Classroom Activities
Nature Activity 1—The Aztec Gods and Codex
This first section of three from the unit will concern the magic and mythology of the unit. It also gives us the opportunity to begin laying down a foundational aspect as to how we can find this idea of self-identity. The culture of the Aztecs was essentially wiped out and in doing so left an emptiness for the generations which followed. Therein lies the attempt in coming to an understanding of who we are as the children of Latin America now living in the United States. The magic and mythology of the Aztecs is what we will use to build our structure. We will combine this rich perspective as we include the role of nature among these early cultures. We will examine the critical role and impact nature played on Aztec religion, their gods and their way of life.
There will be a number of activities students will participate in to make connections with these perspectives. Students will create an Aztec codex of at least six panels with three written pages describing an original origin story/myth of a god centering on an aspect to Nature, i.e. rain, earth, fire sky, etc. The three remaining panels from the student codex will be original art depicting the god itself with emphasis on all aspects to Nature. Students’ focus will be on their incorporating traditional Aztec patterns, symbols, designs and glyphs into their work. Students will draw an original Aztec god connecting nature on three panels illustrating a sequence of stories.
Maize and the Tortilla
The website vivirmexicohermoso provides a rich re-telling of the Aztec myth of corn:
History says that before the arrival of Quetzalcoatl, the Aztecs ate only roots and animals they hunted. They didn’t have corn, because this super nutrient cereal was hidden behind the mountains. The old Gods tried to separate the mountains with their colossal force but they failed. The Aztecs went to put this problem directly to Quetzalcoatl. I’ll bring you the corn, God answered them. It was Quetzalcoatl, the mighty God, who used his strength and his intelligence to separate the mountains. He transformed himself into a black ant and accompanied by a red ant, went to the mountains. The road was full of difficulties but Quetzalcoatl overcame all of them, thinking only of his people and their food needs. With great efforts he never gives up before the fatigue and difficulties. Quetzalcoatl went to where the corn was, and since he was transformed into an ant, took a ripe grain in its jaws and started back. He traveled all the way back to deliver the promised corn grain to the hungry indigenous. The Aztecs planted the seed. They obtained the corn and since then they planted and harvested it. The precious grain increased their wealth, and they became stronger, built cities, palaces, temples … And they lived happily ever since. And from that moment, the Aztecs worshiped the generous Quetzalcoatl, the god friend of the men, the god who brought them corn.13
Many important deities had at least three distinct types of image: a permanent representation as an effigy made of stone, wood, or terracotta, which was fed, dressed and scented; a temporary representation in a dough image, which was sacrificed and eaten by the people, representing the gods’ original sacrifice; and another temporary representation in the form of a living victim who was sacrificed and then eaten by the people, standing for the original sacrifice of the deities as well as man’s return of their gift of life.
In Aztec thought these perishable and communally ingested deity representations were as important as the permanent statues. The making of dough images may have predated the images made of wood and clay, and perhaps originated in agricultural ritual when plants were domesticated in Mesoamerica in early times. We do not know the forms of the dough images, but they may have resembled the stone, wood, or clay figures of nature deities.
In the Codices Matritenses, the illustrations of the dough images that represent mountains show them as deity busts against a temple doorway. According to Dr. Jaime Lara,
The use of a light and pliable mixture derived from the pith of the corn had deep significance, for corn was the staple food and had itself been a god in the Aztec pantheon. In a very Hebraic way, maize had been one of the principal “first fruits” offered in the Mesoamerican temples, among the sacrifices to the divine mouth of the earth deity. The Nahuatl word for maize dough is in fact ‘our sweet sustenance’ (toneuhcayotl), which lent itself metaphorically for the flesh of Christ hanging on the cross or eaten at Eucharist. In fact, the Nahuatl verb ‘to sacrifice’ was the same as ‘to knead and spread out’, like the act of preparing the dough of the corn tortilla before roasting ...15
Students will participate in a hands-on activity in making corn tortillas. During the seminar we had a wonderful learning opportunity on nature. Nature is everywhere and everything. Sometimes we can forget this when we try to expand our understanding and look at nature in the broadest of terms. In reality, nature sits in front of us, face to face, at our fingertips. By stopping to pay attention closer and studying the details I came to the understanding of how corn is critical and vital in all aspects of Latin American culture and life. By conducting this activity, students will actually get their hands working on how to make handmade tortillas. How much more can you connect with an act which sustains families and community. Students will feel and understand what their parents and past generations did to survive by making tortillas. Students will be participating in writing a short, paragraph long writing assignment from the perspective of an ear of corn, an ode or poem. Students will write their writing upon a single dry piece of corn husk.
