Week 5

El Norte Essay

The 1983 Film “El Norte” is a very sad and passionate story of a Guatemalan family that is torn apart by federal troops. Aurturo Xuncax wants respect and is fed up with being treated as a means of slavery and never treated like a human being. After word of a meeting, the federal troops behead him and publically show this small Guatemalan village what happens if they refuse to work in silence for them. The sadness is felt before this event takes place, Lupe, Aurturo’s wife is very scared and expresses her fear to him numerous times. Working as coffee pickers they are pretty much working until the shot of gun, this in itself is a form of working out of fear to these people. At one point Aurturo expresses to his son, Enrique that the rich have no hearts, barely human, and he states that they treat even their animals better than their fellow human beings.

As if the start to their lives wasn’t horrible enough, Enrique and Rosa decide to flee Guatemala and run into many other problems and difficulties within their travels. They ride on busses and other forms of travel and are even treated poorly by fellow Latino people. Called bastard Indians, turkeys, and other rude names they are made fun of and treated poorly. They travel through tunnels and sleep in camps along the way. Once in the north they see that their struggles have just begun. As they struggle to find happiness, they learn that they are still very low in society and that they will have to work five times as hard as regular citizens in order to live or remotely succeed. This movie is a very real portrayal of the struggles that immigrant from South American and Mexico go through just to find a better life. Rosa longs so much to be a part of something better and of more meaning. The way she looks at the rich is really a very realistically sad realization of society. America is supposed to be a free land but it seems that we so easily have used people to get what we want. Although Rosa and Enrique were able to flee a horrible land of persecution, they found that the struggles were not gone in the North. Before coming to America all they heard about was how in the North even poor people had cars, and toilets and other wonderful amenities. This movie should be a lesson to everyone that we take for granted even such amentias as home appliances, we are really very lucky to live the way we do and should cherish live in every way. But the reality was that the struggles were still very present, and unfortunate are very present even today.

l. What stands out the most when you first see it?
.The colors and the abstract art look to it.
2. How come you notice the thing you mention in number 1?
.The colors and contrast of bright colors against a black and white backing and the geometrical shapes throughout
3. As you keep looking, what else seems important?
.The image is hard for me to make out but I believe something is there of importance, a figure of some sort.
4. How come the thing you mention in number 3 seem important?
.Because it almost seems like it could be a ghostly figure to me
5. How has contrast been used?
.The colors have huge contrast, black, white and grey backing with bright orange, green, yellow and blue
6. What leads your eye around from place to place?
.The shapes and colors
7. What tells you about the style used by this artist?
.Unique, in-depth, secretive with the image, but creative and vibrant
8. What seems to be hiding in this composition? How come?
.The figure, and meaning possibly
9. Imagine the feelings and meanings this artwork represents? Write a few notes about them here.
.The feelings could be dark and hidden, but I am thinking they are celebrating life, it is screaming out for people to look at it.
10. What titles could you give this artwork?
.Electrified
11. What other things interest you about this artwork?
.The fact that it seems like a loud piece, musically maybe
12. List one question that you would ask the artist if you could.
.What is the figure in the middle and what inspired such a creation?



























Online MOLAA visit: Roberto Sebastiaian Motta, Role Reversal 1987
Multiple Choice Questions for Week 5

1. What is a first generation immigrant?

A. The children of immigrant parents, first in a family line to be born in the new country ***
B. A person who is very close to someone who is from another country
C. The grandchild of a person who moved to the US from another country
D. A person who traveled to the United States from another country.
E. None of these

2. People who immigrant to a new country before or during their early teens are called?

A. First Generation Immigrant
B. Second Generation Immigrant
C. 1.5 Generation Immigrant
D. Immigrant ***
E. Both B and A

3. What were the Second Generation and the Children of Immigrants Longitudinal Study?

A. A study of the adaptation process of second generation immigrants***
B. A study about immigrants from China
C. A study about babies born into the United States
D. A study about what a second generation immigrant is
E. A study about Mexico and Immigrants

4. How many foreign born persons are living in the United States?

A. 12 million
B. 15 million
C. 50 million
D. 30 million***
E. 5.5 million

5. What was the main focus of the Second Generation and the Children of Immigrants Longitudinal Study?

A. to learn about Immigrants and where they choose to live
B. to find out how many immigrants there were living in the U.S.
C. to find the outcomes of adaptation, specifically school to work and school to college**
D. to see the test scores of Second generation immigrants
E. the study was never completed


6. In the Movie El Norte, what type of people lived in this small Guatemalan village?
A. Latino
B. Guatemalan
C. Indian
D. Indigenous Mayan**
E. Federal Troops


7. Why was Aurturo Xuncax so adamant about leaving his home on the fateful evening?

A. He needed to get fresh air and think
B. He was tired of living in fear and being treated poorly***
C. He needed to make money for his family
D. None of these
E. He found himself caught up in a bad situation


8. What is a coyote?

A. A wild Animal
B. A guide used to help people from Latin America find their way to the US**
C. A secret place that is used a hideout for illegal immigrants
D. A bar in Los Angeles
E. None of these


9. Why was Rosa so upset toward the end?

A. She wanted to get married
B. She missed her family
C. She felt unwanted in the place they were trying to call home***
D. She was poor
E. She was scared
10. What Does Enrique dream about during his travels?

A. The North
B. Being caught and killed**
C. A woman
D. His Father
E. None of these






Classmates work from Week 4

1. What is magic realism?*a popular writing style where they inter twine fantasy into reality.A famous magic showwhere magic replaces your home lifewhere magic becomes reality.The point in your dreams where it becomes real
2. the main character

Tita*
Pedro
Elena
Juan
Mario

2. While first used in 1925, the term magical realism wasn't properly introduced until _______.a) 1925b) 1905c) 1915d) 1935e) 1955*

1. What country does " Like water for Chocolate" take place in:
a. Argentina
b. Brazil
c. Chile
d. Mexico *
e. Venezuela
9.) No hay que perder el equilibrio is bya.Claudio Gallina*b.jorge lopezc.juan ruizd.felix cruz

2.)What is the name of the young woman's lover in the film?a.Juanb.Pedro*c.Carlosd.Ernestoe.Misael


3. What special powers does Tita De La Garza have?a. she can read minds.b. she can control other people's emotions.c. she can float when she's overcome with emotion.d. she reflects her moods in her cooking, affecting those who eat it.*e. she can shoot laser beams from her eyes.
4. In Like Water for Chocolate, why does Tita’s mother forbid her to marry?
a. family tradition dictates that the youngest daughter remain chaste and take care of her mother until death.*
b. she has plans for Tita to marry someone else.
c. she cannot afford to pay for a wedding for Tita.
d. she hates Tita and just wants her to be miserable.
e. she is afraid that Tita will give birth to a son and name him Diego Maradona
What kind of elements are used in magic realism?
*magical elements b. water elements c. love d. fire elements e. none of the above
3. Pedro decides to marry Rosara for what reason:a. because Rosara is the elder sisterb. because she is a good cookc. because she is pregnantd. so he can get over losing Titae. so he can remain close to Tita*