Juan Soriano 12/9/15

Dr. Torres Eng 271

Course Outline

Empathy. One word, three syllables, and countless interpretations. Empathy is the ability

to identify with what others are going through. As teachers, it is our job to prepare students for

the world in which they will live in. Teaching our students empathy for people with diverse

backgrounds is a fantastic way to do this. Fortunately, literature has multiple different pieces that

give the stories and perspective of people of diverse backgrounds. This is the reason why I

believe that offering a class on Latino literature is a great way to promote empathy and prepare

students for an increasingly diverse world.

Our school has a high population of Latino and Latina students from a wide range of

countries. By offering a class in Latino literature, we can show these students that contrary to

popular belief, they do have a voice in literature and that their stories are indeed part of the

literary canon. Giving students a chance to see how their cultures are represented in novels,

poems, short stories, and videos will help them better understand their own cultures and show

them how connected they are to other Latin American cultures. By focusing on themes of

Latinidad, identity, family, gender issues, exile & diaspora, and conflict & resistance, I hope to

show my students how multifaceted Latino literature is and how interconnected their different

cultures are. I also want to bring in some texts that place these issues in a global environment to

show them how this literature, and by extension their cultures, are part of the world. In doing so,

I further educate students about the problems of the world around them and how they relate to

those problems.

My objectives for this course are to give students an alternative to the mainstream literary

canon that the students have been shown throughout their educational careers. For the students,

the first goal is to become better critical readers and writers. I’m planning this course for students

in either grades 11 or 12, so I expect them to bring in some knowledge on how to analyze

literature they can apply to this class. Hopefully, they will see themselves represented in the

literature and develop a stronger sense of identity and pride in who they are. For those students

who are not Latino, I hope to instill in them a sense of empathy and show them that like the real

world, literature can be diverse and has many voices out there. I hope that students outside the

Latino community will want to take this class and see it as a step in furthering their

understanding of the many diverse cultures represented in this course.

With this course, Latino culture might go from being “the other” to simply being a part of

American culture. One of the reasons this will happen is the thematic focus this course will have.

The themes of Latinidad, identity, gender issues, family, exile & diaspora, and conflict &

resistance are all themes that feature strongly in Latino literature but that can also be applied to

world literature, so it will be easy to tie them into their other classes or themes in literature that

they are familiar with. The theme of Latinidad will be the starting point because it emphasizes

the unity of different cultures. Identity and gender issues will be the next two themes because

they are common to most literature. exile & diaspora and conflict & resistance will be the last

two units because they feature more heavy themes. As such, it’s a good idea to have them

towards the end of the semester when the class is familiar with each other and feels comfortable

talking about what might be some hot button issues. I’m planning this class so that it hones in

from broad to more specific issues in Latino culture so that students who might not be familiar

with it might be able to have a jump in point. Like a swim instructor, I don’t want to push those

unfamiliar with the culture into the deep waters first.

Unit: Latinidad. Duration: 1.5 weeks. Sources: Luis Rafael Sánchez’s “The Airbus;”

Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca’s The Account; Martín Espada’s “The Republic of Poetry;” Aurora

Levins Morales, “Child of the Americas;” Aurora Levins Morales and Rosario Morales, “Ending

Poem;” Calle 13’s “La Perla.”

Our first unit, Latinidad, will serve as an introduction to Latino literature. While it might

be brief, I believe that this unit doesn’t need much time. It will serve as an introduction to some

of the themes and ideas that we will be touching on in the course, so I do not plan to take too

much time on it. I plan on touching on as many cultures as I can, so I won’t be using any novels

yet. I plan on doing some poems, short stories, and essays. To begin, students will read Álvar

Núñez Cabeza de Vaca’s The Account. In doing so, students will understand that Latino

literature traces back much farther than they believe. The assortment of poems and short stories

they will read will all show the interconnectedness of Latino cultures, which will serve as a

perfect setup for our unit on identity. Students will be assessed with a quiz at the end of the unit.

Unit: Identity. Duration: 2 weeks. Sources: Bodega Dreams, Ernesto Quinones; Gloria

Gaynor’s “I Will Survive” with lyrics; Celia Cruz’s “Yo Vivire” with translated lyrics;

Photographs of El Barrio during the time of Bodega Dreams and now; Photographs of the local

community then and now; Tato Laviera’s “my graduation speech;” Miguel Piñero’s “A Lower

East Side Poem;” “The Contest of Coffee and Corn Gruel.”

