[CALIBK12] Middle school lit. that aligns with To Kill a Mockingbird?

[pamanddoug]

Hi Karen,

I am not a middle school teacher, but when I substituted as a Library Tech
for the summer at Dana Hills H.S. years ago, one Latina student told me that
her favorite book was House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros.  I read it
and thoroughly enjoyed it.  I can see why it was her favorite!   It is a
memorable read.  With 65% Latino students, it might be a good selection for
your students.  (It is easy to read.  Although Follett¹s ³Titlewave² lists
the interest level as ³adult,² the book is written at a 5.6 reading level,
with a lexile of  870.)

The following sites have interesting lesson plans for the title:

http://www.webenglishteacher.com/cisneros.html

http://www.enotes.com/house-mango/copyright

The site ³The American Novel² describes House on Mango Street as follows:
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/americannovel/timeline/thehouseonmangostreet.html

Sandra Cisneros is a Chicana (Mexican-American woman) who grew up in Chicago
during the 1960s. THE HOUSE ON MANGO STREET is her first novel, and it
chronicles a year in the life of the adolescent main character, Esperanza.
Like Cisneros, Esperanza lives in a Latino neighborhood in Chicago. The
story is of the struggles, joys, and growing pains unique to a
Mexican-American girl.

The novel is comprised of a series of vignettes, some of which are very
poetic (in both form and tone). Through them we experience Esperanza's
relationships with family, friends, and neighbors. These relationships
contribute to Esperanza's transformation from innocent child to
self-conscious adolescent. She learns about gender discrimination and double
standards; she experiments with her budding sexuality and others' reactions
to it; she develops a growing awareness of racial, ethnic, and language
barriers, and she uncovers the power of writing. Esperanza's initial
reaction to her heightened awareness is to leave the house on Mango Street
for a home of her own. By the novel's end, however, she has come to realize
that there will always be a piece of her in her old neighborhood, to which
she must return in order to help the women she has had to leave behind.

THE HOUSE ON MANGO STREET has had its share of critics. Some Mexican
Americans feel that Esperanza's desire to leave the neighborhood is a
betrayal of Mexican-American culture by Cisneros; to assimilate into
American culture, Esperanza must abandon her Mexican heritage. Other critics
similarly argue that Cisneros's novel perpetuates negative stereotypes about
Mexican Americans, particularly men. Still others contend that the feminism
displayed by Cisneros is a white woman's feminism that does not reflect the
realities of being a Chicana. Such reviews notwithstanding, THE HOUSE ON
MANGO STREET remains a staple of American literature.

Atticus Finch¹s comments to his daughter have a similar point of view to
Esperanza in House on Mango Street.  Atticus says:  ³If you can learn a
simple trick, Scout, you'll get along a lot better with all kinds of folks.
You never really understand a person until you consider things from his
point of view ... until you climb into his skin and walk around in it."
Similarly, Mango Street is also a coming of age story about a girl facing
prejudice.

I hope that this is helpful.

Pam Carrie
Chapman Hills Elementary
Orange Unified S.D.


On 7/4/08 1:22 PM, "KZNadalin at aol.com" <KZNadalin at aol.com> wrote:

> Hello, everyone!
> 
> A few months ago, I saw a post where someone found some short stories that
> were good companion pieces to To Kill a Mockingbird.   I have a similar query.
> Our middle school is transitioning this next year from a two period
> reading/language arts block of instruction to a single period of English for
> all students.    (Never mind what some of us think about that!)   ...One of
> our 8th grade teachers has used To Kill a Mockingbird for years as an
> effective piece for her advanced GATE and AVID students.   However, she
> doesn't think she will have time with a single instructional period to use
> that story and also cover the district-mandated standards. Does anyone have
> suggestions for novels that are shorter than TKAM but have similar themes?
> If it helps, our population is about 65% Latino, 20% white, and the remaining
> 15% a combination of African Americans, Asian students (including 2 Pacific
> Islanders) and Native Americans.   85% of our students live in poverty,
> qualifying for free or reduced lunch, FWIW.
> 
> I appreciate any suggestions, especially if you have ideas or experiences with
> using specific titles in a classroom and connected teachings.
> 
> Thanks,
> Karen
> 
> 
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