1. After Break
“The Face of Evil”: Watch clip from 9-11 documentary about what people mean when they talk about evil, and the different ways that religion and social sciences see the problem of evil
Nobel Prize Speech
Return Group Theme & Key Passage Analysis from FD & Discuss
Complete a Group Theme & Key Passage Analysis (including symbolism) from Night
Return Night to library
Return Life Vision FD entry & Discuss - Rewrites due Monday??? WITH original – Grammar, Punctuation, Etc. Quick Reference Sheet
Write Life Vision Night entry
Start The Glass Castle
ARG 2-column notes
Fishbowl Discussions (Questioning, including key passages & literary devices)
Writing Conferences

2. I hope you had a relaxing spring break!
Welcome Back!
I hope you had a relaxing spring break!

3. Hook, Housekeeping & Homework Monday
Open your composition notebook and respond to the following questions:
If you had to explain what “evil” is to someone, how would you explain what it is?
How do you know someone is evil, versus someone who just acts “bad”?
Were all slave traders, owners, and overseers evil?
Who (within slavery) was evil and how so?
Were Americans in the northern states who bought goods made by slaves evil?
Was Adolph Hitler evil? Were all Nazis? Germans?
How are evil people created?
Can evil humans be reformed (changed)? If yes, how? If not, why not?

4. Past, Present, Future Monday
Finished reading Night
Faith & Doubt at Ground Zero video - respond & connect
Theme, Key Passage, Symbolism - Night
Life Vision Portfolio - Night

5. Lessons From the Past Monday
Colorado Academic Standards
1. Oral Expression and Listening
Content that is gathered carefully and organized well successfully influences an audience
4. Research & Reasoning
Collect, analyze, and evaluate information obtained from multiple sources to answer a question, propose solutions, or share findings and conclusions to
Objectives
You will be able to read a range of literature to understand important universal themes and the human experience.
Enduring Understandings/Relevance
If you understand how the circumstances of peoples’ lives can positively propel them into their futures or hinder their progress and hold them back, then you will be able to envision and create your own future.
Essential Questions
What can I learn from another’s experiences?

6. Instruction: Obtain Monday
Purpose: to listen closely to determine what the text says explicitly and to make personal reactions and logical inferences from it.
Tasks: “Faith & Doubt at Ground Zero”: The Face of Evil, a Frontline documentary episode about 9-11 and what people mean when they talk about evil, and the different ways that religion and social sciences see the problem of evil
Read through questions (see next slide)
Watch and take notes
Answer questions
Discuss
Outcome: Write. How does what you learned in the film clip relate to our study of Night and the Holocaust?

7. Activities: Develop & Apply You Do Monday
Tasks 2 – 3
2. Which person’s perspective on “evil” did you find most compelling? What did he/she say and why do you find it interesting?
3. Toward the end of the clip, psychoanalyst and theologian Dr. Ann Ulanov uses a metaphor for evil. What is the metaphor? What does her metaphor reveal about her view of evil? (What does she believe about evil?)
4. The clip begins with this question: "What is it we talk about when we talk about evil?
Revisit the questions at the beginning of class.
If you had to explain what “evil” is to someone, how would you explain what it is?
How do you know someone is evil, versus someone who just acts “bad”?
Were all slave traders, owners, and overseers evil?
Who (within slavery) was evil and how so?
Were Americans in the northern states who bought goods made by slaves evil?
Was Adolph Hitler evil? Were all Nazis? Germans?
How are evil people created?
Can evil humans be reformed (changed)? If yes, how? If not, why not?
After viewing the clip, and reading Night, now what is your answer?
Draw a symbol or picture that represents your idea about the nature of evil.

8. Activities: Develop & Apply We Do Monday
In groups of four, share your responses to the “Face of Evil” :
What perspective or perspectives from the film did you find most compelling or in line with your own thinking?
Share and discuss your answers to Question 4 and the visual symbol you drew to represent your ideas about the nature of evil.
How does what you learned in the film clip relate to our study of Night and the Holocaust? What connections can you make to what various people in the clip said to what you learned about of Wiesel's experiences in Night?

9. Lessons From the Past Monday
Colorado Academic Standards
1. Oral Expression and Listening
Content that is gathered carefully and organized well successfully influences an audience
4. Research & Reasoning
Collect, analyze, and evaluate information obtained from multiple sources to answer a question, propose solutions, or share findings and conclusions to
Objectives
You will be able to read a range of literature to understand important universal themes and the human experience.
Enduring Understandings/Relevance
If you understand how the circumstances of peoples’ lives can positively propel them into their futures or hinder their progress and hold them back, then you will be able to envision and create your own future.
Essential Questions
What can I learn from another’s experiences?

