“American History”

• Genre: Fiction; historical short story
• Originally Published: 1993
• Reading Level/Interest: Grades 9-12; college/adult
• Structure/Length: Approx. 9 pages; approx. 18 minutes on audio
• Protagonist and Central Conflict: Fourteen-year-old Elena finds it challenging to feel sadness for President John F. Kennedy on the day of his assassination; she opts to follow through with plans to study with Eugene, a boy in her history class.
• Potential Sensitivity Issues: Racism and discrimination

Judith Ortiz Cofer, Author

• Bio: 1952-2016; born in Puerto Rico; emigrated to the United States at a young age; became a bilingual teacher after college; published first poetry collection in the 1980s; taught English and creative writing at the University of Georgia; author of full-length fiction and nonfiction as well as short fiction and poetry
• Other Works: The Latin Deli (short story and prose collection; 1993); Woman in Front of the Sun: On Becoming a Writer (2000); The Meaning of Consuelo (2003); Call Me Maria (2004)
• Awards: Anisfield-Wolf Book Award (for The Latin Deli, in which this short story appears; 1994)

CENTRAL THEMES connected and noted throughout this Teaching Unit:

• ·Migration and Displacement
• Changing Demographics in Northern Communities
• Racism and Ethnic Discrimination

STUDY OBJECTIVES: In accomplishing the components of this Unit, students will:

• Gain an understanding of the social, racial, and historical contexts of immigration and Changing Demographics in Northern Communities at the heart of the conflict in “American History.