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Poet Slave of Cuba, The: A Biography of Juan Francisco Manzano

Publication Information

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:

ABE/ABLE:

ESOL:

Family:

Young Adult: Yes

Picture:

General Information:

Book Type(s): poetry, biography and autobiography

HSE Descriptor(s): language arts - reading| social studies

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: