8 A Dramatization of the In re Rodriguez Case 1897

Assignment #1: To be completed after students have read half of the play

Journal Entry 

For this assignment, you will serve as the reader/interpreter between the court proceedings and Ricardo Rodriguez. This is an imaginary exercise, in which you need to serve as support personnel for Mr. Rodriguez—who is in a challenging legal situation. Mr. Rodriguez speaks Spanish and has not received formal education in how to read and write. He has lived in Texas for at least 10 years, and he has filed to naturalize as a United States citizen.

The situation: Faced with a complicated case, the presiding judge, Thomas Maxey, has appointed three local lawyers to serve as amicus curiae (friends of the court) to offer advice on how to assess and decide the case. Each of the three lawyers cites two key earlier court cases: In re Ah Yup (1878) and Elk v. Wilkins (1884) (Evans and McMinn against Rodriguez’s application; Paschal in favor [in scene 5]).

Your job is to pick one of these famous court cases and explain its relevance to Mr. Rodriguez. To communicate to Mr. Rodriguez: Why are these lawyers referencing In re Ah Yup (1878) and Elk v. Wilkins (1884) in their arguments for and against his application for naturalization?

As support personnel to Mr. Rodriguez, you need to do the following tasks in terms of the court case that you choose (In re Ah Yup or Elk v. Wilkins):

• What is the court case about? (either Yup or Elk)
• How was it decided, and according to what historical precedents, laws, or theories?
• How are the lawyers applying it to Rodriguez’s request to naturalize as U.S. citizen?

In simple terms, Mr. Rodriguez needs to understand what legal precedents are being used to argue for or against his case—and you are the interpreter he’s depending on!

Your journal entry should be written as if you are talking with and explaining things to Mr. Rodriguez.

[This assignment should be written in English, but pretend you’re talking with Mr. Rodriguez in a private chamber outside the courtroom and you’re speaking with him in Spanish.]

In re Ah Yup is about a Chinese immigrant requesting naturalization in California;

Elk v. Wilkins is about a Native American attempting to register to vote in Omaha, Nebraska.

Additional note: In the actual case, In re Rodriguez (available on JJay E-reserve), In re Ah Yup is discussed on pages 344-346. Elk v. Wilkins is discussed on pages 346-347. The two cases are also referenced in various passages in attorney Paschal’s brief.

Assignment #2: To be completed after the students have finished reading the play

Discussion Board Forum

This discussion board assignment asks you to use both your research curiosity and your creative skills. You are going to become one of the writers and directors of this play, working to make this courtroom drama more thought-provoking and more meaningful!

To explain: as you now know, In re Rodriguez, the Play uses a backscreen and video projections to deepen the impact of the actions and words on the stage. At some points the video projections accentuate what an actor is saying; at other points the projections create visual friction between the spoken words and the effects of those words on the actors.

For this discussion board assignment, you need to create two additional video projections for the play. One video projection can occur anywhere in the play that you think will be enhanced by your choice of a slide or film clip; the other projection should occur at the end of the play as a means to close out the drama.

A few parameters for this assignment:

1)  At least one of your video projections must offer historical information connected to the claims being made by the different lawyers. We’ll call this “Additional Video Projection #1.” Depending on when in the play you want this video projection to appear, you can offer such visuals as a map, a political cartoon, an old photograph, short documentary footage, etc. (For example, when the lawyers are discussing Elk v. Wilkins or In re Ah Yup, are there political cartoons from this time period that would make more vivid what the lawyers are saying and how they’re saying it?) This Additional Video Projection #1 will involve doing research on the historical references and political beliefs that the lawyers wield in their arguments for and against Ricardo Rodriguez. Choose a moment in the play that you find interesting/provocative/disturbing/significant, etc., and find a picture or a film clip on the internet that would serve to accentuate the scene on the stage. For this part of your discussion board post, you should attach the visual you think would work well, identify clearly where in the play it should appear, and explain why and how you think this visual would contribute to the legal drama on the stage.

2)  For “Additional Video Projection #2” you will be creating the conclusion of this courtroom drama. Simply put, how should this play end? I have offered Judge Maxey’s final words, but there are no stage instructions for the backscreen projection (or for the actors). You choose what you think would be a fitting and thought-provoking final visual projection. It could be another historical slide, it could be a visual creation that you design, or it could be a look into the future that the audience could think about. You make the end of the play what you think it should be! For this part of your discussion board post, you should attach the visual you want playing in the last scene, you should explain why that visual, and you should describe how you want the actors to interact (or not) with it.

About the author: Dr. Yukins received her MA and PhD degrees from the University of Pennsylvania. She specializes in twentieth-century American literature, particularly critical race theory, women’s studies, law, and literature.