The learner will:

• describe what published stories from other communities say about the people who lived in them.

Anticipatory Set:
Say to the students, "Throughout our history, writing has been a powerful force. By writing, an author is able to share with her readers not only her own ideas and memories, but also to convey to us information about the time and place in which she lived. A memoir, for example, comments on more than the writer's life—it reveals to us a community's identity and values, and it preserves that community's history. Today, as we share excerpts from published memoirs, I want you to think about what these stories say about the place and time in which the story is written."

• Read aloud two chapters from The House on Mango Street: "The House on Mango Street" and "My Name." Discuss with students the image they see of Sandra Cisneros' community. (Students should observe that it was difficult growing up in the Latino section of Chicago for the Cisneros' family. Money was tight and there were many of them in a small house. But we also see a close-knit family and a Latino community that values family, strength, and dreams.)
  
  
• Read pages 148-156 of chapter 23 from I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. Discuss Maya Angelou's community—a black community in rural Stamps, Arkansas in the 1930's. (Students should describe the endurance and pride of the black community in the face of inequality and segregation. Maya's graduating class has a clear vision of who they are and what they want from life.)
  
  
• Read aloud "One Last Time" from Living Up the Street. Discuss Gary Soto's community—a barrio in Fresno. (Students should describe the harsh reality of Soto's world—picking grapes and cotton in the oppressive heat in order to have money to buy clothes for school. Also, they should describe his relationships with his family members and the way his imagination and aspirations kept him going.)
  
  
• Read aloud from Lake Wobegon Days. Ask students to picture the town and the people in it. Use this story as an example of an author creating a sense of place through writing. Keillor recreates small town Minnesota with tenderness and humor through portraits of the places and faces of Lake Wobegon.
  
  
• Ask students:
  • What would a book about our community sound like?
  • With what feeling do you think it would leave the reader?

Other great memoirs to share: The Girl From Yamhill by Beverly Cleary; The Autobiography of Malcolm X; Little by Little by Jean Little; Homesick by Jean Fritz. Also of great value are historical journals from communities.