Comprehension Questions- Esperanza Rising

Esperanza Rising 

By Pam Munoz Ryan

Grades 6-8; Genre - Fiction; GRL V; AR pts: 6.0

Living life like a princess, Esperanza is a young girl in Mexico.  She's forced to leave her country with her mother and everything she's known and tries to figure out life and how to survive as an immigrant in American society.

Comprehension Questions

Chapter 1

  1. What did Esperanza's papa teach her about the earth?  It had a heart beat/ life  p. 2

Chapter 2  Las Uvas (Grapes)

  1. Why is the harvest Esperanza’s favorite time of year?  She got to cut the first clump of grapes for the harvest and it’s her birthday after harvest is done   p. 6
  2. Tell me about Esperanza.  Rich, has servants, loves that people dote on her, lives on a ranch, like a princess  p. 8
  3. What did Esperanza do that was bad luck?  She pricked her finger on a rose thorn.   P. 8
  4. What did Esperanza’s papa do for her birthday every year? Sang the birthday song out the window, gave her a porcelain doll   p. 9

Chapter 3 Las Papayas (Papayas)

  1. How do Esperanza and her mother feel about Tio Luis and Tio Marco?  Don’t like them.  29
  2. Who owned the land after Esperanza’s father died?  Her uncles   p. 30
  3. How did Esperanza’s mother respond when Tio Luis asked her to marry him?  Said  no   p. 32
  4. Who is Miguel?  Works for Esperanza’s family, her best friend   p. 35

Chapter 4 Los Higos (Figs)

  1. Who could have started Esperanza’s home on fire?  Her uncles  p. 32
  2. Why would her uncles have started the fire?  To get back at Ramona for not marrying Tio Luis   p. 32
  3. Why would Esperanza’s mother consider going to the United States? So she wouldn’t have to marry Tio Luis, so Esperanza wouldn’t have to go away to school   p. 47
  4. Why is Abuelita staying behind in Mexico?  Her ankle needs to heal, then she’ll come when she’s ready.    p. 47

Chapter 5 Las Guayabas (Guavas)

  1. How did Esperanza and her mother leave Mexico?  Secretly, hidden on a wagon  p.59
  2. Why did Hortensia talk about the bandits, Miguel and the mouse, and going on a train ride? To keep Esperanza’s mind off the tight quarters in the wagon.  p. 61
  3. How did Esperanza respond when she saw the train car they were riding in? didn’t want to ride in it, uncomfortable, hard, for poor people   p. 67
  4. Why did Esperanza’s mother get after her when she wouldn’t let the little girl hold her doll?  Esperanza was acting selfish and better than the other people on the train   p. 70
  5. What did Carmen mean when she said, “I am poor, but I am rich?”  she has no money, but is rich with family and other things that are important to her.   p. 76

Chapter 6    Los Melones (Cantelopes)

  1. What worried Esperanza when Miguel’s family didn’t board the train?  They would have to go back to Mexico.   P. 84
  2. Who made it possible for Esperanza and her mother to come to the United States?  Juan and Josephina   p. 86
  3. Why did Esperanza want to hear the earth’s heartbeat?  Connect her to her papa, to feel something familiar  p. 91
  4. How did Marta treat Esperanza?  Not very nice, judgmental, insulting   p. 97

Chapter 7   Las Cebollas (Onions)

  1. What were the two choices Ramona gave Esperanza when she was angry about their cabin?  Be together and miserable or be together and happy   p. 104
  2. Was it hard for Esperanza to accept the fact that they were peasants now?   yes   p. 105
  3. What jobs was Esperanza assigned?  Babysit babies and sweep platform  p. 107
  4. How had Ramona changed to Esperanza?  Hair in braids, she seemed shorter, not herself  p. 109
  5. Who taught Esperanza how to sweep?  Miguel   p. 119

Chapter 8  Las Almendras (Almonds)

