Dos

• Gabriel’s lost dream: Gabriel dreams of taking his family to California to start a vineyard (14-5, 25-6).

• Archetype: Modernization overtaking people who grew up with the old ways

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Dos

• Is Ultima a witch? Tony tells us, “She taught me the names of plants and flowers, of trees and bushes, of birds and animals; bust most important, I learned from her that there was a beauty in the time of day and in the time of night, and that there was peace in the river and in the hills” (15).

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Dos

• Rio Pecos What does the river symbolize? • Tony admits, “I had been afraid of the

awful presence of the river… But the innocence which our isolation sheltered could not last forever, and the affairs of the town began to reach across our bridge and enter my life” (15). Later, he witnesses a man’s death on the banks of the river (21-3).

• Compromise between mother and father: The location of their home

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Dos

• Tony witnesses a man’s death: Antonio watches, hidden, as “Lupito’s pistol sounded again. Still, he was not aiming at the men on the bridge. He was shooting to draw their fire!” (22)

• Will Tony become a priest? After the shooting death, Tony is stricken with grief: “A priest could have saved Lupito… How would I ever wash away the stain of blood from the sweet waters of my river?” (23)

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Dos

• Dream #2 In this nightmare, Antonio sees his three brothers, who tell him what they think his destiny will be (25-6).

• La llorona (archetype) is compared to Tony’s mother.

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Tres

Gabriel’s beliefsFreethinker: Vaqueros not very religious (29). The church is too controlling. Priests are feminine. Gabriel is compared to the devil (31).Life gives strength, helps a boy become a man.

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María’s beliefsDevout Catholic: Lunas were led to their valley by a priest (29). The church is the center of the community. Life destroy a boy’s innocence, the purity given by God (30-1).

Tres

• Is Ultima a witch? On the way to church, the townspeople whisper about her, but she ignores them (33).

• Ultima tells Tony, “If a person really wants to know, then he will listen and see and be patient. Knowledge comes slowly-” (34).

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Tres

• Loss of innocence (archetype) Tony meets the other little boys of the town: Ernie, Horse, Bones, Samuel, the Vitamin Kid, Abel, Florence, and Lloyd (35-38).

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Tres

• Read p. 30-34; 35-38• Reader’s Theater• Kid posters with a quotation• Example: The morning after Lupito’s

death, when Gabriel arrives home, we know Antonio is reminded of Satan because he says, “The smell of gunpowder was on his clothes. They say the Devil smells of sulfur” (31).

Tres

• Example: After Horse tells Florence he is going to hell, Bones says, “Los vatos de Los Jaros are tough!” (37)

• Example: After Bones says that people from Los Jaros are tough, Horse says, “Come on Florence, let’s wrestle” (37).

• Example: After Samuel finishes telling his story, the Vitamin Kid says, “I’ll race you! I’ll race you!” (36)

Tres

• Non-example: Before Antonio beat him he challenged Florence to see who spit farther “Horse cleared his throat and let fly a frog Then Florence cleared his throat and spit a wad that beat Horse” then Horse said he beat me? Abel says yes, “Horse says! “B-------! (36)

• Fixed: Before Horse is flipped by Antonio, Horse challenges Florence to see who can spit farther. When Florence beats him, Horse says, “B-------!” (36)

Tres

• Non-example: After Tony stops talking about Florence, Ernie’s still talking, and says, “-And there were brains and blood all over the damned place. On the table, on the floor, even on the ceiling, and his eyes were open as he fell, and before he hit the floor Lupito was out the door-” (pg. 36)

• Fixed: After Tony describes Florence as a “golden angel,” we hear Ernie still talking about the murder. He’s saying, “-And there were brains and blood all over the damned place” (36).

Review

• Put these events in order: • Antonio witnesses Lupito’s death• Gabriel brings Ultima to the Márez

home to stay• Antonio meets Horse• Antonio first hears Ultima’s owl• Townspeople whisper about Ultima

on the way to church

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Cuatro y Cinco

• Rio Pecos What does the river symbolize?

• Tony asks Ultima about it (41-2).• Tony mentions the river again when he

speaks of the witches (50).

