In Holt Literature and Language Arts, you read Sandra Cisneros s Eleven, about a girl named Rachel and her awful experience in school on her eleventh birthday. Although Rachel is a fictional character, she is similar to Cisneros as a young girl. Like Rachel, Cisneros was shy and awkward and sometimes had a hard time in school. Cisneros s childhood experiences are very much a part of her writing. In Three Wise Guys, you read about a family waiting for the day they ll get to open a mysterious present and what happens to them once they discover what s inside. Did you ever receive a present you weren t allowed to open right away? Did you think about it all the time? So do the Gonzaleses, the family in Three Wise Guys. As you read this story, try to guess what the present is. Then, at the end of the story, think about the effect of the present on each family member. Here s what you need to know before you read this story: This story is based on the Spanish tradition of exchanging gifts on Three Kings Day, January sixth. The story includes some Spanish words, which are defined by the footnotes at the bottom of each page. Reading Standard 3.7 Explain the effects of common literary devices (for example, symbolism, imagery, metaphor) in a variety of fictional and nonfictional texts. Sandra Cisneros 235
Sandra Cisneros Actually, Dia de los Reyes means Day of the Kings. The kings were Magi, or wise men. Notice the superscript numbers (the raised numbers) next to Spanish words. These numbers are references to the footnotes at the bottom of the pages. Why are these footnotes important in this story? Find and underline three examples of imagery in this paragraph. What does this imagery add to the story? 10 20 The big box came marked Do Not Open till Xmas, but the mama said not until the Day of the Three Kings. Not until Dia de los Reyes, the sixth of January, do you hear? That is what the mama said exactly, only she said it all in Spanish. Because in Mexico where she was raised, it is the custom for boys and girls to receive their presents on January sixth, and not Christmas, even though they were living on the Texas side of the river 1 now. Not until the sixth day of January. Yesterday the mama had risen in the dark same as always to reheat the coffee in a tin saucepan and warm the breakfast tortillas. 2 The papa had gotten up coughing and spitting up the night, complaining how the evening before the buzzing of the chicharras 3 had kept him from sleeping. By the time the mama had the house smelling of oatmeal and cinnamon, the papa would be gone to the fields, the sun already tangled in the trees and the urracas 4 screeching their rubber-screech cry. The boy Ruben and the girl Rosalinda would have to be shaken awake for school. The mama would give the baby Gilberto his bottle and then she would go back to sleep before getting up again to the chores that were always waiting. That is how the world had been. 1. river n.: Rio Grande, which separates Mexico and Texas. 2. tortillas (tôr t y s) n.: thin, flat cakes of cornmeal or flour. 3. chicharras ( ä räs) n.: cicadas, insects that make a loud, highpitched sound. 4. urracas (º rä käs) n.: magpies, black and white birds belonging to the crow family, known for their chattering. Three Wise Guys by Sandra Cisneros. Copyright 1990 by Sandra Cisneros. First published by Vista Magazine, December 23, 1990. All rights reserved. Reprinted by permission of Susan Bergholz Literary Services, New York. 236 Chapter 6 Looking at Texts: Uses of the Imagination
30 40 50 But today the big box had arrived. When the boy Ruben and the girl Rosalinda came home from school, it was already sitting in the living room in front of the television set that no longer worked. Who had put it there? Where had it come from? A box covered with red paper with green Christmas trees and a card on top that said Merry Christmas to the Gonzales Family. Frank, Earl, and Dwight Travis. P.S. Do Not Open till Xmas. That s all. Two times the mama was made to come into the living room, first to explain to the children and later to their father how the brothers Travis had arrived in the blue pickup, and how it had taken all three of those big men to lift the box off the back of the truck and bring it inside, and how she had had to nod and say thank-you thank-you thank-you over and over because those were the only words she knew in English. Then the brothers Travis had nodded as well, the way they always did when they came and brought the boxes of clothes, or the turkey each November, or the canned ham on Easter, ever since the children had begun to earn high grades at the school where Dwight Travis was the principal. But this year the Christmas box was bigger than usual. What could be in a box so big? The boy Ruben and the girl Rosalinda begged all afternoon to be allowed to open it, and that is when the mama had said the sixth of January, the Day of the Three Kings. Not a day sooner. It seemed the weeks stretched themselves wider and wider since the arrival of the big box. The mama got used to sweeping around it because it was too heavy for her to push in a corner. But since the television no longer worked ever since the afternoon the children had poured iced tea through the little grates in the back, it really didn t matter if Notes Why do the brothers bring clothes and food on holidays? What can you infer about the family s financial status? Some sentences within the boxed passage are long. Practice reading the passage aloud, and pay special attention to the long sentences. Notice where the commas are, and use them as a signal to pause. Practice reading at a rate that is not too fast and not too slow. Sandra Cisneros 237
