Close Reading: "Born in Argentina" by Romina Garber

Opening Discussion
1. Share your content, context and perspective questions:
Respond here:
Content: I wonder what made Romina so determined to achieve her goals in the first place?
Context: When Romina finally realized that she was an immigrant, in what ways did this change her perspective on immigrants?
Perspective: Why did the author choose to write the story from only her perspective? Why didn’t she switch up the perspectives
throughout?

2. Read the passage below from “Born in Argentina,” the short autobiography by Romina Garber. Prepare to discuss in small groups
where you see examples of thematic ideas surrounding hope, or a theme YOU see developing. Do you agree with the author’s point of
view? Where do you see content, context and perspective?

After discussing our opinions within the breakout room, we all agreed that the theme/idea of hope can be seen in the ruler analogy. The ruler
represents a tough scary challenge that seems nearly impossible. Once that ruler is broken into smaller pieces it’s easier to conquer that
challenge. I definitely agree with the author's point of view because I try to use this strategy myself. I can see content throughout this entire
section because it’s talking about the issue at hand. I can see content when the passage starts to talk about the ruler. People who haven't read
the story will need to know why the ruler is a very important strategy to use in this story. I can see perspective in the passage because I can
tell that it’s one person telling the story, and it’s from their perspective.

“It’s the first “life lesson” I can remember learning, and still apply it today. Anytime something feels overwhelming -- Whether it’s my
schedule or my workload or my feelings-- I think of that ruler, and I break down whatever is bothering me into the smallest possible
parts. Then I address each piece individually, without letting myself think of the larger whole” (Garber 194).

3. Return from your breakout rooms and complete a quick-write in the box below. Share what ideas came up in your group
discussion. Consider including reflections on where you see yourself in relation to this story.

Respond here: In my breakout room we mainly talked about the theme of hope within the story. We all agreed that Romina set very
high goals for herself and was able to achieve those goals by pushing herself to never give up and work hard. There were definitely a
lot of challenges along the way. One of them is having to learn a second language. She was able to achieve her goals, but some of us
agreed that it was at a cost. Other people, including me, felt as though Romina put so much time and effort into being perfect, that
she forgot to enjoy the fun parts of growing up. I can see a little bit of myself in Romina because I too am very hard on myself. I
always push myself to produce the best possible work I can, and I work very hard to achieve my goals. The difference between us is
that even though I do prioritize school over friends, I make sure to have a good balance between the two.

4. Revisit the story. Chunk the story into plot points. Use the “Somebody Wanted But So” format to create a main idea statement.
● Who is the protagonist?
● What does she want? What does she do?
● But what happens? (or) Because this happened then this happened?

Share your: somebody wanted but so statement (Main Idea statement(s) here:

In the text “Born In Argentina” by Romina Garber, Romina wants to be like everyone else, but she is an immigrant so she doesn’t have
the same advantages as others, so she works really hard to achieve her goals/dreams of going to Harvard.

5. Use your main idea to identify possible themes. And, brainstorm below in #6.
6. Make a list of themes you see throughout the plot of the story. (Consider where you relate.)
● Believing in your own power
● Hard work pays off in the end
● Fitting in can be hard/difficult
● If you have a dream you shouldn’t be afraid to go after it
7. Highlight the theme above that you will focus on for your “close reading creation” on the rest of this document.

Close Reading Creation:

● Using the above theme, choose a passage from the story to demonstrate your annotation and writing skills.
● The passage should be long enough to clearly show the theme you've chosen AND where you can identify content, context
and perspective.
● Highlight the excerpt to show your content, context and perspective findings (as detailed below) and make notes in the
margin/ comment.
● Prove your theme to be true.

● Content : highlight & label details that show how character, setting, and conflict or figurative language/word choice develop the theme
● Context : highlight & note the places in text where the reader needs context to further understand the passage and/or your theme
● Perspective: highlight & note text to self, text to text or text to world perspectives that emerge and support your chosen theme
Annotations/Notes Passage Annotations/Notes

