Aristotle and Dante Discover

the Secrets of the

Universe:Belonging Webercise

You will be conducting an online scavenger hunt that aims to contextualize the novel with information about the author and his intent with the novel,

information on the borderlands, information on the relationship between the Queer and Chicano(a)

movements, as well as some thematically important key terms.

 In this unit, we are looking at the concept of belonging. In

the book, there are various characters and situations where social boundaries, figurative "borders" or "walls“, prevent people from connecting with one another when indeed the characters feel that there should be a connection.

The link between Chicano and Queer experience didn't originate with Saenz's novel. Through this interactive webercise you are going to explore the borderlands and some important social concepts and figures related therein. See if you can make connections through the border by thinking about the connections between Mexican (American) and Queer experiences… See if you can discover even deeper and more broadly applicable connections between the text , history, and current issues…

IntroductionTo understand this picture, if you don’t recognize it already, keep progressing through this webercise.

Your task at the end of this Webercise is to write an essay about a character in Benjamin Saenz's novel who faces a sense of displacement similar to the people you will learn about in this quest. In your essay, you will make the connections necessary to analyze history and the novel. Additionally, you will evaluate how the text and the history around it apply to current social issues that face not only the setting of the novel, but many places around the world, including California, in real life today.

Task:

RL.1. You will be citing evidence from multiple sources in your essay

RL.2. You will be working to determine the theme/central idea of the novel and sources in order to analyze them and create an evaluation of how they relate to current issues and events

RL.3. You will be analyzing complex characters through this task RL.4. You will analyze diction and its relation to the themes and

topics core to this novel and the sources of this exercise.

Standards

In the next slide your quest begins!

WRITE DOWN THE ANSWERS YOU FIND TO HELP WITH YOUR PAPER.

What does the narrator introduce the main conflict of

the novel as within the first minute of the interview? (Hint: Listen for the word “loners”)

Does Saenz focus more on plot or character when he writes?

What do the speakers say about Mexican American representation in relation to class/socioeconomic differences?

What is important about the boys’ parents? Why does Saenz write Ari and Dante into different

socioeconomic (class) backgrounds? How is Arizona important to the creation of this novel? Why does Saenz say he was reluctant to publish the

novel?

NPR Interview

with Saenz

http://www.npr.org/2013/02/20/172495550/discovering-sexuality-through-teen-lit

Why is the boarder where it is? (4 main points) Remember that the novel takes place in EL Paso in

1987. What does this interactive say about El Paso. What about Juarez near by?

Pay special attention to the language section “Palabras” (which translates to “words” in English).

Borderlands: An Interactive

Introduction:

http://apps.npr.org/borderland/#_

Why is the difference between a “fence” and a “wall” significant?

What to call those who trace their ancestry South of the border in the US?

https://

www.youtube.com/watch?v=N6698ws-8LE

How did Cherrie feel torn between being both white and Mexican?

What does she say about privilege?

How did being lesbian affect her racial identity?

Cherríe Moraga:"You're Not Really Mexican, Are

You?"

Gloria AnzalduaThe Borderlands

What is the fundamental concern of her work as an author?

What did her manifesto declare?

What does her work assert about identity and language?

According to the article what is the “mestiza propensity” for her?

What is her writing working against?

What is her writing working towards?

Anzaldua:http://www.learner.org/amerpass/unit02/authors-1.html

“patlache”: woman with male genitalia or who has sex with other women/another woman.

“tejana”: Texan “Dyke”: originally a slur, but has

been reclaimed by many in the lesbian community (I suggest you don’t say it as you wouldn’t say the “n”-word despite some members of black communities reclaiming the word.)

How does the concept of borders relate to Anzaldua’s derogatory self-descriptors?

How does Anzaldua treat the subject of “betrayal” of her culture as opposed the way in which Morraga reacts to that same issue?

What does Anzaldua insist most of all?

Mas sobre Anzalduahttp://voices.cla.umn.edu/

artistpages/anzaldua.php

Look these terms up on dictionary.com. Select the most appropriate definition in regards to the context of the borderlands reviewed through this webercise.

Belong (Belonging) Include (Inclusion) Hegemony Assimilation Privilege

Vocabulary Connections

How does the “Borderlines” concept connect to Dr. (Young) Vay’s ideas about language and gender?

What does he say about code-meshing and racism?

What is the main idea here about language and identity?

How can code-meshing help people to “belong”?

How does Saenz use code-meshing in the novel?

More on Code-Meshinghttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OIrED9k5tmM

Borderlands: La Frontera published in 1987 and Azaldua from S. Texas/El Paso in S.Texas. Consider the geographical, historical, social, and literary relationships between the borderlands, Chicano(a), and Queer themes.

For further focus in the text: the tension between being Mexican and American, the tension of being male and being typically “unmale” (which includes sexual attraction to males. This gender and sexuality “spectrum” is a part of Queer Theory.), and the construction of identity through language.

How do Ari and Dante find belonging through language?

How can oppression, hardship, sadness, and loneliness be constructive in the novel and with Anzaldua?

Back to the Novel

Here are some ideas to help you

start on your paper!

Back to the Novel (cont.)

• How might shame (and more importantly overcoming it) connect the experiences of oppressed peoples?

• In what ways can shame be attached to language (which in Anzalda’s theory transmits identity)?

• Consider the relationship between shame and belonging.

We have a lot of hard work to do yet before your essays will be due. We will work together

and be ready. I know this is difficult material and high level skills, but I also know you are

capable.

Don’t Stress