Under The Mesquite

Part 1, Chapters 1-6

Reading Check

1. Lupita (Part 1, Chapter 1 “The Story of Us”)

2. A mesquite (Part 1, Chapter 2 “Thorns”)

3. Nun (Part 1, Chapter 6 “The Sacrifice”)

Short Answer

1. Mami hides the fact that she has cancer from the children. (Part 1, Chapter 4 “Chismosa”)

2. Lupita tells Mireya that they can no longer be friends when Mireya insists that Mami will inevitably die from the cancer. (Part 1, Chapter 5 “The Talk”)

3. Mami believes that Lupita is a gifted writer and plans for her to attend community college. (Part 1, Chapter 6 “The Sacrifice”)

Part 2, Chapters 7-12

Reading Check

1. Papi (Part 2, Chapter 8 “The Gift of Words”)

2. Uprooted (Part 2, Chapter 9 “Uprooted”)

3. Pearls on a necklace (Part 2, Chapter 11 “Sisters”)

Short Answer

1. Mami feels that her children are lucky to live in los Estados Unidos because now they have “two homes”: They belong to both Mexico and the United States and can speak both Spanish and English, meaning that they will have a home on either side of the border. (Part 2, Chapter 10 “En los Estados Unidos”)

2. When Mami gives birth to a new child, Papi goes to the bank and opens a new savings account in the new baby’s name. (Other possible acceptable answer: He opens a new record book.) (Part 2, Chapter 12 “Bebés”)

Part 3, Chapters 13-23

Reading Check

1. Los elotes calientitos (roasted ears of corn) (Part 3, Chapter 14 “Elotes”)

2. Watching telenovelas (Part 3, Chapter 15 “Las Telenovelas”)

3. “I’m sorry” (Part 3, Chapter 21 “The Notebook”)

4. Acting (Part 3, Chapter 22 “On the Way”)

Short Answer

1. Mr. Cortés instructs Lupita to practice speaking with Blow Pops in her mouth so that she will lose her Spanish accent, an alteration he believes is necessary if she wants to succeed as an actor. (Part 3, Chapter 16 “Drama”)

2. Multiple answers are acceptable: To Lupita, señorita means sadness (melancolía), as well as composure and dignity. Becoming a señorita also means loss for Lupita—of freedom, “the clipping of my wings, / the taming of my heart” and of her childhood or former self, as she feels that “Señorita is a niña, / the girl I used to be, / who has lost her voice.” (Part 3, Chapter 18 “Señorita”)

3. After Mireya and Sarita deride Lupita for suppressing her Mexican accent and accuse her of “trying to be white,” Lupita frustratedly says that being Mexican is more than speech, comportment, or dress—to Lupita, being Mexican means family and community, a strong circle of support that is always there for each other. (Part 3, Chapter 19 “To Be or Not to Be Mexican”)

Part 4, Chapters 24-33

Reading Check

1. Mami’s cancer has returned (Part 4, Chapter 24 “News”)

2. Pruning roses (Part 4, Chapter 29 “Mother, May I”)

3. The mesquite (Part 4, Chapter 31 “A Mesquite in the Rose Garden”)

Short Answer

1. After draining all the accounts to pay for Mami’s treatments, Papi throws away the record books; when a distressed Lupita discovers them in the garbage, Papi says that money is inconsequential and they cannot hold onto the record books anymore because what’s gone is gone. (Part 4, Chapter 27 “What’s Gone”)

2. While Mami is receiving treatment in Galveston, Lupita must become the primary caretaker for her siblings; she assumes the role of a mother, as she now takes over all of Mami’s duties. (Part 4, Chapter 29 “Mother, May I”)

Part 5, Chapters 34-40

Reading Check

1. San Vicente (Papi’s hometown) (Part 5, Chapter 35 “Good-Bye to Mexico”)

2. La Muerte (Part 5, Chapter 36 “Apparition”)

3. Mami is gone (Part 5, Chapter 39 “A Night to Remember”)

Short Answer

1. Mr. Cortés tells Lupita that she has an exceptional gift for acting and encourages her to transform the pain and grief from Mami’s impending death into portraying a character onstage; he believes that it might help her cope with the situation, even if it can’t change it. (Part 5, Chapter 37 “The Natural”)

2. In the final poem of Part 5, Lupita describes her mother as “faceted like a diamond,” “comfortable as a blanket,” “peligrosa (dangerous) as a scorpion,” and finally, “silent as a statue.” Lupita also reflects on memories, comparing Mami to a sirena (siren) and a wild rebel. (Part 5, Chapter 40 “Mi Madre”)

Part 6, Chapters 41-47

Reading Check

1. Abuelita Hortencia’s house in Mexico (Part 6, Chapter 42 “Changes”)

2. Going away to college (Part 6, Chapter 47 “In the Parking Lot”)

Short Answer

1. After Mami’s death, Lupita spends her time in the remains of Mami’s rose garden, surrounded by the empty plots where the rosebushes used to be, where she looks for signs of her mother. She also takes refuge in the shade of the mesquite, where she can always be found writing poems. She finds this place to be comforting. (Part 6, Chapter 41 “Poems From Under the Mesquite”)

2. Lupita symbolically lets go of her grief when she rips out all the poems she wrote in the wake of Mami’s death and lets the wind carry them away from her. (Part 6, Chapter 43 “At Abuelita’s House”)

3. Papi protests that Lupita can’t go away for college because he’s concerned for her safety and he promised Mami he would always put the children before himself. (Part 6, Chapter 45 “Permission”)