This exploratory study analyzes learner-learner interactions within a virtual environment when collaboratively reading Spanish poetry in a Hispanic literature course at the college level via an ecological theoretical perspective (van Lier, 2004). The goals of the study are (a) to present empirical data that illustrate the theoretical construct of…

In this article the authors draw from culturally responsive teaching and multicultural education to describe performance poetry as an effective strategy for validating secondary aged Latino youths' lived experiences. Supported by teacher modeling and the incorporation of community poets, students created and shared their own powerful poems that…

Rene Saldana, Jr., an assistant professor at Texas Tech University, is a writer of short stories, poetry, and novels. In order to get his storytelling right, he has relied on his memory when writing memoirs and consulted popular culture and family when writing fiction. In order to get his university teaching right, he reads seminal texts on…

The autobiographically modulated poetry and prose collection "City of God" (1994) and other published works by the late Gil Cuadros (1962-96) survive as an important set of AIDS testimonials, the first of their kind in Chicano literary production. This paper explores Cuadros's preoccupation with processes of identificatory signification and…

Supporting her theory that the Puerto Rican has a uniqueness which she calls "el jibaro," Maria Teresa Babin has edited an anthology, "Borinquen." The anthology, a political treatise in its own right, presents an historical and topical view of "representative" Puerto Rican literature. The literature, sometimes superficially nonpolitical, serves a…

Describes assignments that link Gary Soto's novel "Taking Sides" to a collection of Latino poetry. Notes that the students' final presentations were successful, as indicated by their enthusiasm and engagement throughout. (RS)