Curriculum Guide for Teaching Community College English Teaching for Social Change
	Home About Introduction Curriculum Guide Assata, an Autobiography Freedom Road The Farming of Bones Essays Academic Writing Abstract Thinking Social Dimension

Topics:   • Novel Offers...   • Issues/Topics   • Intro Ideas   • Vocabulary   • Chapter By Chapter   • Writing Assignments   • Other Assignments
                • Supplementary Readings/Resources   • Handouts

Curriculum Guide
The Farming of Bones

Summary

When Amabelle and Sebastian plan their escape, they are inadvertently separated. Then, Amabelle embarks on a journey to the border to find Sebastian, traveling through the mountains with a group of others who are fleeing the slaughter. When she arrives at the border city of Dajabon, she comes face to face with violent Dominican mobs who have been fooled into embracing the racist lies told by the Government. Amabelle is beaten and tortured when her pronunciation of a word, perejil (parsley), reveals that she is Haitian. This word was used as a shibboleth by the Dominican mobs.

She crosses the border into Haiti after her friend dies in her arms wading across the river that forms the border between the two countries. After she is nursed to health, Amabelle and her friend Yves, travel to Yves’ family’s home. Yves and Amabelle have an ambivalent relationship, complicated by Amabelle’s ongoing search for Sebastian. She continues to keep alive her hope of finding him even after she finds out about his untimely death in the massacre. The novel explores the destructive long-term consequences of the massacre by delving into the inner lives of Yves and Amabelle as they mature into middle age.

Twenty five years later, after Trujillo is killed, Amabelle travels back to Alegria, the little town in the Dominican Republic where she grew into adulthood. She is searching for some kind of closure as well as news of Sebastian. She reconnects with Senora Valencia, her childhood friend, only to discover that the friendship could never have survived the pressures of race and class division. The visit is a sad disappointment and she stops at the border to reflect on her life, experiencing an event that is open for the reader’s interpretation.

Top of page

What does this novel have to offer students?

Furthermore, the novel lends itself to an exploration of Haitian and Dominican history, the 1804 Haitian revolution, the US occupation of Haiti (1915 – 1934), and Dominican Republic (1916 – 1924), the deep-seated historical conflict between Haiti and DR. Minority students in the US, subliminally conscious of the one-sided and superficial history they have been taught, tend to take a sharp interest in Haiti’s history, in particular. They derive a sense of pride from the victorious Haitian revolution as a counterbalance to the American high schools’ emphasis on US slavery, which (because of the way it is taught) minority students often internalize as shameful and embarrassing.

As all good literature, The Farming of Bones evokes a powerful aesthetic response, which can excite students about reading. The novel delves into the universal personal themes of romantic love, the experience of being orphaned at a young age, and how racism and sexism can impact one’s life-long development. Its characters are deeply drawn through dialogue and description. Even though it ultimately tells a sad story, there are also uplifting characters who prevail against the odds.

Lastly, the novel’s beautiful use of language appeals to students’ interest in poetic language. This novel lends itself to a study of description and figurative devices that capture students’ imaginations and give them confidence in interpreting and appreciating the symbolic language of poetry.

Top of page

Some Issues and Topics that could be explored in class

Ⅰ.   Illegal Immigration

The labor of the main characters in the novel, undocumented Haitian immigrants, is exploited to the max. When people have no rights, capitalism works better. Capitalism benefits when a group of workers has a status that weakens their power in society, making them more vulnerable to their employers’ power, which drives down the wages for the whole working class. They immigrate to escape poverty and desperation in their own countries, only to face a different set of problems in their new homes. Indeed, immigration from poorer to poor countries, South to South immigration, involves many more people in the world than South to North immigration. The status of illegal immigration can be better understood by comparing it to chattel slavery, which created the ultimate extreme of exploitation. 60 million people around the world today have been made homeless and stateless due to poverty, oppression, and imperialist war, more than any time since WWII.

Ⅱ.   The History of Hispaniola

Why do Haitians speak French (Creole) and Dominicans speak Spanish? That simple question can unleash a flood of curiosity about the history of the island of Hispaniola, the history of which is completely intertwined with colonialism, slavery, the fight against slavery in the new world, and neo-colonialism. The slaughter of Haitians in 1937 has its roots in the early European occupation of the “new world”. After the French were defeated by an uprising of African slaves, this first black republic abolished slavery and occupied the Spanish side of the island to prevent the whole island from being re-enslaved by European colonizers. However, the Spanish planters who settled in the Eastern side of the island (DR) and remained loyal to Spain, turned this history upside down to create a racist identification with their motherland. Exploring this topic can empower students who come from this part of the world to share insiders’ knowledge with their fellow students.

Today, the racist scapegoating of Haitian immigrants and Dominicans with Haitian descent continues with a vengeance even though it has been met with an international outcry. Recently, a law was passed in the Dominican Republic stripping tens of thousands of Dominicans with Haitian descent of their right to citizenship. Some have been attacked and killed by lynch mobs, and, as in 1937, dark-skinned Dominicans have also been swept up in the mix. A half a million people now face deportation because of this fascist policy.