10. Hook, Housekeeping & Homework Tuesday
What is a memoir? a narrative composed from personal experience; a specific aspect of someone’s life; a memory Why do people write them? What might Wiesel mean by this quote? —“Our lives no longer belong to us alone.”

11. Past, Present, Future Tuesday
Faith & Doubt at Ground Zero video - respond & connect
Night - Preface and Nobel Peace Prize Acceptance Speech
Theme, Key Passage, Symbolism - Night
Life Vision Portfolio - Night

12. Lessons From the Past Tuesday
Colorado Academic Standards
2 Reading for All Purposes
Literary and historical influences determine the meaning of traditional and contemporary literary texts
Objectives
You will be able to read a range of literature to understand important universal themes and the human experience.
You will be able to write effective literary and informational compositions.
Cite strong and thorough textual evidence
Analyze how literary components affect meaning
Enduring Understandings/Relevance
If you understand how the circumstances of peoples’ lives can positively propel them into their futures or hinder their progress and hold them back, then you will be able to envision and create your own future.
Essential Questions
What can I learn from another’s experiences?

13. Activity: We Do Tuesday
Purpose: you will be able to read closely to determine what the text says explicitly and to make logical inferences from it, citing specific evidence to support conclusions about why Wiesel wrote Night. This may help you with your Life Vision Portfolio reflections.
Tasks:
Read aloud the Preface, pages vii – xv (15 minutes)
Read aloud the Nobel Peace Prize Acceptance Speech, pages (5 minutes)
Go over questions on the handout—“Our lives no longer belong to us alone”—about Wiesel’s preface and Nobel speech.
Outcome: Discuss and write brief responses to prompts on the handout
Ignore the directions at the top about a 50 point assignment; this discussion with brief written responses is to help you with your Life Vision Portfolio reflection that we’ll be working on this week.
What might Wiesel mean by this quote? —
“Our lives no longer belong to us alone.”

14. Lessons From the Past Tuesday
Colorado Academic Standards
2 Reading for All Purposes
Literary and historical influences determine the meaning of traditional and contemporary literary texts
Objectives
You will be able to read a range of literature to understand important universal themes and the human experience.
Enduring Understandings/Relevance
If you understand how the circumstances of peoples’ lives can positively propel them into their futures or hinder their progress and hold them back, then you will be able to envision and create your own future.
Essential Questions
What can I learn from another’s experiences?
What is a memoir?
Why did Wiesel write Night?
What might Wiesel mean by this quote? —“Our lives no longer belong to us alone.”

15. Hook, Housekeeping & Homework Wednesday/Thursday
What is theme?
A central idea or statement that unifies and controls an entire literary work.
a brief and meaningful insight OR a comprehensive vision of life
it may be directly stated in the book, or it may only be implied.
- a central, universal message

16. Past, Present, Future Wednesday/Thursday
Night - Preface and Nobel Peace Prize Acceptance Speech
Theme & Key Passages – The Narrative Life of Frederick Douglass
Theme, Key Passage, Symbolism – Night
Life Vision Portfolio - Night

17. Lessons From the Past Wednesday/Thursday
Colorado Academic Standards
2 Reading for All Purposes
Literary and historical influences determine the meaning of traditional and contemporary literary texts
3 Writing and Composition
Organizational writing patterns inform or persuade an audience
Objectives
You will be able to read a range of literature to understand important universal themes and the human experience.
You will be able to write effective literary and informational compositions.
Cite strong and thorough textual evidence
Analyze how literary components affect meaning
Enduring Understandings/Relevance
If you understand how the circumstances of peoples’ lives can positively propel them into their futures or hinder their progress and hold them back, then you will be able to envision and create your own future.
Essential Questions
What can I learn from another’s experiences?

