Heroic Quest

• Pay attention to when the hero names him or herself

• p.38• Ernie, Horse, Bones, Samuel*, The Vitamin Kid,

Abel, Lloyd, Florence, and Cico* (others)

Chapter 5: El Puerto

• The Márez family goes to El Puerto to help the Luna family pick apples. The family stops to pay homage to grandfather Prudencio. In the evenings Antonio enjoys the storytelling, the spiced apples, and the deep sleep that follows.

Theme Statement

• “It was a world where people were happy, working, helping each other” (49). Antonio portrays his time in El Puerto as a productive, bounteous, and joyful time, surrounded by the safety of family. He says that “all was watched over, all was cared for” (50), a testament to how much comfort he feels among the farmers of his family.

Literary term: Personification

• “The chilled wind blew around the corners of the houses nestled in the dark valley, brooding, singing of the old blood which was mine” (50).

• The wind is described as brooding and singing, human attributes that convey the mood of the weather and its sound.

Vocabulary: ristra • “Green chile was roasted and dried, and

red chile was tied into colorful ristras” (49).

• Meaning: “a string of dried chilies, garlic, or other foodstuffs.”

• www.dictionary.com

El Puerto

“listening to the cuentos” (49)

Sitting around the fireplace

“Apples piled high…” (49).

Spiced with cinnamon and sugar

“The ripeness of the harvest piled high…” (49)

Archetype: the stern wise man

• Prudencio• “The war is terrible, the wars have always

been terrible. They take the boys away from the fields and orchards where they should be, they give them guns and tell them to kill each other. It is against the will of God” (49).

• “I thought God must look that way…”