In English 105, we have completed a sixties novel, Motorcycle on the Sea of Tranquility. This week I have asked my students to identify and prepare their Motorcycle MVP – Most Valuable Part – as part of our Final Exam project.  All semester long, we have been exchanging ideas about protest and change. We searched the campus databases for information about Civil Rights, The Women's Movement, Gay Liberation, The Sexual Revolution.   In the sixties, I was too young to understand what was going on in this country, but I'm certainly old enough now. I encourage my students to learn from the past to understand what is going on today. 

Motorcycle begins with the return of a Mexican-America family's favorite son from Vietnam.   The son is named Chuy, and he's just not the same fun-loving guy any more, and from all appearances, he never will be. Something horrible happened over there.  You can see it in his eyes, but you won't hear anything coming out of his mouth.  Chuy is withdrawn, sullen, and violent.  He scares everyone. At the first chance he gets,  he hops on his Harley Chopper and  leaves the scene.  He's a Man, now.  Despite what his parents say to him, he does what he wants, and in doing so, he seems to wake up a hidden spirit in his little sister.  Yoli is almost 15 and she sees herself as a writer.  Where other girls her age are busy talking about boys and makeup, Yoli has her journal out and is considering the wanderlust spirit she was born with.  She thinks about her father “searching for his El Dorado, a wife and pile of kids in tow."   She thinks about her brother blasting down the highway, and she feels that same spirit and wonder as her father and brother do, but because she is female an Chicana in the sixties, she does not enjoy the same freedoms.  

First and foremost, there is little chance to escape the oppressive role of women in Mexican culture -  Yoli doesn’t even have to leave the house.  Her father dominates her mother and makes the decisions for his daughters.  Her brothers mistreat, abuse and discard some of her closest friends. Yoli, herself, is hot for a guy named Francisco Valdivia, but if she makes the first move, she knows what she will be labeled as.   How ironic is it that in a time where a man takes his first steps on the moon, the Chicana woman is can’t approach a man without being called a puta.

Above, I share a song for the Soundtrack of Our Reading. If I were a student in this class, I just might choose Yoli's quest for freedom as my MVP.  Several of my students have already discussed issues of Equality, Discrimination, and Civil Rights in their research papers.  In deciding on my song, searched for political-activist artist who may well represent the Revolution of the Sixties.  Cyndi Lauper has always fought for the underdog – especially women, people living with HIV/AIDS, and LGBTQ people. In my Song Lyrics/Text Passage Comparison Chart, I match up a few lines from Cyndi's "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun" and Patricia Santana's Motoryclycle on the Sea of Tranquility. 

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If you are one of my students reading this, I provide for you below a few tips to begin your Comparison Chart:

Create your Song Lyrics/ Motorcycle Text Comparison Chart

*  I suggest you choose 2 COLUMNS, 5 ROWS – Like this:

1. In the first row, you should insert two images – In the first left-side box, you put something in to represent your song; in your first right-side box, you put something down to represent your Motorcycle MVP choice.. 
2. In the next left-hand side box, enter the title of your song;  in the next right-hand side box, enter Motorcycle on the Sea of Tranquility.
3. In the next left-hand side box, enter words, phrases, or a stanza from your song; In the next right-hand side box, choose a Motorcycle passage that matches up with the lyrics.
4. After each Motorcycle passage, insert the page number in ().
5. Continue until you have completed your table.
6. I encourage you to find two images that "match up" – I mean this is a comparison chart.  It's  a little challenging, but it's fun. 
7. Above, I placed a picture of Cyndi pointing fingers in the air.  On the right, I found a  picture of young latina pointing a finger at the camera.

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Below, I practice a little bit with my last-semester personal choice for MVP – "The Look"

Yoli spends much of the first part of the novel in the shadows. She’s a young, sensible girl who respects her parents and loves her siblings. But in doing so, she seems to puts others before herself. It’s like she works so hard to help others, so she has no time for her own needs. At age 14, however, she begins to feel a change come all over herself. Her feelings change. Her priorities shift. She wants more out of life. When she falls in love with Francisco, nothing will ever be same again.  She changes with each chapter.  She grows up fast. 

I found a song by Taylor Swift called “Sparks Fly.” Taylor may have been feeling what Yoli was feeling when she wrote this song. Taylor knows that we all walk around with something dangerous inside of us. Combustible. Like a box of matches. We have to be careful, because if we’re not, we let someone get too close to set us off. That’s when emotions intensify. That’s when sparks fly.When that happens to the girl in the song, it’s over. She’s on FIRE!

Jay's Note:  This was so FUN!

­­­“Sparks Fly” – by Taylor Swift	Motorcycle on the Sea of Tranquility – by Patricia Santana
The way you move is like a full-on rainstorm And I'm a house of cards You're the kind of reckless that should send me running But I kinda know that I won't get far	“I knew a lot of them thought of me as La Miss Head-in-the-Clouds, kind of hippie-ish, kind of Shakespeareish, kind of quien-sabe-que…” (30).
And you stood there in front of me Just close enough to touch Close enough to hope you couldn't See what I was thinking of	“And when the pinches cabrones finally walked past me, silent and embarrassed, not knowing what kind of walk to walk, Francico’s eyes and mine met, and I gave him The Look” (164).
Drop everything now, meet me in the pouring rain Kiss me on the sidewalk, take away the pain 'Cause I see sparks fly Whenever you smile	“I was eager to be reckless and independent, eager to be against my family and upbringing – those old fashioned values that stunted one’s growth, one’s sexuality, one’s individuality. Like the heroes of the movies of 1969. I wanted to be an Easy Rider” (135).
Get me with those green eyes, baby As the lights go down Give me something that'll haunt me When you're not around 'Cause I see sparks fly Whenever you smile	“He was dark – very Moreno – and this in itself was exciting.  What a striking couple we would make: He, Moreno, dark-eyed, black hair slicked back, while I stood next to him, his girl – no, his woman – light skinned, light-eyed, soft brown hair. His arm would be around me, protecting me, because I was his woman and he was my man” (161).

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I’m happy to see the engagement of my students with this project.   Many of them write with great passion about Black Lives Matter.  Gender Equality.  First Amendment Rights.  Many of our politicians are  trampling on their American Dream. Our current situation looks increasingly  dark, but I see something new and enlightening coming from our IVC students.  They are fighting back with their words.  They are willing Speak Truth to Power.  Their writing reflects a better future.