1. Mrs. Flowers by Maya Angelou A Shot at It by Esmeralda Santiago
Feature Menu
Introducing the Stories
Literary Skills Focus: Situations and Motivations
Reading Skills Focus: Comparing and Contrasting Situations and Motivations
Writing Skills Focus: Think as a Reader/Writer

2. How do people make transitions into new circumstances?
Mrs. Flowers by Maya Angelou A Shot at It by Esmeralda Santiago Introducing the Stories
How do people make transitions into new circumstances?

3. What could these two possibly have in common?
Mrs. Flowers by Maya Angelou A Shot at It by Esmeralda Santiago Introducing the Stories
In a small Southern town, Mrs. Flowers is admired and a little feared by her neighbors.
Marguerite is a sad girl who refuses to talk in school.
What could these two possibly have in common?

4. Mrs. Flowers by Maya Angelou A Shot at It by Esmeralda Santiago Introducing the Stories
In Brooklyn, New York, fourteen-year-old Esmeralda longs to make a better life for herself.
“How can people live like this?” I shrieked once, desperate to run across a field, to feel grass under my feet instead of pavement.
“Like what?” Mami asked, looking around our apartment, the kitchen and living room crisscrossed with sagging lines of drying diapers and bedclothes.
From "A Shot at It" from When I Was Puerto Rican by Esmeralda Santiago. Copyright © 1993 by Esmeralda Santiago. Reproduced by permission of Vanguard Press, a member of Perseus Books, L.L.C.
What unexpected opportunity will change Esmeralda’s life?
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5. Mrs. Flowers by Maya Angelou A Shot at It by Esmeralda Santiago Literary Skills Focus: Situations and Motivations
In every story we read, we are introduced to the people, or characters, in the stories.
We learn about
the battles they face
the actions they take
their motivations, or reasons for behaving as they do

6. Mrs. Flowers by Maya Angelou A Shot at It by Esmeralda Santiago Literary Skills Focus: Situations and Motivations
A particular situation may bring out important aspects of a person’s character.
A situation is the combination of all that is happening within the conditions that exist
at a specific place
in a specific time
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7. Mrs. Flowers by Maya Angelou A Shot at It by Esmeralda Santiago Reading Skills Focus: Comparing and Contrasting Motivations
When you compare, you look for similarities.
When you contrast, you look for differences.
Compare
Contrast

8. Mrs. Flowers by Maya Angelou A Shot at It by Esmeralda Santiago Reading Skills Focus: Comparing and Contrasting Motivations
As you read these two autobiographical stories, compare and contrast the main characters’ situations and motivations.
Compare
Contrast
Both Marguerite and Esmeralda have trouble speaking.
Marguerite lives in a small southern town, while Esmeralda lives in a large northern city.

9. Mrs. Flowers by Maya Angelou A Shot at It by Esmeralda Santiago Reading Skills Focus: Comparing and Contrasting Motivations
As you read, use a chart like the one below to record details of the characters’ situations and motivations.
Characters
Situation
Motivation
Marguerite and Mrs. Flowers
son and mother
Mrs. Flowers and Marguerite
Esmeralda and her teachers
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10. Mrs. Flowers by Maya Angelou A Shot at It by Esmeralda Santiago Writing Skills Focus: Think as a Reader/Writer
Find It in Your Reading
Angelou and Santiago create detailed portraits of the people who help them through difficult situations. Record words and phrases that help you visualize these people.
Her skin was a rich black that would have peeled like a plum if snagged, but no one would have thought of getting close enough to Mrs. Flowers to ruffle her dress
Excerpt (retitled “Mrs. Flowers”) from I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou. Copyright © 1969 and renewed © 1997 by Maya Angelou. Reproduced by permission of Random House, Inc.
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11. Vocabulary

12. Mrs. Flowers by Maya Angelou A Shot at It by Esmeralda Santiago Vocabulary
benign adj.: kindly; harmless.
intolerant adj.: unwilling to accept something.
A Shot at It
mesmerized v. used as adj.: spellbound; hypnotized.
impeccably adv.: flawlessly.
petrified adj.: paralyzed with fear.

13. Mrs. Flowers by Maya Angelou A Shot at It by Esmeralda Santiago Vocabulary
The word benign can mean “harmless.” It comes from the Latin bene, which means “good.”
“I’m sorry, Mrs. Green. I didn’t mean to drop the computer keyboard.”
“Don’t worry, Tommy. I know it was a benign mistake.”

14. Mrs. Flowers by Maya Angelou A Shot at It by Esmeralda Santiago Vocabulary
Mr. Sakimoto, Tico’s piano teacher, wore a benign expression as he told the boy to improve.
Mr. Sakimoto looked
kind and supportive
angry and demanding
worried and upset

15. Mrs. Flowers by Maya Angelou A Shot at It by Esmeralda Santiago Vocabulary
Mr. Sakimoto, Tico’s piano teacher, wore a benign expression as he told the boy to improve.
Mr. Sakimoto looked
kind and supportive
angry and demanding
worried and upset
Can a frown be benign? Why or why not?

