Jessica Sauceda

Professor Warner

English 112B

History Unit of Study

The Migrant Experience: Untold Stories

The stories of migrant workers have been presented in classrooms across the country primarily from the perspectives of White Americans or �Okies,� white migrant workers who fled the Dust Bowl during the Great Depression and traveled west for a better future in California. Oftentimes the John Steinbeck classic Grapes of Wrath has been the focal piece to introduce students to the era, and unfortunately that�s where the study ends. An extension to this study can include the experiences of other ethnic groups, primarily the Mexican-American experience. For example, an important chapter of the Great Depression experience and countless other eras of struggle, is the Mexican and Mexican-American perspective, which will be my focus. We will explore what the working and living conditions were like for those people crossing the border and heading north, chasing the American Dream, alongside those who were already living in American just struggling to get by, primarily from the youth perspective. The failure to incorporate other American experiences can have a negative effect on educating our students. Arguably one of the masterpieces of American literature, Grapes of Wrath and the issues and discussions arisen from the novel can be expounded on with the unit study of the novel below or additionally with some of the others novels listed.

Introducing the Unit

1.) I will begin with this song by the legendary folk singer Woody Guthrie (1912-1967), famous for the song �This Land is Your Land.� Though born in Oklahoma, Guthrie spent time living in Texas and Southern California, very near to the Mexico border. This is a notable song he wrote dedicated to the hard-working immigrants who crossed the border looking for a brighter future.

2.) Then I would ask the students to interpret the meaning of the song- their reflections, emotions- maybe journaling their responses to the ballad. I would ask some students to share their responses/ and or ideas of the meaning of the song to introduce them to the unit.

Deportee (Plane Wreck at Los Gatos)

The crops are all in and the peaches are rott'ning,
The oranges piled in their creosote dumps;
They're flying 'em back to the Mexican border
To pay all their money to wade back again

Goodbye to my Juan, goodbye, Rosalita,
Adios mis amigos, Jesus y Maria;
You won't have your names when you ride the big airplane,
All they will call you will be "deportees"

My father's own father, he waded that river,
They took all the money he made in his life;
My brothers and sisters come working the fruit trees,
And they rode the truck till they took down and died.

Some of us are illegal, and some are not wanted,
Our work contract's out and we have to move on;
Six hundred miles to that Mexican border,
They chase us like outlaws, like rustlers, like thieves.

We died in your hills, we died in your deserts,
We died in your valleys and died on your plains.
We died 'neath your trees and we died in your bushes,
Both sides of the river, we died just the same.

The sky plane caught fire over Los Gatos Canyon,
A fireball of lightning, and shook all our hills,
Who are all these friends, all scattered like dry leaves?
The radio says, "They are just deportees"

Is this the best way we can grow our big orchards?
Is this the best way we can grow our good fruit?
To fall like dry leaves to rot on my topsoil
And be called by no name except "deportees"?

Words by Woody Guthrie and Music by Martin Hoffman
� 1961

3.) I will then read an excerpt from the novel, which will be the centerpiece, �And the Earth Did Not Devour Him (pg. 86)The original Spanish text entitled �y no se lo trago la tierra is a novel divided into fourteen vignettes, which possesses a stream-of-consciousness style. The book is told from the perspective of an unnamed Chicano child, the son of two migrant workers. The different sections work effectively to connect the different events occurring over the past year of the young boy�s life.

The heat had set in with severity. This was unusual because it was only the beginning of April and this kind of heat was not expected until the end of the month. It was so hot that the bucket of water the boss brought them was not enough. He would come only two timed for the midday and sometimes they couldn�t hold out. That was why they took to drinking water from a tank at the edge of the furrow. The boss had it there for the cattle and when he caught them drinking water there he got angry. He didn�t much like the idea of their losing time going to drink water because they weren�t on contract, but by the hour. He told them that if he caught them there again he was going to fire them and not pay them. The children were the ones who couldn�t wait.

Teaching Strategies

Engaging a student in a literary text is the most important aspect of learning, and the learning process can be fostered by incorporating a reader response activity such as double-entry journaling. This activity allows the student to connect to the text and provide their insight to what they�re reading. In this strategy, students draw out two columns in a notebook page. They write out a quotation that interests them on the left column of the journal page and write their response to that selected quotation on the right column. The right column can be seen as a �connection� with the quotation and essentially with the text as they are recording a �conversation� between them and the text. The reason for choosing a quote can be because it marks an important moment in the text or it reminds the student of a personal memory or experience. There are no such things as bad responses or quote selections for this activity. This response journal also provides a comfortable environment and opportunity for the students to share their thoughts and ideas.

