Steel Valley Voices

Cultural Activities related to the collection Latino Voices of the Valley (word document)

1. Read the translation of one of the interviews and write a paragraph about various ways in which the interviewee’s cultural heritage is different than your own and how it seems to have shaped their world view.

2.

a) Read this excerpt from an interview with María Teresa González de Torres:

Brea: Ok. In order to be a citizen, did you have to take a test?

María Teresa: Yes.

Brea: And how did you prepare for the test?

María Teresa: Well, my daughter got the questions for me, like a hundred questions, and any of them could appear on the test. And my grandchildren, who were still young, in high school and all, helped me. They quizzed me to see what I had learned.

Brea: Ok. What types of questions are there?

María Teresa: I don’t remember.

Brea: Ok. That’s fine. Did you participate in a citizenship ceremony?

María Teresa: Yes, of course. First, when I went [to take] the test, everything was in Cleveland. And the [Naturalization] Oath [Ceremony] was here in Youngstown, in the municipality. So there was a pretty small group. It was nice because they called each of us, one at a time, and they gave us our citizenship papers. Afterward, they sang and everything. It was nice.

Brea: How did you feel during the ceremony?

María Teresa: Well, a little nervous, but happy that everything turned out well.

b) Research on the internet about the citizenship test and the Naturalization Oath Ceremony. Based on your research, does is sounds like María Teresa’s experience is typical or different from that of other immigrants who have applied for citizenship.

c) Click here to see the citizenship questions. Write out two of the questions and answers that you didn’t know beforehand and write out two questions and answers that you did already know. Looking at the test, do you think that you would be able to pass the test without studying for it? If you were to come up with citizenship questions, think of 2 questions that you would want to put on a citizenship test.

d) If you had the ability, how would you modify the citizenship test? What other ways could one effectively gauge civic knowledge and encourage civic engagement?

6. Read the entire transcript of one of the interviews and choose one of the following activities:

a) Write a summary of the person’s life, making sure to highlight some of the issues that this person seems to value the most.

b) Create a mock Facebook, Twitter or Instagram profile for the person, making sure to include a brief description (in first person) along with a list of their interests. If the person does not go into detail about their interests, imagine what kinds of movies, sports teams, food, etc. that this person likes.