obstructed ( b struk tid) v.: blocked. distract (di strakt ) v.: draw attention away from; sidetrack. simplicity (sim plis t ) n.: absence of complexity; plainness. Replace the word simplicity with the word plainness in the sentence. Is the sentence as effective? Why or why not? 60 70 80 the box obstructed the view. Visitors that came inside the house were told and told again the story of how the box had arrived, and then each was made to guess what was inside. It was the comadre 5 Elodia who suggested over coffee one afternoon that the big box held a portable washing machine that could be rolled away when not in use, the kind she had seen in her Sears Roebuck catalog. The mama said she hoped so because the wringer washer she had used for the last ten years had finally gotten tired and quit. These past few weeks she had had to boil all the clothes in the big pot she used for cooking the Christmas tamales. 6 Yes. She hoped the big box was a portable washing machine. A washing machine, even a portable one, would be good. But the neighbor man Cayetano said, what foolishness, comadre. Can t you see the box is too small to hold a washing machine, even a portable one. Most likely God has heard your prayers and sent a new color TV. With a good antenna you could catch all the Mexican soap operas, the neighbor man said. You could distract yourself with the complicated troubles of the rich and then give thanks to God for the blessed simplicity of your poverty. A new TV would surely be the end to all your miseries. Each night when the papa came home from the fields, he would spread newspapers on the cot in the living room, where the boy Ruben and the girl Rosalinda slept, and sit facing the big box in the center of the room. Each night he imagined the box held something different. The day before yesterday he guessed a new record player. Yesterday an ice chest filled with beer. Today the papa sat with his bottle of 5. comadre (ko mä dr ) n.: woman who is a relative or close friend of the family (the co-mother ). 6. tamales (t mä l z) n.: meat and peppers cooked in a corn husk. 238 Chapter 6 Looking at Texts: Uses of the Imagination
90 100 110 beer, fanning himself with a magazine, and said in a voice as much a plea as a prophecy: air conditioner. But the boy Ruben and the girl Rosalinda were sure the big box was filled with toys. They had even punctured it in one corner with a pencil when their mother was busy cooking, but they could see nothing inside but blackness. Only the baby Gilberto remained uninterested in the contents of the big box and seemed each day more fascinated with the exterior of the box rather that the interior. One afternoon he tore off a fistful of paper, which he was chewing when his mother swooped him up with one arm, rushed him to the kitchen sink, and forced him to swallow handfuls of lukewarm water in case the red dye of the wrapping paper might be poisonous. When Christmas Eve finally came, the family Gonzalez put on their good clothes and went to Midnight Mass. They came home to a house that smelled of tamales and atole, 7 and everyone was allowed to open one present before going to sleep. But the big box was to remain untouched until the sixth of January. On New Year s Eve the house was filled with people, some related, some not, coming in and out. The friends of the papa came with bottles, and the mama set out a bowl of grapes to count off the New Year. That night the children did not sleep in the living-room cot as they usually did, because the living room was crowded with big-fannied ladies and fat-stomached men sashaying to the accordion music of the midget twins from McAllen. 8 Instead the children fell asleep on a lump of handbags and crumpled suit jackets on top of the mama and the papa s bed, dreaming of the contents of the big box. 7. atole (ä t l ) n.: broth made from corn flour. 8. McAllen: Texas city near the Mexican border. What do you learn in lines 60 89 about each person based on what he or she hopes is inside the box? Underline the images in lines 100 116 that help you imagine what the house was like on the holidays. Sandra Cisneros 239
Soon the box will be opened. Make a prediction about what you think is inside. Then read on and see if your prediction is right. Coughing up the night before in lines 129 130 is not literally true. What does this figure of speech mean? 120 130 140 Finally, the fifth of January. And the boy Ruben and the girl Rosalinda could hardly sleep. All night they whispered last-minute wishes. The boy thought perhaps if the big box held a bicycle, he would be the first to ride it, since he was the oldest. This made his sister cry until the mama had to yell from her bedroom on the other side of the plastic curtains, Be quiet or I m going to give you each the stick, which sounds worse in Spanish than it does in English. Then no one said anything. After a very long time, long after they heard the mama s wheezed breathing and the papa s piped snoring, the children closed their eyes and remembered nothing. The papa was already in the bathroom coughing up the night before from his throat when the urracas began their clownish chirping. The boy Ruben awoke and shook his sister. The mama, frying the potatoes and beans for breakfast, nodded permission for the box to be opened. With a kitchen knife the boy Ruben cut a careful edge along the top. The girl Rosalinda tore the Christmas wrapping with her fingernails. The papa and the mama lifted the cardboard flaps and everyone peered inside to see what it was the brothers Travis had brought them on the Day of the Three Kings. There were layers of balled newspaper packed on top. When these had been cleared away the boy Ruben looked inside. The girl Rosalinda looked inside. The papa and the mama looked. This is what they saw: the complete Britannica Junior Encyclopaedia, twenty-four volumes in red imitation leather with gold-embossed letters, beginning with Volume 1, Aar Bel and ending with Volume XXIV, Yel Zyn. The girl Rosalinda let out a sad cry, as if her 240 Chapter 6 Looking at Texts: Uses of the Imagination
