ABSTRACT

The author routinely teach the works of Gloria Anzaldua and Cherrie Moraga within my normal teaching load, singly, in combination with other authors, and from numerous approaches. This is due in no small part to the nature and scope of the works themselves. Each student must also select, or is assigned, one presentation topic from a list of choices of contextual historical, social, and cultural topics related to Chicano/a literature. One useful focus to present these essays is to emphasize the importance of the autobiographical move within Chicano/a literature as a whole. Gloria Anzaldua's essay on the other hand, uses a multi-genre approach to the autobiographical rather than a personal narrative. Many introductory students have a difficult time with these complexities and thus I have students first brainstorm what Anzaldua might mean by mestizas seeing through serpent and eagle eyes.