Objectives
This unit is designed to meet established English Language Arts standards in the State of Delaware for eleventh and twelfth grade students. The first standard calls for the construction, examination and the extension of the meaning of literary texts. Any study of a culture's written mythology is appropriate content selection to meet this standard in a world literature sequence; and in fact, my choice of a mythology was consciously made for its elaborative power in "extending the meaning of text" to other cultural matters.
The second state standard expects students to make connections between themselves and society and culture. This standard, applied through the reading and teaching of a mythology from "across the border," forces those connections to take on a more universally human character, which is articulated in the school district standards.
The "nuts and bolts" objectives, in learners' terms, for literary study in this unit come down to the identification of specific considerations of: irony, parody and satire. Among figures of language students must identify and use in interpretation are: metaphor, simile, personification, symbolism and hyperbole. Consideration of the tale's tone and themes constitutes an important subject of student understanding, especially given the drama and humor contained in the Popol Vuh, and the variety of themes developed in them. Considering the widely-accepted recognition of plot elements, a la Aristotle—namely exposition, rising action, climax, and resolution, I want students to attempt to reconcile the structure of the Popol Vuh for themselves, since the tales are so unusual in this regard, and since it defies that kind of neat description.
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