Ⅲ.   The Concept of Race

The massacre of 1937, as well as the ongoing marginalization and terror waged against Haitians in the Dominican Republic today is ideologically justified by the concept of race. This pseudo-scientific concept, constructed by American eugenicists and perfected by Adolph Hitler, uses genetics to explain the physical, cultural, and lifestyle differences that exist between ethnicities. Through the character of Father Romain, a Haitian priest, who was tortured in one of Trujillo’s prisons after the massacre, Danticat shows Trujillo’s fascist ideology. The belief in the concept of race lurks in societies throughout the world, evident in a diffuse form in attitudes concerning marriage and children. In times of economic crisis, elites propagate it as a potent tool to divide, mislead, and weaken the working class, as occurred in Nazi Germany, South Africa, the United States, and the Dominican Republic.

Ⅳ.   Shibboleth

Shibboleth is a powerful concept to understand. During the ethnic cleansing in 1937 in the Dominican Republic, the pronunciation of the Spanish word, perejil, was used to identify Haitians who spoke Spanish as a second language and therefore were unable to trill their r’s. In much the same way, Islamic fundamentalists today ask captured Middle Eastern people to recite the Koran as a way to identify non-Muslims who will be targeted for persecution or slaughter. Shibboleths have been used through the ages, for nefarious as well as innocent purposes. Focusing on this concept helps students understand the way abstractions develop (based on the origin of the word) and provides a challenging writing assignment in which they have to write an extended definition of Shibboleth.

Ⅴ.   Figurative Language

Being able to interpret figurative language is an essential reading skill. Metaphors, similes, personification are in all kinds of texts, including non-fictional expository texts. However, many students have decided that they “can’t understand poetry” and get stumped when they encounter poetic language in any written form. Therefore, they need guidance in the process of interpreting it. The Farming of Bones has stunning examples of figurative language throughout the novel. Teaching this imaginative reading skill, which so many students have decided is beyond their reach, is a wonderful way to inspire and empower them as critical readers and thinkers.

Top of page

Ideas for introducing the curriculum

Top of page

Vocabulary Lists by Chapter

Directions

Write a good “working definition” of each of the following words. Create a working definition by looking the word up in the dictionary, seeing how it is used in context, and then, write a simple definition using every-day language. As you read, use these definitions to better comprehend the sentences that the words appear in.

Top of page

Chapter by Chapter
Quizzes/Discussion Questions

Chapters for Reading Assignments
The Farming of Bones

Chapters 1 – 5

Quiz

Directions
Answer 4 out of 5 of the following questions:

1.	Describe Senora Valencia’s twins.
2.	What happened to Senora Valencia’s mother?
3.	What do you learn about Senor Pico, Senora Valencia’s husband?
4.	What proposal did Doctor Javier make to Amabelle?
5.	Where are Sebastian’s parents?

For Homework/Class Discussion

1.	There are two different fonts in the book. What does this represent?
2.	Keep a log of the different characters and their relationships, so you can keep straight in your mind who is who.
3.	What’s the setting—the place and time that the action occurs?

Chapters 6 – 10

Quiz

Directions
Answer 4 out of 6 questions.

1.	Describe how Amabelle’s parents drowned and what happened to her right after they drowned.
2.	What do we know about Juana? Why is she sad?
3.	Describe the accident that killed Joel.
4.	How does Papi feel about the accident?
5.	What did Kongo do with Joel’s body?
6.	How does the accident show the inequalities in the Dominican Republic?

Group Work

Choose a recorder to note and report on the group’s ideas. Discuss these questions in your groups. The facilitator will make sure everyone gets a chance to speak and that the group moves through each question.

1.	What are your opinions of the accident?
2.	What does this passage tell you about Amabelle? P. 45 (top) “Nearly everything…..”
3.	Both Amabelle and Mimi work in the homes of wealthy Dominicans. P. 63 mid (“your people….) – p. 64 mid (“…dying from hunger.”) How do they each view the people they work for? Which view do you identify with? Why?
4.	This passage refers to the title of the novel. What meaning do you get from it? P. 55 (bottom) “I knew he considered…..”
	OR

Group Work

When we read a novel, we learn about the characters by how they are described by the author, what they say, how they respond to other characters, and how they respond to the action. The accident in which Joel was killed is a turning point in the book. Our knowledge of each character is deepened by noticing how they respond to this tragic event.
Directions: Discuss and answer the following questions.

1.	Describe (briefly) each character’s attitude to the accident when Joel was killed. • What are the words in the book (underline them for each character) that you are basing your decisions on? (For Pico, this will be different.) • What do you already know about each character that helps explain why they react the way they do?
2.	Whose attitude can you most relate to? Why? (You will have different answers here.) • Pico • Papi p. 44 • Luis p. 38 - 39 • Sebastian p. 53 - 56 • Amabelle p. 53 – 56, p. 66 • Mimi p. 63, p. 65 • Felice p. 65 - 66

Chapters 11 – 15

Quiz

Directions
Answer 4 out of 6 of the following questions:

1.	Why did Kongo disapprove of Joel’s relationship with Felice?
2.	What kind of life did the cane cutters live? What details can you draw on from the novel?
3.	Why does Mimi want Sebastian and Amabelle to live together?
4.	What was Sebastian’s plan for his life?
5.	Besides cutting sugar cane, what kinds of work did Haitians have in the Dominican Republic?
6.	Describe Father Romain? What do you learn about the kind of man/priest he was?

Chapters 16 – 21

Quiz

Directions
Answer 5 out of 7 questions.

