Breaking Through Sparknotes

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Nitya Dharawat English 6A 1/23/23 Five Paragraph Essay Final Draft Striving for a Better Way of Life Breaking Through is an autobiography by Francisco Jimenez and is about his difficulties being an immigrant from Mexico. Francisco and his family decide to immigrate from Mexico to America so they can live a life without poverty. They have been doing their best to achieve a better life in America. Throughout the book they are struggling to earn enough money, find shelter, and learn English. Their entire family has been doing everything they can to provide everyone a better life. Francisco and Papa work on the strawberry field, and Roberto is highered a janitorial job to earn money. The family also struggles to learn English, and Francisco …show more content…

Although he did not know what college was until a late point in highschool, the counselor tells Francisco about college and how he can attend. He encounters a lot of struggles with his dad when he asks him if he can go. Eventually, Mama convinces Papa to let him go to college but Papa still was not very joyful because he did not want to be so far from his son, and even with the scholarships it is still expensive. “ [Francisco] [receives] the Alegra scholarship for three hundred and fifty dollars and the Kiwanis Club for two hundred and fifty; the Lions Club for two hundred and the Madrinas Club for two hundred,” (Jimenez, 179). This shows that when someone works hard to achieve their goals, they reach them. It is very hard for immigrants to enter into college and growing up he struggled highley in school, although he powers through and graduates, even with all these struggles he still is accepted into college. Francisco and his family try their best to provide better lives for the entire …show more content…

This causes Francisco to struggle in school because he is not fluent in English but he works really hard to try and learn it fluently. “Since Papá [does] not know English and Mamá [understands] only a little Roberto translated for them. Papá showed them his green card, which Ito, the Japanese sharecropper for whom [they] picked strawberries, had helped him get years before,”. Francisco and his family struggle a lot, especially not knowing English. English is Francisco’s worst subject, although math is his best subject because it is the only subject that you don't need to know English for. Papa does not know any English because he works in the fields and he doesn't have to constantly speak it. Eventually everyone works through the struggles and are able to communicate