How Not to Drown in a Glass of Water Lesson Plan

Spanish in the Novel

Kind of Activity:

Group Discussion

Objective:

Students will understand the purpose and value of the novel's use of Spanish and Dominican slang.

Structure:

Cruz intersperses a lot of Spanish words into the narrative, which is intentional and impactful in Cara's characterization as well as placing the novel in the context of Latinx literature. Break students into small groups of 3-5 to discuss the use of Spanish in the novel so far. To get their discussions going, provide them with the following questions/prompts:

- Consider the narrative style, where readers get Cara's first-person perspective but only what she includes in her interviews for...