18. Instruction: Obtain We Do Wednesday/Thursday
Purpose: to understand the strengths and needs of your group key passage assignment.
Tasks:
Discuss your returned responses with your group
Ask clarifying questions of me (strengths/needs)
Outcome: understanding of expectations for next key passage analysis

19. Activities: Develop & Apply We Do – You Do Wednesday
Purpose: to identify an overarching, universal theme for Night and the key, symbolic passages that support this theme .
Tasks: Identify Theme & Symbol(s) & Key Passages
Discuss: What is this memoir about? Brainstorm subjects/topics, single ideas. What is this memoir really saying about these subjects/topics?
Read through the “Themes in Night” sheet
Create a 3-column chart (like the one on the handout) and fill in the 3 columns
Make sure everyone has the group’s decided upon theme written correctly on a notebook sheet he/she will turn in
Discuss which key passages your group will use to support the given theme (make sure each passage includes a symbol!).
If your theme is a major one, the passages should basically represent the beginning, middle and end of the text.
Discuss how you would explain how the 3 passages are key to supporting your theme
Select 3 distinct passages (episodes) that support your theme and decide who will analyze which passage.
Confer with each other as you work on the “Outcome” below
Outcome: A verbal/visual explanation of a universal theme statement with explicit references & justifications to 3 key passages with a symbol from the memoir that support the theme (see next two slides)

20. Outcome Model
Theme: The immigrant experience is often one of disparity and isolation. Page 4 Summary: Elena goes to Eugene’s house to study. Explanation/analysis: A door: a barrier when closed, an entrance or exit when opened. In the fictional narrative “American History,” Judith Ortiz Cofer uses a door to represent the struggles that immigrants, as well as young people, often face. Using her native tongue, Elena describes the door to Eugene’s house as “painted a deep green: verde the color of hope… Verde-Esperanza” (green hope). This door, to the only house with a yard and trees, is an entrance into the world Elena has peered into from her tenement building, and serves as a contrast to immigrant life. It is a symbol of Elena’s desire of a happy, middle-class family as she has dreamed of entering and sitting with Eugene drinking coffee and talking about books at the kitchen table. At the climax of the story, however, Elena is “turned away from the green door” and hears it close gently behind her. This is an end to Elena’s dream. Not only will she not study with her teenage “crush” Eugene, but it seems that Elena, representing all immigrants, will not have easy access to the opportunities and privileges that the white community seems to have.

21. Outcome Wednesday/Thursday
Key passage 1
Theme Statement (same for entire group)
Chapter, page
Summary sentence (2-3 literal details that summarize the event)
Explanation/analysis paragraph (6-10 sentences)
Picture, symbol
Key passage 2
Key passage 3

22. Lessons From the Past Wednesday/Thursday
Colorado Academic Standards
2 Reading for All Purposes
Literary and historical influences determine the meaning of traditional and contemporary literary texts
3 Writing and Composition
Organizational writing patterns inform or persuade an audience
Objectives
You will be able to read a range of literature to understand important universal themes and the human experience.
You will be able to write effective literary and informational compositions.
Cite strong and thorough textual evidence
Analyze how literary components affect meaning
Enduring Understandings/Relevance
If you understand how the circumstances of peoples’ lives can positively propel them into their futures or hinder their progress and hold them back, then you will be able to envision and create your own future.
Essential Questions
What can I learn from another’s experiences?

23. Hook, Housekeeping & Homework Friday
DID YOU TURN IN YOUR THEME/KEY PASSAGE W/ SYMBOL ANALYSIS GROUP WORK FROM ELP DAY?!
IF NOT, STAPLE THEM IN ORDER AND TURN THEM IN NOW!
Have out your composition notebook.
Spend 15 minutes brainstorming responses to the following questions:
What are some specific obstacles Elie Wiesel encountered? What did he do to try and overcome these? How do his actions show you ways to conquer or work around potential obstacles in your life?
What are some specific strengths or assets that Elie Wiesel has? Are these similar or different to your own strengths or assets? How do his actions show you ways to use strengths and assets you have?
What are some goals you have for yourself (this year, two years from now, five years from now, fifteen years from now)? How can the experiences of Elie Wiesel help you achieve your goals?

24. Past, Present, Future Friday
Theme & Key Passages – The Narrative Life of Frederick Douglass AND Night
Life Vision Portfolio - The Narrative Life of Frederick Douglass
Reflection Organization
Life Vision Portfolio Reflection - The Narrative Life of Frederick Douglass AND Night

25. Lesson From the Past Envisioning My Future Friday
Colorado Academic Standards
2 Reading for All Purposes
Literary and historical influences determine the meaning of traditional and contemporary literary texts
3 Writing and Composition
Organizational writing patterns inform or persuade an audience
Grammar, language usage, mechanics, and clarity are the basis of ongoing refinements and revisions within the writing process
Objectives
You will be able to read a range of literature to understand important universal themes and the human experience.
You will be able to write effective literary and informational compositions.
Cite strong and thorough textual evidence
Analyze how literary components affect meaning
Enduring Understandings/Relevance
If you understand how the circumstances of peoples’ lives can positively propel them into their futures or hinder their progress and hold them back, then you will be able to envision and create your own future.
Essential Questions
What can I learn from another’s experiences?
How can the circumstances of my life and what I’m surrounded by drive me forward or hold me back?
What should I do now in my life to have the kind of future I would like?

