From Elena

From ElenaA novel excerpt

CONNECT TO YOUR LIFE

• How important is your home and community to you?

• How might you feel if you were forced to leave it & go to a new land?

Key to the Novel Excerpt

• Elena is a historical fiction, fiction that is set in the past, during Mexican Revolution.

• Porfirio Díaz was a dictator who favored the rich and stole from the poor; the Mexican people were miserable, so they rose up to make Díaz leave office.

• An excerpt = a part of the novel

Building Background

• Early 1900s during Mexican Revolution (1910-1920)

• About 1 million Mexican were killed• Many Mexicans traveled to the United States

because it was close and easy to get to; they could be safe and make a good life there.

• Pancho Villa The Mexican Bandit

Story Map

Beginning• Elena and her four sisters grew up in Mexico.• In Elena’s day, only boys could go to school &

marriages were arranged.• Elena wanted to study and learn local priest• Elena fell in love with Pablo, an Indian.• Papá refused to let Elena marry Pablo

MIDDLE

• Papá allowed Elena to marry Pablo. • They had children and were happy.• Pablo died, and Elena was filled with grief.• The Mexican Revolution began; soldiers came

to Elena’s town. • Elena gave Pancho Villa Pablo’s last sombrero;

his army guarded her house.

End

• Elena and her children left Mexico; they made it safely to the United States.

• Elena worked hard for her children; she gave them a good life.

Vocabulary Preview

• Notorious adj. well-known for bad deeds• Condolences n. statement of sympathy &

concern• Detain v. stop from leaving• Refugees n. people who flee a country to find

protection from war or political oppression• Barrio n. mainly Spanish-speaking

neighborhood in a U.S. city

Vocabulary Strategy: Foreign Words

• Many English words taken from other languages.

• Some Spanish words:a.) Campesinos = country folkb.)Patio c.) sombreros

1st CHUNKPg. 38-39, line 1-52

VOCABULARY•As he mounted on his horse = to get on•They headed off across the rugged countryside•Down they plunged = fell off into the ravine below = a deep, narrow gap in the earth•To haul my father up to safety = to pull with effort or difficulty

THINK IT THROUGH

• REREAD: How does this passage hint at what might happen in the story?

• What is doctor implying in line 33?• REREAD: What is unusual about Pablo’s

answer?• What great change happens to the family?• What other changes does Pablo predict?

LITERATURE

• Where and when does this part of the story happen?

• How does the setting affect what happens to the narrator’s father?

2nd CHUNKPg. 39-70, line 53-70

VOCABULARY

• She ran weeping into the patio

THINK IT THOUGH

• What is Elena feeling?• What details tell you how deeply the narrator

& her mother, Elena, miss Pablo?

3rd CHUNKPg. 40-42, line 71-131

THINK IT THROUGH

• Do you think the narrator has good reason to feel afraid of Pancho Villa?

• REREAD: Why has Elena’s strength become so important?

• What steps does Elena take in order to protect her family, especially Esteban?

4th CHUNKPg. 43, line 132-160

THINK IT THROUGH

• What is surprising about Pancho Villa’s action?• Why do you think the author included the

scene between Pancho Villa & the narrator’s mother?

5th CHUNKPg. 44-46, line 161-227

THINK IT THROUGH

• What problem causes Elena & the children to leave home?

• REREAD: What sacrifices must the family make so they can leave?

• What new problems do they face when they reach Ciudad Juarez?

• How do they solve their problems?

6th CHUNKPg. 46-48, line 228-280

THINK IT THROUGH

• REREAD: Why is education so important to Elena?

• REREAD: What do you learn about the way Elena views herself and the world?

• Compare Elena’s life in the United States to her life in Mexico. Which do you think she prefers?

7th CHUNKPg 48-49, line 281-322

THINK IT THROUGH

• REREAD: Do you think that Elena’s feelings are common among people who come to the US from other lands?

• What words would you use to describe the narrator’s mother?

• How does the narrator judge her mother?• Do you think Elena would return home if she

could?

WRITE A LETTER

• Students can pretend that they are Elena and write a letter to her sisters in Mexico.

• Have them describe Elena’s life in California and tell what she misses about Mexico.

• Then students can exchange letters with a classmate