Study Guide
Chicano Literature
Questions for Rosario Castellanos's poem, "La Malinche"
- What does this line mean?:
"From her royal throne my mother announced: she is dead."
- How does this line recall the Florentine Codex?
"I go in chains, toward my destiny, and am followed still by the sounds of
the mournful chants with which they bury me"
Questions for Rodolfo Gonzales's poem, "I am Joaquin"
- Explain these lines using what you know from the Florentine Codex
and class discussions
I am Cuauhtemoc,
Proud and Noble
Leader of men
King of an empire,
civilized beyond the dream of the Gachupin Cortez
(Gachupin is the name given to Spaniards in Mexico; it is derogatory in this
context)
- Explain this binary (tyrant and slave) and how it reflects the poet's
ambivalence about his ancestry
The Ground was Mine
I was both Tyrant and slave
- Explain this passage and each of the three figures:
I am faithful,
humble,
Juan Diego
the Virgen de Guadalupe
Tonantzin, Aztec Goddess too.
Questions for Rivera's And the Earth Did Not Devour Him
- What is the setting of the story and the plot? (when, where, and what)
- What is the meaning of the title and what story does it relate to?
- Why is it significant that the boy is nameless?
- Who are Dona Bone and Don Laito
- How does Rivera depict prejudice and racism in the text? Think about
the barber shop and the boy's expulsion from school.