Lori Marie Carlson is an editor, translator, and novelist who has spent her time and energy on bringing Latino literature to American audiences. She was born in Jamestown, New York and has earned an M.A. in Hispanic Literature from Indiana University. She has taught at several universities and has authored seven books for young adults, including the acclaimed collection of poetry, Cool Salsa. The follow-up, Red Hot Salsa: Bilingual poems on being young and Latino in the United States has also received starred reviews and recognition. Readers are able to experience the poetic fusion of the Spanish and English language and identity. Themes of neighborhood, amor (love), family moments, memories, and victory divide the poems into relatable categories. Skilled poets are featured including Gary Soto, Trinidad Sanchez, Jr., Raquel Valle Sentíes, and Martín Espada. Artistically using the best of their two languages, these poets offer readers a description of their individuality as Latino Americans. Additionally, they reveal the ubiquitous emotions and experiences familiar to all people allowing the readers to understand the significance of the poetry. This is a great collection of poetry, organized effectively and deserving of praise.
Materials:Red Hot Salsa: Bilingual poems on being young and Latino in the United States edited by Lori Marie Carlson, pen and paper, magazines, newspapers, collage materials (glue, scissors), poster board (cut in the shape of the U.S.)
Discussion:
Students will identify and list common themes of the Latino experience (particularly that of young adults in the United States). They will read about issues of identity from selected poems from Red Hot Salsa. Then students will learn poetry reading strategies and express what they learned by creating a class collage.
How to Teach It: First students will be asked to write the definition of what it means to be an American. They will share these definitions with their neighbors. A class discussion will begin with questions such as:
Are you American by virtue of where you live?
What kinds of things do you have to do to be an American?
When someone says the word “America” what comes to mind?
Next, the teacher will review the process for reading a poem, read aloud I Am Who I Am, So What by Raquel Valle Sentíes (Red Hot Salsa, p. 16), and then initiate a discussion prompted by these questions:Who is the speaker of the poem? What do we know about the speaker? What kind of person do they sound like? How do you know? What is the subject of the poem? What is the setting of the poem? What is the tone of the poem? (Meaning what is the narrator’s attitude about the subject? You’ll need to look at the kinds of words, phrases, images, details, etc. the poet chose to describe the subject of the poem. Do the words have positive or negative connotations?)
Next students will be asked to independently read a few poems from the anthology and pay attention to lines or phrases that directly related to the Latino experience. Using these notes, they will cut out words, phrases, and images from the magazines provided to create a class mural/collage that depicts what they have learned about the Latino experience in the United States. Students will provide a written statement that explains what they are attempting to show, supporting their response with lines from the poems studied.
Each member of the class will add their pieces to the collage to form the shape of the United States. As a class, each student will be asked to explain their contribution (or read their written statement). The lesson will end by reviewing these open-ended questions: What is the experience of being a Latino living in the United States today? Are their concerns and experiences different or similar to that of other ethnic groups? Can the experience be categorized at all? What is the role of poetry in expressing and understanding identity?
Bibliographic Information of Resource Text:
http://www.thirteen.org/edonline/lessons/poetry/orgb.html
Red Hot Salsa edited by Lori Marie Carlson, is a continuation of Cool Salsa, a collection of poetry on the young life of Latinos throughout America. Through both Spanish and English vocabulary, a variety of poets express their feelings about growing up, finding identity, falling in love, and overcoming obstacles. Each poem provides an example of a variety of authors including Gary Soto, Luis J. Rodríguez, and José Antonio Burciaga. Each poem reflects a myriad of sentiments familiar to all humankind. The code-switching and manipulation of languages functions as a sort of patchwork that mirrors the double-nature of the Latino/a identity. The glossary and biographical notes, in addition to the translations of each poem provides the reader with all the information necessary to gain understanding and meaning from the poems. Each poem speaks from a distinctly unique voice; the collection verbalizes the unified voice of young Latinos. Lori Marie Carlson says "In describing what I do as a writer, I'd say that I try to bridge divides. Whether the chasm is between races, ethnic groups, language, genders, or generations it has been my aim to offer encouragement and feelings of hope to my readers. Why not try to be uplifting when there is so much grief and despair in this world? This is my way of thinking. " It is my opinion that Carlson effectively accomplishes this goal in this work. Red Hot Salsa demonstrates the energy and power that comes from unity and collaboration, --a concept important to each individual's evaluation of their duel-natured heritage, as well as a significant factor in the common bonds between all Latin-Americans. Themes of family, love, discrimination, adolescence, and victory resonate from the pages. I think this anthology would be a great resource in a classroom discussion about all of these themes, as well as the concepts of poetry.
