IMPORTANT: Comprehension questions will be in chronological order as you read through the story. Page numbers are approximate, and will vary with different editions of the book.
Section 1
Vocabulary
dwindle: diminish gradually in size, amount or strength
salvage: to rescue from loss at sea
scythe: a tool to cut crops such as wheat, grass
sympathetic: showing, feeling or expressing sensitivity
taunting: a remark made in order to anger, wound or provoke someone
valise: a small traveling bag or suitcase
“They tried to pass the time with small talk but their words dwindled into
silence.” (pg. 21)
“Avoiding the smoldering piles, she picked through the black wood, hoping
to find something to salvage.” (pg. 43)
“The short blade was curved like a scythe, its fat wooden handle fitting
snuggly into her palm.” (pg. 4)
“Papa is sympathetic and has given land to many of his workers.” (pg. 12)
“Miguel would look at her and before riding off with Papa, he would give
her a taunting smile.” (pg. 17)
“Esperanza held a valise filled with clothes, a small package of tamales, and
her doll from Papa.” (pg. 55)
Comprehension Questions
Pap says if you lad down on the land you can feel its breathe and heart beating. (pg. 1)
When Esperanza’s thumb begins bleeding she automatically thinks it is a sign of bad luck. (pg. 8)
As Abuelita unravels Esperanza’s rows of crocheting she tells her never to be afraid to start over. (pg. 15)
Alfonso has stayed in Mexico instead of going to the US with the rest of his family because of his attachment to Esperanza’s papa and Rancho de las Rosas. (pg. 16)
Every year on Esperanza’s birthday Hortensia make a papaya-coconut salad. (pg. 25)
Every night Esperanze closes her eyes tight and tries to find the dream where papa sings her the birthday song. (pg. 38)
Esperanza saves the doll her papa had bought for her birthday from the fire. (pg. 40)
Before Miguel saves Abuelita, she was getting her crochet so she would have something to do while they wait. (pg. 42)
After Tio Luis leaves Esperanza sees sadness, worry and pain on her mother’s face. (pg. 48)
Mama says that the trunk of clothes is for her and Esperanza as they are now poor. (pg. 53)
The burned grape rows look “as if someone had taken a giant comb, dipped it in black paint, and gently swirled it across a huge canvas.” (pg. 56)
Sadness and anger tangle in Esperanza’s stomach as she thinks of all that she is leaving. (pg. **)
Section 2
Vocabulary
accost – to approach or address boldly or aggresively
bestow: to confer or present and honor, right or gift
monotonous: dull, tedious and repetitious action or sound
sparse: thinly dispersed or scattered
stagnant: having no current or flow in a body of water often having an unpleasant smell
undulate: move with a smooth wavelike motion
“Several more onion trucks passed by, heir smell accosting her eyes and
nose as much as the diapers.” (pg. 114)
“…Please be grateful for the favors bestowed upon us.” (pg. 104)
“The song of the locomotive was monotonous as they traveled north
and the hours seemed like Mama’s never-ending ball of thread
unwinding in front of them.” (pg. 72)
“The truck rattled up a steep grade past sparse, dry canyons and Esperanza’s
ears began to feel full and tight.” (pg. 90)
“Inside, the air was stagnant and thick with the smell of body odor.” (pg. 81)
“For hours, Esperanza watched the undulating land pass in front of her.” (pg. 68)
Comprehension Questions
Esperanza, Mama, Miguel, Hortensia and Alfonso take the wagon to Zcatecas to catch the train because there are bandits and the uncles have spies who would report their leaving. (pg. 59)
When the bandits come to the house Miguel has a big field mouse in his pocket. (pg. 62/63)
When a peasant girl tries to touch Esperanza’s doll she quickly jerks it away and puts it back into her valise, covering it with old clothes. (pg. 69)
At every stop Miguel and Alfonso get off the train with a package, unwrap it, dampen it, then rewrap it. (pg. 72/73)
While on the train Mama confides to Carmen, a poor peasant women all that has happened to her since her husband’s death. (pg. 76)
Mama’s heart aches for the people who are sent back into Mexico because either their papers are false, or there is no proof of work. (pg. 83/84)
The only difference between the twins, Pepe and Lupe is the tiny gold loop earrings in Lupe’s ears. (pg. 88)
Marta says that the workers are not mixed because if they mixed they might band together to strike for better housing or higher wages. (pg. 98)
Mama says that she and Esperanza have two choices at the camp. One, to be together and miserable, or two, be together and happy. (pg. 104)
Esperanza tells Sylvia that her best friend is Marisol who lives in Aguascalientes. (pg. 112)
