English 10A : Enrique's Journey Study Guide

Hyperbole

exaggerated statements or claims not meant to be taken literally

Minor

-Carmen's son, whose story of traveling through Mexico inspires Sonia Nazario to write Enrique's Journey

Background info regarding immigration in the US

1. A majority of immigrants coming from the south, come from Central America (mostly from El Salvador, Honduras, and Guatemala) 2. Immigrants from the south are typically fleeing poverty, violence, and crime 3. Mexican immigration reached its peak in early to mid-2000's, it has since then been declining 4. During Enrique's Journey, the standard of living was very low, since then it has increased slightly in Mexico 5. US border enforcement has skyrocketed due to funding since 1992, thus lowering Mexican immigration rate

Author's purpose

The authors purpose is to show why the immigrants did what they did. It gives us all a better reasoning and understanding to what they do. The humans right issue is immigration, the author shows this by Enrique's Journey.

Name(s) (nicknames) of the trains

la bestia, "the beast"; el tren de la muerte "the death train"

Personification

the attribution of a personal nature or human characteristics to something nonhuman, or the representation of an abstract quality in human form

Who the Zetas are and what they do

The Zetas are a group of drug traffickers and criminals who took over Nuevo Laredo, and killed El Tirindaro, some time after Enrique passed through.

Afterword briefing

The author goes in depth on how immigration has helped both countries' economy. Unemployment rates in Mexico have gone down, and more money is being sent to Mexico from immigrants in the US. Mexicans have been known to work harder, so the US is making more money from how hard they work with not as much pay as Americans. The US let's in one million legal immigrants a year, but numbers of illegal immigrants have gone down. Both countries have been seeing benefits from immigration, but not all is good. Drug cartels south of the border have been on the rise because of the demand of drugs in the US. Family dynamics in Latin America are also being affected because parents leave their children to go to the United States so they can provide for them. Often times the children are left with grandparents and other relatives. The parents just send money to the guardian of their children, and many of the children are left to wait for their parent to provide for them.

Metaphor

a word or phrase is applied to an object or action to which it is not literally applicable

Allusion

an expression designed to call something to mind without mentioning it explicitly; an indirect or passing reference

Jose

-Enrique's friend who accompanies him on the first failed attempt to the US

El Brujo

-member of MS gang -friendship with Enrique

Jasmin

-Enrique and María Isabel's young daughter -motivates Enrique's final journey, to become a father worthy of respect

Maria Isabel

-Enrique's girlfriend, mother of Jasmin -leaves to be with Enrique in the US and better jobs, leaves Jasmin with Belky but later smuggles her across the border

Maria Marcos

-Enrique's paternal grandmother -raises Enrique and Belky -has trouble battling his rebellious attitude and sends him elsewhere

Carlos

-Enrique's uncle, husband to Aunt Rosa Amalia

Marco

-Lourdes' brother whom Enrique lives with for a while in Honduras -eventually dies

Diana

-Lourdes' daughter with her ex boyfriend -born in the US

Mirian

-Lourdes' sister -also travels to the US to seek better employment

Rosa Amalia

-Lourdes' sister who raises Belky in her absence -she is married to Carlos

Belky

-Lourdes's first child, and Enrique's older sister -grew up with Aunt Rosa Amalia and Uncle Carlos -eventually has a child of her own and helps raise Jasmin

Carmen

-Sonia Nazario's maid, whose story inspired the author to write Enrique's Journey

Hipolito Reyes Larios

-Veracruz -helps migrants

El Tirindaro

-a low class smuggler in Nuevo Laredo who takes Enrique across the border -heroin addict

Santos

-boyfriend of Lourdes, who lives with her in the US and fathers Diana

Olga

-director of the Shelter of Jesus the Good Shepherd in Tapachula, Mexico -helps migrants who are seriously injured

Enrique

-leaves Honduras and braves the difficult journey north to reunited with Lourdes -drug addiction

Lourdes

-mother of Belky, Enrique, and Diana -left Honduras to seek better employment in the US

Padre Leo

-priest who arranges meals, phone calls, clothing donations, and housing for migrants in Nuevo Laredo

Ethos (definition and examples)

-the appeal to "ethics" or convincing an audience that the speaker is credible and well-intentioned -can include: making yourself sound fair or unbiased, introducing you expertise or background, and by using correct grammar and syntax to sound more professional

