The Circuit: An IntroductionDr. Francisco Jiménez is a Professor of Modern Languages at Santa Clara University. However, as a child, he never dreamed of reaching such heights, for young Francisco was the child of poverty-stricken parents who left Mexico out of desperation and without legal documents to work in the fields of California. The family survived through migrant labor, moving from farm to farm to harvest seasonal crops. The Circuit is a series of stories about his early years from the time the family crawls "under the wire" to his often interrupted elementary school experiences in California's agriculturally rich Central Valley.
In preparation to read and discuss Jiménez's beautifully written memoir, read his own reflections on his background. The occasion for the article was a discussion with Francisco after a university play, "The Grapes of Wrath," based on the novel of the same name by John Steinbeck.