Text:
The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Díaz
Synopsis:
Oscar, an intellectual, nerdy Dominican-American, is a protagonist torn between
two worlds. On one hand, he is
Dominican, obsessed with women, and called upon by his friends and family to
live a hyper-masculine lifestyle.
On the other, he is a nerd, is obsessed with sci-fi and fantasy, and has
ever had a girlfriend. In a world
where these two identities are thought to be unable to coexist in one person,
Oscar struggles to adhere to social and cultural norms, to find love, and to
forge for himself an identity that encompasses all of who he is. The novel also explores the lives of
his mother Beli and his grandparents in the Dominican Republic as well as the
stories of his sister Lola and his college roommate Yunior.
Standards:
3. Analyze
how complex characters (e.g., those with multiple or conflicting motivations)
develop over the course of a text, interact with other characters, and advance
the plot or develop the theme.
5. Analyze
how an author’s choices concerning how to structure a text, order events within
it (e.g., parallel plots), and manipulate time (e.g., pacing, flashbacks)
create such effects as mystery, tension, or surprise.
6.
Analyze a particular point of view or cultural experience reflected in a work
of literature from outside the United States, drawing on a wide reading of
world literature.
Procedure:
Note:
This lesson plan involves reading a novel together as a class, so it will span
at least several days, depending on how quickly the reading, writing
assignments, and discussions take the class. Rough estimates have been suggested, but the reading process
and other activities should not be rushed.
15-20
min
Students
will break into four groups, with each group being given a different “Whatcha
Gonna Do?” scenario. Each group
will read their scenario and write about it individually from the perspective
of the character they have been asked to be. The four scenarios, from the perspective of Yunior, Abelard,
Beli, and Oscar are as follows:
1. You are a college student trying to figure
out your housing situation for the next semester. Most of your friends already have roommates, and you are
running out of options. Then your
friend comes to you and asks you if you’d be interested in rooming with her
nerdy, notoriously unpopular brother.
Rooming with him has the potential to be social suicide, but your friend
is worried about her brother and has asked you for a favor. If you decline, there’s a good chance
you could end up living alone.
“Whatcha Gonna Do?”
2. The authoritarian dictator of your
country has taken an interest in your oldest daughter. If you surrender her to him, she will
end up used and discarded, or perhaps even dead. At any rate, chances you’d see her again are low. The dictator invites your family to a
party and expressly insists that your daughter must attend. If you bring her to the party, he’ll
take her from you for sure. If you
go without her, you’ll be disobeying the dictator, and who only knows what
horrifying consequences could follow.
If you try to flee the country with your family, you could be captured
and killed, but if you do nothing they could eventually come for your daughter. “Whatcha Gonna Do?”
3.
You
are a mother whose life growing up was fraught with tragedy. You struggled against your mother, who
wanted you to attend school and carry on your family’s legacy of
intellectuals. You yearned constantly
for escape, and one day you took it, running off with a man you loved called
the Gangster. He betrayed you, and
you were viciously beaten and brutalized as a result. Now you are a mother whose daughter has that same taste for
adventure, that same desire to escape.
She has been showing signs that she might run off with her
boyfriend. You want her to be
happy, but you can’t seem to forget how your own “escape” turned out. “Whatcha Gonna Do?”
4. You’ve just recovered from a horrible
beating that was administered by your lover’s angry, domineering
boyfriend. You were lucky to
escape with your life, but you can’t seem to stop thinking about the girl. Your family has warned you to stay away
from her, but you love her more than you can ever remember loving anyone else. If you go to her, there’s a good chance
you’ll be attacked again, but if you stay away, there’s a good chance you’ll
never love anyone else the same way again. “Whatcha Gonna Do?”
Several
days
The
scenarios are all from different parts of the novel, which we will read
together as a class, alternating between the teacher reading aloud and short
periods of silent reading. Before
we get to each corresponding section in the novel, the groups will present
their different answers to the question “Whatcha Gonna Do?” After they have presented, we will have
a short class discussion responding to the different predictions or options
regarding what will happen next.
Then we will read the scene from the novel as a class and compare and
contrast it with the group’s decisions.
When
we reach the second scenario, we will have a minilesson on flashbacks. With the third, we will have a
minilesson on parallel plots. With
the fourth, we will have a minilesson regarding Dominican culture, especially
in relation to the concept of fate/curses and sexuality/masculinity.
25-30
min
After
we have finished reading the entire novel, students will write a paragraph or
so detailing how the novel would have gone or ended differently if the
character whose perspective they were asked to consider had acted according to
their ideas rather than what actually happened in the novel. If a student’s scenario is very similar
to what actually happened, he or she will write about how that decision influenced
the outcome of the novel.
20-30
min
Students
will work in pairs with a student who had a different scenario to peer edit
each other’s paragraphs, giving feedback and making suggestions as to how they
can improve. Students will then be
given a chance to revise their work.
10-15
min
Students
will then share their alternate endings or insights with the class. To incorporate publishing, the
paragraphs will be typed and hung around the classroom for other classes to
view throughout the coming days.
Assessment:
15-20
min
The
standards, along with a general understanding of the material and concepts
presented in the novel, will be assessed in a group discussion where the
following questions will be posed.
1.
How did your character develop as a result of the decision he or she made in
the novel at the moment described in your scenario? At least one student with
each scenario should speak. (Standard
3)
2.
Beli’s and Lola’s stories are examples of a parallel plot. Beli’s and Abelard’s tales are
flashbacks from Oscar’s lifetime.
How do the use of parallel plotlines and flashbacks affect the pace and
feel of the novel? (Standard 5)
3.
How does the influence of their Dominican heritage influence the decisions and
lives of Oscar and the other characters?
(Standard 6)
4.
How does their Dominican culture influence how their point of view regarding the
concept of fate? (Standard 6)
5.
How does Oscar’s Sci-fi/Fantasy culture influence and interact with his
Dominican one? (Standard 6)
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