THOMS DAY TWO 23-24 - Exit Ticket

First Name, Last Name

In the novel, Nenny, Meme, and Meme's dog all have two names. Why does Esperanza focus on the idea of "two names" so often in the story?

• She thinks her sister Nenny should be called Magdalena now that she is older.
• Her Spanish name has no meaning in English.
• She wishes she had a different name than Esperanza.

Esperanza has an intense desire to escape her circumstances. Given that she wants to break the chains of her community, how might she have felt about the incident with Louie's cousin?

• Happy because Louie's cousin had shown her a more positive side of living in the barrio.
• Deflated because she thought Louie's cousin had made a better life for himself, but really he hadn't.
• He has been one of her best friends and now he was probably headed to jail.

In the vignettes about Marin, we see that she ties her personal value to the attention she receives from men. What evidence does NOT contribute to this idea?

• "Marin says . . . she's going to get a real job downtown because that's where the best jobs are, since you always get to look beautiful . . . and can meet someone in the subway who might marry you . . . "
• "What matters, Marin says, is for the boys to see us and for us to see them."
• "We never see Marin until her aunt comes home from work, and even then she can only stay out in front."

Both Esperanza and Marin want to leave the barrio. Which is true about their perspectives on leaving?

• Both girls believe that they have the power to control their own futures.
• Marin believes she will escape only by finding a man to marry her, while Esperanza believes she will escape by acting like a man herself (breaking stereotypes).
• Both girls believe that they will only escape by finding and depending on someone else who will help them.

The vignette "Those Who Don't" begins with this line: "Those who don't know any better come into our neighborhood scared." This line can be interpreted in different ways. Based on the rest of the vignette, what point do you think Esperanza is trying to make?

• People who drive into her neighborhood should have been more careful because it is a very dangerous place.
• Misunderstandings between people of different races are a new problem in her community.
• People are often afraid for no reason, just because they don't know or understand people who are different.