Pathos (definition and examples)

-the appeal to emotions, or convincing an audience using logos or reason -can include: appeals to pity, sympathy, anger, etc

Logos (definition and examples)

-the appeal to logic or reason -can include: facts, statistics, analogies, and other appeals to credible authorities

Themes of Enrique's Journey

1. Perseverance and determination is necessary to overcome impossible obstacles. 2. Some parents must make hard decisions between supporting their children financially or mentally. 3. Immigration can have major impacts on familial relationships, 4. Constant abandonment issues can very much negatively impact a person mental health and lead them to rebel. 5. Love and care is one of life's greatest motivations. 6. People of extreme poverty often must make drastic decisions to better their situation. 7. Immigration is an important part of society which must be reformed.

How Diana changes the family dynamics

Diana is a child of Lourdes, half-sibling to Enrique and Belky. Knowing of Diana can make Enrique an Belky feel more abandoned as they hear of their mom having this child in America, maybe they think she is forgetting about them and leaving the, behind to start a new family.

Describe the relationship between Enrique and Lourdes

Distant, Enrique and Lourdes feel as though they should have a strong bond because theyre mother and son. But really Enrique resents Lourdes for leaving him while Lourdes thinks he should appreciate her for what she did for him.

The occasion for the book

Enrique is abandoned at an early age by his mother and struggles with abandonment issues, which leads him to travel to the US as well during a peak time of immigration by hispanics intothe US.

Impact of gangs

Gangs make the trek to America very dangerous. They often take advantage of the migrants, beating, raping, and robbing them for their stuff.

Enrique's history of abandonment

Lourdes left Enrique at a young age, in order to provide financially for them. Enrique's father Luis soon also walks out and makes a new family, leaving Enrique with his grandmother, Maria. Enrique begins to rebel, thus being rejected by his grandmother. He then goes to live with his uncle, Marcos. Who is later killed, leaving Enrique to be abandoned by Marcos' girlfriend.

The reunion of Lourdes and Belky

Lourdes was brought on a tv show by, hispanic celebrity, Don Francisco who then surprised her by bringing Belky to the US on a temporary visa. It is the first time in eighteen years that Lourdes, Enrique, and Belky are together. It is also the first time that all three of Lourdes' children are in the same room, as Diana is in the audience.

The relationship between Maria Isabel and Enrique's family

Maria Isabel and Enriques family's relationship is strained because Enrique's family judges Maria for her parenting skills.

Epilogue briefing

Maria is smuggled into America, leaving Jasmin with Belky. Soon after the book is published, Enrique and Lourdes are brought on a tv show where they are temporarily reconnected with Belky. Belky is on a temporary visa so she flies back to be with her son.

Prologue briefing

Nazario is inspired by Carmen, her housekeeper to write the book. She tells Nazario that her situation is common amongst Central American and Mexican mothers facing poverty with few alternative options. Carmens son, Minor, driven by his uncertainty about his mother's love for him, arrives unanticipated in Los Angeles. Nazario outlines the changes in immigration to the United States in recent years, with about 700,000 immigrants entering illegally per year. Nazario interviews young people i. shelters who have immigrated and then decides to take the dangerous journey herself. Nazario lays out her own background to show the ways that she relates to these stories. Nazario ends by describing her awe at the tenacity of the young people who make this journey and at the difficulty that immigrant single mothers face.

Dealing with deportation

Some families get split upas immigrant parents are forced to leave their US born children and return to their home country.

How Sonia Nazario became involved in immigration issues

Sonia found put that her housecleaner, Carmen, had 4 children who she left in Guatemala. This inspired her to look into the conditions of immigrants which lead them to abandon their families and travel very dangerous journeys just to cross into the US illegally. A year later, one of Catmen's sons crossed the border to find Carmen and told Sonia that thousands (at the time, 48000) children trek to the US a year.

Effects of addiction and prison

Substance abuse can occur to offset any mental or emotional challenges

The influence of the church on the cities

The church brings faith to cities, the church gives people a place to gather and connect through faith. Depending on the religion, the faith these churches promote can provide struggling people with the hope to continue on. For the churches that help migrants, such as Padre Leo's, faith gives the migrants hope as well as necessary supplies.

Irony

the expression of one's meaning by using language that normally signifies the opposite, typically for humorous or emphatic effect