26. Activity: Develop You Do Friday
Purpose: to examine how well you responded to the initial prompt for The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass in order to improve upon the Content, Organization, and Style & Language rewrite, including additions of Night to your response.
Tasks:
Re-read the prompt below.
Re-read your response to it
Read my comments in the text/margins
Ask yourself:
What aspects of the prompt did I address specifically?
What aspects did I NOT address explicitly?
How can I improve the content of my response?
Prompt: What have you learned from reading about the life of Frederick Douglass? Write a short constructed response that explains how the circumstances of Frederick Douglass’ life can help you envision and create your own future. Make sure to…
Identify specific goals that you have for yourself
Give examples of specific instances/actions in Frederick Douglass’ life
Explain in detail how your knowledge of Douglass’ actions can help you overcome specific obstacles and/or help you use your own strengths to achieve your goals

27. Activities: Develop We Do Friday
Purpose: to consider ways in which to organize your Life Vision Reflection as you move from a one paragraph response about one text to a multi-paragraph composition about three texts.
Tasks:
1. Read the prompt below.
What have you learned from reading about the life experiences of Frederick Douglass and Elie Wiesel (and Jeannette Walls)? Write a multi-paragraph reflection that explains how the circumstances of Frederick Douglass’ life, Elie Wiesel’s life (and Jeannette Walls’ life)can help you envision and create your own future. Make sure to…
Identify specific goals and interests that you have for yourself
Give examples of specific instances/actions in Douglass’ life and Wiesel’s life (and Walls’) where they used their strengths and assets to confront obstacles
Explain in detail how your knowledge of Douglass’ and Wiesel’s (and Walls’) actions can help you overcome specific obstacles and/or help you use your own strengths to achieve your goals
2. If our ultimate goal is to respond to the prompt above, what might a “generic” thesis statement look like? Consider subject, assertion and key terms (see next slide)
3. If our ultimate goal is to respond to the prompt above, how might you begin to organize your ideas for a multi-paragraph essay? What would the “generic” topics of each body paragraph be?
Outcome: Ideas for how to organize your multi-paragraph composition as you move forward with the next text.

28. Thesis = One sentence (based on the prompt) that represents the entire composition
What have you learned from reading about the life experiences of Frederick Douglass and Elie Wiesel (and Jeannette Walls)? Write a multi-paragraph reflection that explains how the circumstances of Frederick Douglass’ life, Elie Wiesel’s life (and Jeannette Walls’ life)can help you envision and create your own future. Make sure to…
Identify specific goals and interests that you have for yourself
Give examples of specific instances/actions in Douglass’ life and Wiesel’s life (and Walls’) where they used their strengths and assets to confront obstacles
Explain in detail how your knowledge of Douglass’ and Wiesel’s (and Walls’) actions can help you overcome specific obstacles and/or help you use your own strengths to achieve your goals
Subject: About what you are writing? What does the prompt tell you is your topic/subject? Assertion: What are you trying to prove or say about your subject? Key terms: What specific ideas will you address in the body paragraphs? DISCUSS & THEN JOT DOWN A “GENERIC” THESIS IN YOUR COMP NOTEBOOK

29. “Generic” Thesis
Reading the memoirs of Douglass, Wiesel, and Walls has enabled me to see how I can achieve my personal goals by using my strengths to overcome any obstacles that might stand in my way.
Douglass, Wiesel, and Walls have shown me that perseverance, devotion, and _______ can help me achieve my goals.