150 160 170 hair was going to be cut again. The boy Ruben pulled out Volume IV, Ded Fem. There were many pictures and many words, but there were more words than pictures. The papa flipped through Volume XXII, but because he could not read English words, simply put the book back and grunted, What can we do with this? No one said anything, and shortly after, the screen door slammed. Only mama knew what to do with the contents of the big box. She withdrew Volumes VI, VII, and VIII, marched off to the dinette set in the kitchen, placed two on Rosalinda s chair so she could better reach the table, and put one underneath the plant stand that danced. When the boy and girl returned from school that day, they found the books stacked into squat pillars against one living-room wall and a board placed on top. On this were arranged several plastic doilies and framed family photographs. The rest of the volumes the baby Gilberto was playing with, and he was already rubbing his sore gums along the corners of Volume XIV. The girl Rosalinda also grew interested in the books. She took out her colored pencils and painted blue on the eyelids of all the illustrations of women and with a red pencil dipped in spit she painted their lips and fingernails red-red. After a couple of days, when all the pictures of women had been colored in this manner, she began to cut out some of the prettier pictures and paste them on looseleaf paper. One volume suffered from being exposed to the rain when the papa improvised a hat during a sudden shower. He forgot it on the hood of the car when he drove off. When the children came home from school they set it on What does each person do with the gift? See lines 156 177. The plant stand in line 160 is personified that is, it is spoken of as if it were human. What is the plant stand doing that only humans can do? Sandra Cisneros 241
Pause at line 202. What discovery has Ruben made? What could the colors in the final lines of the story symbolize? What do you think the story s title means? Could it have more than one meaning? 180 190 200 the porch to dry. But the pages puffed up and became so fat, the book was impossible to close. Only the boy Ruben refused to touch the books. For several days he avoided the principal because he didn t know what to say in case Mr. Travis were to ask how they were enjoying the Christmas present. On the Saturday after New Year s the mama and the papa went into town for groceries and left the boy in charge of watching his sister and baby brother. The girl Rosalinda was stacking books into spiral staircases and making her paper dolls descend them in a fancy manner. Perhaps the boy Ruben would not have bothered to open the volume left on the kitchen table if he had not seen his mother wedge her name-day corsage 9 in its pages. On the page where the mama s carnation lay pressed between two pieces of Kleenex was a picture of a dog in a space ship. First dog in space the caption said. The boy turned to another page and read where cashews came from. And then about the man who invented the guillotine. And then about Bengal tigers. And about clouds. All afternoon the boy read, even after the mama and the papa came home. Even after the sun set, until the mama said time to sleep and put the light out. In their bed on the other side of the plastic curtain the mama and the papa slept. Across from them in the crib slept the baby Gilberto. The girl Rosalinda slept on her end of the cot. But the boy Ruben watched the night sky turn from violet. To blue. To gray. And then from gray. To blue. To violet once again. 9. name-day corsage (kôr sä ) n.: flower or a bunch of flowers that are worn to celebrate the feast day of the saint for whom a person is named. 242 Chapter 6 Looking at Texts: Uses of the Imagination
Symbolism A symbol is a thing that represents something besides itself. What do you think the encyclopedias are symbolic of? Write your answer in two or three sentences. Personal Word List You probably came across some new words in this story. They may have been Spanish words or English words you were unfamiliar with. Choose five words, and add them to your Personal Word List. Write an English word that means the same thing as each Spanish word. Personal Reading Log Did you enjoy this story? Explain why or why not in your Personal Reading Log. Give yourself 4 points on the Reading Meter for completing it. Checklist for Standards Mastery You ve finished reading and responding to another selection. Use the Checklist for Standards Mastery to determine how far you ve come in mastering the standards. Sandra Cisneros 243
Three Wise Guys Interactive Reading, page 236 Go Beyond a Literary Text Author Profile Use your library and the Internet to find out more about Sandra Cisneros. As you find information, enter it on the author-profile chart below. Sandra Cisneros Profile of: Date of Birth: Place of Birth: Parents: Other Family Members: Description of Her Childhood and Childhood Interests: Education: Famous Books or Other Works: Author Quotation: 244 Chapter 6 Looking at Texts: Uses of the Imagination
