Format for Paired Readings
Overview
The novel Esperanza Rising details the travels of a formerly wealthy Mexican family that now
must travel to California to escape and to attempt to start a new live as campesinos, field
workers during the Dust Bowl Era. Paired with this, is an article, “Farmers and the Dust Bowl”
that is anon-fiction account of the reasons around the causes of the dust bowl and the effects.
In this assignment the students will read, and/or listen to audio reading for differentiation, the
chapter titled Las Ciruelas, Plums, pages 139—157 from novel Esperanza Rising. Then students
will read “Farmers and the Dust Bowl” (hand out) and answer selected response questions,
compare the text in a short constructed response, and conclude by writing an extended
response based on their readings.
Paired Readings
Passage #1 Excerpt from Esperanza Rising. By Pam Munoz Ryan
Las Circuelas, Plums; pages 139-157
Or listen on audio at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q22AQ6hN6bI Posted by the BPIS
School, Kally Hanson
Passage #2 Farmers and the Dust Bowl,
http://www.shelbyed.k12.al.us/schools/omms/faculty/cholt/GreatDepression/Living%20in%20
the%20Dust%20Bowl.pdf
Selected Response
1. Why don’t the workers in Esperanza Rising strike in the cotton fields as planned?
A. They have reached an agreement which will provide them with better pay.
B. They are unable to harvest the cotton because the dust storm has covered the crop.
C. Seasons change quickly in the San Joaquin Valley and therefore they wasted too
much time before starting the process of picking the cotton.
D. The workers have decided to return to Mexico and continue their life there instead
of staying and beginning anew in the U.S.
2. Which of the following events from described in the article, “Farmers and the Dust
Bowl,” contributed to the natural disaster known as the “Dust Bowl”
A. The stock market crash of the late 1920’s
B. The end of World War 1
C. The constant ignoring of the advice of conservationist.
D. The government stepping in and creating labor camps.
3. Which of the following is NOT a reason why Esperanza’s family and the Okies, from
Oklahoma, both go to California?
A. Government-created work camps providing new jobs.
B. Both were looking for a new start in life for their families.
C. Disaster had struck both groups and California provided and escape and hope.
D. The time of the year was picking season and would only last for a few months.
4. Short Constructed Response
Explain how the migration of large groups of people affect the wages and job
opportunities for picking vegetables and/or cotton in California. Cite evidence from the
two texts and explain the relationship between workers available and the wages being
paid.
5. Extended Response (ELA only)
Esperanza Rising is a fictional story based on historical events, whereas “Farmers and
the Dust Bowl” is non-fiction. Explain how the events in the United States during the
1920s and early 1930s contributed to the Dust Bowl disaster. Then, explain how these
factual events are used in the novel Esperanza Rising . Cite evidence from either text to
support your view.