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ENG2 INT_Student Activities

Lesson 4
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Reference:

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Literary Nonfiction
Must Have Might Have Won’t Have

from When I Was Puerto Rican

By Esmerala Santiago

[1] While Francisco was still alive, we had moved to Ellery Street. That meant I had to
change schools, so Mami walked me to P.S. 33, where I would attend ninth grade. The
first week I was there I was given a series of tests that showed that even though I
couldn’t speak English very well, I read and wrote it at the tenth-grade level. So they put

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me in 9-3, with the smart kids.

[2] One morning, Mr. Barone, a guidance counselor, called me to his office. He was
short, with a big head and large hazel eyes under shapely eyebrows. His nose was long
and round at the tip. He dressed in browns and yellows and often perched his
tortoiseshell glasses on his forehead, as if he had another set of eyes up there.

[3] “So,” he pushed his glasses up, “what do you want to be when you grow up?”

How do you think the narrator felt about having to change schools and being placed in
a new class?
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Which statement expresses an idea about the narrator’s feelings

towards changing schools and being placed in a new class?
A. The narrator felt indifferent about the change and did not care about their new
class placement.
B. The narrator was nervous about adapting to a new environment but proud of
being recognized for their academic abilities.
C. The narrator was upset about leaving their old school and struggled academically
in the new class.
D. The narrator was excited about the change but felt unprepared for the academic
challenges in the new class.

Reading/Annotation Focus: Paragraphs 4-20

● Notice character actions
● Notice main idea and supporting details
● What is the main idea of the text?
● What are the most important details that support the main idea?
● What does this text remind me of?

[4] “I don’t know.”

[5] He shuffled through some papers. “Let’s see here . . . you’re fourteen, is that right?”

[6] “Yes, sir.”

[7] “And you’ve never thought about what you want to be?”

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[8] When I was very young, I wanted to be a jíbara.1 When I was older, I wanted to be a
cartographer,2 then a topographer.3 But since we’d come to Brooklyn, I’d not thought
about the future much.

[9] “No, sir.”

[10] He pulled his glasses down to where they belonged and shuffled through the
papers again.

[11] “Do you have any hobbies?” I didn’t know what he meant. “Hobbies, hobbies,” he
flailed his hands, as if he were juggling, “things you like to do after school.”

[12] “Ah, yes.” I tried to imagine what I did at home that might qualify as a hobby. “I like
to read.”

[13] He seemed disappointed. “Yes, we know that about you.” He pulled out a paper
and stared at it. “One of the tests we gave you was an aptitude test. It tells us what
kinds of things you might be good at. The tests show that you would be good at helping
people. Do you like to help people?”

[14] I was afraid to contradict the tests. “Yes, sir.”

[15] “There’s a high school we can send you where you can study biology and chemistry
which will prepare you for a career in nursing.”

[16] I screwed up my face. He consulted the papers again.

[17] “You would also do well in communications. Teaching maybe.”

[18] I remembered Miss Brown standing in front of a classroom full of rowdy teenagers,
some of them taller than she was.

[19] “I don’t like to teach.”

[20] Mr. Barone pushed his glasses up again and leaned over the stack of papers on his
desk. “Why don’t you think about it and get back to me,” he said, closing the folder with
my name across the top. He put his hand flat on it, as if squeezing something out.
“You’re a smart girl, Esmeralda. Let’s try to get you into an academic school so that
you have a shot at college.”

© Houston ISD Curriculum 2023-2024

 What do the narrator’s answers to Mr. Barone’s questions tell readers about
her feelings about fitting into her new school?
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Which important idea is explained in the narrator’s conversation with Mr. Barone?

A. The importance of having a clear career goal from a young age.

B. The struggle to fit into a new environment and meet others' expectations.
C. The benefits of pursuing a career in nursing or teaching.
D. The excitement of exploring different hobbies and interests.

Reading/Annotation Focus: Paragraphs 21-34

● Notice character actions
● Notice main idea and supporting details
● What is the main idea of the text?
● What are the most important details that support the main idea?
● What does this text remind me of?