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Cuatro y Cinco

• Will Tony become a priest? When Tony tells the story of how the Virgen de Guadalupe appeared in Mexico, he states, “Although there were many other saints, I loved none as dearly as the Virgin” (43-4) .

• Tony tells the difference between God, who is wrathful, and the Virgin, who is loving (44).

• Dream #3 Tony meets the Virgin (45).More

Cuatro y Cinco

• Family Tony’s family visits the Lunas to help with the autumn harvest (43, 47-50)

• Gabriel remains at home (48).• Tony’s grandfather says that the war

“is against the will of God” (49).• Will Tony become a priest? Tony’s

Uncle Juan believes he will become a priest, (49).

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Cuatro y Cinco

• Ultima’s Owl What does the owl symbolize?

• Rio Pecos What does the river symbolize?

• Tony tells us he is aware of witches dancing with the devil across the river, but the owl helps him fall asleep (50).

Cuatro y Cinco

• Read bottom of p. 49-50• The most important thing about

these two chapters… [learn to write a paragraph]

Seis

Gabriel’s desiresHe wants freedom. He wants to give up and move to California: He argues with his wife (51-4).He wants to set Tony free.

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María’s desiresShe wants to remain near her family and wants Tony to get a good education.She wants to protect Tony from the world.

Seis

• Will Tony become a priest? He talks about the time he didn’t make the sign of the cross (55).

• Ultima says “sadly,” in response to María’s begging her to reveal Tony’s destiny, “He will be a man of learning” (56).

• Tony’s first day at school (56-9).• Loss of innocence: The archetype of

ethnocentrism and la tristesa de la vida, the sadness of life (58-9)

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Seis

• Ultima’s Owl What does the owl symbolize?

• Ultima’s owl gives Tony comfort on his way to school (56).

Seis

• Read p. 51-9• Anaya has come under fire for not seeming more

critical of the “white world” and its prejudice in Bless Me, Ultima. Anaya responds, “…if the literature is only one of defiance to the white world, or a literature that only has an impetus or force as long as that white model exists, then there is a danger, because we cannot define ourselves… We have to come out of our own experience, our own tradition, culture, roots, our own sense of language, of story, and deal with that and to hell with the white world… We are who we create” (Bruce-Novoa, 194).

Team Tests… You need one of each:Quotation finder & Decision makerQuotation finder & RecorderQuotation finder & ReporterQuotation finder & Symbol expert

Siete y Ocho

• Dream #4 In the dream Tony describes his brothers as “dying” even though he already knows the war is over and they are coming home (61).

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Siete y Ocho

• Family Tony is the first to greet his three older brothers (62).

• What’s wrong with Tony’s brothers? Gabriel now sees his California dream coming true (63), but his sons passively resist. The narrator says, “They were like lost men who went and came and said nothing” (65-6).

• Tony says they were like “giants” before, and now they’re “like wild bulls” (69).

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Siete y Ocho

• Read p. 62-4• Read p. 65-9

Nueve

• Dream #5 Loss of innocence (archetype) as Tony dreams about his brothers visiting Rosie’s (70-1).

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Nueve

• Family: Inside each of Tony’s brothers: devotion to family vs. the Màrez blood (71-3). Two brothers leave Guadalupe.

• Tony walks to town with Andrew (73-5).

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Nueve

• The legend of the golden carp (79-81) • Archetype of the forbidden fruit (80)• “I do not fish for the carp,” Tony tells

Samuel. “It is bad luck” (79).• Will Tony become a priest? After the

story Tony’s belief system is confused; he wonders, “If the golden carp was a god, who was the man on the cross? The Virgin? Was my mother praying to the wrong God?” (81)

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Nueve

• Read p. 70-6• Read p. 79-82

Diez

• Is Ultima a witch? Ultima brings Tony to help cure Uncle Lucas. He says, “It was truly the work of a bruja that was slowly killing my uncle!” (84)

• Tenorio makes the sign of the cross when he sees Ultima (93).

• Ultima tells Tony he does not need to be afraid, that “The smallest bit of good can stand against all the powers of evil in the world and it will emerge triumphant” (98).

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Diez

• Ultima’s Owl What does the owl symbolize?

• Ultima’s owl attacks coyotes outside Uncle Lucas’s house (99).

