During the early 1930s, the wealthiest people in Mexico had Spanish ancestors. That’s because when Spain conquered Mexico in the 1500s, the Spanish conquistadores, or conquerors, enslaved the Native population. Although Mexicans fought and won a civil war to right this wrong, in 1930, the majority of Mexico’s wealth lay in the hands of the original Spanish families.
Because most of the events in Esperanza Rising occur in the 1930s, the interactions between the novel’s characters reflect this inequality between social classes. Have you noticed the details that relate to class differences? The more you read of Esperanza Rising, the more important this topic will become.
Locate your file containing this module’s journal assignment, paste the prompt below at the end of the document, and label the entry with this lesson’s title. Then, type a response to the prompt.
Journal
Where does Esperanza, the novel's protagonist, fit into Mexican society as it was in the 1930s? What about her friend Miguel?
When you have written a complete and detailed answer to the journal prompt, save the file so that you can open it again for the next lesson with a journal assignment. (You will submit your journal to your teacher for grading once or twice during the module.)
