In Humanities class, we read the memoir When I Was Puerto Rican by Esmeralda Santiago. In the book, Santiago discusses her childhood in Puerto Rico, as well as the hardships she endured within her family. She also documents her move to New York, and her struggles adjusting to the US, while holding onto her Puerto Rican identity.
In class, we read the book together, as well as answered questions about chapters to further our understanding. Additionally, we had class discussions after every chapter to organize our thoughts and collaborate with ideas.
In class, we read the book together, as well as answered questions about chapters to further our understanding. Additionally, we had class discussions after every chapter to organize our thoughts and collaborate with ideas.
Here are webs created about class discussions we did about chapter/moments in the book, these webs show how the discussion flowed throughout the time we discussed!
Chapter Reflections
These chapter reflection packets helped our understanding of the book by writing out and answering questions about each chapter, to make sure we didn't miss any vital moments in the chapter.
Reflection Questions
Here are two reflection questions I answered to further my thinking after completing the book.
2. How would the story have differed if Esmeralda had been a male? How would it have been different if she had not been the oldest child?
Well the problems Esmeralda encountered as a female was she was sexually harassed by men in different points in the story, and early in the book, specifically when the family was living in Puerto Rico, Esmeralda was held to women/lady standards. The sexual experiences like Esmeralda’s experience with her piano teacher, her staring out the window to man looking at her while he’s pleasuring himself, and the experiences she had with her own family member Chico, I still feel sexual experiences would happen, but definitely not like these ones. I say this because if she was male, she would have stronger sexual emotions, yet that depends on her/him to act on them. I just feel as a young male in her situation living in not so safe/educated areas, she/he could get lead on by another person, or since she is a male and has stronger sexual emotions, she/he could possibly choose to lead a person on to sexual activities.
Now if she wasn’t the oldest child, obviously a lot of the weight that Mami puts on her shoulder would be lifted. Esmeralda wouldn’t be yelled at by Mami as much and maybe if she was the youngest she would be learning a lot more from the older sibling(s), she has. She also obviously wouldn’t be blamed as much as she was in the book for problems that her siblings ignited.
- Which character did you enjoy the most during the reading of When I was Puerto Rican?
2. How would the story have differed if Esmeralda had been a male? How would it have been different if she had not been the oldest child?
Well the problems Esmeralda encountered as a female was she was sexually harassed by men in different points in the story, and early in the book, specifically when the family was living in Puerto Rico, Esmeralda was held to women/lady standards. The sexual experiences like Esmeralda’s experience with her piano teacher, her staring out the window to man looking at her while he’s pleasuring himself, and the experiences she had with her own family member Chico, I still feel sexual experiences would happen, but definitely not like these ones. I say this because if she was male, she would have stronger sexual emotions, yet that depends on her/him to act on them. I just feel as a young male in her situation living in not so safe/educated areas, she/he could get lead on by another person, or since she is a male and has stronger sexual emotions, she/he could possibly choose to lead a person on to sexual activities.
Now if she wasn’t the oldest child, obviously a lot of the weight that Mami puts on her shoulder would be lifted. Esmeralda wouldn’t be yelled at by Mami as much and maybe if she was the youngest she would be learning a lot more from the older sibling(s), she has. She also obviously wouldn’t be blamed as much as she was in the book for problems that her siblings ignited.