Central American and Caribbean Literature

By Dorothy A. Carr and Kennard Wright Jr.

This pioneering source book is an essential text for high school teachers of ESOL, English, Spanish, and creative writing.  With background material on the individual countries, books by selected authors, suggested lesson plans, maps, and flags, Central American and Caribbean Literature is a complete study unit.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: Jul 22, 2005
• ISBN: 9781463475697

Dorothy A. Carr

Dorothy A. Carr is an ESOL teacher in the metro Atlanta area.  She has traveled extensively in Central America and the Caribbean.

Book preview

Central American and

Caribbean Literature

By

Dorothy A. Carr

© 2006 By Dorothy A. Carr. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or

transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

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ISBN: 978-1-4208-1883-3 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4634-7569-7 (e)

Published by AuthorHouse 07/08/2022

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Contents

Dual Language Books

Central American – Caribbean Island Literature (Reading List)

Central America

Caribbean Island Literature

Central America

BELIZE

Beka Lamb

COSTA RICA

Costa Rica: A Travelers Companion

The Best Short Stories of Quince Duncan

Assault on Paradise

EL SALVADOR

A Place Called Milagro de la Paz

One Day of Life (Un dia en la vida)

GUATEMALA

Hombres De Maiz (or Men of Corn)

Red Midnight

HONDURAS

The Return of the River

MEXICO

Vatos

Modelo Antiguo

Questions & Swords(Folktales of the Zapatista Revolution)

Elegy on the Death of Cesar Chavez

Esperanza Rising

A Place Where the Sea Remembers

Daughter of Madrugada

Kahlo

NICARAGUA

Stories and Poems

(Cuentos y Poesias)

PANAMA

When New Flowers Bloomed: Short Stories by Women Writers From Costa Rica and Panama

GENERAL INTEREST

Noche Buena

The Revolutions in Spanish America:

Once Upon a Cuento

Caribbean Islands

BARBADOS

Rights of Passage, Masks, Islands

Pig Tails ‘n Breadfruit

In the Castle of My Skin

CUBA

This is Cuba: An Outlaw Culture Survives

The Chin Kiss King

The America of Jose Marti (Selected Writings Translated by Juan De Onis)

Cuba 15

DOMINICA

Wide Sargasso Sea

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC

How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents

In the Time of the Butterflies

Azucar

The Color of My Words

HAITI

The Farming of Bones

Breath, Eyes, Memory

The Butterfly’s Way

A Tast of Salt

A Story of Modern Haiti

JAMAICA

Banana Bottom

River Woman

From Behind the Counter

MARTINIQUE

Solibo Magnificent

Creole Folktales

PUERTO RICO

Woman in Front of the Sun

When I was Puerto Rican

SAINT LUCIA

Collected Poems 1948-1984

Dream on Monkey Mountain

TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO

Salt

Miguel Street

Bruised Hibiscus

Thirst for Rain

Flags of countries (in alphabetical order)

Maps of countries (in alphabetical order)

Organization Chart

Acknowledgements

Thanks are due to the following individuals for their advice and assistance: Julie Perez, chairperson of the World Languages Department, Olga Natal, Spanish teacher, and Evelyn Lamar, Media Specialist at Redan High School in Stone Mountain, Georgia; John W. Jones, Library Associate at the East Point Branch (Georgia); Abayomi Manrique, Director of Caribbean Studies at the Auburn Avenue Research Library in Atlanta, Georgia; all my students in World Literature for the school year 2001-2002; students: Jeremiah Watson (for the landmark maps) and Omarie Pemberton (for the flags and cover design); and Mr. Kennard Wright, social studies teacher at Towers High School in DeKalb County (Georgia). His knowledge of the sociology and cultures of the countries enrich the text.

Dorothy A. Carr

2004

INTRODUCTION

Central American and Caribbean Literature offers the secondary teacher a guide to the study of literature from the region. Here, Mexico is included as part of Cental America because its culture is similar to the region. The names of the books listed in the bibliographic section were provided, in part, by students in my world literature classes (2001-2002). It represents literature from every country in Central America and selected islands of the Caribbean. Wherever possible, I chose indigenous authors. Most of their books are written as young adult literature; others have themes that involve youth. All of them deal with the human experience, reflecting the notion that no matter what part of the world a person comes from, issues of love, happiness, coming of age, and finding our place in society, remain the same. Culture dictates how one deals with these issues.

Two of the books included on the list that were key to my understanding of Central America and the Caribbean were The Revolutions in Spanish America (The Independence Movements of 1808-1825) by Albert Prago and This is Cuba: An Outlaw Culture Survives by Ben Corbett. More advanced readers of Spanish might also want to find and read the Central American Declaration of Independence, written by Jose Celilio Del Valle on September 15, 1821. Born in Honduras, Del Valle later became leader of Guatemala and was subsequently imprisoned. In 1923, he was elected vice president of the Central American Confederation, but refused to serve.

Prago, the author of the first book mentioned, gives the reader a very rich nonfiction source about how Spain had lost all her American possessions, except Cuba and Puerto Rico by 1825. He re-creates the turbulent period in which there were uprisings in Mexico and South America in language young people will find easy to understand. In addition, Prago’s book provides a bibliography in English about Latin America and Mexico. The Revolutions in Spanish America also provides a glossary of Spanish political terms that the reader will come across over and over again as he or she explores Spanish culture.

Corbett, an American journalist, gives a fairly objective verbal picture of Cuba. It’s the island Americans hate to love, and that fact is pretty much indicated. Also nonfiction, This is Cuba: An Outlaw Culture Survives is insightful, comfortable reading. Corbett has a breezy, first person style that is engaging and sure to draw interest from high school readers. For a modern perspective of Cuba, they will likely be attracted to the chapters: Vive Buena Vista (Ibrahim Ferrer and the Buena Vista Social Club), The Cuban Survival Kit, and Paradise Crumbling.

Most of the suggested films can be found in Teacher’s Discovery magazine for foreign language teachers. Others may be found at local video stores. Fidel: The Untold Story is an independent film and distributed through First Run Icarus Films in New York or Florida.

Teachers may want to prepare themselves for this unit by reading The Cultures of the Hispanic Caribbean (University of Florida Press). Too advanced for high school students, it is an anthology of research on the