1.	How did Amabelle come to be the housemaid for Papi and Senora Valencia?
2.	What character(s) seems to support Trujillo (the Generalissimo)? Who doesn’t seem to support him?
3.	What was Senora Valencia’s mother like?
4.	How and where did Kongo bury Joel?
5.	Why do you think Senor Pico smashes the tea set against the cement walls of the latrines? What does that tell you about him?
6.	What are the rumors the cane workers are hearing?
7.	Why do you think Senora Valencia invites Kongo and the other workers to come into the house for coffee?

Chapters 22 – 25

Quiz

Directions
Answer 3 out of 4 questions.

1.	Why did Sebastian send Kongo to talk to Amabelle? What was the purpose?
2.	Why did Unel and the other Haitian stonemasons form the night watchman brigade?
3.	What is Senor Pico’s attitude toward Rosalinda? What is your interpretation of this?
4.	Why was Senor Pico making his wife practice shooting a gun?

Chapters 26 – 27

Quiz

Directions
Answer 7 out of 9 questions.

1.	How did Amabelle react when Dr. Javier asked her to leave the DR with him?
2.	What is the significance of the wood that Sebastian took from Papi?
3.	Describe Pico’s attitude toward Unel and his brigade.
4.	What kind of tactics did the Haitian people use to defend themselves?
5.	What happened to Sebastian and Mimi?
6.	Why were the two priests arrested?
7.	What were the different attitudes among the Dominicans?
8.	Describe Yves’ and Amabelle’s journey to the border.
9.	Think of all the characters we have met in The Farming of Bones. To what degree are the Dominicans joining with the Generalissimo’s campaign of terror against Haitians.

Group Work

1.	P. 154 – 155 How did you react to the confrontation between Pico and Unel’s brigade? Do you support Unel’ defiance?
2.	P. 144 “Don Ignacio….” – 145 What is bothering Yves about Kongo’s description of his visit with Papi? What is the significance of the wood? What could it be a symbol of?
3.	P. 178 What is Tibon’s point of view about the plight of the Haitians? What is the connection between racism and poverty?
4.	What do you think is going to happen? (If you’ve read ahead, please don’t spill the beans.)

Chapters 28 – 30

Quiz

Directions
Answer five of the following questions:

1.	What happened to the two sisters that Amabelle and Yves were traveling with?
2.	What did Amabelle, Yves, and the others experience in the deserted village?
3.	How did the crowds in Dajabon respond to Trujillo?
4.	What happened to Odette?
5.	What was the meaning of the word parsley or “perejil”? How was it being used?
6.	What happened to Amabelle and Yves after they crossed the river into Haiti?
7.	What did Amabelle learn from talking to other victims?

Group Work

1.	p. 183 (last line) – middle of p. 184 What is Amabelle feeling or experiencing in this passage?
2.	Do you like Tibon? Why or why not?
3.	This chapter shows that ordinary Dominicans were won over to participate in the massacre of innocents. How do you explain this? Do you think something like this could happen here in the U.S.? What could ordinary people do to stop it from happening?

Chapters 31 – 34

Quiz

Directions
Answer 6 out of 8 questions

1.	Where did Yves and Amabelle go after they left the clinic on the Haitian/Dominican border, and what kind of reception did they get?
2.	Describe Yves and Amabelle’s relationship.
3.	How did Yves spend most of his time after they returned to Haiti?
4.	What did the government do for the victims of the massacre?
5.	How did the people respond when the soldiers announced there was no more money for the victims and their families?
6.	Why did Man Denise name her son Sebastian?
7.	Why did Amabelle tell Man Denise that she didn’t believe the story about Mimi’s and Sebastian’s death and why did Amabelle really believe it?
8.	When they finally started talking to each other, what did Yves reveal to Amabelle about Joel’s death?

Group Work

Directions
Read each passage either aloud or silently; then, discuss the questions. One person in the group should take notes on the group’s response.

p. 242  Read Man Denise's words that start with "Those who die young...." 

What do her words mean?  What are her associations with bones? 

p. 246 "Will you go yourself...." to p. 247 "... if only for brief moments, from the past." 

What theme is Danticat exploring here?  What do you think about it? 

p. 249 bottom  "His body immediately leaped...."

When Amabelle and Yves were making love, what happened to him and why?

Chapters 35 – 39

Quiz

Directions
Answer 6 out of 8 of the following questions:

1.	Where did Man Denise (Sebastian’s mother) go and why?
2.	What had happened to Father Romain and in what condition did Amabelle find him?
3.	What happened to the Generalissimo?
4.	How did the survivors of the massacre respond to the news of the Generalissimo’s death?
5.	What was Father Romain’s life like 24 years later?
6.	What was Yves life like 24 years later?
7.	What was Amabelle’s life like 24 years later?
8.	How did Yves father really die?

Chapters 40 – 41

Quiz

Directions
Answer 4 out of 6 questions:

1.	How did Amabelle cross the border into the Dominican Republic?
2.	How had Alegria changed?
3.	How did Amabelle prove her identity to Senora Valencia?
4.	What did Amabelle learn about Senora Valencia and her family?
5.	Why did Amabelle come back to the Dominican Republic?
6.	How do you interpret the very end, when Amabelle went into the Massacre River?

