Dreaming in Cuban

Lesson 4
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ELA

Unit 5

11th Grade

Lesson 4 of 31

Objective


Characterize Lourdes based on today’s reading.

Explain how the author reveals theme through the descriptions of both the United States and Cuba in the opening chapters.

Readings and Materials


  • Book: Dreaming in Cuban by Christina Garcia  pp. 17 – 25 — "Going South"

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Target Task


Question 1

What does Lourdes’s response to both Jorge’s death and Pilar’s running away suggest about her character?

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Which of the following quotes from the chapter best reinforces the above?

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Question 2

Christina Garcia opens the novel by shifting narration from Celia to Felicia to Lourdes. What does each section’s description of setting reveal about the difference between life in Cuba versus life the United States?

Key Questions


  • How does the author use imagery to build mood in the opening paragraph? 
  • Which character is this chapter focused on? What is the point of view from which her story is told?
  • Track details of Lourdes’s appearance on p. 17.
  • What is Lourdes’s job? 
  • What is the purpose of the sentence on p. 18, “Now what is the purpose of that?”
  • What news does the nun deliver to Lourdes on p. 19?
  • What did the nun see coming from Jorge’s window? Why is this significant?
  • How does Lourdes handle Jorge’s death compared to Felicia? 
  • Who is Lourdes’s mother?
  • How has Lourdes handled her stress since Jorge’s arrival?
  • How has the above affected both Lourdes and Rufino?
  • What do we learn about Jorge on pp. 21–22?
  • What can the reader infer about Pilar and the relationship between Pilar and Lourdes based on p. 23?
  • Track evidence that Lourdes is, deep down, very concerned for Pilar.
  • What is the purpose of the flashback to Pilar’s birth? 
  • What do we learn about Celia’s past on p. 24?

Notes


  • It is worth noting that Garica spends lots of time describing Cuba with deep, emotional imagery. It seems vibrant and colorful and in the opening chapters of Celia and Felicia, the setting is prominent. When we travel to Lourdes in Brooklyn, the setting is not described in as much detail, as there are fewer familial memories there. 
  • The theme of connection/lack of connection to home and the theme of memory are both being developed in this chapter.
  • The written target task (#3) can be on a separate day if needed for time.
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