Fiction Literature (can be studied for further exploration into the unit)

Hesse, Karen. Out of the Dust. New York: Scholastic Press, 1997.

(227pp) Told in a series of poems by young fifteen year-old Billie Jo, the young girl relates her feelings and the hardships of surviving on her family�s Oklahoma farm during the Depression. This book provides a great youth perspective of era that can be incorporated into further study.

Jimenez, Francisco. The Circuit. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1997.

(134pp) Follows a young boy having to leave Mexico with his parents to travel to �El Norte.� The novel follows the seemingly unending migration from farm to farm looking for the next harvesting job. Novel is based on the experiences of author Francisco Jimenez as a young boy.

Jimenez, Francisco. Breaking Through. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2001.

(195pp) Sequel to The Circuit continues with young Francisco as he goes through his teenage years. At fourteen, he is caught with his family by la migra (immigration officials), forcing them to leave their home. They eventually find their way back as Francisco recalls the harsh challenges faced such as prejudice. Francisco also recollects the universal adolescent experiences as school, dating, and friendships.

Jimenez, Francisco. Reaching Out. Boston : Houghton Mifflin Company, 2008.

(196pp) Sequel to Breaking Through completes Francisco�s journey from childhood to adulthood as he enters Santa Clara University in 1962. His college years are illustrated with feelings of fear and doubt yet ultimate triumph as he gains sense of self-worth and builds his character, with the help of great mentors. The prejudice he experiences because he is Mexican doesn�t hinder him from applying and being accepted to graduate school at Columbia University.

Lampman, Evelyn Sibley. Go Up the Road. New York, Atheneum, 1972.

(187pp) A young twelve-year-old Mexican American girl and her family of migrant workers experience a glimpse of a more stable way of life and the possibility of achieving a more prosperous future drive this novel.

Rivera, Tomas. And the Earth Did Not Devour Him. Houston: Arte Publico Press, 1987.

(160pp)- A semi-autobiographical account of the migratory life of a young Mexican-American boy through the 40�s and 50�s. The anonymous child narrates some sections of the novel with his thoughts, reflections, and recollections while other people close to the boy do the narration, often chronicling the difficulties of being a migrant worker. The various forms of narratives included are in-depth descriptive passages, dialogue, and prayer- with the first section being called �El ano perdido� (The Lost Year).

Ryan, Pam Munoz. Esperanza Rising. New York: Scholastic Press, 2000.

(262pp) Set in 1930, young Esperanza has to leave a life of luxury with her family in Mexico to head north to California. They become farm workers and have to struggle to survive in the United States during the terrible Great Depression.

Taylor, Theodore. Maldonado Miracle. New York: Doubleday, 1973.

(189pp) Young Jose Maldonado dreamt of being a fine artist. But this twelve-year-old son of a poverty-stricken Mexican farmer cannot focus on his dreams any longer. After his mother dies and his father leaves for work in the Unites States, Jose must make it alone for the mean time until he can cross the border and be reunited with his father.

Steinbeck, John. Grapes of Wrath. New York: Viking Press, 1939.

(432 pp) Classic novel set during the Great Depression, follows the Joad family as they leave their Oklahoma home because of drought and economic hardships, and travel to the Salinas Valley of California. They encounter many obstacles and personal struggles on their search for a better life, with the memorable climactic end of Rose of Sharon breastfeeding a man too sick from starvation with her act illustrating the hope in humanity.

Non-Fiction Reference Books

Nahmias, Rick. The Migrant Project: Contemporary California Farm Workers. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 2008.

Altman, Linda Jacobs. Migrant Farm Workers: The Temporary People. New York: Franklin Watts, 1994.

Ashabranner, Brent. Dark Harvest: Migrant Farm Workers in America. New York: Dodd, Mead, 1985.

Atkin, S. Beth. Voices from the Fields: Children of Migrant Farm Workers Tell Their Stories. Boston: Little, Brown, 1993.

Anaya, Rudolfo. An Elegy on the Death of Cesar Chavez. El Paso: Cinco Puntos Press, 2000.