Stand And Deliver
1. The changes in Angel's clothing are a symbol which signifies something about his character in a way that is related to one of the themes of the story. What is the change and how does that change relate to theme?
2. What is revealed in the character of Angel when he bargains with Mr. Escalante to keep a book at home and how does this incident illustrate one of the key barriers to success facing young people such as Angel?
3. Two of the main characters in the film have foils — "foil" meaning they are characters that are trying to "foil" or "ruin" the goal of the theme. Identify the foils and describe how their differences with the main characters point to that "foil". (In other words, who in the film created roadblocks for success?)
4. What did classroom culture have to do with how the students learned? How was Mr. Escalante able to convince the students that they could learn calculus.
5. Mr. Escalante used "non-traditional" methods to teach. Give several examples. Has there been a time in your life when someone was able to motivate you when others couldn't?
6. "If this was Beverly Hills high school, they wouldn't have spend you two here to investigate". Were these students questioned because of their backgrounds or culture? Explain your thoughts. Is this fair? Is "profiling" a legitimate method of judging people/groups?
7. Mr. Escalante worked for six years before the breakthrough 1982 test in which 18 Garfield High students demonstrated that they had mastered calculus. He started by encouraging area middle schools to offer algebra in their eighth and ninth grades to help students acquire the background necessary to understand calculus. He taught summer school for student who wanted to upgrade their math skills.
**Are kids today willing to put in this type of time and work to achieve great results? Give examples. Have you ever been challenged to succeed where others have failed? Would you be ready for the challenge? Why or why not?
Jaime Escalante
