“Arroyo"
A stream.
“Barranca”
A gully or ravine.
“Campesino”
A peasant.
“Casuarina”
A tree whose leaves make a musical sound in the wind.
“Caudillo”
A charismatic military and political leader who acts as a strongman or warlord.
“Chachalaca”
A chicken-like bird found in Central America. It has greenish feathers and can fly.
“Comadre”
The godmother of one's child or mother of one's godchild. Literally, “co-mother.”
“Floripondio”
A Peruvian tree that grows to be three meters high.
“Hibiscus”
A conspicuous tropical or subtropical flower with five petals in a trumpet shape. It comes in tones of white to pink, red, purple or yellow.
“Huizache”
A spiny tree found in arid parts of Mexico.
“Jarillas”
Flowering bushes that can grow to be three meters high.
“Licenciado”
A lawyer or government representative.
“Machismo”
The prominent exhibition of qualities typically considered “masculine,” often resulting in an emphasis on virility or even male chauvinism.
“Maguey”
A fibrous plant that can be used to make thread and a cactus sap beverage.
“Mescal”
A distilled liquor made from Agave plants.
“Naturalism”
A philosophical and literary movement which gained impulse during the 19th century. It emphasized the importance of realist representation and science, as opposed to the representation of idealized forms.
“Novena”
A prayer group for a deceased person; A book containing prayers dedicated to a deceased person.
“Picaresque”
A humorous, satirical, realist narrative subgenre that usually deals with the adventures of a lower-class hero (or anti-hero) who survives though clever manipulation of his surroundings and wit. This genre first became popular in hispanic literature during the Spanish Golden Age in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.”
“Scapulary”
Garment consisting of a long wide piece of woolen cloth worn over the shoulders with an opening for the head; part of a monastic habit
“Zapotlán”
A city in the state of Jalisco
