World Literature for Young Adults: A Multi-Media Project: Queen of Water

Synopsis

Set in Ecuador a young girl named Virginia is born into a poor indigenous family in a small town. She is not granted the opportunity for an Education and is expected to grow up working the farm liker her family. She has ambitious dreams for herself which are clouded by her rational minded family. Due to the hardness of life she does not feel a strong loving bond with her family and when she ends up as an indentured servant who is treated more like a slave, she is uncertain if her family has intentionally abandoned her or not. Virginia chooses to pursue education to the best of her own ability and decides she will make something of herself even if she has no help at all. She teaches herself to read and strives to learn more and more. After she makes her way out of the abusive situation she ended up in, she finds that she no longer can fit in with her old life either. Virginia chooses to pursue education further and fights her way through obstacles to obtain that education. As she does she finds that her native language and culture has been all but stripped from her, and she is so embarrassed by it that she is unsure that she wants to have any part of it again. Eventually Virginia learns how to gracefully balance the many parts that make up her persona and to be proud of all that she is and will be. She even begins to appreciate all the trials she had to endure to help her to become who she is.

Awards/ Honors

ALA Amelia Bloomer Selection
ALA-Yalsa Best Fiction for Young Adults Book

Rational for Use in the Classroom

History Classes

South American Countries

Story takes place in Ecuador and contains many south American ideas

Aztecs and the Incas- History

The indigenous people in this story are descendants of the Aztecs and the main character talks about how their culture has been all but wiped out by the Spanish conquistadors.

The caste system that exists has come about because of this time period moving forward

Compare Current Culture in Ecuador to account in the story

Perspective that would be interesting to see if things have changed or remained the same since this book was written

Since the book is a factual representation of the girl’s life it would be interesting to see what aspects of life in Ecuador have changed

Caste System (Social Studies)

There is a caste system within the country of Ecuador. The system is clearly defined within the story and is difficult to escape. This would give students a more modern example of a caste system.

Cultural Prejudices

Throughout the story prejudices between the Mestizos and the Indigenous people are brought up frequently.
Prejudices happen due to the Caste system that the country is in.

Slavery/Servitude (indentured Servants)

Virginia should have been a paid servant in the story, but she was never paid. Her sister was a servant who was paid monthly.
She was beaten by her “master” the Doctorita
Nino Carlitos tried to abuse her sexually in the story, but she was able to get away from that.

Ecuadorian Ceremonies

There are many mentions of ceremonies in the story such as weddings and festivals.
Dances are also mentioned
Day of the Dead

This ceremony we are given better insight on Virginia’s view of this ceremony as a child. We are able to understand how she sees this holiday as a way for her mother to express love to children who were not born, but can’t express love to her

Language Classes

Biases and Perspectives in Language classes

This story has bias in that it was told through the eyes of Virginia. Had the story been told through another perspective can students think of ways that character could make a reader sympathetic to them.

How do biases play a role in stories that we read and hear

Dying Languages and the impact of standardizing language
The main character at the beginning of the story speaks Quichua which is the indigenous language. As she lives with the Mestizos and is expected to learn and speak in Spanish she finds that her native language is dying off and sees herself losing the indigenous side.
She is taught to think that her native language is dirty and that she should want to speak Spanish and to be as Spanish as possible.

Value of education in other cultures/ to different groups of people

Her father had an upbringing that did not give him much respect for education
The family she lived with valued education and were teachers, but did not see any real reason to educate her
The main character valued education because of the role it could play in helping her to make more of herself and she was self-taught in many areas.
People used education as a tool to keep the Caste system in place. The indigenous can’t afford to become well educated and will therefore remain in the lower caste.

Sociology/ Human Rights Classes

Gender equality/inequality

Through the relationship between Virginia’s mother and father you can see some gender inequality. Her mother was abused by her father and did not have any other options
On the flip side of this in the other household she lived in, the woman was the disciplinarian and the bread winner.
Children’s rights and expectations in other cultures

You can see in this story a very different regard for children.

In the indigenous lifestyle the children are expected to act like grownups and to help the adults get work accomplished

Village versus City Life

Different parts of this story take place in different places. Some parts happen in a small village, some parts take place in a town, and some parts take place in the city. Each place has its own cultural norm in the story.

Classes Dealing with Culture: Language/History/Foreign Language/Anthropology

Cultural differences i.e. Pets

At the beginning of the story Virginia has a pet goat
While she was captive her “owners” had a cow that she would walk in town so it could graze and walk.

Impact of tourism on an area people express and view the culture of an area.

Tourism changes the way that people act in an area.
People from America were given a very different idea of what it is to be indigenous. People in the tourist locations gave Americans a watered down version of what the society truly was like.

How American culture infiltrates into other cultures

MacGyver was a show that she talked about watching along with Soap Operas
American Tourists were discussed several times in the story

Before Reading Activities:

Before reading the story students should have background of the development of the Caste system within Ecuador. There is a heavy difference between the treatment of Spanish, Mestizos, and Indigenous people in Ecuador
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cDA6fDjBFsI (Use in bits and pieces to help gain information
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R0Dyi6LuhLk some great cultural pieces to use: not in English would need to read along (watch on personal tablets)

During Reading Activities:

An effective use of this text would be to have students in literature circles to focus on different components of the book. In groups the teacher could give different groups of students a different aspect of the book to look at ( as stated above) and report back to the class on their ideas and findings
Students should complete a journal account as they read. They can highlight what they think will happen to the character, and their impression of her as a person throughout the story. How so their impressions of her change?
Students should be given other various characters in the story and imagine the story from another point of view. Give students opportunities to address multiple characters to see many perspectives
Have students think as they are reading about the many problems in the story: not just character problems but societal and global problems. Have students address the problems and how we do or do NOT see the problems within our own society.
Give students a chance to look for how the characters weave together in and out to create such a seamless story. Did characters come back up when you did not expect them to? Why did the author craft the story the way she did?

After-Reading Activities:

Relate your own experiences to that of the character in the story. What are the similarities and differences that you face? Did your perspective on anything change after reading her story?
Have students approach the idea of cultural shame. Can they identify with this? What can be done to prevent cultural shaming?
Address human rights within the story as well as cultural expectations of people within an area.
Look for Virginia’s biases within the story. Address how the story may have been told differently from a different standpoint.
Identify the changes in Virginia from the beginning of the story to the end of the story. What major events in the story allowed her character to be such a flowing and dynamic character? How did obstacles help her to move forward? What are your thoughts on your own life- do obstacles push you forward or shut you down? How do you view the obstacles in your life?

Suggested Resources:

History of Incas
http://www.ducksters.com/history/aztec_maya_inca.php

Ecuadorian Facts
http://www.life-in-ecuador.com/ecuador-facts.html

About the Quechua Language
http://www.ullanta.com/quechua/

Education in Ecuador
http://www.classbase.com/countries/Ecuador/Education-System

Basic facts- Ecuador
http://www.pbs.org/frontlineworld/rough/2007/06/ecuador_healthlinks.html

Connections to Other Content Areas/ Disciplines:

I noted above many subjects in which this book could be approached. In addition to History, Social Studies, English, Languages, Cultures- this book also has musical connections and possibilities embedded within it. There is also an opportunity to bring in connections based on the statistics of another culture (math). This would be great for a class on international studies as well as a class addressing human rights and caste systems.

Pages

Queen of Water