Build Independence Through Interactive Selections Three Wise Guys Sandra Cisneros page 236 (Interactive Reading, pages 236 261) Tell students that they are going to read Three Wise Guys, another story by Sandra Cisneros. Encourage students to recall what they liked about Cisneros s story Eleven. Have students read the Author Study and the Before You Read notes. Tell students that in this story, three brothers bring the Gonzales family a gift for Three Kings Day. Based on what they ve learned about this holiday, ask students to speculate about why Cisneros gave the story this title. Read the beginning of the story aloud, until the first What and Why? note. Find and identify for students one example of imagery in the paragraph. Direct students to underline the example you identify. Have students find and underline two additional examples on their own. Model how you might respond to the second part of the note: The use of this imagery really helps me hear, smell, and see what is happening. The images make the scene seem real. Have students read the rest of the story independently. Remind them to note their responses to the sidenotes in their books. After students have finished reading, divide the class into small groups, and have them discuss their responses. Bring the class back together, and direct students to the Fluency note. Have several students read the fluency passage aloud. Have students add the title of this story to their Personal Reading Logs. Use the Vocabulary Check on Teacher s Edition page 80 to evaluate mastery of the vocabulary standard. Use the Comprehension Check on Teacher s Edition page 81 to evaluate mastery of the literary standard. Have students complete the Author Profile on Interactive Reading page 244 to learn more about Sandra Cisneros. DIFFERENTIATING INSTRUCTION Three Wise Guys Learners Having Difficulty This selection contains some Spanish words. Before students read the selection independently, ask those who are conversant in Spanish to read these Spanish words aloud and define them for non- Spanish speakers. Benchmark Students The selection vocabulary and some of the other words used in the text may pose problems for benchmark students. Encourage students to use the Vocabulary Development and Word Knowledge sidenotes as they read. Advanced Students Students will enjoy guessing what is in the box. Before they finish reading the story, ask them to fill out prediction cards, writing their predictions on one side and their reasons for making the prediction on the other. Have small groups share and discuss their cards. After they finish the story, students can see if their predictions were correct. READING OPTION All students will enjoy hearing this selection read aloud on the Audio CD before they read it independently. TEACHER TO TEACHER Have students in small groups discuss the questions the selection raises. Ask the groups to share personal stories about presents with mysterious contents. Then, have the groups share their responses. Chapter 6 75
Name Class Date Three Wise Guys Interactive Reading, page 236 Vocabulary Check Reading Standard 1.5 Understand and explain shades of meaning in related words. Vocabulary Development obstructed, verb distract, verb simplicity, noun blocked draw attention away from; sidetrack absence of complexity; plainness A. Words in Context Use words from the word box to complete the paragraph. Use each word only once. I couldn t see the box because it was (1) by Papa s hulking form in the doorway. What do you want, bonita? he said. I started to plead, Let me see! Let me see! but he ignored my begging. Mama made breakfast, but the (2) of the meal the usual fried bread sprinkled with sugar did nothing to (3) me from the mystery of the box. B. Words with Similar Meanings Replace each boldface word with a vocabulary word that has a similar meaning. Then write a sentence in which you use the vocabulary word correctly. 1. The large box blocked the view of the living room. 2. Like a game, the box had the ability to sidetrack the children s attention. 3. The family s life has a certain plainness to it. Copyright by Holt, Rinehart and Winston. All rights reserved. 80 Interactive Reading
Name Class Date Three Wise Guys Interactive Reading, page 236 Comprehension Check Reading Standard 3.7 Explain the effects of common literary devices in a variety of fictional and nonfictional texts. Academic Vocabulary figurative language imagery symbol word or phrase that describes one thing in terms of something else and is not literally true language that appeals to the senses person, place, thing, or event that has its own meaning and stands for something beyond itself Copyright by Holt, Rinehart and Winston. All rights reserved. A. Circle the letter of the best response to each item below. 1. Which of the following is not an example of figurative language? A sun tangled in the trees B coughing and spitting up the night C weeks stretched themselves wider and wider D spread newspapers on the cot 2. Which of the following is an example of imagery? F a lump of handbags and crumpled suit jackets G troubles of the rich H the house was filled with people J no one said anything 3. Which of the following uses imagery to help us hear something? A a bowl of grapes C mama s wheezed breathing B books stacked in squat pillars D a house that smelled of tamales 4. In this story the encyclopedia could be seen as a symbol of F books and pictures H money and luxury G poverty and simplicity J learning and knowledge B. Re-read the descriptions of Christmas Eve and New Year s Eve. Write down the sensory images (sound, taste, smell, sight, touch) that helped you imagine these scenes. Chapter 6 81