Diez

• Read p. 83-105• Ultima’s argument with Tenorio: p.

92-4

Once

• Is Ultima a witch? The other kids believe she is (110-1).

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Once

• Will Tony become a priest? Tony wonders how he can believe in the golden carp and in the Catholic God (107).

• Archetype of the forbidden fruit (108-9)• Archetype of la llorona (118-9)• Tony feels responsible for warning the

town that their sins will result in all of the residents drowning (119).

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Once

• Will Tony become a priest? When Tony asks Ultima what to believe, she answers, “Antonio… I cannot tell you what to believe. Your father and your mother can tell you, because you are their blood, but I cannot. As you grow into manhood you must find your own truths-” (119)

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Once

• Dream #6 Marìa, Gabriel, and Ultima all appear in Tony’s dream about a great lake and the destruction of the village (119-21).

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Once

• Read p. 106-108• Read p. 113-115

Doce

• Family: Gabriel laments the nature of his own blood, and admits that it might be better for Tony if he is in fact a Luna (123).

• The archetype of modernization: The fate of the vaqueros (125)

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Doce

• Is Ultima a witch? Ultima gives Tony charms to protect him from Tenorio’s evil (123-4).

• Ultima passes Tenorio’s test, but only when her owl distracts the onlookers (134).

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Doce

• Read p. 127-135

Trece

• Family: Tony and his family return for the Lunas’ harvest in the fall of 1945. This time, Gabriel comes along too (136).

• Uncle Juan asks Marìa and Gabriel if Tony can spend next summer (1946) learning their ways (142).

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Trece

• Is Ultima a witch? Tenorio’s daughter is denied funeral mass, which is akin to excommunication from the Catholic church (136, 141).

• Dream #7 Tony sees Ultima’s face in a witch’s coffin (140).

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Trece

• Will Tony become a priest? When thinking about God’s inability to forgive Tenorio, Tony says, “Perhaps that is why God could not forgive; he was too much like man” (138).

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Trece

• Read p. 139-142

Catorce

• Loss of innocence (archetype) Tony must decide if he will defend himself against his classmates, who spout off rumors about Ultima and Andrew (145-6).

• Ultima warns Tony, “Take care of the evil in the wind” (149).

• Samuel tells Tony about a fight between Narciso and Tenorio at the bar, saying, “…the blood of a man thickens with the desire for revenge, and if a man is to be complete again then he must let some of that thick blood flow” (150).

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Catorce

• Loss of innocence (archetype) Tony’s classmates continue to use foul language (151-9).

• After witnessing a nasty fight between Narciso and Tenorio, Tony follows Narciso in search of Andrew (160-5).

• After finding Andrew, Tony is crushed. He thinks, “Had I already lost my innocence?... How had I sinned?” (165)

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Catorce

• Loss of innocence (archetype) Tony continues to follow Narciso, thinking to himself, “I had somehow lost my innocence and let sin enter into my soul, and the knowledge of God, the saving grace, was far away” (167).

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Catorce

• Will Tony become a priest? Tony is once again faced with the task of praying an Act of Final Contrition (170).

• Dream #8 The dream begins with Tony begging a wrathful, cruel God for mercy, but he is forsaken, his hands “bloodied” (172-4). The devil-worshipers kill everyone Tony cares about, but the golden carp returns and brings rebirth (174-6).

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Catorce

• Read p. 145-6• Read p. 151-9 (play)• Read p. 160-76

Quince y Dieciséis

• Loss of innocence (archetype) Andrew apologizes (177-8)

• Marìa tells Tony what spring and summer will bring (179).

• Family: Gabriel and his sons come to understand one another, even if all must suffer. Andrew reassures his father that all three sons remember how things used to be (184).

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Quince y Dieciséis

• Will Tony become a priest? In the spring, Tony says “Sometimes, after school let out in the afternoon, I went alone to church and… asked God to answer my questions, but the only sound was always the whistling of the wind filling the empty space” (187).

• Loss of innocence (archetype) Tony meets Tenorio (187-8)

• Is Ultima a witch? Ultima checks to make sure Tenorio didn’t curse Tony (189).

