| Sunday, March 29, 2009 |
| Immigration Project Reflection |
In this Immigration unit, I read the two books: The Circuit & Breaking Through written by Francisco Jimenez. I felt that this book was quite interesting because it taught me more about immigration. I wasn't exactly satisfied with my book at first. I thought that it wouldn't be as great to read 2 books, but after reading the book, I'm quite glad with my book choice. The two books weren't that boring and it gave me a new perspective on immigration. Something that I learned from the two books was how immigrants were treated and how they lived. These books show different races were treated and how that changed over time. I think that the LC process is currently fine as it is, and there wouldn't be anything that I would like to change. I think that blogging is more efficient rather than writing. I think this because when you're writing, you don't really write the whole idea down. Blogging is also more interesting because you can hear other thoughts from other students as well. The only problem with this blogging experience is that other group members would not do a blog post, which affects the other group members. I think that sometimes other people would interpret the book a different way and it is interesting to read their opinions. Sometimes they wouldn't go in depth into the book and they wouldn't understand that scene as well, which gets confusing.
It was kind of difficult for me to choose what I should do for my painting. The scene that popped into my head when I first received the assignment was when Francisco & his family got caught by the border patrol. The only problem with this scene was how to interpret it. When you first look at the painting, you wouldn't exactly know what the scene is and how it is significant to the book. The painting is more understandable if you had read the book. I felt that my painting turned out fine, and the only problem was capturing the detail in this picture. I think that I should have chose my other choice for the painting because it would've been easier and simpler to paint. I think that if I chose the other choice, my painting would look better. From this experience, I think that painting is a different way to reflection on a novel. It is a simple way to reflect on the book instead of writing about the book.
The interview process was smooth and kind of difficult. It was kind of hard to communicate with my participant because he had a busy schedule. I think that interviewing the participant 3 times made me feel like I was bothering the person a lot. It was kind of helpful because then I would have more follow-up questions the next time I had an interview. I think that 2 interviews would've been better, because through e-mail was kind of difficult for people who don't really check their email. You would have to call the person to tell them to check the e-mail, when you could have just done it over the phone. Something unique that I learned was that my participant was placed in a refugee camp in Thailand in order to America. I've always thought that you could just hop on a plane and get here, but there is a longer process in order to immigrate here. I also learned that since his father was a high-rank officer in Laos, his family was not safe and the communists felt that his father was a threat. I thought that this was interesting because things like that actually did happen and wasn't made up. His father was caught and placed in a underground camp where he was paralyzed waist-down, and barely saw sunlight for 9 years. I think that having the opportunity to interview a immigrant helped me understand immigration more. It helped me see immigration in a real point of view, in person. It wasn't through a book or through a painting, but it was coming out of a person who experienced immigration.
In conclusion, this immigration unit taught me a whole lot about immigration and gave me a whole new point of view on immigrants. I got to experience reading someone's perspective on immigration, go through an interview process, learn more about immigration on a in-person POV, and even express and reflect on a novel through art. I enjoyed this unit pretty well and it was valuable to learning. |
posted by charisse @ 3:01 PM  |
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| Friday, March 13, 2009 |
| The Circuit & Breaking Through Book Review |
The Circuit and Breaking Through by Francisco Jimenez are two inspiring books. These books are a collection of stories about Francisco's childhood as a migrant child. They come from Guadalajara, Mexico to California for a better life. His family faces poverty and discrimination in America and struggle to live as a big family. The family moves a lot for work which causes Francisco to not stay in school as much. Francisco and his family face a new life--trying to fit in and learn a new language. They work extremely hard for very little money, such as a janitor job that only pays $1.25 an hour(minimum wage at the time). Even though they were a very poor family, they made the best of their situation and still was a caring family.
The two books are stories of Francisco's life. One of my favorite stories within the two books was when Francisco goes to visit colleges and gets accepted. I liked this story because it shows that you can achieve anything as long as you can put your mind to it. It didn't matter that Francisco was a poor kid and he actually made it to college even though it was costly. He was able to receive scholarships and made more opportunities in America rather than he may had back in Mexico. Francisco made a good future in America which helped me realize why many immigrants are coming to America.
Francisco Jimenez writes with detail and feeling. You can feel how difficult their life was and the book really motivates you to enjoy life. Francisco Jimenez helps you understand the situation well and really captures how Mexican illegal immigrants felt when they came to this country. For living in San Diego, I never really knew why illegal immigrants came here until after reading this book.
The first book is mainly about Francisco's family, while the second is about Francisco and his life through school. Personally, I enjoyed Breaking Through more because I could relate to some of the stories and I thought that the stories were more interesting than the other book. One of the things that I really liked was the growth of Francisco's character. Throughout the book, you would see Francisco become more responsible and a leader. He becomes someone in the new country and makes a difference, especially at school.