Chapter 6 Practice Read: Who Was Cleopatra? Vocabulary Check, page 78 A: 1. feuds 2. deposed 3. ambitious 4. dynamic 5. jeered B: 1. greedy 2. feuds 3. jeered 4. toppled 5. dynamic Comprehension Check, page 79 A: 1. D 2. G 3. C 4. F B: Students responses will vary. Examples: Cleopatra was like a snake. Cleopatra was a tiger. Three Wise Guys Vocabulary Check, page 80 A: 1. obstructed 2. simplicity 3. distract B: 1. obstructed Example: Our access to the door was obstructed by a mean-looking dog. 2. distract Example: The clown on the sidewalk distracted all the passersby. 3. simplicity Example: The pattern of the curtains had such a simplicity to it. Comprehension Check, page 81 A: 1. D 2. F 3. C 4. J B: The house smelled of tamales and tacos. [smell] The living room was crowded with big-fannied ladies and fat-stomached men sashaying to the accordion music. [sight and sound] The children fell asleep on a lump of handbags. [sight] The Ancient Library of Alexandria Vocabulary Check, page 82 A: 1. universal 2. deposited 3. stationary B: 1. fragrance 2. odor 3. scrawny 4. slender Comprehension Check, page 83 A: 1. A 2. J 3. B B: He asserted that Earth was a sphere. He used geometric calculations and measured the lengths of shadows cast by sticks. He estimated that Earth s diameter was 7,850 miles. from The Autobiography of a Kid Vocabulary Check, page 84 A: 1. blithely 2. subscription 3. curriculum B: 1. ridiculous 2. bland 3. liked 4. clever Comprehension Check, page 85 A: 1. B 2. H 3. A 4. J B: Students may choose: And what about words, which, packed together, made up a book as cells made up my body? I liked them. Whether I knew it or not, words were claiming me. That [the word bum ticker ] tickled me to no end. Answer Key 115
234 for use with Holt Literature and Language Arts, page 364 sweater that smells like cottage cheese pennies in a tin Band- Aid box Chapter 6 Looking at Texts: Uses of the Imagination Answers will vary. 3. Which image from the story do you like the most? Why? taste 2. Which had the least? sight and touch 1. Which sense from the diagram had the most images? Questions coming out of me animal noises from I can t stop the little one sleeve of the Sound rattling inside me like Smell have the hiccups far away like a runaway balloon, Taste my body shaking like when you waterfall like a tiny-o in the sky they ll get to open a mysterious present and what happens to them My face all hot it s hanging over the edge like a by the footnotes at the bottom of each page. The story includes some Spanish words, which are defined gifts on Three Kings Day, January sixth. This story is based on the Spanish tradition of exchanging Here s what you need to know before you read this story: about the effect of the present on each family member. guess what the present is. Then, at the end of the story, think the family in Three Wise Guys. As you read this story, try to 235 Reading Standard 3.7 Explain the effects of common literary devices (for example, symbolism, imagery, metaphor) in a variety of fictional and nonfictional texts. Sandra Cisneros away? Did you think about it all the time? So do the Gonzaleses, Did you ever receive a present you weren t allowed to open right once they discover what s inside. In Three Wise Guys, you read about a family waiting for the day down on my teeth real hard mountain experiences are very much a part of her writing. and sometimes had a hard time in school. Cisneros s childhood I squeeze them shut tight and bite Touch Cisneros as a young girl. Like Rachel, Cisneros was shy and awkward Although Rachel is a fictional character, she is similar to awful experience in school on her eleventh birthday. Cisneros s Eleven, about a girl named Rachel and her In Holt Literature and Language Arts, you read Sandra the red sweater is... like a big red Sight Imagery Grid Imagery is language that appeals to the senses. Images describe sights, smells, tastes, sounds, and the way things feel when you touch them. Writers use imagery to help us share an experience. Fill in the imagery chart below with images that Sandra Cisneros uses throughout Eleven. Then answer the questions. Interact with a Literary Text Eleven Access TE_6-Ch6Anno_Final 10/17/01 4:33 PM Page 237 Menu On Course Print Chapter 6 Pupil Pages 222 261 Pupil Pages with Answers 237
Chapter 6 Pupil Pages 222 261 Sandra Cisneros Actually, Dia de los Reyes means Day of the Kings. The kings were Magi, or wise men. Notice the superscript numbers (the raised numbers) next to Spanish words. These numbers are references to the footnotes at the bottom of the pages. Why are these footnotes important in this story? Many footnotes explain what the Spanish words mean. Find and underline three examples of imagery in this paragraph. What does this imagery add to the story? Suggested response: The use of imagery allows readers to hear, 10 20 The big box came marked Do Not Open till Xmas, but the mama said not until the Day of the Three Kings. Not until Dia de los Reyes, the sixth of January, do you hear? That is what the mama said exactly, only she said it all in Spanish. Because in Mexico where she was raised, it is the custom for boys and girls to receive their presents on January sixth, and not Christmas, even though they were living on the Texas side of the river 1 now. Not until the sixth day of January. Yesterday the mama had risen in the dark same as always to reheat the coffee in a tin saucepan and warm the breakfast tortillas. 2 The papa had gotten up coughing and spitting up the night, complaining how the evening before the buzzing of the chicharras 3 had kept him from sleeping. By the time the mama had the house smelling of oatmeal and cinnamon, the papa would be gone to the fields, the sun already tangled in the trees and the urracas 4 screeching their rubber-screech cry. The boy Ruben and the girl Rosalinda would have to be shaken awake for school. The mama would give the baby Gilberto his bottle and then she would go back to sleep before getting up again to the chores that were always waiting. That is how the world had been. smell, and see what is happening in the story. 1. river n.: Rio Grande, which separates Mexico and Texas. 2. tortillas (tôr t y s) n.: thin, flat cakes of cornmeal or flour. 