Discovering your identity is not only a theme common in literature from all over the

world, it’s a major component of the high school experience. With this unit, I plan on showing

students how themes of identity manifest themselves in Latino literature. Bodega Dreams affords

us the chance to study identity and also learn more about the difference between static and

dynamic characters. The importance of the community in this book also lends itself to analysis. I

plan on having students study the evolution of both “El Barrio” featured in the book and the

community the school is located in. The complementary readings will also help students

understand the importance of the double identity many Latinos struggle with. The mix of

Spanish and English influences leads to a couple of existential crises, so having it displayed in

literature might put students at ease. The students will be assessed by a small quiz and a major

character analysis group presentation where they will analyze the evolution of the identity of one

character in the book.

Unit: Gender Issues. Duration: 3 weeks. Sources: Cristina Garcia’s Dreaming in Cuban;

Carmen Tafolla’s from “To Split A Human: Mitos, Machos Y La Mujer Chicana;” Pat Mora’s

“Malinche’s Tips: Pique from Mexico’s Mother;” Rafael Campo’s “Miss Key West, 1990;” Luz

María Umpierre’s “Immanence,” “No Hatchet Job;” John Rechy’s “Mr. King: Between Two

Lions;” Willie Colon’s “El Gran Varon” with translated lyrics.

Gender is a widely contested topic in today’s society. Great stress is placed on gender

conformity, norms, and roles, so it would be fitting to study this in our class. Dreaming in Cuban

is a great book to analyze for gender issues as most of its protagonists are females. Analyzing

traditional gender roles and how they relate to modern gender roles in this book could spark

insightful discussion about gender in class. Alongside this book, I plan on using many short

stories and poems that touch upon LGBTQ issues and how their community is represented in

Latino literature. The concept of intersectionality will be a central idea to this unit as we analyze

what it means to be a Latina, a homosexual Latino, or a combination of both. Students will then

write an essay about intersectionality focusing on the book and any three sources they want to

focus on.

Unit: Family. Duration: 2 weeks. Sources: Robert Rodriguez’s Spy Kids; Maria Cristina

Mena’s “The Emotions of Maria Concepcion;” Nocholosa Mohr, “Aunt Rosana’s Rocker

(Zoraida);” Ruben Blades’ “Amor Y Control” with translated lyrics; excerpts from T.W. Ward’s

“Gangsters Without Borders;” clips from the documentary “God Grew Tired of Us.”

Every culture has some variation of what family is, but few hold it in as high regard as

Latin American cultures. Therefore, it’s no surprise that Latino literature strongly features

family. I selected Spy Kids as the primary text for this unit because it allows for film studies and

is a fun film to watch that the students might not expect to analyze. The complimentary stories

will offer a more adult look at the idea of family, which will offer a good contrast to the more

wholesome and childlike movie. Having a unit on family in Latino literature not only allows for

the exploration of this important aspect of the culture, it also allows us to bring in a powerful

outside source to study. Bringing in the documentary of the boys affected by the crisis in Sudan,

“God Grew Tired of Us,” alongside Ward’s ethnography of MS-13, a Salvadoran gang, allows us

to study the importance of family on a global scale. This will show students that Latino literature

is not only a literature of the Americas, it’s a literature for the world. There will be a short quiz

on some film studies terms used in class. The last unit ended on an essay, so I don’t want to

overkill.

Unit: Exile & diaspora. Duration: 3.5 weeks. Sources: Tomas Rivera’s And the Earth Did

Not Devour Him; Lucha Corpi’s “Undocumented Anguish;” Virgil Suarez’s “What We Choose

of Exile;” Maria Teresa “Mariposa” Fernandez’s “Ode to the Diasporican;” Juan Luis Guerra’s

“Visa Para Un Sueño” with translated lyrics; Ruth Behar’s “The Hebrew Cemetery of

Guabanacoa;” José Kozer’s “Diaspora;” Carolina Hospital’s “How the Cubans Stole Miami;”

excerpts from T.W. Ward’s “Gangsters Without Borders;” clips from the documentary “God

Grew Tired of Us.”

