Esmeralda Santiago's memoir When I Was Puerto Rican is rich with language that recalls the lush rural landscape of her childhood home in Puerto Rico, her parents' tempestuous relationship, the raucousness of life with seven siblings, and the challenges of the move from her rural island home to urban Brooklyn. Most of the memoir focuses on her childhood in Puerto Rico, but she does touch on her adjustment to New York City. She describes the awkwardness of learning a new language in adolescence, her break of gaining admittance to New York City’s prestigious High School of Performing Arts and later acceptance to Harvard. Santiago weaves her mother tongue into the narrative by leading each chapter with a Spanish language dicho such as, "La verdad, aunque severa, es amiga verdadera” which translates “Truth, although severe, is a true friend." In her memoir, Santiago explores some of the unique questions of Puerto Rican identity. Is she American? Is hers a story of immigration? If she is American, why did she feel so foreign when she arrived in New York City? With her fine eye for detail and honest recollections, Santiago's memoir is a pure pleasure to read from start to finish.
Critical Evaluation
Readers hoping to learn about integrating sensory language into personal narrative might take cues from Santiago’s memoir. With fine detail, the author brings to life the experience of learning how to peel a guava and the sound of the tree frogs in the night such that the reader feels that she is actually there on the island. Santiago writes, “A ripe guava is yellow, although some varieties have a pink tinge. The skin is thick, firm, and sweet. Its heart is bright pink and almost solid with seeds...When you bite into a ripe guava, your teeth must grip the bumpy surface and sink into the thick edible skin without hitting the center” (3). Santiago could focus on the desperate poverty that she and her siblings experienced growing up with an itinerant father and mother who was always pregnant--and she does--but she also trains her eye on the some of the joys and richness of the physical environment that surrounded her.
Reader’s Annotation
Does the idea of a childhood in a rural part of a Caribbean island sound like a dream to you? Read When I Was Puerto Rican to hear about Esmeralda Santiago’s experiences.
Information about the Author
On the author’s website, we learn “ESMERALDA was born in San Juan, Puerto Rico. She came to the United States at thirteen, the eldest in a family that would eventually include eleven children. Ms. Santiago attended New York City’s Performing Arts High School, where she majored in drama and dance. After eight years of part-time study at community colleges, she transferred to Harvard University with a full scholarship. She graduated magna cum laude in 1976. In 1977, she and her husband, Frank Cantor, founded CANTOMEDIA, a film and media production company, which has won numerous awards for excellence in documentary filmmaking.
Her writing career evolved from her work as a producer/writer of documentary and educational films. Her essays and opinion pieces have run in newspapers like the New York Times and the Boston Globe, in magazines like House & Garden, Metropolitan Home, and Sports Illustrated, and as guest commentary on NPR’s All Things Considered and Morning Edition.”
Genre
Memoir/ Non-Fiction
Curriculum Ties
This would be an excellent choice as a literature circle option for students who are writing personal narratives and considering word choice, sensory details, and voice. This would also be a good pairing for a Humanities class that is studying the subject of immigration/ emigration.
Booktalking Ideas
Bring in a guava, serve to students, and then read excerpts from the prologue “How To Eat a Guava.”
Challenge Issues
N/A
Why Included?
This is one of the most compelling memoirs I’ve ever read and think that the language is a treasure for anyone hoping to learn about the use of sensory language. I think this work might be a compelling read for immigrant students who will definitely be able to relate to the stories of coming to New York City, and the initial dissonance and confusion of that period.
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