Salvador late or early questions

1. Salvador, Late or Early
Text-dependent Questions

2. Establish)a)Purpose)
Examine(how(the(author(sheds(light(on(the(
interior(life(of(this(character(using(poe6c(
language(in(order(to(deeply(affect(the(reader.

3. Salvador, Late or Early
by Sandra Cisneros
Salvador with eyes the color of caterpillar,
Salvador of the crooked hair and crooked teeth,
Salvador whose name the teacher cannot
remember, is a boy who is no one’s friend, runs
along somewhere in that vague direction where
homes are the color of bad weather, lives behind a
raw wood doorway, shakes the sleepy brothers
awake, ties their shoes, combs their hair with
water, feeds them milk and cornflakes from a tin
cup in the dim dark of the morning.

4. Salvador, Late or Early
by Sandra Cisneros
Salvador, late or early, sooner or later arrives with
the string of younger brothers ready. Helps his
mama, who is busy with the business of the baby.
Tugs the arms of Cecilio, Arturito, makes them
hurry, because today, like yesterday, Arturito has
dropped the cigar box of crayons, has let go the
hundred little fingers of red, green, yellow, blue,
and nub of black sticks that tumble and spill over
and beyond the asphalt puddles until the crossing-
guard lady holds back the blur of traffic for
Salvador to collect them again.

5. Salvador, Late or Early
by Sandra Cisneros
Salvador inside that wrinkled shirt, inside the throat
that must clear itself and apologize each time it
speaks, inside that forty-pound body of boy with its
geography of scars, its history of hurt, limbs stuffed
with feathers and rags, in what part of the eyes, in
what part of the heart, in that cage of the chest
where something throbs with both fists and knows
only what Salvador knows, inside that body too
small to contain the hundred balloons of
happiness, the single guitar of grief, is a boy like
any other disappearing out the door, beside the

6. Salvador, Late or Early
by Sandra Cisneros
schoolyard gate, where he has told his brothers
they must wait. Collects the hands of Cecilio and
Arturito, scuttles off dodging the many schoolyard
colors, the elbows and wrists crisscrossing, the
several shoes running. Grows small and smaller to
the eye, dissolves into the bright horizon, flutters in
the air before disappearing like a memory of kites.

7. Text%dependent)Ques-ons)
Notice how evidence from the
text supports answers to
these questions.

8. Text%dependent)Ques-ons)
What(are(his(strengths?(

Key Details Question

9. Text%dependent)Ques-ons)
What(are(his(strengths?)

He is trusted with responsibilities:
- Feeds his little brothers
- Helps his mama, who is busy with the
business of the baby
- Takes his little brothers to school and back
each day

Key Details Question

10. Text%dependent)Ques-ons)
What(are(his(needs?((

Key Details Question

11. Text%dependent)Ques-ons)
What(are(his(needs?((

He is alone and lonely:
- is a boy who is no one’s friend, whose name
the teacher cannot remember
- the throat that must clear itself and
apologize before it speaks
Key Details Question

12. Text%dependent)Ques-ons)
What(are(his(needs?((

He has little at home:
- lives behind a raw wood doorway
- lives where homes are the color of bad
weather
Key Details Question

13. Text%dependent)Ques-ons)
How(does(Cisneros(use(color?(To(what(
effect?(


(
(
(
Vocabulary and Organization Questions

14. Text%dependent)Ques-ons)
How(does(Cisneros(use(color?(To(what(
effect?(

Color signals hope for his future:
- his eyes are the color of a caterpillar suggesting
metamorphosis – what will he become?
- the hundred little fingers of red, green, yellow,
blue is like a rainbow that comes after a storm
(
(
(
Vocabulary and Organization Questions

15. Text%dependent)Ques-ons)
How(does(Cisneros(use(school(
words?(To(what(effect?(

(
(
(
Vocabulary and Organization Questions

16. Text%dependent)Ques-ons)
How(does(Cisneros(use(school(
words?(To(what(effect?(

School is painful:
- geography of scars
- history of hurt
(
(
(Vocabulary and Organization Questions

17. Text%dependent)Ques-ons)
One(sentence(is(more(than(80(
words(long,(and(another(is(more(
than(100(words(long.(Why?(
)
(
Vocabulary and Organization Questions

18. Text%dependent)Ques-ons)
One(sentence(is(more(than(80(
words(long,(and(another(is(more(
than(100(words(long.(Why?(
)
The reader is breathless after reading these
sentences, reminding us that Salvador is
always in motion:
- runs along, helps his mama, tugs the arms
(Vocabulary and Organization Questions

19. Text%dependent)Ques-ons)
Examine(the(use(of(contrasts(
again.(What(does(the(author(want(
us(to(know(about(Salvador?(
(
(
Author’s Purpose Question

20. Text%dependent)Ques-ons)
Examine(the(use(of(contrasts(
again.(What(does(the(author(want(
us(to(know(about(Salvador?(

He is more than what we see on the outside:
- hundred balloons of happiness
- the single guitar of grief
(
(Author’s Purpose Question

21. Text%dependent)Ques-ons)
Notice how the next two
questions now move
beyond the text, but
only after there has been
a thorough discussion of
the reading first.

22. Text%dependent)Ques-ons)
)
Salvador)means)“savior.”)Is)he)the)
savior)of)his)family?)))
Inference Question

23. Text%dependent)Ques-ons
)
(Would(a(6tle(change(to(“Heather,(
Late(or(Early”(change(your(
perspec6ve?(Why?(
(
Opinions and Intertextual Connections
Question