Summary Of Breaking Through By Francisco Jimenez

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Summary The book, “Breaking Through”, tells the story of Francisco Jimenez, also the narrator of the story, and his life as an illegal immigrant in the United States.When Francisco’s family came to the United States in 1947, 14 years later Francisco’s family would be deported back to Mexico (their home country). Once the family got their documents, Francisco and his brother Roberto would be sent back to the United States in order to earn money to be able to send their parents and other family members back into the United States. Once the family returned everything would resume as normal, and Francisco would graduate from Jr. High School and start his 4 years in high school. Francisco met his counselors Mr. Kinkade and Mr. Penny, and they introduced …show more content…

This character originated from Mexico, but now resides in Bonetti Ranch, Santa Clara. Francisco’s main goal is to get an education by going to college, and becoming a teacher however his father (Papa) says, “only rich people become teachers” . Francisco achieves this goal by working really closely with his school counselors, Mr. Kinkade and Mr. Penny, in obtaining scholarships to be able to go to school. During Francisco’s senior year of high school, he applies for various scholarships, and ends up receiving one worth $1,000. Francisco does achieve this goal as with this scholarship he attends Santa Clara …show more content…

This character has back pain, and by the end of the book he loses a finger due to a saw accident. With these things he has to deal with constantly, Papa doesn’t want Francisco (his son) to leave the family and go to college because his other son Roberto got married and left the family, being unable to work and earn enough money for Papa, which is why he’s working against the protagonist. With Papa not being able to earn enough money to support the family, he needs to have Francisco working for and with him in order to financially support the family. The main goal of this antagonist is to stop Francisco from attending college and sort of crush his dreams of becoming a teacher by saying, as previously stated, “Only rich people become teachers.” The Setting Breaking through takes place in the past between 1940-1965. The story is mainly centered around where the family lives which is in Bonetti Ranch. Inferring this is a ranch, I can say there is agriculture surrounding the ranch, which could possibly be where Francisco, Papa, and Roberto worked when they were younger. There are many other settings for example El Camino Jr. High School and then Santa Maria High school which describes their mascot as, “Sammy Saint”. Labor Camps are also mentioned when Francisco and his family were deported back to Mexico, which are obviously his least favorite place to go….

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