3. chicharras ( ä räs) n.: cicadas, insects that make a loud, highpitched sound. 4. urracas (º rä käs) n.: magpies, black and white birds belonging to the crow family, known for their chattering. Three Wise Guys by Sandra Cisneros. Copyright 1990 by Sandra Cisneros. First published by Vista Magazine, December 23, 1990. All rights reserved. Reprinted by permission of Susan Bergholz Literary Services, New York. 236 Chapter 6 Looking at Texts: Uses of the Imagination 30 40 50 But today the big box had arrived. When the boy Ruben and the girl Rosalinda came home from school, it was already sitting in the living room in front of the television set that no longer worked. Who had put it there? Where had it come from? A box covered with red paper with green Christmas trees and a card on top that said Merry Christmas to the Gonzales Family. Frank, Earl, and Dwight Travis. P.S. Do Not Open till Xmas. That s all. Two times the mama was made to come into the living room, first to explain to the children and later to their father how the brothers Travis had arrived in the blue pickup, and how it had taken all three of those big men to lift the box off the back of the truck and bring it inside, and how she had had to nod and say thank-you thank-you thank-you over and over because those were the only words she knew in English. Then the brothers Travis had nodded as well, the way they always did when they came and brought the boxes of clothes, or the turkey each November, or the canned ham on Easter, ever since the children had begun to earn high grades at the school where Dwight Travis was the principal. But this year the Christmas box was bigger than usual. What could be in a box so big? The boy Ruben and the girl Rosalinda begged all afternoon to be allowed to open it, and that is when the mama had said the sixth of January, the Day of the Three Kings. Not a day sooner. It seemed the weeks stretched themselves wider and wider since the arrival of the big box. The mama got used to sweeping around it because it was too heavy for her to push in a corner. But since the television no longer worked ever since the afternoon the children had poured iced tea through the little grates in the back, it really didn t matter if Notes Why do the brothers bring clothes and food on holidays? What can you infer about the family s financial status? The family is poor and the brothers are charitable. Some sentences within the boxed passage are long. Practice reading the passage aloud, and pay special attention to the long sentences. Notice where the commas are, and use them as a signal to pause. Practice reading at a rate that is not too fast and not too slow. Sandra Cisneros 237 238 Interactive Reading: Teacher s Edition
Chapter 6 Pupil Pages 222 261 obstructed ( b struk tid) v.: blocked. distract (di strakt ) v.: draw attention away from; sidetrack. simplicity (sim plis t ) n.: absence of complexity; plainness. Replace the word simplicity with the word plainness in the sentence. Is the sentence as effective? Why or why not? Answers will vary, but should indicate that the sentence is clearer and more effective when the word simplicity is used. 60 70 80 the box obstructed the view. Visitors that came inside the house were told and told again the story of how the box had arrived, and then each was made to guess what was inside. It was the comadre 5 Elodia who suggested over coffee one afternoon that the big box held a portable washing machine that could be rolled away when not in use, the kind she had seen in her Sears Roebuck catalog. The mama said she hoped so because the wringer washer she had used for the last ten years had finally gotten tired and quit. These past few weeks she had had to boil all the clothes in the big pot she used for cooking the Christmas tamales. 6 Yes. She hoped the big box was a portable washing machine. A washing machine, even a portable one, would be good. But the neighbor man Cayetano said, what foolishness, comadre. Can t you see the box is too small to hold a washing machine, even a portable one. Most likely God has heard your prayers and sent a new color TV. With a good antenna you could catch all the Mexican soap operas, the neighbor man said. You could distract yourself with the complicated troubles of the rich and then give thanks to God for the blessed simplicity of your poverty. A new TV would surely be the end to all your miseries. Each night when the papa came home from the fields, he would spread newspapers on the cot in the living room, where the boy Ruben and the girl Rosalinda slept, and sit facing the big box in the center of the room. Each night he imagined the box held something different. The day before yesterday he guessed a new record player. Yesterday an ice chest filled with beer. Today the papa sat with his bottle of 5. comadre (ko mä dr ) n.: woman who is a relative or close friend of the family (the co-mother ). 6. tamales (t mä l z) n.: meat and peppers cooked in a corn husk. 238 Chapter 6 Looking at Texts: Uses of the Imagination 90 100 110 beer, fanning himself with a magazine, and said in a voice as much a plea as a prophecy: air conditioner. But the boy Ruben and the girl Rosalinda were sure the big box was filled with toys. They had even punctured it in one corner with a pencil when their mother was busy cooking, but they could see nothing inside but blackness. Only the baby Gilberto remained uninterested in the contents of the big box and seemed each day more fascinated with the exterior of the box rather that the interior. One afternoon he tore off a fistful of paper, which he was chewing when his mother swooped him up with one arm, rushed him to the kitchen sink, and forced him to swallow handfuls of lukewarm water in case the red dye of the wrapping paper might be poisonous. When Christmas Eve finally came, the family Gonzalez put on their good clothes and went to Midnight Mass. They came home to a house that smelled of tamales and atole, 7 and everyone was allowed to open one present before going to sleep. But the big box was to remain untouched until the sixth of January. On New Year s Eve the house was filled with people, some related, some not, coming in and out. The friends of the papa came with bottles, and the mama set out a bowl of grapes to count off the New Year. That night the children did not sleep in the living-room cot as they usually did, because the living room was crowded with big-fannied ladies and fat-stomached men sashaying to the accordion music of the midget twins from McAllen. 