16. Mrs. Flowers by Maya Angelou A Shot at It by Esmeralda Santiago Vocabulary
People who are intolerant of unusual ideas or things won’t tolerate them. Intolerant people are unwilling to accept them.

17. Mrs. Flowers by Maya Angelou A Shot at It by Esmeralda Santiago Vocabulary
Our school librarian is great with students, no matter how young they are.
The only time she’s intolerant is when
__________________.

18. Mrs. Flowers by Maya Angelou A Shot at It by Esmeralda Santiago Vocabulary
Our school librarian is great with students, no matter how young they are.
The only time she’s intolerant is when students talk or whisper too loudly.
What behaviors do students feel intolerant about?
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19. Mrs. Flowers by Maya Angelou A Shot at It by Esmeralda Santiago Vocabulary
When people are mesmerized by something, they can’t take their eyes off of it. It’s as if they’re hypnotized.
a video game
What seems to mesmerize this boy?
What are some objects or activities that mesmerize you? Why?

20. Mrs. Flowers by Maya Angelou A Shot at It by Esmeralda Santiago Vocabulary
When Bianca went to the circus, she was absolutely mesmerized by the high wire act.
Which woman’s facial expression is most like Bianca’s?

21. Mrs. Flowers by Maya Angelou A Shot at It by Esmeralda Santiago Vocabulary
When Bianca went to the circus, she was absolutely mesmerized by the high wire act.
Which woman’s facial expression is most like Bianca’s?

22. Mrs. Flowers by Maya Angelou A Shot at It by Esmeralda Santiago Vocabulary
If a man is impeccably dressed, he has taken great care to make sure that everything he is wearing looks perfect.
What are some things that you take the time to do impeccably in school, after school, and at home?

23. Mrs. Flowers by Maya Angelou A Shot at It by Esmeralda Santiago Vocabulary
Vidal’s car was so impeccably maintained that the windows __________________
were still dirty
were sparkling
were broken

24. Mrs. Flowers by Maya Angelou A Shot at It by Esmeralda Santiago Vocabulary
Vidal’s car was so impeccably maintained that the windows __________________
were still dirty
were sparkling
were broken

25. Mrs. Flowers by Maya Angelou A Shot at It by Esmeralda Santiago Vocabulary
Many people are petrified of spiders and will stop in their tracks because they are so scared.
What are some other things that make people feel petrified?

26. Mrs. Flowers by Maya Angelou A Shot at It by Esmeralda Santiago Vocabulary
If someone is petrified of the dark, which of the following will that person avoid?
sitting outside in the sun
sleeping with a night light
staying in a dark room

27. Mrs. Flowers by Maya Angelou A Shot at It by Esmeralda Santiago Vocabulary
If someone is petrified of the dark, which of the following will that person avoid?
sitting outside in the sun
sleeping with a night light
staying in a dark room
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28. The End

29. QuickWrite

30. Mrs. Flowers by Maya Angelou A Shot at It by Esmeralda Santiago QuickTalk
Imagine making a transition in your life. Record thoughts about how you might feel in the first days and weeks.
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31. Meet the Writers

32. Mrs. Flowers by Maya Angelou Meet the Writer
Maya Angelou has been an actor, a teacher, a speaker, a civil rights worker, and a writer.
“Mrs. Flowers” is from Angelou’s autobiography I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings.
On January 20, 1993, Angelou recited one of her poems in honor of Bill Clinton’s presidential inauguration.

33. A Shot at It by Esmeralda Santiago
Meet the Writer
Esmeralda Santiago was born in Puerto Rico in Her mother moved her family to Brooklyn, New York, when Esmeralda was thirteen years old.
Her move to Brooklyn was frightening, but it helped her appreciate her Puerto Rican heritage. She writes to “get back to that feeling of Puertoricanness.”
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34. Build Background

35. Mrs. Flowers by Maya Angelou A Shot at It by Esmeralda Santiago Build Background
“Mrs. Flowers” is from Maya Angelou’s autobiography.
When Angelou (born Marguerite Johnson) was a little girl, her parents separated.
In the early 1930s, she and her brother Bailey were sent to Arkansas to live with their grandmother.

36. Mrs. Flowers by Maya Angelou A Shot at It by Esmeralda Santiago Build Background
A year before meeting Mrs. Flowers, Marguerite had been violently assaulted by a friend of her mother’s.
Marguerite became depressed and withdrawn, and she stopped speaking.

37. Mrs. Flowers by Maya Angelou A Shot at It by Esmeralda Santiago Build Background
“A Shot at It” is an excerpt taken from the final pages of Santiago’s memoir, When I Was Puerto Rican.
New York City’s Performing Arts High School is a public school for students who want to pursue careers in theater, music, and dance.
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38. Preview the Selections

39. Mrs. Flowers by Maya Angelou A Shot at It by Esmeralda Santiago Preview the Selections
In “Mrs. Flowers,” a remarkable older woman, Mrs. Flowers, makes a big impression on a young girl named Marguerite.
In A Shot At It, fourteen-year-Esmeralda Santiago overcomes her struggle with a new language and poverty to pursue her goals with the help of her supportive teachers.
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