This week's film, Like Water For Chocolate / Como agua para chocolate, is considered to be one of the first

international blockbusters to come out of Mexico. The film spans the decades of the late 19th and early 20th century, and is centered around the mother and 3 sisters of a family. Men are present, but it's a female-centered film. Two other elements are extremely important in this film. One is food. I suggest eating before class; you will certainly leave hungry if you don't! The second is Magic Realism. This artistic and literary term was first used by a German art critic but was made popular in the early and middle parts of the 20th century in relation to Latin American literature [a version of which I am, coincidentally teaching in translation next semester...] Magic Realism basically posits that what may seem strange, weird, or even magical to you does so because you're not a part of the culture in which these actions are commonplace and normal. The audience reacts to the strangeness of the events; the characters usually don't, because they are used to these events. http://www-english.tamu.edu/pers/fac/andreadis/474H_ahapw/Definition_Magic.Realism.html [a brief definition and explanation of the term] Readings and questions: Your answers should be about 4- 5 sentences long. You can combine answers into a narrative form if you want. p. 364 How is Pancho Villa portrayed? How does Villa view women? p. 375 In general, how did Pedro's life during the Mexican Revolution differ from Esperanza's life? Did anything that happened to either of them make an impression on you? Explain. p. 403 How would you characterize Rosalie Evans? p. 545 How did Modesta end up with the job that she did? How did her behavior distinguish her from her co-workers? What does this tell us about her as a person?