This part represents context because it’s

This part shows content because it The rest of my school days were a blur of important to know that Romina is the
talks about the main concept of how sacrifice. Studying came before everything and main character within this novel, and she
hard Romina works, and how highly anything else. There got to be so many books in is making all of these sacrifices in order
she places school on her list of my house that my mom wouldn’t give me any to achieve her goal of going to Harvard
priorities. more allowance unless it was for food or clothes. as an immigrant.
So at fourteen, I began working an after-school
Once again, this part shows content job, and I didn’t stop working until the week
because it is another example of how
before I left for college. I didn’t have a boyfriend
much hard work Romina is putting in I can mostly relate to this part because I
in high school until the end of senior year, once
to achieve her goals. too have never had a boyfriend in high
my future was secured. I remember a Friday school because I am focused on doing
evening my junior year when a persistent boy well in school. I don't want the distraction
This section shows all of the from my Spanish-for-Spanish speakers class because I need to focus on myself before
sacrifices Romina is willing to make showed up to my house unannounced and told I can worry about another person.
in order to have a better chance of my mom he’d like to take me out, and she came
achieving her goal of going to to my room to beg me to go.
Harvard by focusing on her studies. I said no. This part represents context because it’s
I didn’t expect her or my dad to understand my important to know that Romina is
sacrifices because they’d grown up in Argentina, originally from Argentina, so english is
the country where they’d been born. They her second language and she is an
couldn’t help me anticipate college requirements immigrant.
It’s unfortunate that Romina’s or fill out the right forms because they didn’t
parents can’t be of much help since know this new educational system. They didn’t
they aren't used to how the school hear my teachers’ warnings that things like too
system works. It would have been many absences or missed tests or Bs could be
nice for Romina to have her parents grounds for rejection. I only speak one language, but I feel like I
to rely on. can relate to this in a way. Sometimes i
Looking back, I wonder if it’s because English is
Take things too literally and then it ends
my second language that I've always taken its
up messing things up. For example, when
words so literally. I was younger my soccer coach told me
In eleventh grade, my family was finally to dribble more, but I took it so literally
approved for US citizenship. We each had our that I only dribbled and forgot to pass.
own separate appointment to get sworn in, and That’s why I can relate to Romina on
mine happened to coincide with the timing of one some level.
of my Advanced Placement exams.
If there was one test I’d heard over and over and
 over again that we could not under any
circumstances miss, it was an AP.
This is another example of the So when the day arrived, I went to school to take
sacrifices Romina is taking in order my test and blew off the INS.
to achieve her goal of going to The second the exam was over, the principal
Harvard. She blew off her spoke over the intercom and called me down to
appointment to become a US citizen his office.
in order to take her AP tests.
When I walked inside, I was mortified to see my
mom waiting for me and mystified to find her in
rage. How could I miss that appointment? What
was I thinking? Didn’t I take our immigration
status in the country seriously?
But I didn’t take it seriously. In fact, I took it so
seriously that I didn’t dare miss my unmissable
test.
I looked to my principal, hoping he could explain
the way things work to my mom, but he stared at
me with her same concerned expression. So I
reminded him how he and the other
administrators warned us that we could not miss This is what Romina was talking about
an AP test - it’s administered only once, on the earlier when she said that she takes
same date, nationally. things too literally because english is her
Then he said to me, as though it were the most second language. It’s sad that Romina
obvious thing, “Well, of course there's a makeup didn’t know this information beforehand
day for the extreme circumstances like these.” because then she probably would have
chosen to take her AP test another day
I was astounded.
instead of missing her US citizenship
At no point had any of my teachers mentioned a
appointment.
potential makeup day. At no point had any of my
teachers mentioned that some absences were
justifiable. At no point had anyone ever
mentioned to me that I was allowed to prioritize
anything over my schoolwork.
This last line is content because it In twelfth grade, I got into Harvard.
wraps up the main theme, which is
that hard work pays off. This proves
that Romina’s hard work and
determination paid off because she
 was able to go to her dream school.

Somebody wanted but so…..

When Bailey Campanella was a 14 year old freshman she wanted to obtain a 4.0 in high school, but she wasn’t sure that she was smart
enough to achieve this, so she decided to put in the work and study harder in order to prove herself wrong.

Written Analysis Response:

How does the author use content, context and / or perspective within your chosen excerpt in order to illuminate your chosen theme of ...?

Write your response below. Remember that your response should include:
● An argumentative claim (your first sentence - answer the question!)
● Two pieces of evidence & commentary on how each demonstrates your claim
● Attention to writer’s craft and use of language

Begin writing here…

When hard work is put into something, it will pay off in the end. Some people believe that hard work doesn’t always get a person to
where they were hoping to be. This part can be true depending on the scenario, but by putting in the hard work you are guaranteed
to come out of it as a stronger individual regardless of if your goal became a reality or not. In the text, Born in Argentina by Romina
Garber, Romina (who the story is based around) has goals and dreams like any other person. The difference is that Romina is an
immigrant and doesn’t know how to speak english. On top of achieving her goals of going to Harvard, she also has to learn an entire
new language in order to do so. Romina didn’t want any distractions and made sacrifices, so that she could put all of her time and
attention towards school. According to Born in Argentina, “So at fourteen, I began working an after-school job, and I didn’t stop
working until the week before I left for college. I didn’t have a boyfriend in high school until the end of senior year, once my future
was secured”(Garber 198). Romina was so committed to getting into Harvard that she missed out on having a childhood because she
spent all of her free time studying and working (prioritize school over everything) instead of hanging out with friends and relaxing.
It’s these types of sacrifices that allowed Romina to achieve her goal of attending Harvard. According to Born in Argentina, “At no
point had any of my teachers mentioned a potential makeup day. At no point had any of my teachers mentioned that some absences
were justifiable. At no point had anyone ever mentioned to me that I was allowed to prioritize anything over my schoolwork. In
twelfth grade, I got into Harvard”(Garber 199/200). Unlike other students, Romina never skipped a day of school, missed a test, or
missed an assignment. This is what set her apart from the other students at her school, and is why she was able to achieve her goals.
Putting in the work was worth it at the end because Romina got into Harvard and grew as a person because she learned what hard
work is and how far it can get you in life. The author, Romina Garber, did a fantastic job at making the feelings and situations seem
so felt. This is obviously due to the fact that Romina wrote about herself, but she wrote it in a way that makes it feel as though the
readers can identify with her struggles on a more personal level and really understand what she was going through.