Margarita Engle uses verse to depict the story of a young boy entrapped in a life of slavery and abuse, yet liberated by his passion for poetry. Engle makes abstract concepts of mercy, agony, and rescue tanglible to the reader through symbolic motifs of material objects such as feathers, chains, and books. Her writing portrays the viscious horrors exerienced by Juan Francisco Manzano synched with the courageous insistence of hope shared through poetry. My favorite stanzas:
"and these words, strangest of all strangely easy to understand: Saber no sabiendo... To know without knowing...
To know without knowing a life filled with dreams heaven unseen strange faith, strangely real strangely myseterious fountain of words source of hope" (Engle, 145)
This novel demonstrates how the element of art functions as a healing source for trauma. Manzano's life is memorialized and readers will leave this text with an increased appreciation and understanding for freedom and language.
Up Before Daybreak by Deborah Hopkinson takes the reader on a journey through the history of cotton in America before the Civil War and after. Hopkinson places great attention on the many effects that the crop had on the people allowing the reader to draw conclusions about the wide range of consequences this crop produced (positive and negative). She includes a discussion of several aspects of American culture and economy that were impacted by by this agricultural development including slavery, racism, poverty, and child labor. Children and adults alike can learn from the clear and striking photgraphs found on almost every turn of the page. Each story is told elegantly and attempts to accurately depict the history of cotton in the United States. The index and further reading sections allow students to easily use this as a reference book to look up specific questions or begin independent research. This book is both intriguing and informative and will teach even the least interested reader something fascinating and representative of American History.
New York Times Notable book, Persepolis, is a novel of a different kind. Marjane Satrapi carefully and subtly blends serious with satire.She employs her maturity and intelligence through the funnel of a child’s voice and logic. Through memorable graphics and engaging but simple text, Satrapi gives readers an opportunity to learn about freedom on many levels. As she learns about her country and family’s history, she is lead on a search for both factual and philosophical truths. Marj follows a path from blind-faith to doubt to rejection of her beliefs and ideals. The revolution absorbs this little girl and we are able to follow her through her journey and experience her joys and sorrows, universal to all.
Materials: Getting Away With Murder: The True Story of the Emmett Till Case by Chris Crowe
Discussion: Students will gain an understanding of the purposes and types of nonfiction literature. They will also be able to identify several access features in nonfiction books.
How to Teach It: We would define the term nonfiction as a class and discuss the types of nonfiction including essays, journals, documentaries, scientific papers, biographies, textbooks, etc.I would have the students fill out a Civil Rights KWLL. First listing what they know, what they would like to know, then after reading the text they would write what they learned from the book and then what they learned from outside research (or information from class). I would ask them to look through the book and point out anything that is different from a nonfiction book compared to a fiction novel. They hopefully would mention several access features like the glossary or time line. Then I would show them examples and discuss the purposes of several other access features common to nonfiction literature. In Getting Away With Murder we would find a Table of Contents, Introduction, Chapter Titles, Photographs and labels, Time line, Bibliography, Additional Resources, and Further Reading. To assess their learning and give them practice writing, I might even have them create a page or two of their own nonfiction book (in any of the formats we discussed), including a couple access features. They would research a little about other significant people, places, or events realted to Civil Rights in the United States.
Bibliographic Information of Resource Text:
http://www.homeofbob.com/literature/genre/nonfiction/elements.html
Chris Crowe states in his introduction: "To understand and appreciate the modern history of the fight for equal rights for African Americans, American teenagers of all races should know the story of Emmett Till and its impact on American society." It is my opinion that Crowe has provided an excellent educational tool in penning this nonfiction story. It's unfortunate that students read increasing less and less nonfiction literature as the pass through the middle and high school grades (excluding textbooks). The vocabulary used and the inclusion of photographs give students the opportunity to have their questions answered and learn in a way that suits them. I think students would greatly benefit from more nonfiction young adult books that can provide them with informative readings about interesting and important topics. I am certain that many students have never heard about the Emmett Till case and those that were aware did not experience it emotionally. This book allows an in-depth observation that draws on the readers emotions and sense of justice.