Exile and diaspora are common themes in Latino literature because they are one of the

common elements of Latino culture. The immigration, exile, or migration process is something

most Latinos have in common and might even be something my students experienced firsthand.

This is why studying Latino literature that handles the process of the journey to America can be

useful to helping students gain a holistic understanding of what it means to be Latino in this

country. Rivera’s And the Earth Did Not Devour Him tells the stories of many Mexican

immigrants, while the short stories and poems selected tell the stories of many Cuban exiles.

Rounding out these varying perspectives is another look at T.W. Ward’s ethnography “Gangsters

Without Borders” and clips from the documentary “God Grew Tired of Us.” These two sources

will give students real depictions of what it is like to have to leave your home country in fear and

the effects that had on the Salvadoran and Sudanese youth. This is why the method of assessment

for this unit will be a short story detailing what the students would think being an immigrant or

exile would be like.

Unit: Conflict and Resistance. Duration: 2 weeks. Sources: Julia Alvarez’s In the Time of

the Butterflies; “The Ballad of Gregorio Cortez;” Abelardo “Lalo” Delgado, From “The Chicano

Movement: Some Not too Objective Observations;” excerpts from T.W. Ward’s “Gangsters

Without Borders;” Pedro Pietri’s “Puerto Rican Obituary;” Martin Espada’s “Imagine the Angels

of Bread;” pictures of civil wars in Latin American countries; Cesar Chavez’s “We Shall

Overcome.”

The last century has seen revolutions, dictatorships, and civil wars in many Latin

American countries. Having a unit focus on these conflicts allows me the opportunity to show

this literature as a politically conscious medium that is not afraid of going places that might stir

debate and make some uncomfortable. Julia Alvarez’s In the Time of the Butterflies tells the

story of a family of sisters fought against the brutal dictator Rafael Trujillo in the Dominican

Republic. With the other stories, poems and essays, the idea of conflict gains a more universal

quality. By showing pictures of multiple conflicts in Latin American countries, I can both give

the conflicts a real element and give the visual learners in my class something that will stick to

them. Using Ward to show how the Salvadoran civil war indirectly caused the birth of MS-13,

one of the most notorious gangs in America, will make the long lasting effects of these conflicts

real. Since it is the end of the year and Alvarez’s book ties into a lot of themes we’ve touched in

class, the method of assessment for this unit will be the final test.

Teacher Resources

Alvarez, Julia. In the Time of the Butterflies. Algonguin Books, 2010. Reprint Edition.

Garcia, Cristina. Dreaming in Cuban. Ballantine Books, 1993.

Quiñones, Ernesto. Bodega’s Dreams. Vintage, 2015.

Rivera, Tomas. And the Earth Did Not Devour Him. Turtleback, 1987.

Stavans, Ilan, et. al., Eds. Norton Anthology of Latino Literature. W.W. Norton, 2011.

Calle 13’s “La Perla” with translated lyrics.

Gloria Gaynor’s “I Will Survive” with lyrics.

Celia Cruz’s “Yo Vivire” with translated lyrics.

Photographs of El Barrio during the time of Bodega Dreams and now.

Photographs of the local community then and now.

Willie Colon’s “El Gran Varon” with translated lyrics.

Ruben Blades’ “Amor Y Control” with translated lyrics.

T.W. Ward’s “Gangsters Without Borders.”

The documentary “God Grew Tired of Us.”

Robert Rodriguez’s Spy Kids

Juan Luis Guerra’s “Visa Para Un Sueño” with translated lyrics.

Allatson, Paul. Key Terms in Latino/a Cultural and Literary Studies. Wiley-Blackwell,

2007.

Calderón, Héctor and José Saldívar, eds. Criticism in the Borderlands: Studies in

Chicano Literature, Culture and Ideology. Durham/London: Duke University

Press, 1991.

Christie, John S. Latino Fiction and the Modernist Imagination: Literature of the

Borderlands.

New York: Garland Publishers, 1998.

Cortina, Rodolfo. Hispanic American Literature: An Anthology. NTC Publishing, 1997.

Cruz-Malavé, Arnaldo. "Teaching Puerto Rican Authors: Identity and Modernization in

Nuyorican Texts." ADE Bulletin. 91 (Winter) 1988: 45-51.