Because of the depth of issues within this play, there are numerous books, poems and other dramas which can be used in conjunction with it to enlarge on these themes.
Young adulthood is a time for making many choices, and studying, performing and exploring Zoot Suit is a way to open up the dialogue with young people about life choices and their consequences. The class can consider and each student make his/her own decision about which choice they feel Henry makes. The final lines offer three possible outcomes for Henry Reyna, the hero of the drama. Young men and women also face the choice of joining the military to fight for their country, although they may not be afforded all the rights that they are asked to fight and die for.įinally, Zoot Suit has a most distinctive conclusion. The social issues facing the young people in Zoot Suit include peer pressure, cultural conflicts, the oppressive justice and penal systems, tragic results of gang violence, and the power of the media to sway public opinion. The drama explores family relationships between parents and their children growing into adulthood, between siblings, between genders and generations. Zoot Suit is comprised of many levels with much that young readers today can relate to. Gang problems arise in schools, and choosing the gang lifestyle is exciting to many young people. Issues of gang life and the way police and justice systems treat minorities are still very much a part of young adults' milieu today. Zoot Suit, a drama written in 1978 by Luis Valdez, (a graduate of San Jose State) is based on actual events surrounding the arrest and trial of Hispanic gang members for a murder in Los Angeles in 1942 and the riots which followed their convictions. For this reason, I have chosen a drama as the core work of this Unit Plan. Each line of dialogue is written to be spoken aloud each gesture, facial expression and movement is designed to be enacted before witnesses. How can we present written works so that they excite the imaginations of the readers, so the characters become real living people in the readers' minds, so the words do not rest dead on the page? Drama is the form of literature expressly written to be brought to life. They see words which lie flat and one dimensional on the pages and which have nothing to do with life once the book is closed and put on the shelf to gather dust. For many young people a reading assignment is a boring chore, turning page after page of words, words, words. Zoot Suit - A Perfect Fit For A Unit Plan The goal of this Unit Plan is to bring literature to life.
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