“[I am] only a public entertainer, who has understood his time.”
Attributed to Wash. Post 30 Nov. 1952. The Post article is quoting an article in Quick Magazine from the summer of 1951. According to a letter by William S. Rubin in New York Times 5 Jan. 1969, this is ‘a trumpery originated in Il Libro Nero published by Giovanni Papini in 1951.’”
Excerpted from: Schapiro, Fred, ed. The Yale Book of Quotations. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2006.
OK, for this, the final Friday of Hispanic Heritage Month 2022, here are a reading on Salvador Dali and the vocabulary-building and comprehension worksheet that accompanies it. What has Salvador Dali to do with Hispanic history? I can’t answer that question in the affirmative with any confidence, so I’ll offer up an opinion of Dali himself.
His art never appealed or spoke to me. In fact, I found it pretentious, dorm-room metaphysical crap. His glib self-promotion turned me off, and his cutesy personal politics, or his “surreal dalliance with fascism,” are simply repulsive. What this post shows, I am utterly loathe to admit, is that I am running out of documents with which to observe Hispanic Heritage Month. So, if you find these documents useful, I’m relieved.
If you find typos in these documents, I would appreciate a notification. And, as always, if you find this material useful in your practice, I would be grateful to hear what you think of it. I seek your peer review.
“Usumacinta River: River, southeastern Mexico and northwestern Guatemala. Rising in western Guatemala, it flows northwest, forming a section of the Guatemala-Mexico boundary, before emptying into the Grijalva River in Mexico. Its upper course is known as the Chixoy or Salinas River; with the Chixoy, it is approximately 600 miles (1,000 kilometers) long.”
Excerpted from: Stevens, Mark A., Ed. Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Encyclopedia. Springfield, Massachusetts: Merriam-Webster, 2000.
Here is a Cultural Literacy worksheet on the tango, the dance that originated on the Rio de la Plata, which forms the natural border between Argentina and Uruguay. I learned, while conducting the modest research this post required, that the tango in 2009 joined the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage List at the proposal of the Argentinian and Uruguayan governments.
In any case, this is a half-page worksheet with a one-sentence reading and one comprehension question; it is the sparest of introductions to a fascinating cultural phenomenon.
If you find typos in this document, I would appreciate a notification. And, as always, if you find this material useful in your practice, I would be grateful to hear what you think of it. I seek your peer review.
David Alfaro Sigueiros: (1896-1975) Mexican painter. A Marxist active in his youth, he fought in the Mexican Revolution alongside Venustiano Carranza, who rewarded him by sponsoring his studies in Europe. Back in Mexico (1922), he began his lifework of decorating public buildings with murals and organizing unions of artists and workers. With Diego Rivera and Jose Clemente Orozco, he cofounded the renowned school of Mexican mural painting. His activism interrupted his career several times when he was imprisoned, chose self-imposed exile, or fought in the Spanish Civil War. His murals are marked by great dynamism, monumental size and vigor, and a limited color range subordinated to dramatic effects of light and shadow. His easel paintings (e.g. Echo of a Scream, 1937) helped establish his international reputation. In 1968 he became the first president of the Mexican Academy of Arts.
Excerpted from: Stevens, Mark A., Ed. Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Encyclopedia. Springfield, Massachusetts: Merriam-Webster, 2000.
On this fourth Friday of Hispanic Heritage Month 2022, here is a reading on Pablo Picasso with its attendant vocabulary-building and comprehension worksheet.
If you find typos in these documents, I would appreciate a notification. And, as always, if you find this material useful in your practice, I would be grateful to hear what you think of it. I seek your peer review.
“Guillermo O’Donnell: (1936-2011) Argentine political scientist. He earned a law degree in Argentina and a PhD from Yale University. He taught at universities in South America, Europe, and the United States (principally Notre Dame), and has written many books on Latin American authoritarianism and democracy and the transition from one to the other. His pathbreaking analysis of ‘bureaucratic authoritarianism’ as a specific type of military rule found especially in Latin America from the 1960s to the 1980s contributed greatly to the understanding of comparative politics.”
Excerpted from: Stevens, Mark A., Ed. Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Encyclopedia. Springfield, Massachusetts: Merriam-Webster, 2000.
“Astor Piazzola: (1921-1992) Argentine composer. Born in Buenos Aires, he lived in the Bronx, New York, until he was 15, then returned to Argentina to play the bandoneon (a type of accordion) in a tango band led by Anibal Troilo (1917-1975). From 1944 he led his own groups. His interest in classical music led to study with Nadia Boulanger (1954-55) and the development of his own compositional style, infusing elements of jazz and modern music into tango. Not always initially popular with tango fans, his music is now recognized as having revived the genre and greatly expanded its artistic potential.”
Excerpted from: Stevens, Mark A., Ed. Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Encyclopedia. Springfield, Massachusetts: Merriam-Webster, 2000.
Posted in English Language Arts, Quotes, Reference
Tagged hispanic history, music, professional development, readings/research
“Magic Realism: (Sp, lo real maravilloso) A term introduced by Alejo Carpentier, in his prologue to El reino do este mundo (1949; tr The Kingdom of This World, 1957). The Cuban novelist was searching for a concept broad enough to accommodate both the events of everyday life and the fabulous nature of Latin American geography and history. Carpentier, who was greatly influenced by French surrealism, saw in magic realism the capacity to enrich our idea of what is ‘real” by incorporating all dimensions of the imagination, particularly as expressed in magic, myth, and religion.
In the hands of [Gabriel] Garcia Marquez and other writers of the Boom period, magic realism became a distinctly Latin American mode, an indigenous style for their explorations of history, culture, and politics. This narrative technique has influenced writers around the world.”
Excerpted from: Murphy, Bruce, ed. Benet’s Reader’s Encyclopedia, Fourth Edition. New York: Harper Collins, 1996.
On the third Friday of Hispanic Heritage Month 2022, here is a reading on One Hundred Years of Solitude, the masterpiece of Magical Realism from Gabriel Garcia Marquez, and its accompanying vocabulary-building and comprehension worksheet.
Have you read it? When I was a high school senior, my somewhat older but infinitely more sophisticated girlfriend gave me a copy. I read it, and as you can imagine, understood none of it. I keep meaning to get back to it.
If you find typos in these documents, I would appreciate a notification. And, as always, if you find this material useful in your practice, I would be grateful to hear what you think of it. I seek your peer review.
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