8 Instead the children fell asleep on a lump of handbags and crumpled suit jackets on top of the mama and the papa s bed, dreaming of the contents of the big box. 7. atole (ä t l ) n.: broth made from corn flour. 8. McAllen: Texas city near the Mexican border. What do you learn in lines 60 89 about each person based on what he or she hopes is inside the box? Mama hopes for a washing machine to make chores easier. The neighbor hopes for a TV for an escape from reality. Papa seems to want more pleasure in his life because he hopes for a record player, beer, or an air conditioner. The children dream of toys. Underline the images in lines 100 116 that help you imagine what the house was like on the holidays. Sandra Cisneros 239 Pupil Pages with Answers 239
Chapter 6 Pupil Pages 222 261 Soon the box will be opened. Make a prediction about what you think is inside. Then read on and see if your prediction is right. Predictions will vary. Coughing up the night before in lines 129 130 is not literally true. What does this figure of speech mean? Papa could be coughing because he smoked or drank too much the night before. 120 130 140 Finally, the fifth of January. And the boy Ruben and the girl Rosalinda could hardly sleep. All night they whispered last-minute wishes. The boy thought perhaps if the big box held a bicycle, he would be the first to ride it, since he was the oldest. This made his sister cry until the mama had to yell from her bedroom on the other side of the plastic curtains, Be quiet or I m going to give you each the stick, which sounds worse in Spanish than it does in English. Then no one said anything. After a very long time, long after they heard the mama s wheezed breathing and the papa s piped snoring, the children closed their eyes and remembered nothing. The papa was already in the bathroom coughing up the night before from his throat when the urracas began their clownish chirping. The boy Ruben awoke and shook his sister. The mama, frying the potatoes and beans for breakfast, nodded permission for the box to be opened. With a kitchen knife the boy Ruben cut a careful edge along the top. The girl Rosalinda tore the Christmas wrapping with her fingernails. The papa and the mama lifted the cardboard flaps and everyone peered inside to see what it was the brothers Travis had brought them on the Day of the Three Kings. There were layers of balled newspaper packed on top. When these had been cleared away the boy Ruben looked inside. The girl Rosalinda looked inside. The papa and the mama looked. This is what they saw: the complete Britannica Junior Encyclopaedia, twenty-four volumes in red imitation leather with gold-embossed letters, beginning with Volume 1, Aar Bel and ending with Volume XXIV, Yel Zyn. The girl Rosalinda let out a sad cry, as if her 240 Chapter 6 Looking at Texts: Uses of the Imagination 150 160 170 hair was going to be cut again. The boy Ruben pulled out Volume IV, Ded Fem. There were many pictures and many words, but there were more words than pictures. The papa flipped through Volume XXII, but because he could not read English words, simply put the book back and grunted, What can we do with this? No one said anything, and shortly after, the screen door slammed. Only mama knew what to do with the contents of the big box. She withdrew Volumes VI, VII, and VIII, marched off to the dinette set in the kitchen, placed two on Rosalinda s chair so she could better reach the table, and put one underneath the plant stand that danced. When the boy and girl returned from school that day, they found the books stacked into squat pillars against one living-room wall and a board placed on top. On this were arranged several plastic doilies and framed family photographs. The rest of the volumes the baby Gilberto was playing with, and he was already rubbing his sore gums along the corners of Volume XIV. The girl Rosalinda also grew interested in the books. She took out her colored pencils and painted blue on the eyelids of all the illustrations of women and with a red pencil dipped in spit she painted their lips and fingernails red-red. After a couple of days, when all the pictures of women had been colored in this manner, she began to cut out some of the prettier pictures and paste them on looseleaf paper. One volume suffered from being exposed to the rain when the papa improvised a hat during a sudden shower. He forgot it on the hood of the car when he drove off. When the children came home from school they set it on What does each person do with the gift? See lines 156 177. Mama puts one volume on Rosalinda s chair and one under the plant stand to steady it. Mama later piles the books up and makes a table. The baby chews on them. Rosalinda colors all the pictures and cuts out others. Papa uses one as a hat in the rain. The plant stand in line 160 is personified that is, it is spoken of as if it were human. What is the plant stand doing that only humans can do? It is dancing. Sandra Cisneros 241 240 Interactive Reading: Teacher s Edition