30. Organizational Patterns
Reading the memoirs of Douglass, Wiesel, and Walls has enabled me to see how I can achieve my personal goals by using my strengths to overcome any obstacles that might stand in my way.
Douglass, Wiesel, and Walls have shown me that perseverance, devotion, and _______ can help me achieve my goals.
Body Paragraph 1 – Douglass
Body Paragraph 2 – Wiesel
Body Paragraph 3 – Walls
Body Paragraph 1 – Trait 1
Body Paragraph 2 – Trait 2
Body Paragraph 3 – Trait 3(as needed)
Body Paragraph 1 – Personal Goal 1
Body Paragraph 2 – Personal Goal 2
Body Paragraph 3 – Personal Goal 3 (as needed)
Body Paragraph 1 – Goals
Body Paragraph 2 – Obstacles
Body Paragraph 3 – Strengths

31. Lessons From the Past Envisioning My Future Friday
Colorado Academic Standards
2 Reading for All Purposes
Literary and historical influences determine the meaning of traditional and contemporary literary texts
3 Writing and Composition
Organizational writing patterns inform or persuade an audience
Grammar, language usage, mechanics, and clarity are the basis of ongoing refinements and revisions within the writing process
Objectives
You will be able to read a range of literature to understand important universal themes and the human experience.
You will be able to write effective literary and informational compositions.
Cite strong and thorough textual evidence
Analyze how literary components affect meaning
Enduring Understandings/Relevance
If you understand how the circumstances of peoples’ lives can positively propel them into their futures or hinder their progress and hold them back, then you will be able to envision and create your own future.
Essential Questions
What can I learn from another’s experiences?
How can the circumstances of my life and what I’m surrounded by drive me forward or hold me back?
What should I do now in my life to have the kind of future I would like?

32. 10th Standards 1. Oral Expression and Listening
1. Content that is gathered carefully and organized well successfully influences an audience
2. Effectively operating in small and large groups to accomplish a goal requires active listening
2. Reading for All Purposes
1. Literary and historical influences determine the meaning of traditional and contemporary literary texts
2. The development of new ideas and concepts within informational and persuasive manuscripts
3. Context, parts of speech, grammar, and word choice influence the understanding of literary, persuasive, and informational texts
3. Writing and Composition
1. Literary or narrative genres feature a variety of stylistic devices to engage or entertain an audience
2. Organizational writing patterns inform or persuade an audience
3. Grammar, language usage, mechanics, and clarity are the basis of ongoing refinements and revisions within the writing process
4.Research and Reasoning
1. Collect, analyze, and evaluate information obtained from multiple sources to answer a question, propose solutions, or share findings and conclusions
2. An author’s reasoning is the essence of legitimate writing and requires evaluating text for validity and accuracy

33. Turn the assignment in to the front desk!
Purpose: to understand how the circumstances of peoples’ lives can positively propel them into their futures or hinder their progress and hold them back, in order to envision and create your own future.
Tasks: Brainstorm responses to the following questions:
How do Elie Wiesel’s specific actions show you ways to conquer or work around obstacles?
How do his actions show you ways to use strengths and assets you have?
How can the experiences of his help you achieve your goals?
Outcome/Prompt: What have you learned from reading about the life experiences of Frederick Douglass and Elie Wiesel? Write a multi-paragraph reflection that explains how the circumstances of both Frederick Douglass’ life and Elie Wiesel’s life can help you envision and create your own future. Make sure to…
Identify specific goals and interests that you have for yourself
Give examples of specific instances/actions in Douglass’ life and Wiesel’s life
Explain in detail how your knowledge of Douglass’ and Wiesel’s actions can help you overcome specific obstacles and/or help you use your own strengths to achieve your goals
Turn the assignment in to the front desk!

34. Activities: Develop & Apply You Do
Purpose: to improve upon and make additions to the Content, Organization, and Style & Language of your Life Vision Reflection.
Tasks:
Outcome:

35. What have you learned from reading about the life experiences of Frederick Douglass and Elie Wiesel (and Jeannette Walls)? Write a multi-paragraph reflection that explains how the circumstances of Frederick Douglass’ life, Elie Wiesel’s life (and Jeannette Walls’ life)can help you envision and create your own future. Make sure to…
Identify specific goals and interests that you have for yourself
Give examples of specific instances/actions in Douglass’ life and Wiesel’s life (and Walls’) where they used their strengths and assets to confront obstacles
Explain in detail how your knowledge of Douglass’ and Wiesel’s (and Walls’) actions can help you overcome specific obstacles and/or help you use your own strengths to achieve your goals
What are my life goals?
How will my skills and interests help me achieve my life goals?
How will the lessons I learned from others help me achieve my life goals?
What can I do the next two years of high school to meet my life goals?
What steps will I take after graduating from high school to achieve my life goals?

