Introducing the Stories

Literary Skills Focus: Situations and Motivations

Reading Skills Focus: Comparing and Contrasting Situations and Motivations

Writing Skills Focus: Think as a Reader/Writer

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Mrs. Flowers by Maya AngelouA Shot at It by Esmeralda Santiago

Mrs. Flowers by Maya AngelouA Shot at It by Esmeralda Santiago

Introducing the Stories

How do people make transitions into new circumstances?

In a small Southern town, Mrs. Flowers is admired and a little feared by her neighbors.

What could these two possibly have in common?

Marguerite is a sad girl who refuses to talk in school.

Mrs. Flowers by Maya AngelouA Shot at It by Esmeralda Santiago

Introducing the Stories

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In Brooklyn, New York, fourteen-year-old Esmeralda longs to make a better life for herself.

Mrs. Flowers by Maya AngelouA Shot at It by Esmeralda Santiago

Introducing the Stories

“How can people live like this?” I shrieked once, desperate to run across a field, to feel grass under my feet instead of pavement.

“Like what?” Mami asked, looking around our apartment, the kitchen and living room crisscrossed with sagging lines of drying diapers and bedclothes. From "A Shot at It" from When I Was Puerto Rican by Esmeralda Santiago. Copyright © 1993 by Esmeralda Santiago. Reproduced by permission of Vanguard Press, a member of Perseus Books, L.L.C.

What unexpected opportunity will change Esmeralda’s life?

In every story we read, we are introduced to the people, or characters, in the stories.

We learn about

Mrs. Flowers by Maya AngelouA Shot at It by Esmeralda SantiagoLiterary Skills Focus: Situations and Motivations

• the battles they face

• the actions they take

• their motivations, or reasons for behaving as they do

A particular situation may bring out important aspects of a person’s character.

A situation is the combination of all that is happening within the conditions that exist

Mrs. Flowers by Maya AngelouA Shot at It by Esmeralda SantiagoLiterary Skills Focus: Situations and Motivations

• at a specific place

• in a specific time

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When you contrast, you look for differences.

Compare Contrast

When you compare, you look for similarities.

Mrs. Flowers by Maya AngelouA Shot at It by Esmeralda Santiago

Reading Skills Focus: Comparing and Contrasting Motivations

As you read these two autobiographical stories, compare and contrast the main characters’ situations and motivations.

Compare Contrast

Both Marguerite and Esmeralda have trouble speaking.

Marguerite lives in a small southern town, while Esmeralda lives in a large northern city.

Mrs. Flowers by Maya AngelouA Shot at It by Esmeralda Santiago

Reading Skills Focus: Comparing and Contrasting Motivations

son and motherMarguerite and Mrs. Flowers

MotivationSituation

Mrs. Flowers and Marguerite

Esmeralda and her teachers

As you read, use a chart like the one below to record details of the characters’ situations and motivations.

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Mrs. Flowers by Maya AngelouA Shot at It by Esmeralda Santiago

Reading Skills Focus: Comparing and Contrasting Motivations

Characters

Mrs. Flowers by Maya AngelouA Shot at It by Esmeralda Santiago

Writing Skills Focus: Think as a Reader/Writer

Find It in Your Reading

Angelou and Santiago create detailed portraits of the people who help them through difficult situations. Record words and phrases that help you visualize these people.

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Her skin was a rich black that would have peeled like a plum if snagged, but no one would have thought of getting close enough to Mrs. Flowers to ruffle her dress. . . .Excerpt (retitled “Mrs. Flowers”) from I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou. Copyright © 1969 and renewed © 1997 by Maya Angelou. Reproduced by permission of Random House, Inc.

Vocabulary

Mrs. Flowers by Maya AngelouA Shot at It by Esmeralda Santiago

Vocabulary

benign adj.: kindly; harmless.

intolerant adj.: unwilling to accept something.

mesmerized v. used as adj.: spellbound; hypnotized.