Group Work

1.	Choose one of the metaphors or similes in the first three short paragraphs on p. 281 and explain what it means.
2.	How had Amabelles’ relationship with Senora Valencia changed? How do you explain the change? P. 300
3.	What did Amabelle see in Sylvie’s eyes? P. 305 (bot) – 306
4.	Why does Danticat create the Professor character? What does he represent?

Top of page

Writing Assignments

Ⅰ.   “A Little While”—Summary and Response

(Danticat’s essay about the 2010 Earthquake in Haiti was published in the New Yorker Magazine 2/1/2010)

A.

To write your summary, select the key points in the essay so your readers will understand what the essay is about as well as Danticat’s purpose for writing it. Don’t include any of your own comments or opinions. Focus entirely on what Danticat is saying. Start with an introductory sentence (two sentences is OK too) that includes the following information: • Title of what it is you’re summarizing • Author • Date • What kind of reading it is (Essay? Poem? Short story? News article?) • Where published • Main Idea or Topic You should be able to write a summary of this essay in one paragraph.

B.

Your response will be your reaction, your opinion of the essay. Think back to how you felt when you read the essay for the first time. What were your thoughts and feelings? Think about where your mind took you. Rather than jump around giving different impressions, make one point and develop it. Your response should be at least one paragraph. Please type your summary and response according to the “College Format that I gave out in class.

Ⅱ.   Shibboleth and its use in the Dominican Republic

In this composition you will discuss the concept of Shibboleth and how it was used in the Dominican Republic in 1937. From a writing/research perspective you will learn how to summarize, paraphrase, and use direct quotations.

•	First, define and explain the term Shibboleth. You may include a quotation from a dictionary but the explanation of this concept should be completely in your own words. Part of this should be an explanation of the origin of the word, Shibboleth. As part of your definition, please paraphrase the biblical passage that Danticat includes as the preface to The Farming of Bones.
•	Second, summarize chapter 29, the events in Dajabon. Include one direct quotation in your summary. Make sure you establish a smooth transition between this paragraph and the first one that explains Shibboleth.
•	Lastly, draw a conclusion about what you’ve written so far. Why does it matter? Why should we care? Develop your point of view fully.

You could discuss how the characters in Farming have been impacted by the events in the novel and/or your own experiences that led you to think the way you do. Your composition should be at least three well-developed paragraphs and typed according to the College Format (class handout).

Ⅲ.    Haitian-Dominican Relations

•	Summarize and explain (in your own words) Samuel Martinez’s point about Haitian-Dominican relations. (1 paragraph)
•	What does The Farming of Bones reveal about Haitian-Dominican relations? Use at least three specific examples to support your point. (2 – 3 paragraphs)
•	Taking into account what you have learned from the article, the novel, and your own life experience, write your opinion about the conflict between Dominicans and Haitians and what can be done about it. (1 paragraph)

Ⅳ.   Critical Review

Write a critical review of The Farming of Bones that focuses on Edwidge Danticat’s purpose for writing the book. In Part II, you will integrate 3 – 5 direct quotations from: The Farming of Bones, Danticat’s on-line interviews, “The Theories of Racism”, “The River Massacre”.

Part I

1.	Begin with a summary of the plot, including only the key events. Write it as though the audience were people who hadn’t read the book.
2.	In a second paragraph discuss the concept of Shibboleth and how it relates to novel (summarizing and quoting from The Farming of Bones). (The biblical quotation at the beginning of novel is one way that Edwidge Danticat focuses our attention on her purpose for writing it.)
3.	In a third and possibly fourth paragraph draw a conclusion about why you think Danticat wrote the book. What did she want her readers to walk away with? What did she want us to learn? To feel? To think about? Support your point by discussing your own experience reading the novel.

Part II

For Part II you will not be writing any new paragraphs. You will be adding quotations from the following three sources into the 3 paragraphs (Critical Review) you wrote for Part I.

1.	Weave into your critical review some thoughts you have about either River Massacre or Theories of Racism. Make it clear how this article deepened your understanding of The Farming of Bones.
2.	Read two out of three of on-line interviews with Edwidge Danticat. Choose one or two quotes from the interviews to support your point about Danticat’s purpose. http://www.progressive.org/mag_intvdanticat http://us.penguingroup.com/static/rguides/us/farming_of_bones.html http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2006/10/27/18323801.php

Ⅴ.   Reaction Paper: The Price of Sugar

Write a paper about your reaction to film, The Price of Sugar. It should be at 1 - 2 pages long, so make sure you explain how you feel and why. If you need help developing your ideas, answer one or more of the following questions: What surprised you about the film? What other emotional reactions did you have? What are your experiences or beliefs that led you to react the way you did? Explain. Who do you think needs to see this film? Why?

                                       OR

•	Describe a part of the film that you had a strong reaction to: the priest (his motivation and life work), the conditions of sugar cane cutters, the racist movement against Haitians, the strike and the workers’ movement, the Viccini family, the role of politicians, the role of the media.
•	Describe your reaction.
•	Explain why you reacted as you did. Your explanation should reveal what you believe in and what influenced (people and experiences) the formation of your beliefs.