[21] On the way home, I walked with another new ninth grader, Yolanda. She had been
in New York for three years but knew as little English as I did. We spoke in Spanglish, a
combination of English and Spanish in which we hopped from one language to the other
depending on which word came first.

[22] “Te preguntó el Mr. Barone, you know, lo que querías hacer when you grow up?” I
asked.

[23] “Sí, pero, I didn’t know. ¿Y tú?”

[24] “Yo tampoco. He said, que I like to help people. Pero, you know, a mí no me gusta
mucho la gente.” When she heard me say I didn’t like people much, Yolanda looked at
me from the corner of her eye, waiting to become the exception.

[25] By the time I said it, she had dashed up the stairs of her building. She didn’t wave
as she ducked in, and the next day she wasn’t friendly. I walked around the rest of the
day in embarrassed isolation, knowing that somehow I had given myself away to the
only friend I’d made at Junior High School 33. I had to either take back my words or live
with the consequences of stating what was becoming the truth. I’d never said that to
anyone, not even to myself. It was an added weight, but I wasn’t about to trade it for

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companionship.

[26] A few days later, Mr. Barone called me back to his office.

[27] “Well?” Tiny green flecks burned around the black pupils of his hazel eyes.

[28] The night before, Mami had called us into the living room. On the television “fifty of
America’s most beautiful girls” paraded in ruffled tulle dresses before a tinsel waterfall.

[29] “Aren’t they lovely?” Mami murmured, as the girls, escorted by boys in uniform,
floated by the camera, twirled, and disappeared behind a screen to the strains of a waltz
and an announcer’s dramatic voice calling their names, ages, and states. Mami sat
mesmerized through the whole pageant.

[30] “I’d like to be a model,” I said to Mr. Barone.

[31] He stared at me, pulled his glasses down from his forehead, looked at the papers
inside the folder with my name on it, and glared. “A model?” His voice was gruff, as if he
were more comfortable yelling at people than talking to them.

[32] “I want to be on television.”

[33] “Oh, then you want to be an actress,” in a tone that said this was only a slight
improvement over my first career choice. We stared at one another for a few seconds.
He pushed his glasses up to his forehead again and reached for a book on the shelf in
back of him. “I only know of one school that trains actresses, but we’ve never sent
them a student from here.”

[34] Performing Arts, the write-up said, was an academic, as opposed to a vocational,4
public school that trained students wishing to pursue a career in theater, music, and
dance.

Which statements express an idea that highlights the narrator's internal

conflict and challenges in forming connections at her new school? Select TWO
Correct Answers
❏ The narrator's admission that she doesn't like people much leads to Yolanda
distancing herself from her.
❏ The narrator's desire to be a model is dismissed by Mr. Barone, indicating a lack
of support for her aspirations.
❏ The narrator's confession to Yolanda results in feelings of isolation and
embarrassment.
❏ Mr. Barone's reaction to the narrator wanting to be an actress shows his

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 skepticism towards her dreams.
❏ The narrator's struggle to find common ground with her peers and authority
figures is evident in her interactions with both Yolanda and Mr. Barone.

This question has two parts. First, answer Part A. Then, answer Part
B. Part A
Which important idea is expressed through the narrator’s interactions with Yolanda
and Mr. Barone?
A. he narrator feels uncertain about her future and struggles with social isolation.
B. The narrator is confident in her career choices and receives support
fromeveryone.
C. The narrator is primarily focused on her academic achievements and disregards
personal relationships.
D. The narrator finds it easy to adapt to her new environment and makes friends
quickly. (Distractor)

Part B
Which quote from the text best supports the answer to Part A?

A. "I had to either take back my words or live with the consequences of stating what
was becoming the truth."
B. "On the television 'fifty of America’s most beautiful girls' paraded in ruffled tulle
dresses before a tinsel waterfall."
C. "A model? His voice was gruff, as if he were more comfortable yelling at people
than talking to them."
D. By the time I said it, she had dashed up the stairs of her building."

from When I Was Puerto Rican by Esmeralda Santiago. Retrieved from © Savvas myPerspectives English I-IV. Used
with permission.

© Houston ISD Curriculum 2023-2024