Name: ______________________
Class Period: _______
“American History,” by Judith Ortiz Cofer
ACTIVITY: Literal elements that suggest deeper meanings
Question: In what ways does Ortiz Cover subtly remind readers of the distance
and disparities between the lives of whites and the lives of immigrants like Elena
in the story?
1. Using the chart below, make a list of two or three elements Ortiz Cofer uses to convey
these disparities. See my example for guidance on how to use the chart.
Details of the story
Craft used
(quoted or summarized)
Elena sits on the fire
Descriptive
escape at El Building,
imagery
looking down longingly
from high above at house
and yard when white
families live, observing
their lives there.
(
Explanation of how the example supports the
idea about disparities
The image of Elena sitting on the fire escape
looking down longingly from afar on the lives of
the white families living in the house emphasizes
the distance that separates immigrants like Elena
from the American Dream. The house and yard
may be next door to El Building, but a wide gulf
separates the lives of the Puerto Rican immigrants
in the squalid El Building from the lives of the
whites in the house next door.
Writing Instruction & Practice
We’ve talked about the power of a simple sequence in writing:
Idea
Evidence
Explanation
When using quoted evidence, it’s important to lead into the with the idea you want to use it to
illustrate, then a signal phrase that incorporates the quoted material into your own writing,
then sentences that explain how the evidence helps to support and develop the idea.
Example:
Cofer illustrates the disparity that exists between the lives of immigrants and the lives of white
Americans with the image of Elena sitting on the fire escape high above Eugene’s house. Elena
reports that the fire escape was “my favorite spot,” from which she could watch longingly from
afar the lives of her white neighbors. “I had to resist the temptation to climb down into that
yard and water the flowers,” Elena says. The image emphasizes the distance that separates
immigrants like Elena from the American Dream. She can see the lives of her white neighbors,
but is held distant from them. The house may be next door, but a wide gulf separates the lives
and opportunities of the Puerto Rican immigrants in El Building from the lives and opportunities
of whites.
Now it’s your turn:
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