About This Activity
You will be asked to turn in reading responses regularly throughout the course. A Reader Response is an opportunity for you to formalize your thinking about a text.
INSTRUCTIONS
After reading chapters Uno – Ocho (1-8) in Bless Me, Ultima, please answer the following in a brief reflection:
1.Overall, did the text serve as a window, sliding glass door or window for you?
2. Biographical criticism is the practice of analyzing a literary work through the lens of an author’s experience. After watching the short video about Rudolfo Anaya and reading Carmen Junquera’s interview with him, please share aspects of his autobiography that stand out to you. For example, what do you make of his thoughts on the role of history in our lives? What are Anaya’s preoccupations as a writer and how might those preoccupations become themes in Bless Me, Ultima? How is Anaya reflecting on and defining the Chicano/ the Chicano experience?
3. Bless Me, Ultima is a coming-of-age story that chronicles several rites of passage for Antonio. Which aspects of his development are universal, and which are seem particular to Chicano culture?
4. What are two quotes or sections you found compelling or perplexing in the text. You can also consider responding to the text through the elements of fiction (Links to an external site.) i.e., focus on plot development, characterization, style, other, etc.
5. Cultural and historical contexts give birth to the dilemmas and themes at the center of the novel. Studying these contexts and appreciating intricate details of the time and place help readers understand the motivations of the characters. Bless Me, Ultima embraces myths from New Mexican cultures. The novel presents myths, magic, and miracles on many levels, drawn from Spanish and Catholic traditions, as well as from the native peoples who lived in New Mexico long before the conquistadors and Catholic priests arrived from Europe. The survival of these myths from various traditions testifies to New Mexico’s multicultural heritage, borne out of long struggles among disparate peoples who fought for centuries over land, religion, and sovereignty. At the end of World War II, America modernized rapidly and the vaquero culture began to disappear. Mass production drew rural people away from farming to jobs in the cities. The G.I. Bill offered promise of social and geographic mobility by providing college education and housing to returning soldiers. Yet post-war America was also full of threats. The Cold War intensified between the United States and the Soviet Union, as a nuclear arms race escalated international tensions. New Mexico served as a testing and development site for these weapons, shrouded in mystery and secrecy. Like much of the rest of America, New Mexicans struggled to retain cultural traditions while meeting the demands of post-World War II society.
Are there cultural or historical allusions that currently elude you? What are gaps I can help fill as you make your way through the text? Or on the contrary, how important is it the historical context (the work’s, the writer’s, and the reader’s) to interpreting the work? What inferences can we begin to make about the role of history in Chicanx literature?
6. Close with any additional insights, comments, questions, or concerns.
Last Completed Projects
| topic title | academic level | Writer | delivered |
|---|