Ⅵ.    Aesthetic Response to The Farming of Bones

“An aesthetic response is a unique, creative, imaginative, and personal transaction that occurs between the reader and the text…” Louise Rosenblatt

Directions

You have lived this story and gotten inside the hearts and minds of Haitian immigrants, Dominican elites, a woman orphaned as a young girl, a man traumatized by a campaign of terror. In this assignment, you will explore your very personal response to the novel. Choose one of the following to write about. If you choose 1, 2,or 5, try to achieve the character’s authentic voice. (You should read over parts of the novel in which he or she is speaking as a model for your writing.) It should be at least one typewritten page. Edit well.

1.	Imagine you are Father Romain writing a letter to Amabelle giving her advice at the point in her life when the book ends.
2.	In Amabelle’s voice, explain her inner experience when she disrobes and enters the Massacre River at the end of the novel.
3.	Write a letter to Edwidge Danticat explaining what you learned and experienced while reading her novel, The Farming of Bones.
4.	Write a letter to a friend or family member in which you convince them to read the novel, The Farming of Bones. Address the specific aspects of their lives/experiences that make you think they will be able to relate to the novel.
5.	Imagine you are Man Rapadou revealing to her son how his father died and what she wishes for Yves.
6.	Imagine you are Senora Valencia writing in her journal after Amabelle’s visit.

Top of page

Other Kinds of Assignments: Research based, Expressive

Ⅰ.   Oral Report on Immigrants to Poor Countries from Poorer Ones

A.    Sources: Use at least 3 sources which you have in hand on the day of the report.

•    You may use Wikipedia or another encyclopedia for background information.
•    Find at least two news sources, preferably with different points of view.

B.    Present the situation: Plan a report that addresses the following questions:

•    Where is the country you are researching and the country/countries people immigrate from?       (Distribute a map to class)
•    When did the immigration begin and what are the reasons people immigrate there?
•    What kind of work do the immigrants do?
•    What living and working conditions do they face?
•    Is there racism against them? What form does it take?
•    What role are both governments playing (the government in the poor country and the government in the poorer country)?

C.    Critical Reading: your report should show critical reading and thinking:

•    Point of View:
       What phrases, examples, quotes, choice of words help you “hear” the writer’s point of view?

•    Drawing Conclusions:
       By comparing the situation in the country you’ve researched to the Dominican Republic, what conclusions can you draw?

•   Research Questions:
       If you were going to continue to research this situation, what questions (2 – 3) would you try to answer?

D.    Delivery:

•	You may not read your report, but you should have notes on notecards that you glance down at when you speak.
•	Work as a team by dividing down the information between you.

Ⅱ.   Express Yourself!

Choose one of the following ways of expressing your view of Christopher Columbus:

•	Write an °acrostic poem using his name
•	Write a poem or rap about Columbus or the holiday Columbus Day
•	Rewrite 1492 or Columbus Day Song
•	Create a °collage or drawing of: The °Legacy of Christopher Columbus, or Columbus Day
•	Design a Tattoo for Christopher Columbus, accompanied by a narrative that explains the choices you made. Also explain where you would place the tattoo on his body and why.

Tips and Definitions
If you search on the internet for Christopher Columbus images, you’ll find hundreds of images that you could use or may give you ideas.

°	Legacy: something that is handed down or remains from a previous generation or time
°	Collage: a picture made by sticking cloth, pieces of paper, photographs, and other objects onto a surface
°	Acrostic poem: a number of lines of writing in which a combination of letters from each line spells a word or phrase.

Here is an example:

Mother

My world starts with you,

On a hospital bed at night.

The doctor gives me to you.

Hands hold me tight.

Ever so close, you

Rock me through my fright.

Top of page

Supplementary Readings and Resources

1.	“A Little While” (New Yorker Magazine 2/1/2010) A personal narrative essay written by Danticat after the earthquake in Haiti in 2010.
2.	“Haitian-Dominican Relations,” Samuel Martinez A short essay that “suggests that Dominican politicians have used anti-Haitian feeling for political gain.” Adaptation from “Not a Cockfight: Rethinking Haitian-Dominican Relations”, Latin American Perspective 30, No. 3 80 – 101 Reprinted in The Dominican Republic (Resource Book) Teaching for Change
3.	“The River Massacre: The Real and Imagine Borders of Hispaniola”, Michelle Wucker An historical essay that describes the causes and effects of the 1937 massacre in the DR. http://www.windowsonhaiti.com/windowsonhaiti/wucker1.shtml (Shortened version in Handouts section)
4.	Teaching About Haiti (Resource Book) http://www.teachingforchange.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/cchaiti.pdf
5.	“Theories of Racism” An analytical piece on the political economy of racism/a class analysis of racism Excerpted from Fight Racism: A Fighter’s Manual (2008), a Progressive Labor Party pamphlet
6.	“United Front in U.S. Labor Struggle: How the Exploitation of Illegal Immigrants and Lower Class People Affects All Workers”, Grover Furr, Posted 10/19/06 An essay that compares illegal immigrant status to the status of slaves and explains why this powerless status helps employers and hurts all workers. https://msuweb.montclair.edu/~furrg/pol/misc/gfundocworkers1006.pdf
7.	“Columbus, the Indians, and Human Progress” excerpted from A Peoples History of the United States, Howard Zinn (Shortened with questions embedded in Handouts section) A chapter (shortened) that presents an anti-racist history of Columbus’ “discovery of the New World”.