Chapter 6 Pupil Pages 222 261 Pause at line 202. What discovery has Ruben made? Ruben has discovered the joys of learning about the world. What could the colors in the final lines of the story symbolize? Suggested response: The colors could symbolize a whole new world for Ruben, as if he is coming from darkness into the light of learning. What do you think the story s title means? Could it have more than one meaning? Literally it refers to the Magi. It also refers to the three Travis brothers who brought the 180 190 200 the porch to dry. But the pages puffed up and became so fat, the book was impossible to close. Only the boy Ruben refused to touch the books. For several days he avoided the principal because he didn t know what to say in case Mr. Travis were to ask how they were enjoying the Christmas present. On the Saturday after New Year s the mama and the papa went into town for groceries and left the boy in charge of watching his sister and baby brother. The girl Rosalinda was stacking books into spiral staircases and making her paper dolls descend them in a fancy manner. Perhaps the boy Ruben would not have bothered to open the volume left on the kitchen table if he had not seen his mother wedge her name-day corsage 9 in its pages. On the page where the mama s carnation lay pressed between two pieces of Kleenex was a picture of a dog in a space ship. First dog in space the caption said. The boy turned to another page and read where cashews came from. And then about the man who invented the guillotine. And then about Bengal tigers. And about clouds. All afternoon the boy read, even after the mama and the papa came home. Even after the sun set, until the mama said time to sleep and put the light out. In their bed on the other side of the plastic curtain the mama and the papa slept. Across from them in the crib slept the baby Gilberto. The girl Rosalinda slept on her end of the cot. But the boy Ruben watched the night sky turn from violet. To blue. To gray. And then from gray. To blue. To violet once again. children the gift of knowledge. 9. name-day corsage (kôr sä ) n.: flower or a bunch of flowers that are worn to celebrate the feast day of the saint for whom a person is named. 242 Chapter 6 Looking at Texts: Uses of the Imagination Symbolism A symbol is a thing that represents something besides itself. What do you think the encyclopedias are symbolic of? Write your answer in two or three sentences. The encyclopedias symbolize knowledge or discovery. Personal Word List You probably came across some new words in this story. They may have been Spanish words or English words you were unfamiliar with. Choose five words, and add them to your Personal Word List. Write an English word that means the same thing as each Spanish word. Personal Reading Log Did you enjoy this story? Explain why or why not in your Personal Reading Log. Give yourself 4 points on the Reading Meter for completing it. Checklist for Standards Mastery You ve finished reading and responding to another selection. Use the Checklist for Standards Mastery to determine how far you ve come in mastering the standards. Sandra Cisneros 243 Pupil Pages with Answers 241
Chapter 6 Pupil Pages 222 261 Three Wise Guys Interactive Reading, page 236 Go Beyond a Literary Text Author Profile Use your library and the Internet to find out more about Sandra Cisneros. As you find information, enter it on the author-profile chart below. Sample entries provided. Profile of: Sandra Cisneros Date of Birth: December 20, 1954 Place of Birth: Chicago Parents: Mexican father and Chicana (Mexican-American) mother Other Family Members: seven brothers, no sisters Description of Her Childhood and Childhood Interests: Her family often moved back and forth between Mexico (where her paternal grandmother lived and her father grew up) and the United States. She felt homeless and displaced. She read a lot and found comfort in books. Education: Loyola University and University of Iowa Famous Books or Other Works: The House on Mango Street; Woman Hollering Creek and Other Stories; My Wicked, Wicked Ways (poems) Author Quotation: Quotations will vary. 244 Chapter 6 Looking at Texts: Uses of the Imagination How did the first library begin? What was it like? Why were some people determined to get rid of it? Find out the answers to these questions as you read all about the ancient library of Alexandria, how it came to be, and how it was eventually destroyed. Here s what you need to know before you begin reading: Ancient books were written on papyrus and rolled into scrolls. The library of Alexandria, in Egypt, was the first universal library. This means that it was the first library where scrolls from different countries were collected. The library was not only a place to read. It was also a great center where people came to do research, debate, discuss, study, teach, and share ideas. In many ways the library was like an educational resort, because people who came from distant lands lived and ate at the library. Reading Standard 2.7 Make reasonable assertions about a text through accurate supporting citations. Anne Nolting About 2,300 years ago, a great king ruled the country of Egypt. His name was Ptolemy I Soter, and he was a wise and inquisitive monarch with a deep longing for knowledge. His wish was for Egypt to become the most powerful nation in the world. Underline inquisitive (in kwiz tiv) in line 3. What words in this first paragraph help you guess what it means? Circle the clues. The Ancient Library of Alexandria by Anne Nolting from Cricket, May 2000. Copyright 2000 by Anne Nolting. Reprinted by permission of the author. Inquisitive means eager to learn. The Ancient Library of Alexandria 245 242 Interactive Reading: Teacher s Edition