Tableaus

Today we finished going over the vignettes in the Sexuality section. Here's what we learned:

Sire:
--Sire is the neighborhood "bad boy" who Esperanza has a crush on
--Sire already has a girlfriend, Lois, and she's pretty, skinny, and flushed in pink
--But Esperanza's mother says she's the type of girl who "goes into alleys," meaning she is loose
--But Esperanza doesn't care. She wants to be like Lois so she can have a guy like Sire look at her like that, too
--Message: We can't escape our own sexuality.

The Monkey Garden:
--Esperanza has a secret place she likes to get away from everything--the Monkey Garden
--A monkey used to live in the garden, where it was once full of fresh flowers, fruits, and vegetables. However, since the monkey left, the garden has turned to trash. There are now old cars and grease everywhere.
--Esperanza once tried to commit suicide there, which shows us that she is losing faith in herself to escape Mango St.
--Sally (a new character) who is pretty and sassy likes to flirt and be with boys. She brings boys into the Monkey Garden and they steal her keys. They say she needs to kiss all of them in order to get them back. She agrees and follows them. Esperanza runs for help, but Sally's mom doesn't care. So, she gets three sticks and a brick and runs to save Sally, but Sally just tells Esperanza to go home.
--Esperanza is deeply hurt and tried to will her heart to stop. She feels like dying and doesn't want to go on.
--Message: Sexuality is sacred.

Red Clowns:
--Sally and Esperanza go to the carnival, but while Sally runs off with a boy, Esperanza is left waiting for Sally by the red clowns.
--While waiting, Esperanza is sexually assaulted by a few boys.
--All of what she's heard in books and movies about love are shattered by this traumatic event.
--Message: Sexuality is not always as picturesque as we believe it to be.

As for your tableaus, I was glad to see many groups pull it off, and pull it off well. For those of you that got check pluses, bravo. Your tableaus were creative and well put-together. For those of you who didn't do as well as you wished, use this as motivation to do better next week. As Mr. Hannah and I told you, next week we'll be beginning To Kill A Mockingbird. In order for us to get in the right mindset to read this book, we need to do some historical research first. Each group will be researching a particular topic and will have to present their findings.

As a side note, if you do not wish to work with a particular person in the class because you have had troubles in the past, please let us know sometime after school. This will be another major portion of your grade so we do not wish to put anyone in a group with someone they are uncomfortable with.

Other than that, all you need to do for the rest of this week is STUDY STUDY STUDY. Your test is on Friday!

DEETS:
In-class:
--Sexuality Section
--Tableaus
--Group Presentations

HW:
--Study for your test on Friday!