one cheats with the disguise of “love”, it is anything but love.
Structure
Smack Happened Para. 1-3 “In Love” Para. 4-12 Got out of Trouble Para. 13
Main idea: A car smack happened as Jake was out of his mind.
of trouble, Jake made up his story, talked to Mariana in a flirtatious way and behaved as if he fell in love with her. Mariana reacted good-naturedly, though suspicious of what he said. In the whole story, Jack’s “performance” is described in an ironic tone. When
2. Main Idea & Structure
Main Idea
“Love in L.A.” is a story about an encounter between two young

people in Los Angeles. Jake knocked into Mariana’s car. To get out
translated his wide variety of experiences
into realistic stories about life in the
United States in the late twentieth century.
Gilb has won many awards for his fiction, including a nomination for the Faulkner Award in 1993 for his book of short stories The Magic of Blood. His style is humorous, ironic, and powerful, and his content ranges from stories about poor migrant workers searching for work in the Chicano Southwest to descriptions of romantic relationships between men and women in the sunny but superficial world of California.
Love In L.A.
1 2 3 4
Introducing the author
Main Idea & Structure
Text Study Questions
1. Introduction the author : Dagoberto Gilb, born in 1950 and grew up in the Southwest and now lives in Texas and Los Angeles, is a Chicano and Mexican heritage. He is a skillful carpenter, a teacher and a writer who has
4.Questions
When and where did the story “Love in L.A.” take place? (the time and the setting of the story) What was Jake thinking about sitting in his car? What did Jake do when he realized the damage to Mariana’s new car?
Main idea: Jake succeeded getting himself out of the trouble and the two depart.
3. Text Study
Jake
Mariana
easy-going, irresponsible good-natured, goodmannered
Do you think Jake had a driver’s license?
Why did Mariana write down the license plate numbers of Jake’s car? How did Jake react to this?
giddy , clever, careless
not serious, not hardworking talkative, sociable imaginative
polite, cautious, friendly
rather quiet, serious timid, shy, not very sociable clever, careful
Main idea: Jake met Mariana who was the victim of his fault, made up his story and talked to Mariana in a flirtatious way while Mariana behaved in slightly touching way though was suspicious of what he said.