  1. What was in the secret package that Alfonso and Miguel brought with them from Mexico?   Papa’s rose plants  p. 123
  2. What was Esperanza old enough to do as the ladies got hot water ready?  bathe herself  p. 126
  3. Why was it important for Esperanza to go to the jamaica?  To face everybody after she was so embarrassed in front of them.   P. 128
  4. Why does Marta want everyone in the camp to strike so badly?  To make more money and get better living conditions   p. 133

Chapter 9  Las Ciruelas (Plums)

  1. What made the babies have so many messy diapers?  Raw plums   p. 141
  2. Why is a dust storm so terrible?  Wind blows dust around getting into the houses, can last a long time, can break glass   p. 148
  3. What was the consequence of Ramona being out in the dust storm?  Got sick/ Valley Fever  p. 155
  4. What is Esperanza facing with her mother being so sick?  Ramona could die   p. 157

Chapter 10 Las Papas (Potatoes)

  1. Why did Abuelita and Esperanza knit their hairs into the blanket?  It symbolized their love and good wishes  p. 159
  2. What trial did the valley symbolize Esperanza was in?  Valley of her mama being sick  p. 162 
  3. Why did Esperanza want to work so badly?  Pay for her mama, bring Abuelita from Mexico  p. 165
  4. What were the people who were going to strike threatening to do to the people who kept working?  Hurt them  p. 171

Chapter 11 Los Aguacates  (Avacados)

  1. What did Hortensia do to help Esperanza’s hands feel better?  Rubbed an avocado mixture on them   p. 181
  2. What were some things Esperanza was missing about her mother?  Laughter, hands knitting, walking into a room graceful and regal   p. 181
  3. After Ramona had been in the hospital, why wasn’t Esperanza able to visit her?  she caught pneumonia   p. 182
  4. Why was it hard for Esperanza to want to give Marta and her mother a ride?  Marta had been rude to her   p. 191
  5. Why was Miguel so excited after talking to the railroad?  He got a job.   P. 198

Chapter 12 Los Esparragos  (Asparagus)

  1. Why did Esperanza feel bad about working when the strike began?  Lots of families were starving and wanting better conditions, other people were working for pennies   p. 200
  2. Why were their armed guards protecting the workers?  The strikers were throwing rocks at them, threatening them, yelling at them   p. 201
  3. What else did the strikers do to try to slow down the workers or hurt them?  Put snakes, a rat, razor blades, and shards of glass in the crates of asparagus   p. 202
  4. Why did police and immigration officers put those striking onto a bus?  To deport them to Mexico, they’re causing problems for the government   p. 206
  5. Why did Esperanza not tell the police about Marta hiding in the shed?  She didn’t want to take her away from her mother   p. 208

Chapter 13 Los Duraznos (Peaches)

  1. Why was Isabel praying so frequently?  She wanted to be chosen for the Queen of May at school  p. 214
  2. What nice things were going to be at the camp for the Oklahoma people?  hot water, swimming pool, inside toilets   p. 218
  3. What happened to Miguel at work and why was he all muddy?  He lost his job at the railroad to men from Oklahoma and dug ditches   p. 219
  4. Why did white Americans treat Mexicans differently?   They think they’re uneducated, good for only manual labor, dirty, poor, unskilled   p. 187
  5. What did Esperanza do to comfort Isabel for not being chosen the Queen of May?  Gave her the doll her father gave her for her birthday   p. 227

Chapter 14 Las Uvas (Grapes)

  1. What did Miguel take from Esperanza?  Her savings/ money orders   p. 234
  2. Who did Miguel go get for Esperanza and Ramona?  Abuelita  p. 239
  3. Was it all right that Miguel took the money to get Abuelita?  Yes   Why?  That’s what Esperanza was saving for 
  4. Instead of the months of the years to help her remember when things happened, what did Esperanza use?  Fruit and when it was harvested   p. 247
  5. What did Esperanza learn as she traveled through the challenging mountains and valleys of life? That she could be happy and accepting of life whichever way it took her.    p. 253