    News articles:

•	“In landmark case, 500 Haitian workers sue Dominican sugar mill” (2009) clavedigital.com
•	“Racist Imperialists Looted Haiti for 500 Years: Capitalism+Earthquake = Mass Murder” posted by Challenge Newspaper 1/22/10 plp.org
•	“A Global Trek to Poor Nations—from Poorer Ones” New York Times http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/27/world/americas/27migration.html?pagewanted=print&_r=0

Video

The Price of Sugar (Complete video available on youtube www.youtube.com/watch?v=rmtfjFxt-Iw)

Summary:

In the Dominican Republic, a tropical island-nation, tourists flock to pristine beaches unaware that a few miles away thousands of dispossessed Haitians have toiled under armed-guard on plantations harvesting sugarcane, much of which ends up in U.S. kitchens. They work grueling hours and frequently lack decent housing, clean water, electricity, education or healthcare. Narrated by Paul Newman, "The Price of Sugar" follows Father Christopher Hartley, a charismatic Spanish priest, as he organizes some of this hemisphere's poorest people to fight for their basic human rights. This film raises key questions about where the products we consume originate and at what human cost they are produced.

Top of page

Miscellaneous Handouts
Full-text readings, other useful handouts related to readings

   Ⅰ.   Writing a summary—“A Global Trek to Poor Nations, from Poorer Ones”

1.	Think about the process of writing a summary (both a reading and writing skill!) What do you need to do as you read “A Global Trek….” for the second time to prepare for writing a summary? What is the thinking process involved? What strategies can you use?
2.	Read the article annotating, marking key points, making marginal notes that identify topic and paraphrase key points.
3.	Now write the main idea of the article in your own words.
4.	Craft your introductory sentence for the summary:
5.	Now, you’re ready to write the rest of the summary (10 – 15 sentences). Include key points and leave out the description, details and examples (which is most of the article).

