Blog Post Six: The Garden of Forking Paths and Of Clay We are Created.

What is the benefit of teaching Latin American Literature, especially in Arizona? I can think of quite a few, considering we have a large population of Latino and Latina students in our schools. Teaching Latin American Literature not only teaches those who are not Latino, about the culture, but also teaches those who are of Latin American descent more about their culture. For this section of readings, I would emphasize the role of choices and consequences.
For both “The Garden of the Forking paths” and “And of Clay We Are Created” I would have the students make inferences about the text and what will happen to the characters based on the foreshadowing details. They would do this by annotating the text individually.  I would ask them to compare and contrast the characters’ choices in both stories, in groups, and write down and share out their findings. I would also ask each student to think of a time when their choices affected them either negatively or positively, and share the outcome. I would ask the students then to write an alternative ending to “The Garden of Forking Paths” and share what ‘choices’ they changed for the characters and why they did so.

I think that the popular culture element that could be used in this lesson would be the distant feeling that was portrayed through the technology use in “And of Clay We Are Created” and how that distance is seen in today’s culture. The following hyperlink contains discussion questions that can be used to break the class into groups of 2 to 4 and allow them to dive deeper into the story. https://alinihatekenblog.wordpress.com/2008/09/05/discussion-questions-for-isabel-allende%E2%80%99s-%E2%80%9Cand-of-clay-are-we-created%E2%80%9D-1991/


In conclusion, I think that in today’s day and age, it is important for students to understand the value and weight of making their own choices and these stories allow for them to contemplate that in a fun and creative way, while allowing them to see the value of choice and the consequences of those choices.  
  

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