Mexico: Day 2
Let's pick up either A. All the Pretty Horses by Cormac McCarthy
or B. Into the Beautiful North by Luis Alberto Urrea. Before you pick check the links and decide which book you want to read.
Well, it certainly looks like you know what the typical American knows about Mexican culture...food & celebrations aside, we're going to have to do better research. Let's look back at our padlet...Mexican culture padlet. And now, let's watch this short video: The Average American v. Average Mexican and then research for a writing piece.
1. Pick a contemporary issue reported on the daily life of a Mexican "character". Look at one of these daily papers to help you select a topic/article.
2. Consider what you learned about a Mexican citizen from the video above, choose a name for your character (see this link for some examples), and put your character in a city or town in Mexico to start your story--try to link your story with the article you chose from your newspaper.
3. Write for 20-25 minutes. Continue your draft when possible for your upcoming portfolio.
For some models, let's look at a few contemporary Mexican writers today:
HOMEWORK: Please read ALL PRETTY HORSES up to page 59. INTO NORTH up to page 57 for next class. Please bring your books back with you to our next class.
or B. Into the Beautiful North by Luis Alberto Urrea. Before you pick check the links and decide which book you want to read.
Well, it certainly looks like you know what the typical American knows about Mexican culture...food & celebrations aside, we're going to have to do better research. Let's look back at our padlet...Mexican culture padlet. And now, let's watch this short video: The Average American v. Average Mexican and then research for a writing piece.
1. Pick a contemporary issue reported on the daily life of a Mexican "character". Look at one of these daily papers to help you select a topic/article.
2. Consider what you learned about a Mexican citizen from the video above, choose a name for your character (see this link for some examples), and put your character in a city or town in Mexico to start your story--try to link your story with the article you chose from your newspaper.
3. Write for 20-25 minutes. Continue your draft when possible for your upcoming portfolio.
For some models, let's look at a few contemporary Mexican writers today:
- "Lazarus" by Liliana Blum
- "Iguana Hunting" by Hernan Lara Zavala
and some Mexican mythology:
Let's read the short article about Mexican mythology/Aztec mythology.
Check out these important Aztec gods.
And read/learn about some Mexican myths/legends.
- Write an ode to one of them--or an elegy (since they are no longer worshiped) or a story involving one of them...this might be humorous (an Aztec god who now works in a Taco Bell) or horror (a maniac who kidnaps someone to call forth one of the Aztec gods through blood sacrifice), or any other genre you might be interested in (mystery, romance, western, adventure, science fiction, etc.)
- Write a documentary poem like Forche's prose poem "The Colonel"--use the country you studied for your presentation, or some other event of your choosing. Want some current Mexican news? Check here. Or current Puerto Rican news? Check here.
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