36. The Glass Castle A successful theme statement must… ?
Be general enough to capture the overall meaning of the work, but specific enough so that it conveys your unique interpretation.
Make a statement or has a point
The theme statement should be a complete sentence.
"Love and death" (for example) is not a theme statement.
What in particular is the author saying about love and death?
Describe the general meaning of the work, not the specific events, actions, or characters.
The statement "Luke defeats Darth Vader" is not a theme statement but a plot summary.
Reflect the values of the entire work, not just one or two episodes or lines.
Look at the end of the work to make sure that the story's outcome matches what you think its general meaning is.
Pop quiz: Which of the following is a valid theme statement according to the above guidelines?
The true meaning of love.
Mrs. Farquar learns that British people can't dance.
Because the main character commits suicide, the theme is that we should all commit suicide.
It is better to have loved and lost than never to have lost at all.

37. Models
Theme: The immigrant experience is often one of disparity and isolation.
Thesis: In the fictional narrative “American History,” Judith Ortiz Cofer description of the neighbor’s door and the snow symbolizes the disparity and isolation experienced by immigrants.
A door: a barrier when closed, an entrance or exit when opened. Cofer uses a door to represent the struggles that immigrants, as well as young people, often face. Using her native tongue, Elena describes the door to Eugene’s house as “painted a deep green: verde the color of hope… Verde-Esperanza” (green hope). The door is an entrance into the world Elena has peered into from her tenement building. The only house with a yard and trees, she has dreamed of entering and sitting with Eugene drinking coffee and talking about books at the kitchen table. It is a symbol of Elena’s desire of a happy, family. At the climax of the story, however, Elena is “turned away from the green door” and hears it close gently behind her. The closing of the door symbolizes the end to Elena’s dream. Not only will she not study with her teenage “crush” Eugene, but it seems that Elena, representing all immigrants, will not have easy access to the opportunities and privileges that the white community seems to have.

38. Craft Tool Analysis
With so much turmoil in the world, innocence does not last forever. This is a truth experienced by the main character in Judith Ortiz Cofer’s “American History.” Elena, a Puerto-Rican teenager from an immigrant family living in Paterson, New Jersey in the 1960s , is often the target of bullying and belittlement and naively struggles in a world seemingly predestined to be against her. In the fictional narrative “American History,” Judith Ortiz Cofer employs the craft tools of symbolism and dialogue to illustrate the disparity and isolation experienced by immigrants.
A door: a barrier when closed, an entrance or exit when opened. Cofer uses a door to represent the struggles that immigrants, as well as young people, often face. For example, Elena describes the door to Eugene’s house as “painted a deep green: verde the color of hope, I had heard my mother say it: Verde-Esperanza” (green hope). The door seems to be an entrance into the world Elena has peered into from her tenement building. The only house with a yard and trees, she has dreamed of entering and sitting with Eugene drinking coffee and talking about books at the kitchen table. It is a symbol of hope and, more specifically, represents Elena’s hopes and dreams. At the climax of the story, however, Elena is “turned away from the green door” and hears it close gently behind her. The closing of the door symbolizes the end to Elena’s dream. Not only will she not study with her teenage “crush” Eugene, but also it seems that Elena, representing all immigrants, will not have easy access to the opportunities and privileges that the white community seems to have.
Snow is cold and wet and comes during the bleak days of winter, and “American History” is set on a “cold day…that warns of early snow.” Elena describes driving to the suburbs “where children made snowmen in the winter from pure white snow, not like the gray slush” in her city. Finally, at the resolution of the story, Elena looks up at a streetlight and sees the “white snow falling” but she does “not look down to see it turn gray as it touched the ground below.” The white snow represents a better life, one that includes owning a home and relaxing on the weekends, the American dream. The gray slush symbolizes the harsh reality of her immigrant life and the discrimination with which she was just confronted. Even though Elena had just been turned away from her dreams at Eugene’s door, she seems to have the strength of character to hold onto the purity of her dream.  
Judith Ortiz Cofer uses two specific symbols and poignant dialogue in “American History” to reflect and convey the experiences of a Puerto-Rican immigrant teenage girl. As immigrants struggle to obtain the American dream, they often are confronted with discrimination and pre-conceived judgments that seems difficult to overcome. While it would be nice to live in a world that is always accepting and treats everyone equally, the reality is that it is not. Sooner or later, this reality confronts everyone, and who we are as human beings is reflected in how we handle it.