Sun, Stone, and Shadows
Teacher's Guide - Schedule / Lesson Plans
This is a suggested teaching schedule for a 10 class study of Sun, Stone, and Shadows: 20 Great Mexican Short Stories. Lesson plans and handouts can be downloaded individually by clicking on the name of the file in the schedule below. Adobe Acrobat Reader is required to view these files.
Audio Guide CDs are available only for the communities participating in The Big Read. If your community is participating, contact the lead community organization to receive a free Audio Guide CD. Non-participating communities can listen to the full audio online.
FOCUS: Reading Short Fiction
Day One Lesson Plan [PDF]
Activities: Read Handouts One and Two, and the Introduction from the Reader’s Guide. Write a short essay considering the appeal of a favorite story.
Homework: Read Castellanos’s biography
from the Reader’s Guide (p. 8) and “Cooking
Lesson.”
"Cooking Lesson" by Rosario Castellanos
FOCUS: Realism
Day Two Lesson Plan [PDF]
Activities: Discuss ways Castellanos uses language that appeals to the senses.
Homework: Describe the story’s narrator.
"Cooking Lesson" by Rosario Castellanos
FOCUS: Narrative and Point of View
Day Three Lesson Plan [PDF]
Activities: Discuss the narrator and how the story might change if told from third person.
Homework: Read “Tell Them Not to Kill Me!”
by Juan Rulfo. List the story’s main characters
and write a one-sentence description of each.
"Tell Them Not to Kill Me!" by Juan Rulfo
FOCUS: Character Development
Day Four Lesson Plan [PDF]
Activities: List the main characters of the story. Conduct a mock trial of Juvencio. Write a description of what happens to the characters after the story ends.
Homework: Re-read the story and identify its
major turning points.
"Tell Them Not to Kill Me!" by Juan Rulfo
FOCUS: Plot
Day Five Lesson Plan [PDF]
Activities: Discuss the story’s pacing and construct a timeline. Write a short essay considering the ways flashbacks and plot twists change the way the reader feels about the story’s characters.
Homework: Read “My Life with the Wave” by Octavio Paz. Identify moments when the
story seems bizarre and others where it
seems more conventional.
"My Life with the Wave" by Octavio Paz
FOCUS: Surrealism
Day Six Lesson Plan [PDF]
Activities: Discuss surrealism. Identify specific instances where the story might be considered surrealistic, traditional, or romantic. Write about how Paz’s quote on modernity might provide interpretive clues to the story.
Homework: Re-read the story and read
Handout Three. Write two paragraphs about
Diane Thiel’s interpretation of the story.
"My Life with the Wave" by Octavio Paz
FOCUS: Metaphor
Day Seven Lesson Plan [PDF]
Activities: Discuss imagery and personification. Debate Thiel’s analysis of the story. Write an essay considering the impact of understanding both the literal and the figurative qualities of the wave.
Homework: Read “Chac-Mool” by Carlos
Fuentes. Pay close attention to the structure
of the story.
"Chac-Mool" by Carlos Fuentes
FOCUS: Epistolary Writing
Day Eight Lesson Plan [PDF]
Activities: Discuss the story’s structure and how the form lends itself to horror and suspense. Write a short story using the epistolary form.
Homework: Find examples of symbolism in “Chac-Mool” by Carlos Fuentes.
"Chac-Mool" by Carlos Fuentes
FOCUS: Symbolism
Day Nine Lesson Plan [PDF]
Activities: Discuss the symbolic value of the
stone figure. Write an essay on the symbolic
value of water.
Homework: Have students begin writing essays. Outlines are due at the next class.
FOCUS: What Makes a Short Story Great?
Day Ten Lesson Plan [PDF]
Activities: Explore the qualities of a great short story. Review essay outlines and drafts.
Homework: Essays are due next class period.
Handout 1: Short Fiction [PDF]
Handout 2: Reader-Response Criticism [PDF]
Handout 3: Octavio Paz's "My Life with the Wave" — An Allegory of the Creative Process, by Diane Thiel [PDF]
