexican clothing.

Frida Kahlo

200

This kind of summary sticks to the facts of the text and leaves out the writer’s personal opinion.

What is an objective summary?

200

This word means the act of making false, damaging statements about another person — spreading lies that hurt someone’s reputation.

slander

200

“Her eyebrows met above her nose like the wings of a blackbird.”

figurative - simile

200

These large wall paintings, often made on wet plaster, were Diego Rivera’s most famous art form — he painted them on public buildings throughout Mexico.

murals (or frescoes)

300

This is the country where both Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera were born and lived most of their lives.

Mexico

300

An author IMPLIES; a reader does THIS — meaning, draws a logical conclusion based on clues in the text.

What is to infer (an inference)?

300

Fill in the blank: “After reading the moving article, she felt _________ to donate to the cause.” (The word means “forced” or “strongly driven.”)

compelled

300

“The garden was a riot of color, with flowers shouting in every direction.”

figurative - personification

300

This is the capital of Mexico

Mexico City

400

This is the famous home where Frida and Diego lived in Coyoacán, named for the deep color of its outer walls.

The Blue House

400

These two words describe reasoning that is logical and well-supported by evidence — versus reasoning that relies on guesses.

What are SOUND and UNSOUND (reasoning)?

400

This word means the quality of being ridiculous, illogical, or completely unreasonable. You might use it to describe a rule that makes no sense at all.

absurdity

400

“The stove was decorated with white, blue, and yellow Spanish tiles.”

literal

400

What is the currency (money) of Mexico called

pesos

500

This is the relationship between Diego Rivera and the author Guadalupe Rivera, who wrote the second passage.

Father and daughter

500

This kind of writing tells a story from the author’s own life, in first person — like Diego Rivera’s My Art, My Life.

memoir, or autobiography

500

When you have no other options or no way to fix a problem, you have no _________ left. This word means “a source of help or an option in a difficult situation.”

recourse

500

“Fruits are like flowers: they speak to us in a provocative language and teach us things that are hidden.”

figurative - simile and personfication

500

Name at least two states that border Mexico

California, New Mexico, Texas, Arizona