Now and Then
Reading and Writing about the American Immigrant Experience

Now and Then provides theme-based reading and writing featuring stories about the American immigrant experience.

Neil Reich (Author)

9780521657563, St Martins Press

Paperback / softback, published 13 July 1995

240 pages
23.2 x 16.7 x 1.5 cm, 0.36 kg

Now and Then encourages students to read and respond to stories by and about others who have lived the American immigrant experience. Featuring both published literature and student essays, Now and Then teaches ESL students to refer to their individual experiences as they learn basic writing techniques and apply these techniques to academic writing. Intended for high-intermediate and advanced students in college and high school, Now and Then presents thematically organized high-interest material in a user-friendly format. With its emphasis on the process approach to writing and the transition from personal writing to academic writing, Now and Then guides students through the exploration of literature to an understanding of how to analyze and write about it. Students analyze the work of professional and student writers and produce their own full-length essays. In this way, the thought-provoking readings in this text build on the reading-writing connection and develop students' writing competence.

Chapter 1: Leaving Home
Reading from The Boat of Longing by O. E. Rolvaag
“Riding on a Lonely Train” by Eric Guzman
“Leaving Home” by Pedro Batista
Chapter 2: The Journey
Reading from The Emigrants by Vilhelm Moberg
“In the Air” by Yessenia Briceno
“Destination: The United States/Destiny: Unknown” by Zuyapa Guzman
Chapter 3: First Days
Reading from How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents by Julia Alvarez
“My First Days in New York” by Pedro Batista
“My First Day in the United States” by Genoveva Diaz
Chapter 4: Learning English
Reading from The Third Life of Per Smevik by O. E. Rolvaag
“A Painful Memory” by Joel Hernandez
“Anxious with English” by Andrzej Sas
Chapter 5: Culture
Reading from In the Year of the Boat and Jackie Robinson by Bette Bao Lord
Reading from In the Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson by Bette Bao Lord
“When in Rome” by Lei Zhang
“Different Cultures” by Cui Fang Zhou
Chapter 6: Changes
“The Greenhorn Cousin”
“Changes” by Phil Ochs
“The Right Decision” by Cui Fang Zhou
“Changes” by Cui Fang Zhou
Chapter 7: Photographs
Reading from The Lonely Crossing by J. Joaquin Fraxedas
“A Special Feeling” by Ana Vasquez
“Photo Description” by Ana Vasquez
“A Special Feeling” by Ana Vasquez
Chapter 8: Friends and Family
Reading from My Antonia by Willa Cather
“jochy” by Addys Reynoso
Reading from Mount Allegro by Jerre Mangione
“Father” by Agnes Kossut
Chapter 9: At School
Reading from Famous All Over Town by Danny Santiago
“A Memorable Teacher” by Andrzej Sas”
“A Teacher Who Helped Me Succeed” by Lei Zhang
Chapter 10: Places
Reading from Sweet Promised Land by Robert Laxalt
“El Palomar” by Tania Vargas
Chapter 11: At Work
Reading from New Americans: An Oral History by Al Santoli
“An Ambitious Worker” by Ana Villa
“A Whole New World” by Claude St. Vil
“An Interview with an Illegal Immigrant” by Eric Guzman
Chapter 12: Issues in the News
“Teach Your Children Well” by Paul Gray

Subject Areas: ELT: English for academic purposes [ESF]