I recommend these two books to everyone especially for kids ages 7-18, and if you would like to learn more about Mexican immigrants. In these books, the family are very grateful for every little thing that they had compared to other kids who may take many things for granted. The family made many sacrifices and didn't complain as much. They also took that the opportunities that they had in this country to succeed. These two books definitely make you appreciate every thing that you have. |
| posted by charisse @ 2:34 PM |
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| Wednesday, March 11, 2009 |
| Breaking Through by Francisco Jimenez |
"I hear college is really hard", I said, remembering how anxious I felt when Ms. Taylor, my social studies teacher, told the class how difficult college was compared to high school." - Francisco, pg 115
I could relate to Francisco, because people make college sound really difficult and stressful. I always wonder if its really that hard or not. I wonder if you're really well prepared in high school, that it wouldn't be that hard. I think that for Francisco it wouldn't be that difficult because he doesn't have that much of a hard time at school, besides for reading. I think that this is part of the reason why Francisco went to America, so that they have a better future, and I think that Francisco would have a good future by going to college.
I think what Francisco heard, he believed it and got scared from that. It made him more hesitant about college and it made him think that he wouldn't do so well. Since Mr. Kinkade was a guidance counselor, I think that he probably just does that to encourage students that they can go to college and do well.
Do you think that college is difficult?
"This is a very special christmas, mijo," Mama said excitedly, clasping her hands. "This afternoon the Salvation Army brought us a huge box full of groceries. God is truly watching over us." - Mama, page 121
I think that this quote shows how poor the family is. The Salvation Army donated to very poor families, and the Jimenez' were one of them. Mama was very thankful to have the groceries. It helped them survive better in America by helping them save more money, which meant a lot for them. I wondered if Francisco eventually told Mama that it was from his school and that it was his idea for that.
This quote also shows how good Francisco's character is. Francisco's idea had a impact on many families, especially his. It made their Christmas much better. He wasn't selfish and gave out to the poor. It helped his family out and it was all because of Franisco. I think that it was also odd that it was someone from another country that helped people within the country, rather than the people who were born and raised there.
After reading this book, did it give you more respect for very poor families? |
| posted by charisse @ 5:13 PM |
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| Thursday, March 5, 2009 |
| Breaking Through by Francisco Jimenez |
"What about working for me on weekends? I can pay you $1.25 an hour." Mike Nevel, pg 86
I thought that this was the hardships that the characters faced. I thought that it was really sad for them to live in America especially when they don't have enough money. They could take any job that they could possibly get, and receiving $1.25 an hour was extremely little. I wondered how much money that they needed to spend for groceries and rent.
I think that Francisco spent a lot of money on the typewriter because he gave him $5 for it when it would take him several hours to pay for it. I think that he could've just took it even though they didn't have any money for it at all. I thought that it was really weird because they find other things such as baby clothes and tennis shoes in the dumpster.
If you were in their position would you have taken the typewriter for school purposes? Or would you have left it so you wouldn't have to pay?
"Her father even promised her to buy a car if she stopped seeing me. Can you believe that?" Roberto, pg 107
I thought that this was a hardship that Roberto faced because he was discriminated and I thought that it was really sad. I don't understand why Susan's parents did not want her to see Roberto. I don't get what they had against Mexicans. I thought that it was weird and that it reminded me of Romeo and Juliet, except I wondered what Roberto's parents would've thought about that. I thought that Roberto and Susan would've probably gotten married or something, but I guess she just moved on.
What do you think Susan's parents not like about Mexicans? |
| posted by charisse @ 8:10 PM |
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| Sunday, March 1, 2009 |
| Breaking Through by Francisco Jimenez |
"From that day on, Papa's spirits began to die too. His moods changed from day to day. He began to complain about his back and got angry about everything and everyone" page 53
This was one of the challenges that Papa faced when living in America. I thought that he was starting to get sick and die soon. In the first book Papa seems caring and funny, and in this chapter he is angry and irritant. His sickness really changes his character and I wondered how the rest of the family felt about that. If I was Francisco I would be annoyed, worried, and scared of Papa.
I could relate to Papa, because when your back hurts you get very irritant and nervous. It's a strange mood, but since Papa gets extremely angry, you can tell that the pain must be really bad, and he must be really sick.
So did the family get sent back to Mexico then went back to America? I didn't understand that part.
""You can't wear that t-shirt, mijo, Mama cried out. "It's yellow-ish and frayed." -Mama, page 58
Francisco had to wear something nice for his 8th grade graduation, but he only had a yellow-ish shirt that was frayed. I think that this shows how poor the family was. They couldn't really buy a nice shirt since they didn't have the money. Francisco's only choice was to wear a bigger shirt that didn't fit him as well. Francisco could've worn a collared shirt, but I'm guessing that he didn't have one.
I think that Francisco was also hesitant about the t-shirt, because many other boys wore a white collared shirt. He was glad that his friend was wearing a t-shirt too, but I don't think it's dressy for a junior high graduation. I think that Francisco could've saved up money for a nice shirt for that occasion.
Why couldn't Francisco's Mama and Papa go to his graduation? |
| posted by charisse @ 5:01 PM |
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