Answer:
Using an accessible and humane continuum of sources lies at the heart of preparing students to reconceptualize the importance of Chicana history to their education. Crafting and facilitating introductory discussions of the emotions entangled in the Chicana experience has been imperative to teaching the gendered realities Chicanas have and continue to face across space and time. Focusing their attention on the relationships between a continuum of sources that capture the emotional contours of the Chicana experience, as well as their own coming of age, compels students to reflect on the continuity, intensity, and longevity of the emotional pressures they share with the Chicanas they study.
Discussing scenes from a feature-length film, lyrics from a love song, and excerpts from a Mexican American daughter's letter to her immigrant father enriched students' understanding of the generative potential of love and other emotions in the Chicana experience.