“A Celebration of Grandfathers”

1. “A Celebration of Grandfathers” Rudolfo A. Anaya Page 444

2. Before You Read: Reading Guide (handout) • values: a person's principles or standards of behavior; one's judgment of what is important in life. • worldview: the overall perspective from which one sees and interprets the world • perspective: a particular attitude toward or way of regarding something; a point of view • interpret: to understand the significance of; to explain the meaning of

3. Rudolfo A. Anaya • Born 1937 in New Mexico • novels, stories, and articles • writings reflect Mexican American heritage and his concern for the past • “A Celebration of Grandfathers” reflects on the “old ones” he remembers from his childhood

4. Notes: • What type of essay? • reflective essay • What is the most important subject that Anaya reflects upon? • Anaya reflects on his feelings about the value of the elderly in our society • What does the passage that describes his grandfather as “connected to the cycle that brought the rain and kept it from us” (447) reveal? • He saw himself as a participant in the “circle of life” not a bystander. • What is Anaya’s attitude toward the values of young people today? • He believes that young people are making a “harmful break”(448)– young people will be “less” for not knowing and embracing them • What does the “autumn of life” (451) refer to? • old age • What does Anaya do to bring the essay “full circle?” • Ends the essay with the same greeting that he begins it with • What lesson did Anaya learn from the death of his friend, a young man dragged by his horse? • Death is only “a small transformation in life” (447). Part of a natural cycle