	Chapter 1 Columbus, The Indians, and Human Progress Arawak men and women, naked, tawny, and full of wonder, emerged from their villages onto the island's beaches and swam out to get a closer look at the strange big boat. When Columbus and his sailors came ashore, carrying swords, speaking oddly, the Arawaks ran to greet them, brought them food, water, gifts. He later wrote of this in his log: They ... brought us parrots and balls of cotton and spears and many other things, which they exchanged for the glass beads and hawks' bells. They willingly traded everything they owned... . They were well-built, with good bodies and handsome features.... They do not bear arms, and do not know them, for I showed them a sword, they took it by the edge and cut themselves out of ignorance. They have no iron. Their spears are made of cane... . They would make fine servants.... With fifty men we could subjugate them all and make them do whatever we want. These Arawaks of the Bahama Islands were much like Indians on the mainland, who were remarkable (European observers were to say again and again) for their hospitality, their belief in sharing. These traits did not stand out in the Europe of the Renaissance, dominated as it was by the religion of popes, the government of kings, the frenzy for money that marked Western civilization and its first messenger to the Americas, Christopher Columbus. Columbus wrote: As soon as I arrived in the Indies, on the first Island which I found, I took some of the natives by force in order that they might learn and might give me information of whatever there is in these parts. The information that Columbus wanted most was: Where is the gold? He had persuaded the king and queen of Spain to finance an expedition to the lands, the wealth, he expected would be on the other side of the Atlantic-the Indies and Asia, gold and spices. For, like other informed people of his time, he knew the world was round and he could sail west in order to get to the Far East.
1.   Where do you think this          reading selection came          from?    2.   Who do you think the Arawaks          were?    3.   Who wrote this? What's a log?          Why might he have kept a log?    4.   What kind of people were the          Arawaks?    5.   What kind of man was          Christopher Columbus?    6.   What are the two societies          being compared? How do          they compare?    7.   Why were the King and Queen          of Spain interested in funding          Columbus' exploration?	Chapter 1 Columbus, The Indians, and Human Progress Arawak men and women, naked, tawny, and full of wonder, emerged from their villages onto the island's beaches and swam out to get a closer look at the strange big boat. When Columbus and his sailors came ashore, carrying swords, speaking oddly, the Arawaks ran to greet them, brought them food, water, gifts. He later wrote of this in his log: They ... brought us parrots and balls of cotton and spears and many other things, which they exchanged for the glass beads and hawks' bells. They willingly traded everything they owned... . They were well-built, with good bodies and handsome features.... They do not bear arms, and do not know them, for I showed them a sword, they took it by the edge and cut themselves out of ignorance. They have no iron. Their spears are made of cane... . They would make fine servants.... With fifty men we could subjugate them all and make them do whatever we want. These Arawaks of the Bahama Islands were much like Indians on the mainland, who were remarkable (European observers were to say again and again) for their hospitality, their belief in sharing. These traits did not stand out in the Europe of the Renaissance, dominated as it was by the religion of popes, the government of kings, the frenzy for money that marked Western civilization and its first messenger to the Americas, Christopher Columbus. Columbus wrote: As soon as I arrived in the Indies, on the first Island which I found, I took some of the natives by force in order that they might learn and might give me information of whatever there is in these parts. The information that Columbus wanted most was: Where is the gold? He had persuaded the king and queen of Spain to finance an expedition to the lands, the wealth, he expected would be on the other side of the Atlantic-the Indies and Asia, gold and spices. For, like
8.   Look on the map. Where          did Christopher Columbus          come from? Where did he          meet the Arawaks? What          does it mean "...sail          west in order to          get to the Far East."    9.   Where does Columbus          think he'll find the gold?    10.   What are timbers? What            is the Santa Maria?            What happened to it?    11.   What are the Nina and Pinta?    12.   Why was he talking about            religion?    13.   Why did Columbus report            to the Court in Madrid?            What country do you            think Madrid is in?    14.   Why did he exaggerate?            What were his promises?	other informed people of his time, he knew the world was round and he could sail west in order to get to the Far East. So, approaching land, they were met by the Arawak Indians, who swam out to greet them. The Arawaks lived in village communes, had a developed agriculture of corn, yams, cassava. They could spin and weave, but they had no horses or work animals. They had no iron, but they wore tiny gold ornaments in their ears. This was to have enormous consequences: it led Columbus to take some of them aboard ship as prisoners because he insisted that they guide him to the source of the gold. He then sailed to what is now Cuba, then to Hispaniola (the island which today consists of Haiti and the Dominican Republic). There, bits of visible gold in the rivers, and a gold mask presented to Columbus by a local Indian chief, led to wild visions of gold fields. On Hispaniola, out of timbers from the Santa Maria, which had run aground, Columbus built a fort, the first European military base in the Western Hemisphere. He called it Navidad (Christmas) and left thirty-nine crewmembers there, with instructions to find and store the gold. He took more Indian prisoners and put them aboard his two remaining ships. At one part of the island he got into a fight with Indians who refused to trade as many bows and arrows as he and his men wanted. Two were run through with swords and bled to death. Then the Nina and the Pinta set sail for the Azores and Spain. When the weather turned cold, the Indian prisoners began to die. Columbus's report to the Court in Madrid was extravagant. He insisted he had reached Asia (it was Cuba) and an island off the coast of China (Hispaniola). His descriptions were part fact, part fiction: Hispaniola is a miracle. Mountains and hills, plains and pastures, are both fertile and beautiful ... the harbors are unbelievably good and there are many wide rivers of which the majority contain gold. . . . There are many spices, and great mines of gold and other metals.... The Indians, Columbus reported, "are so naive and so free with their possessions that no one who has not witnessed them would believe it. When you ask for something they have, they never say no. To the contrary, they offer to share with anyone...." He concluded his report by asking for a little help from their Majesties, and in return he would bring them from his next voyage "as much gold as they need ... and as many slaves as they ask." He was full of religious talk: "Thus the eternal God, our Lord, gives victory to those who follow His way over apparent impossibilities." Because of Columbus's exaggerated report and promises, his second expedition was given seventeen ships and more than twelve hundred men. The aim was clear: slaves and gold. They went from island to island in the Caribbean, taking Indians as captives. But as word spread
15.   Why were the            villages empty?    16.   Who killed the            sailors?    17.   What is the interior?    18.   What is a dividend?    19.   What does it mean -            five hundred best specimens?    20.   What is Columbus            implying about the            Indians?    21.   Who might have            invested in Columbus'            expedition?    22.   Why would an Indian            wear a copper            token?    23.   Why would an Indian            not wear a copper            token?	of the Europeans' intent they found more and more empty villages. On Haiti, they found that the sailors left behind at Fort Navidad had been killed in a battle with the Indians, after they had roamed the island in gangs looking for gold, taking women and children as slaves for sex and labor. Now, from his base on Haiti, Columbus sent expedition after expedition into the interior. They found no gold fields, but had to fill up the ships returning to Spain with some kind of dividend. In the year 1495, they went on a great slave raid, rounded up fifteen hundred Arawak men, women, and children, put them in pens guarded by Spaniards and dogs, then picked the five hundred best specimens to load onto ships. Of those five hundred, two hundred died en route. The rest arrived alive in Spain and were put up for sale by the archdeacon of the town, who reported that, although the slaves were "naked as the day they were born," they showed "no more embarrassment than animals." Columbus later wrote: "Let us in the name of the Holy Trinity go on sending all the slaves that can be sold." But too many of the slaves died in captivity. And so Columbus, desperate to pay back dividends to those who had invested, had to make good his promise to fill the ships with gold. In the province of Cicao on Haiti, where he and his men imagined huge gold fields to exist, they ordered all persons fourteen years or older to collect a certain quantity of gold every three months. When they brought it, they were given copper tokens to hang around their necks. Indians found without a copper token had their hands cut off and bled to death. The Indians had been given an impossible task. The only gold around was bits of dust garnered from the streams. So they fled, were hunted down with dogs, and were killed. Trying to put together an army of resistance, the Arawaks faced Spaniards who had armor, muskets, swords, horses. When the Spaniards took prisoners they hanged them or burned them to death. Among the Arawaks, mass suicides began, with cassava poison. Infants were killed to save them from the Spaniards. In two years, through murder, mutilation, or suicide, half of the 250,000 Indians on Haiti were dead. When it became clear that there was no gold left, the Indians were taken as slave labor on huge estates, known later as encomiendas. They were worked at a ferocious pace, and died by the thousands. By the year 1515, there were perhaps fifty thousand Indians left. By 1550, there were five hundred. A report of the year 1650 shows none of the original Arawaks or their descendants left on the island.
24.   Why might de Las Casas            have changed his position            about Spanish cruelty?    25.   How did the Spanish            view the Indians?    26.   What was Las Casas point            of view (how did he feel            about the Indians)? What            words tell you this?	of the original Arawaks or their descendants left on the island. The chief source-and, on many matters the only source-of information about what happened on the islands after Columbus came is Bartolome de las Casas, who, as a young priest, participated in the conquest of Cuba. For a time he owned a plantation on which Indian slaves worked, but he gave that up and became a vehement critic of Spanish cruelty. Las Casas transcribed Columbus's journal and, in his fifties, began a multivolume History of the Indies. Las Casas tells how the Spaniards "grew more conceited every day" and after a while refused to walk any distance. They "rode the backs of Indians if they were in a hurry" or were carried on hammocks by Indians running in relays. "In this case they also had Indians carry large leaves to shade them from the sun and others to fan them with goose wings." Total control led to total cruelty. The Spaniards "thought nothing of knifing Indians by tens and twenties and of cutting slices off them to test the sharpness of their blades." Las Casas tells how "two of these so-called Christians met two Indian boys one day, each carrying a parrot; they took the parrots and for fun beheaded the boys." The Indians' attempts to defend themselves failed. And when they ran off into the hills they were found and killed. So, Las Casas reports, "they suffered and died in the mines and other labors in desperate silence, knowing not a soul in the world to whom they could turn for help." He describes their work in the mines: ... mountains are stripped from top to bottom and bottom to top a thousand times; they dig, split rocks, move stones, and carry dirt on their backs to wash it in the rivers, while those who wash gold stay in the water all the time with their backs bent so constantly it breaks them; and when water invades the mines, the most arduous task of all is to dry the mines by scooping up pansful of water and throwing it up outside.... After each six or eight months' work in the mines, which was the time required of each crew to dig enough gold for melting, up to a third of the men died. While the men were sent many miles away to the mines, the wives remained to work the soil, forced into the excruciating job of digging
23.   Why is there no            bloodshed in the history            books?	and for this reason, while I was in Cuba, 7000 children died in three months. Some mothers even drowned their babies from sheer desperation.... in this way, husbands died in the mines, wives died at work, and children died from lack of milk . .. and in a short time this land which was so great, so powerful and fertile ... was depopulated. ... My eyes have seen these acts so foreign to human nature, and now I tremble as I write. ... When he arrived on Hispaniola in 1508, Las Casas says, "there were 60,000 people living on this island, including the Indians; so that from 1494 to 1508, over three million people had perished from war, slavery, and the mines. Who in future generations will believe this? I myself writing it as a knowledgeable eyewitness can hardly believe it...." Thus began the history, five hundred years ago, of the European invasion of the Indian settlements in the Americas. That beginning, when you read Las Casas-even if his figures are exaggerations (were there 3 million Indians to begin with, as he says, or less than a million, as some historians have calculated, or 8 million as others now believe?)-is conquest, slavery, death. When we read the history books given to children in the United States, it all starts with heroic adventure-there is no bloodshed-and Columbus Day is a celebration.