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Quince y Dieciséis

• Read p. 180 (bottom)-185• Read p. 187 (bottom)-

Diecisiete: Anticipation Guide

• Strongly agree = 1; Strongly disagree = 4

• ___ 1. All the best things in life tend to last a short amount of time.

• ___ 2. The longer a person spends at Disneyland, the more they tend to love it and feel excited.

• ___ 3. People who accept what the church tells them, without any doubt or questions, are usually good people. Mor

e

Diecisiete: Anticipation Guide

• Strongly agree = 1; Strongly disagree = 4• ___ 4. People who wonder about their

faith, who doubt and question what the church says, are usually good people.

• ___ 5. Your actions matter more than your thoughts.

• ___ 6.Your status matters more than your conduct.

• ___ 7. Knowledge is more helpful than dangerous.

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Diecisiete

• Man’s destruction of the natural world (archetype) Tony finds out about atomic testing at White Sands, New Mexico, and about the destruction of the llano by modern machinery (190-2).

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Diecisiete

• Will Tony become a priest? While in church, Tony wonders, “Why does evil go unpunished?” (191)

• Tony explains to Florence, who is an atheist, how sin works (192). Then Tony’s classmates argue about religion, and it frustrates Tony so much that he wonders, “Were the fish of the golden carp happier than we were? Was the golden carp a better God?” (197)

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Diecisiete

• Read p. 190-202

Dieciocho y Diecinueve

• Will Tony become a priest? On the way to catechism, Tony again asks Florence to participate, and again Florence frustrates him with difficult theological questions (204).

• While in church, Tony reflects, “School work was dull and uninspiring compared to the mysteries of religion,” and he admits he fears eternal damnation (204).

• Horse, meanwhile, throws up from staring at the candle (206-7).

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Dieciocho y Diecinueve

• Will Tony become a priest? Tony plays the role of priest with his friends, and not only do they compete to see who has the “worst” sin, they expect Tony to punish rather than forgive (208-15).

• Tony’s first real confession seems forgettable by comparison (216).

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Dieciocho y Diecinueve

• Will Tony become a priest? Tony’s first communion is dominated by the foolishness of the other kids. As it’s about to end, Tony says, “I called again to the God that was within me, but there was no answer. Only emptiness” (217-21).

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Dieciocho y Diecinueve

• Read p. 204• Read p. 208-16• Read p. 220 (middle)-221

Veinte y Veintiuno

• Is Ultima a witch? Ultima decides to help cure an ancient curse put on Téllez’s family (226-34).

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Veinte y Veintiuno

• Dream #9: Tony dreams again of his three brothers, who seem lost, like tortured, lost ghosts. They call to him for help, and he obliges them (235).

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Veinte y Veintiuno

• Will Tony become a priest? Tony’s doubts grow Sunday after Sunday; he says, “I prepared my body and thoughts for receiving God, but there was no communication from Him” (236).

• Cico tells Tony that the others would kill the golden carp if they found out about him, because “The god of the church is a jealous god; he cannot live in peace with other gods” (237).

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Veinte y Veintiuno

• Will Tony become a priest? A third time Tony prays the Act of Final Contrition (241).

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Veinte y Veintiuno

• Read p. 235• Read p. 236-42

Veintidos

• Dream #10 Tony is visited by Lupito, Narciso and Florence. “Everything I believed in was destroyed” (244).

• The sadness of life: When Tony is about to leave for the summer, Ultima tells him, “Life is filled with sadness when a boy grows to be a man… Be prepared to see things changed when you return” (245).

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Veintidos

• Will Tony become a priest? Tony asks his father why there is so much evil in the world (248).

• “Would they smile when they learned that I doubted the God of my forefathers, the God of the Lunas, and knew I praised the beauty of the golden carp?” (257)

• Is Ultima a witch? Tenorio’s second daughter dies, and Tony tries to reach Ultima before he does (253-62)

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“Always have the strength to live. Love life, and if despair enters your heart, look for me in the evenings when the wind is gentle and the owls sing in the hills. I shall be with you” (261).

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“Sometime in the future I would have to build my own dream out of those things that were so much a part of my childhood” (261).

End

Veintidos

• Read p. 243-5• Read p. 248-9 (top)• Read p. 251-62