Have your “Neon Scars” questions & readings out on your desk – (I am not collecting the portfolio assignment today, but I will look at your process) Prepare to write…. Advice from last year’s Juniors: “SLEEP, ORGANIZATION, and WRITING are important!”

From Last Class How does Rose use typography, paragraph breaks, and shifts in point of view to explore her ideas? How does overall style of mixing prose with poetry affect overall meaning? Mark up essay! What does her piece have to do with being Native American? How does her story reveal her American-ness? What is the neon scar?

Free Write (Record your thoughts with a free flow of your pen. Please DO NOT simply “answer” each question.) DO USE EXAMPLES from your LIFE EXPERIENCES. Guiding ideas/questions: How are we, as individuals, shaped by our family/ethnic/social backgrounds and experiences? How can we draw on these backgrounds to strengthen and inspire our individual voices? To what extent do we want to break free of those backgrounds as we develop and express our identities as individuals?

Freewrite Re-read what you wrote. Underline a sentence, passage, or phrase that feels particularly true or well-said. Invitation to share from either your freewrite or your portfolio assignment.

Perspective: Who Tells the Story (What lens of experience is this viewed from) You & your classmates Rodriguez (Mexican-American) Rivera (Cuban-American) Neruda (Chilean)

Rodriguez “Mexico’s Children” Place/home Confluence (coming together) of earth, confluence of history Abstraction of American dream “In order to show you America I would have to take you out….If I were to show you Mexico, I would take you home.” RqD0

Quotes: Stand Up, Hand Up, Pair Up New Partner each time Discuss the significance of the quote in the essay – Include Rodriquez’s perspective of what he meant – Then discuss your perspective of the meaning (Text to Self connection). Use your essay as guidance if this is helpful

Example #1 “To Show you America I would have to take you out. I would take you to the restaurant-OPEN 24 HOURS…” What is Rodriguez’s perspective with this quote? What might he mean? HOW do YOU react to the quote. How has your experience shaped YOUR perspective.

Example #2 “Organization” What is Rodriguez’s perspective with this quote? What might he mean? How has your experience shaped YOUR perspective.

3 “To enter America, which is invisible, Mexicans must become invisible” What is Rodriguez’s perspective with this quote? What might he mean? HOW do YOU react to the quote. How has your experience shaped YOUR perspective.

4 “Femininity is defined by the son as motherhood” What is Rodriguez’s perspective with this quote? What does he mean? HOW do YOU react to the quote. How has your experience shaped YOUR perspective.

5 “…Mexican villages have lived under the rumor of America, a rumor vaguer than paradise.”

6 “I will send for you or I will come home rich.” (used two times)

7 “For Mexicans, even death is less abstract than America”

8 “Tu is the condition, not so much of knowing, as of being known; of being recognized…” And “Usted is the language outside of Eden”

9 “America was a monastery. America was a vow of poverty”

10: Last one… “We were still her children. As long as we didn’t marry.”

Have a SEAT- Silently Reflect: How do our backgrounds affect or shape our voices as writers, as artists, as students, as people? Our experiences become our story!

Two Poems North American Friend – Pablo Neruda North from the River, South Inside – Eliana Suarex Rivero Read these poems with an openness to the speaker’s perspective.

Class Time and Homework Read “Growing up Asian in America” (pg ) Complete Portfolio Assignment #2 – Typed – Use MLA heading and formatting (see syllabus for details) – Today: Turn in “Neon Scars” questions