a. Lead In: Bless Me, Ultima is a book about coming of age. Antonio, the main protagonist in the book is thrown challenges that will shape Antonio into the man he will become one day. Once Ultima, a curandera or healer comes to stay with his family, Antonio’s world gets filled with twists and turns like a book written by R.L. Stine.
II. Introduction Paragraph 2
a. Overview and Background: Bless Me, Ultima, by Rudolfo Anaya, is a book about coming of age set in the time after World War One ended. Antonio’s father comes from a vaquero family, or family of cowboys, and his mother comes from a family of farmers. Antonio will have to choose to become a priest for his mother or a vaquero like his father. Ultima comes to stay with them, and instantly,
…show more content…
Antonio is faced challenges, that Antonio must overcome, and by overcoming these challenges, will Antonio mature or come of age and face more challenges until Antonio has reached that level of maturity that he is meant to be at.
B. Antonio is a six-year-old boy, son to a vaquero and a farmer, who learns at the beginning of the book that Antonio is going to be riddled by challenges throughout his whole life making this book about coming of age.
C. The very first example we see in the book is Lupito, a war veteran that has killed the sheriff of the town for no absolute reason, and being hunted by the towns people, wanting him dead, as the sheriff was loved by the people of the town, and as that happens Antonio sneaks out of the house and follows his father, who is joining the men that want Lupito dead. Antonio then sees Lupito and watches Lupito get shot multiple times, being one of the very first examples of the book about coming of age.
D. This is an example of coming of age because no one told Antonio to follow his father, in fact Antonio’s family told Antonio to stay. This example is of coming of age because Antonio is starting to make his own decisions for the first time since he was born. Being only six years old means that he never gets to make his own decisions because they are being made for