About This Worksheet
This Grade 7 reading worksheet helps students compare Esperanza at the beginning and end of Esperanza Rising by Pam Muñoz Ryan. Students look at how her personality, daily life, and attitude change after she faces loss, hard work, and a completely different future. The activity shows that character growth happens when a person responds to challenges and learns from experience. For example, Esperanza begins with a protected and comfortable life but later becomes more patient, capable, and aware of other people’s struggles.
Learning Goals
The main goal is to help students trace how a main character develops across an entire novel. Readers should already be able to describe personality traits and locate examples from the text. This worksheet moves them toward comparing early and later behavior while explaining what caused the changes. It supports CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.7.3, which asks students to analyze how story elements influence characters as the plot develops.
Student Tasks
On this worksheet, students will describe Esperanza’s personality and life at the beginning of the novel. They will support that description with one specific example showing her early attitude or behavior. Students then repeat the process for the end of the story, explaining how her personality and circumstances have changed. Their answers should make the growth clear by showing a direct contrast between who she was and who she becomes.
Common Challenges
Some students may summarize the plot without clearly describing Esperanza’s personality. Others may say she “changed a lot” but provide no evidence showing what that means. Remind students to use trait words such as sheltered, proud, determined, caring, or independent and then connect each one to an event. A simple “before and after” statement can help keep the comparison focused.
Teaching Suggestions
A teacher can begin by creating two class lists labeled “Esperanza Then” and “Esperanza Later.” Students can add traits and events before completing their individual responses. At home, a parent can ask which challenge taught Esperanza the most important lesson and how her behavior proves it. This helps students connect the character’s growth to the events that caused it.
Worksheet Features
The worksheet is divided into matching beginning and ending sections, making the comparison easy to follow. Each section asks about personality, life circumstances, and supporting evidence. The repeated format helps students build a balanced response instead of giving more attention to only one part of the novel. This page works well for character analysis, end-of-book review, class discussion, or essay planning.