Dreaming in Cuban

Lesson 23
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ELA

Unit 5

11th Grade

Lesson 23 of 31

Objective


Explain how the author develops Lourdes’s character.

Readings and Materials


  • Book: Dreaming in Cuban by Christina Garcia  pp. 167 – 175 — "A Matrix of Light"

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Target Task


Question 1

What does the narrator imply about Lourdes’s motivation for losing so much weight?

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Sample Response

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Which choice provides the best answer to the previous question?

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Sample Response

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Question 2

Which of the following traits describe Lourdes’s motivation for protecting Pilar’s painting as described on p. 171?

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Sample Response

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Question 3

Toward the end of this chapter we begin to understand Lourdes’s pain. Explain what still causes her so much grief. 

Key Questions


  • Establish narrator and setting.
  • How has Lourdes transformed? Why? 
  • What does Lourdes think of Pilar’s college choice? 
  • What is the allusion to a marriage tradition on p. 168?
  • How is Pilar like Celia?
  • How does Lourdes treat Pilar?
  • Why has Lourdes stopped eating according to p. 169?
  • What does Lourdes dream of on pp. 170–171?
  • What is Lourdes’s stance on Communism and how the United States is handling it?
  • What was Lourdes’s motivation for protecting Pilar’s painting on p. 171?
  • Why does Lourdes “beam” on p. 172?
  • How does the Thanksgiving meal and Pilar’s return impact Lourdes?
  • What is Lourdes’s reaction to the water fountain at the museum on p. 174?

Notes


There are historical allusions to Kennedys, Bay of Pigs, and McCarthy in this section of text.

Next

Analyze and explain how Garcia further develops Pilar’s character.

Lesson 24
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