Theoretical Rationale
As we approached our unit on identity and coming of age, we began to ponder on the different literary pieces that we wanted to use in our in unit plan many came to mind. As we narrowed our pieces down, we thought that the two best pieces to use as our main pieces would be The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini and The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros. We then decided that we would use excerpts from the other literary pieces that we had considered to use as part of our main pieces. Our supplementary materials consist of excerpts from Down These Mean Streets by Piri Thomas, Smoke Signals by Sherman Alexie, The Accidental Asian by Eric Liu, A&P by John Updike and Maya Angelou’s I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings Poem.
We started with The Kite Runner because it was a larger text that really allows us as teachers to explore the themes of identity and coming of age. Since it is a larger text, it goes into detail which also enables us to use different supplementary materials to go with it. Kite Runner encompasses the issues of coming of age and identity along with many other things that become intermixed with it in ones life. While there are many comparisons that could have been made with Kite Runner and Down These Mean Streets, for the sake of time we decided to just use one excerpt from this book. The excerpt we use talks about how Piri’s identity as a dark Puerto Rican affected his every day life in America. We chose to include this in the section when Amir moves to America because he too faces challenges In America that he did not face in Afghanistan. This allows would allow students to think about diversity, culture, identity and the issues people face in America because of these things.
As students continue to read The Kite Runner we thought it would be beneficial for them to use excerpts from Smoke Signals to make connections to the theme of friends and family within both pieces. Amir struggles with his friendship with Hassan as well as Victor struggles with his relationship with Thomas. Aside from this both Amir and Victor have strong relationships with their fathers who for different reasons pass away. These are all very important things that should be explored when looking at both Kite Runner and Smoke Signals.
The Accidental Asian and The Kite Runner both touch on the issue of feeling like an outsider in a place called home. In The kite Runner Amir feels like an outsider when he returns to Afghanistan after so many years. He feels like he is in a tourist in a place that used to be home for him. In The Accidental Asian Eric is a first generation American who feels like he is loosing part of his culture by living in America. There is this sense of not belonging in both texts that should really be highlighted for the students.
As we moved on to the second part of our unit, we decided that The House on Mango Street should be our next main text. Although it is a smaller text, it really touches on a lot of the different issues of identity and coming of age for a minority female. Esperanza, the main character, has to take on different responsibilities in order to help her family. In the book she talks about her experience at her first job. We decided to make some connections to the short story A&P because they both have to deal with traumatic work experiences. We think that this is important to talk to your students because they are at the age in which they can start getting their first jobs. Some students will have to deal with different issues at their jobs in order to help their families out. It also allows us to talk about how important it is to receive an education so that you can have a career in something that you enjoy. In The House on Mango Street, Esperanza is also dealing with the issues of becoming a young woman in a society in which women are oppressed. We decide to include the poem “I know Why the Caged Bird Sings” because it has to do with the feeling of being trapped. Esperanza feels trapped in Mango Street. Even though, the house on Mango Street is better than her previous homes, it is neither the house she wanted nor the life she dreamed on living. At the end of this unit we would be able to do a wrap up that allows us to think about both main characters and how they had similar and different experiences based on the notions of identity and coming of age.
