Poet Slave of Cuba, The: A Biography of Juan Francisco Manzano |
Publication Information
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Author: Engle, Margarita |
Illustrator: Qualls, Sean |
Title: Poet Slave of Cuba, The: A Biography of Juan Francisco Manzano |
Date: 2006 |
Publisher: Henry Holt and Company |
City: New York |
ISBN, paperback: 0-8050-7706-5 |
ISBN, hardback: |
Recommended audience:
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ABE/ABLE:
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ESOL:
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Family:
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Young Adult:
Yes |
Picture:
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General Information:
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Book Type(s):
poetry, biography and autobiography
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HSE Descriptor(s):
language arts - reading| social studies
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Summary: |
This true story of 19th Century Cuban poet Juan Francisco Manzano, who was born a slave, is told in free verse from various points of view--the boy, his mother, his father, and his owners. |
Teaching Ideas: |
Since the story is told from various points of view, teachers could use the book to illustrate perspective by choosing a particular passage and tell the event from the point of view of another character. Students might describe Juan's love of words and poetry and what escape they provide. Readers may also find it helpful to write a summary of Manzano's life, incorporating the various viewpoints. This especially brutal and humiliating account of slavery raises several questions for discussion and writing: How do individual personalities (mother, father, Dona Beatrice, La Marquesa, don Nicholas) and the legal system of slavery respond to Juan's oppression? How is Juan's experience important to us today? Readers might read Toussaint L'Ouverture by Walter Dean Myers to understand a similar opposition to slavery in Haiti. Students could write a verse expressing their thoughts about this story or write a letter from Juan to his owner. |
Teaching Strategies: |
Discussion Webs
http://literacy.kent.edu/eureka/strategies/discussion_webs.pdf
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Matrices or Charts
http://literacy.kent.edu/eureka/strategies/matrices_charts.pdf
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Reader's Theater
http://literacy.kent.edu/eureka/strategies/readers_theater.pdf
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Think-Pair-Share
http://literacy.kent.edu/eureka/strategies/think_pair_share.pdf
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Unsent Letters
http://literacy.kent.edu/eureka/strategies/unsent_letters.pdf
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Keywords: select any link below for a list of resources which also have that keyword |
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