Bless Me, Ultima

Use these questions or activities to help gauge students’ familiarity with and spark their interest in the context of the work, giving them an entry point into the text itself.

Short Answer

1. What is the Chicano Movement? When and where did it take place? Why did it come about? In what ways did it impact Mexican American identity, art, and expand the discourse on American Civil Rights?

Teaching Suggestion: As exploration of the Chicano Movement may involve trauma related to police brutality and racism, students may benefit from content warnings, reminders of preestablished SEL strategies and difficult discussion protocols, and emphasis that the purpose of the activity is to understand the historical context of the novel. This activity can be used as an individual, paired, or group activity. For time management, consider assigning groups to a single resource and related question and then having students share their findings with the rest of the class.

• This webpage from the University of Washington highlights major events that occurred during the Chicano movement.
• This article from History.com includes an overview of the Chicano Movement with an emphasis on its impact on Mexican American identity.
• This article from the University of New Mexico’s Rudolfo Anaya Digital Archive illuminates broad characteristics of the literary genre, highlighting the ways in which the Chicano Movement led to the mainstreaming of Chicano literature.