“Anzia Yezierska’s ‘Soap and Water’ in Contemporary High School Classrooms: The Voice of an Immigrant”

his contribution continues the initiative launched last year with the article published in the January issue of La Nuova Secondaria, which aimed to share the outcomes of a training course on U.S. literature for high school teachers held in November 2023. A second edition of the course was organized in 2024, once again with the goal of demonstrating how lit- erature and literary studies can offer engaging, in- novative, and diverse approaches to understanding the contemporary world—and, in particular, U.S. society. Like the 2024 article, this piece provides teachers with ready-to-use materials for classroom application. Anzia Yezierska presents especially rich opportunities for reflection among high school stu- dents—not only because of her personal immigra- tion experience, but also due to her multiethnic background and her literary career, which serves as a compelling example of how the English-language literary canon continues to evolve. Her short story Soap and Water is particularly well suited to the classroom, as it prompts reflection on the education system and addresses topics such as the student– teacher relationship, inclusion and exclusion within schools, and the potential for social mobility through education.