Nature Activity 2—El Norte: The Mountain, the Desert, and the River in Film
The second and middle of the unit’s three main sections will be on immigration and the experience of traveling across different regions of landscape and nature. How these landscapes and nature act more as obstacles and challenges placed ahead of the immigrant is what I sought out. I aimed to compare and contrast the mythology of the past with the reality of the present in the form of the immigrant experience. The journey of immigration is not only a physical journey but one in which the spirit and dreams of the people are represented. After all, our country is a nation of immigrants and we have come to this land from every imaginable corner and crevice in the world. All immigrants have tales to tell with journeys made. A journey which is shared by all immigrants. A journey of reality and not illusions. We introduce the landscapes of nature as the setting. The journey through mountains, deserts and rivers to reach America is a real experience, grounded in truth.
Students will watch the movie El Norte. I remember watching this movie in the mid 1980’s as a teenager and how it impacted that day and even now to this day. El Norte led me to a window to see inside of something I had no understanding of: what would make families leave a place where generations from the same family spent their entire lives. This movie shows the path and decisions made by families to become immigrants and begin the journey up north. Using film as a resource to understand the theme is an ideal strategy. Paying attention in literature to the details is one way to comprehend the theme, and the same can be said of watching film. Using film can address the strengths of students who are predominantly visual learners. Film can be a tool which balances the playing field between the strengths and weaknesses of students.
Nature Activity 3—Reading Fiction Text
The third and final section of the unit’s three sections is a convergence of the magic of the gods with the reality of a people traveling across landscapes in search of a better life. The product of these factors is what we introduce to the students as magical realism. In these stories we find and cross the bridge between magic and reality. A convergence of nature in what we call magical realism. This genre made famous by Latin American writers includes the tales of drowned men, of a love affair between a man and an ocean wave, and of how men accept corn as the key to creation.
There will be three pieces of fiction; two short stories and excerpts from a novel. All three fiction pieces are classified as magical realism fiction and my focus will be on the genre, but to a greater extent I move forward with the idea on how nature is represented in all three texts, and how nature is represented critically and awe inspiring. The first of the three texts is the short story “The Handsomest Drowned Man in the World” by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, in which the body of a drowned man surfaces on the beach of a small town. I find it remarkable how Marquez writes the prose without one example of direct dialogue. Almost akin to a controlled rambling of metaphor and observation to the point of genius. This strategy allows him to write freely and descriptively, almost wonderingly in thought and reflection, to tell his tale. But his best writing comes in how he showcases and describes nature in all its beauty and ferociousness. From the wonder and awe of an overpowering fragrance of gardens in the middle of the sea to the apocalyptic way he describes invading, marching hordes of crabs literally breaking through doors and windows. A story about acceptance, community, and honoring the dead, “The Handsomest Drowned Man in the World” is one of Márquez’ most powerful and widely read stories. I will ask the students to identify other examples of nature from the story, and how they can be compared and contrasted with each other.
The second short story used is called “My Life with the Wave” by Octavio Paz. This short story represents the fantastical far end of the magical realism spectrum. Students will be introduced to personification and how it is used to bring to life an inanimate object such as a wave of water from the sea. Students will share examples of personification in other forms of text and media. The students will reflect on how the wave of water representing nature is described and demonstrates human characteristics and emotions.
The final selection of text is the novel Hombres de maíz (Men of Maize) by Miguel Ángel Asturias. In this story we come full circle with the understanding of how corn represents a vital role in the history and community of Latin America. It tells the story of the Mayan people whose own tissue and skin are formed from corn. It is in the indigenous towns and communities of these same Mayan townsfolk that the magical and mythological still continue as part of their lives. The traditions, rituals, and way of life harken back to a time before the arrival of the Spanish and the conquest which followed. The students are asked: What role does corn play in the indigenous society of the Maya and what does it represent in the present Latin American communities, i.e. corn in the form of tortillas? The main characters from the story fight to keep their way of life from coming to an end from the economic development represented here by big companies.
I really connect with the following quotation by Maggie Ann Bower summarizing the novel as a re-telling of the Mayan myth, “the “rain woman” or “mother of maize” who is lost to the worlds of the earth and the sky and lives caught between the two. It emphasizes the association of the man’s loss of his wife with the loss of his land and the ability to grow maize. The novel ends when the man seeking his wife finds “rain woman”. In this instant the man appears to be reunited with the earth after having his land taken from him by the colonists.”18
Overall, the students will make connections to the concepts learned of the indigenous way of life as an example of the past, rich with legends, folklore, and magic of the ancient people. The students will compare the mythology with the experiences of the immigrant, so as to attempt an understanding of who we are as products of this past way of life, products of these tales of journeys and crossings. These passages where nature plays the role of guide, directing both young and old, down a path through mountain trails, the endless barren desert landscape, and rivers whose waters carry the memories of all those who made it across, and those who were carried away to their final journey. All of this in some vain attempt to come to an awareness of self-identity. Once a picture with a clean, blank slate and now into one with a rich canvas of brilliant brushstrokes of colors, where pages have been filled in with the tales of Gods and of ordinary, brave people sacrificing everything for the generations to come.
Comments: