SHANA BLOOMSTEIN: I am American. Before my family even came, there were others that had settled here, loving the idea of a country that allowed all religions, a country that would give “bigotry no sanction,” in the words of George Washington at the 1790 Newport Hebrew Congregation. My family arrived in 1903, fleeing mob attacks against the Jews in Eastern Russia. They were poor, and spoke only Yiddish when they moved into New York’s Lower East Side. They went to work in some of the clothing factories owned by their predecessors. They were made fun of for speaking Yiddish, but were helped all the same and learned American ways. The factory where my great-great-grandfather worked was one of the first to have a labor union. (SILHOUETTES stop their dance.) My great-great-uncle opened one of the first movie theaters, called a Nickelodeon, in an abandoned building downtown. We all know what a success the movies became. (3RD SILHOUETTE pantomimes a tragic death.) Many people do not understand the Jewish faith. Many times in history we’ve been picked on and unfairly persecuted. But this country helped end the Holocaust. This country is my home. I am American. (SHANA exits left. VINCENT LOPINTO enters right. SILHOUETTES congregate and pantomime an animated conversation.)
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 to answer the question.
Which detail in the monologue from Vincent Lopinto connects to the theme that for many immigrants, America offered a better life than the country they came from?
(1 point)
Responses
Lopinto’s great-great grandfather got a job in construction with other people from Naples, Italy.
Lopinto’s great-great grandfather got a job in construction with other people from Naples, Italy.
In Italy, Lopinto’s great-great grandfather would have worked his whole life for nothing.
In Italy, Lopinto’s great-great grandfather would have worked his whole life for nothing.
Lopinto’s great-great grandfather came to America speaking almost no English.
Lopinto’s great-great grandfather came to America speaking almost no English.
In America, Lopinto’s great-great grandfather moved to the Upper East Side and later got married.
1 answer
The detail that connects to the theme that for many immigrants, America offered a better life than the country they came from is:
In Italy, Lopinto’s great-great grandfather would have worked his whole life for nothing.
This statement highlights the hardship and lack of opportunities that the great-great grandfather faced in Italy, contrasting it with the hope of a better life that America represented.
1 answer
1 answer
1 answer
1 answer