Question

VINCENT LOPINTO: I am American. In 1910 my great-great grandfather came to America from Naples, Italy. He entered through Ellis Island. The only English he spoke was “America!” He moved into a one-room apartment on the Upper East Side, and after a few years married an Italian girl also living in America. They moved to Brooklyn, and my great-greatgrandfather got a job in construction with others that had come from Naples before him. I think he was scared to death, to be perfectly honest. Back in Italy, though, he would work his whole life for nothing. America promised to be different. A country where dreams could come true. (VINCENT exits right. JUANITA RAMIREZ enters left and goes center. SILHOUETTES begin a synchronized pantomime of harvesting fruit from an imaginary tree.)

JUANITA RAMIREZ: I am American. Half my family is from New Mexico. They stayed after the Mexican War ended in 1848. They were promised citizenship, but they didn’t get it until New Mexico officially became a state in 1912. My other half is from Ciudad Juarez in Mexico, just across the border from El Paso. In 1942, because of the war, the government let in temporary workers, called braceros, and every year after that my grandfather would travel up the coast following the crops, from strawberries in the valley, to apples and black cherries in Oregon. He worked 12-hour days and made minimum wage. One year my grandfather just stayed. He did not return to Mexico, and instead met my grandmother. We are American. (JUANITA remains center. SILHOUETTES slowly raise arms above their heads, as at beginning. In the following, the cast no longer represents specific personas, but others that have made America their home. Each actor should begin speaking just before the previous actor has finished, so the speeches layer on top of one another.)

MAX LITTLEFOOT (Entering right and coming to stand at JUANITA’s right): I am American. My parents traveled from India to go to medical school.

JANE BRADFORD (Entering left to stand at JUANITA’s left): I am American. My grandmother married a soldier who had been stationed in Japan.

TY SMITH (Entering right to stand beside MAX): I am American. My mother asked for political asylum from Cuba.

BETHANY MCLAUGHLIN (Entering left to stand beside JANE): I am American. My parents adopted me from Russia.

GRETCHEN SCHRIVER (Entering right to stand beside TY): I am American. My grandfather moved here from Czechoslovakia and worked in the coal mines.

MICHAEL LU (Entering left to stand beside BETHANY): I am American. We left Korea when I was three years old. SHANA BLOOMSTEIN (Entering right to stand beside GRETCHEN): I am American. My father worked in Saudi Arabia and was transferred here sixteen years ago.

VINCENT LOPINTO (Entering left to stand beside MICHAEL): I am American. My parents were sick of the sugar cane plantations in Puerto Rico and came here.

JUANITA RAMIREZ: I am American. We were brought here to escape starvation in Somalia. (SILHOUETTES join hands above their heads.)

ALL (In unison): We are American.

PRODUCTION NOTES

I Am American

CHARACTERS: 4 male; 5 female; 3 male and female silhouettes.

PLAYING TIME: 10 minutes.

COSTUMES: Regular, modern-day clothes. Silhouettes wear all black.

PROPERTIES: A drum.

SETTING: A bare stage.

LIGHTING and SOUND: The backdrop is brightly lit to highlight the silhouettes’ movements in front of it.



I Am American, by Jennifer Tibbetts © This play is reprinted from Plays, The Drama Magazine for Young People with the permission of the publisher Plays/Sterling Partners Inc. 897 Washington Street #600160, Newton, MA 02460

Question
Use the passage below to answer the question.
Write 4–5 sentences in which you draw a conclusion about the relationship between the structure and the meaning of I Am American.(4 points)

Answer 1

The play’s simple, vignette structure—short, individual speeches that repeat “I am American” and then overlap—mirrors its meaning that many different personal stories together form a single national identity. The use of silhouettes and synchronized pantomime visually unites the characters, reinforcing the theme of shared experience despite diverse origins. Layering the voices so each speaker begins before the last finishes builds toward the final, collective “We are American,” showing how individual histories combine into a community. The bare stage and minimal props keep the focus on these testimonies, emphasizing that America is defined by the people and their stories.