Top of page

Handouts
Teaching Figurative Language

   Ⅰ.   Introduction to Figurative Language

Look at an example of figurative language: p. 56

•   Who is saying “…we are the burnt crud at the bottom of the pot.”

•   What do they mean by this?

•   Why does Sebastian disagree with this? What does he think about the cane-cutters?

•   What are undocumented workers called in the U.S.?

•   What is the connotation? Of cane cutters as “burnt crud”? as “a group of vwayaje, wayfarers”?

Steps to understand figurative language:

1.   What words are figurative? Underline them.

2.   Are they an example of a simile, a metaphor, or personification?

3.   What is being compared (in the case of simile or metaphor)?

4.   Visualize the figurative language? What do you see?

5.   What is the writer’s meaning?

Practice using figurative language:

Find the figurative language within each of the following paragraphs. Working with your partner, go through the steps listed above and be prepared to present your explanation to the class.

A.

p. 111 “Sebastian rose….”

p. 11 “Senora Valencia motioned …..

B.

p. 108 last paragraph

p. 37 “While the senor visited….”

C.

p. 70 “ I thought of my own situation…..”

p. 63 “A few more people arrived….”

D.

p. 89 “Once the coffin was built….”

p. 82 “I am always curious as to what is boiling ….”

   Ⅱ.   Figurative Language: A Process for Understanding it

Metaphor

   an implied comparison between two unlike things that actually have something important in common

Simile

   a stated comparison between two unlike things that actually have something important in common

P. 119

First paragraph

   “The children, with the dust like a flying rug at their heels…..”

   • Metaphor or Simile? ________________________

      (1)______________________________________________ is being compared to

      (2)__________________________________________.

   • Think about (2). What do you see/hear?

      __________________________________________________________________

      __________________________________________________________________

   • How is this like (1)? Or, what is it saying about (1)?

      __________________________________________________________________

      __________________________________________________________________

p. 139

First paragraph

    “The dust rises in funnels from the ground and sweeps down the road. Like a sheet come undone from the clothesline, it       makes its own shadow, along with the birds that circle above….”

   • Metaphor or Simile? ________________________

      (1)______________________________________________ is being compared to

      (2)__________________________________________.

   • Think about (2). What do you see/hear?

      _____________________________________________________________

      __________________________________________________________________

   • How is this like (1)? Or, what is it saying about (1)?

      ______________________________________________________________

      __________________________________________________________________

Top of page