Mrs. Flowers

A Shot at It

petrified adj.: paralyzed with fear.

impeccably adv.: flawlessly.

The word benign can mean “harmless.” It comes from the Latin bene, which means “good.”

“I’m sorry, Mrs. Green. I didn’t mean to drop the computer keyboard.”

“Don’t worry, Tommy. I know it was a benign mistake.”

Mrs. Flowers by Maya AngelouA Shot at It by Esmeralda Santiago

Vocabulary

Mr. Sakimoto looked

a. kind and supportive

b. angry and demanding

c. worried and upset

Mr. Sakimoto, Tico’s piano teacher, wore a benign expression as he told the boy to improve.

Mrs. Flowers by Maya AngelouA Shot at It by Esmeralda Santiago

Vocabulary

Can a frown be benign? Why or why not?

Mr. Sakimoto, Tico’s piano teacher, wore a benign expression as he told the boy to improve.

Mr. Sakimoto looked

a. kind and supportive

b. angry and demanding

c. worried and upset

Mrs. Flowers by Maya AngelouA Shot at It by Esmeralda Santiago

Vocabulary

People who are intolerant of unusual ideas or things won’t tolerate them. Intolerant people are unwilling to accept them.

Mrs. Flowers by Maya AngelouA Shot at It by Esmeralda Santiago

Vocabulary

Our school librarian is great with students, no matter how young they are.

The only time she’s intolerant is when __________________.

Mrs. Flowers by Maya AngelouA Shot at It by Esmeralda Santiago

Vocabulary

What behaviors do students feel intolerant about?

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Our school librarian is great with students, no matter how young they are.

The only time she’s intolerant is when students talk or whisper too loudly.

Mrs. Flowers by Maya AngelouA Shot at It by Esmeralda Santiago

Vocabulary

What seems to mesmerize

this boy?

When people are mesmerized by something, they can’t take their eyes off of it. It’s as if they’re hypnotized.

What are some objects or activities that mesmerize you? Why?

a video a video gamegame

Mrs. Flowers by Maya AngelouA Shot at It by Esmeralda Santiago

Vocabulary

When Bianca went to the circus, she was absolutely mesmerized by the high wire act.

Which woman’s facial expression is most like Bianca’s?

Mrs. Flowers by Maya AngelouA Shot at It by Esmeralda Santiago

Vocabulary

When Bianca went to the circus, she was absolutely mesmerized by the high wire act.

Which woman’s facial expression is most like Bianca’s?

Mrs. Flowers by Maya AngelouA Shot at It by Esmeralda Santiago

Vocabulary

If a man is impeccably dressed, he has taken great care to make sure that everything he is wearing looks perfect.

What are some things that you take the time to do impeccably in school, after school, and at home?

Mrs. Flowers by Maya AngelouA Shot at It by Esmeralda Santiago

Vocabulary

a. were still dirty

b. were sparkling

c. were broken

Vidal’s car was so impeccably maintained that the

windows __________________

Mrs. Flowers by Maya AngelouA Shot at It by Esmeralda Santiago

Vocabulary

a. were still dirty

b. were sparkling

c. were broken

Vidal’s car was so impeccably maintained that the

windows __________________

Mrs. Flowers by Maya AngelouA Shot at It by Esmeralda Santiago

Vocabulary

Many people are petrified of spiders and will stop

in their tracks because they are so scared.

What are some other things that make people feel petrified?

Mrs. Flowers by Maya AngelouA Shot at It by Esmeralda Santiago

Vocabulary

If someone is petrified of the dark, which of the following will that person avoid?

a. sitting outside in the sun

b. sleeping with a night light

c. staying in a dark room

Mrs. Flowers by Maya AngelouA Shot at It by Esmeralda Santiago

Vocabulary

If someone is petrified of the dark, which of the following will that person avoid?

a. sitting outside in the sun

b. sleeping with a night light

c. staying in a dark room

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Mrs. Flowers by Maya AngelouA Shot at It by Esmeralda Santiago

Vocabulary

The End