On the railroad Mexicans are only hired to lay track and dig ditches, not as mechanics. (pg. 120)
Section 3
Vocabulary
extravagant: lacking restraint in spending money or using resources
frigid: very cold in temperature
listless: lacking energy or enthusiasm
plead: to make an emotional appeal
preoccupied: to dominate or engross the mind to the exclusion of other thoughts
yearn: to have an intense feeling of longing for something
“Esperanza continued, reliving the extravagant moments, but was
relieved when she knew that Isabel was asleep.” (pg. 136)
“Fading into the mist, the brown and twisted trunks looked frigid and
lonely.” (pg. 168)
“But Mama was listless and Esperanza often found her weeping in silence.”(pg. 161)
“‘Mama, listen to her,’ pleaded Esperanza.” (pg. 153)
“‘I know a little, but only a few stitches,’ said Esperanza, remembering
Abuelita’s blanket of zig zag rows that she had been too preoccupied to unpack.” (pg. 145)
“She turned toward the wall, yearning for the holidays of her past, and
repeated what was becoming a nightly ritual of silent tears.” (pg. 175)
Comprehension Questions
Miguel puts a makeshift trellis by Esperanza’s rose so that she can climb it. (pg. 124)
Esperanza wants to go to the Jamaica that evening because Isabel’s mother will be selling the almond flan she has made and it is her favorite sweet. (pg. 129)
The three things Esperanza will pray for in church are her grandmother; that Miguel will find a job at the railroad and that she will have some white coconut candy with a white stripe on it. Pg 137)
When Esperanza was sick as a child Hortensia would give her rice water. (pg. 142)
Esperanza, Melina and the babies run inside the cabin because a dust storm is about to hit. (pg. 147)
Juan, Alfonso and Miguel’s faces remind Esperanza of cracked pottery because their faces were encrusted with dry dirt from the dust storm. (pg. 151)
Valley Fever is an infection of the lungs in which dust spores get into the lungs and cause a cough, a fever and aching joints. (pg. 155)
If Esperanza is good at cutting potato eyes she will be hired to tie grapes. (pg. 166)
The truck rumbles slowly on the dirt roads because the driver could only see a few yards ahead. (pg. 167/168)
Marta’s aunt says her family will not join the strike because they have too many mouths to feed. (pg. 171)
What Esperanza wants for Christmas is for her mother to get well, more work and soft hands. (pg. 175)
Section 4
Vocabulary
bedraggled: dirty and disheveled
desolate: deserted of people and in a state of bleak and dismal emptiness
despondent: in low spirits from loss of hope or courage
makeshift: serving as a temporary substitute
relapse: to suffer deterioration after a period of improvement
squalor: a state of being extremely dirty, especially as a result of poverty or neglect
“Her hair was strewn and bedraggled.” (pg. 183)
“It was quiet and desolate, except for the goat still tied to the tree, bleating
for freedom.” (pg. 212)
“Esperanza and the other women watched the despondent faces in the
windows disappear.” (pg. 207)
“Esperanza watched Abuelita walk to where Mama slept, resting on a makeshift lounge.” (pg. 242)
“There is still a chance of a relapse.” (pg. 229)
“She felt hypnotized by the squalor but Marta and her mother didn’t seem
the least bit embarrassed.” (pg. 194)
Comprehension Questions
Esperanza goes to see Mama at the hospital on Saturdays and Sundays. (pg. 179)
When Esperanza visits Mama she plaits her hair into a long braid. (pg. 184)
Esperanza’s favorite part of the market store is the ceiling, which is crowed with Japanese paper lanterns and Mexican piñatas shaped like stars and donkeys. (pg. 189)
Asparagus has to be picked before the high temperatures touch the valley in June. (pg. 199)
While looking for more rubber bands Esperanza is startled to find Marta behind some crates desperately hiding from immigration officers. (pg. 208)
The Mexicans are allowed to swim in the Oklahoma camp’s pool on Friday afternoons before it is cleaned on Saturday. (pg. 218)
Esperanza’s heart aches when she sees the first bloom of Papa’s roses because she wants to tell Miguel, but he has left the camp because of her word to him. (pg. 225)
When the doctor tells Esperanza that her Mama can go home in a week she cries and laughs at the same time at the news. (pg. 229)
When Miguel returns he brings Abuelita with him. (pg. 239)
The first thing Isabel asks Abuelita when they meet is, “ Do you really walk barefoot in the grapes and carry smooth stones in your pockets?” pg 241)
While telling Abuelita, the story of their time at the camp, she measures time in spans in which fruits and vegetables are picked. The time of the land. (pg. 246)
