Sociology 325.19/LACS434.06 Latin American Societies Extra Credit Assignment due November 5 J. Hammond For extra credit, you may do a paper based on the following assignment. If you choose to do this paper, it is due November 5. Read a novel about Latin America by a Latin American author and write a paper examining some sociological aspect of the novel. Some recommended novels are listed below. For each, some topics are suggested. These are just suggestions. You may feel free to write about some other aspect of the novel which interests you, provided that you maintain a sociological focus. If you want to read a different novel, choose one which offers a reasonably realistic picture of some aspect of life in Latin America and provides good material to analyze from a sociological standpoint --one in which the social circumstances of the characters are clearly presented and distinctive. Be sure to clear your choice with me. A recommendation: Each of these books is interesting as a novel with plot, character development and other literary aspects. Read it first for enjoyment without paying too much attention to sociological analysis; then go back over it to find what you want to write about. In your paper, analyze the role of social institutions and the social relations among the characters. What are the effects of social institutions and social positions on the way people interact, on the characters' opportunities in life, or on some other important aspect of their life? You may concentrate on one character in the book or several. In providing this analysis, cite specific passages in the book to support your analysis. Passages should describe how characters act or feel and how their social position affects them. This is not a standard book report. You are not expected to give a complete summary of the plot. If you provide only a summary of the plot your paper will not be accepted. The following rules apply to all papers for this class, except that the length may be different. Papers must be typed, double- spaced, 4-6 pages. They must include documentation in correct form (footnotes or endnotes or references in parentheses, and bibliography). Give your paper a title which tells what it is about (not the title of the book, "Assignment 2," "Latin America," or anything similar). Put the title at the top of the first page, and in addition include a title page with the title of the paper, the course and section number, the assignment number, the date due, the date submitted, and your name and ID. Number the pages, not counting the title page. Even though this is not a research paper and you will probably cite only one book, you must include citations and bibliography in correct form. The required readings include some which are related to the topics that come up in these novels. You may want to include some relevant observations from those readings (though you are not required to). If you do, of course you must include proper citations and bibliography. All papers must be handed in on the day due. Late papers will be penalized one-third of a grade for each day late. (If the grade is a B and the paper is one day late you will receive a B-; if it is two days late you will receive a C+; etc.) Handing in a paper on time means handing it in in class the day it is due. Papers handed in later the same day will be counted as one day late. Saturdays and Sundays do not count in determining lateness penalties. Recommended novels: Isabel Allende, _The House of the Spirits_ (Chile, most of 20th century). A sweeping novel with elements of magic realism (the style characteristic of much Latin American fiction since the 1960s which incorporates elements of fantasy) in which the history of one landowning family becomes an allegory of Chilean history through most of the twentieth century (the country is not named but its history follows that of Chile closely and Allende is the niece of the late president Salvador Allende). Examine the relations between the Truebas and their tenants on the hacienda. How do these relations illustrate the importance of land ownership's effects on overall social conditions? How do economic relations between landowners and tenants affect the ways in which they interact? Jorge Amado, _Tent of Miracles_ (Brazil, 1969). A bawdy, funny novel about Brazil's ambiguous relationship to its African heritage. The events occur in two different periods: the life of Pedro Archanjo, a Bahia mulatto, in the early twentieth century, and Brazilians during the dictatorship looking back on his life. Concentrate on what the events of his life say about racial status and racial attitudes. This novel is longer than the others but much of it is very funny and it is a very good read. Jos‚ Mar¡a Arguedas, _Deep Rivers_ (Per£, c. 1930). This is a complex novel made more difficult by the use of words from Quechua (though with a glossary) and the fact that many of the main characters' friends are sometimes referred to by their names, sometimes by their nicknames. But it has several interesting sociological dimensions. (Pick one of these rather than trying to cover them all in a single paper.) Ethnicity: the complex relations among people of different racial and ethnic groups including the cholos (mestizos), and the relations among people of different social levels within each group. How do the forces of order (army and _Guardia Civil_) treat people of different ethnicities? Gender: the central characters are all male but some of the strongest and most interesting people in the book are women. What does it mean that women lead the insurrection, and how is this perceived by others? Church: what is the position of the church, especially in the person of the rector, on the turbulence? Manlio Argueta, _One Day of Life_ (El Salvador, 1970s). This is a gripping and painful book with some brutal scenes. What do you learn about the life of a peasant--both the general situation of a poor person who lives off the land, and the specific situation of state terror which peasants experienced in El Salvador during this period? What are peasants' attitudes toward life, toward their families, toward the land, and toward the authorities? Carlos Fuentes, _The Good Conscience_ (Mexico, mostly 1940s): Pick a member of the Ceballos/Balc rcel family, members of the provincial elite, and examine the way in which that character's interaction with other characters in the novel reflects his or her social position. Graciliano Ramos, _Barren Lives_ (Brazil, 1930s): This book is about people living in extreme poverty with very few prospects in life. What does this book tell you about their sense of themselves, their hopes, and their ambitions? These books, especially those by Allende and Fuentes, refer extensively to use the history of the countries in which they take place. While they contain enough information to convey the point, it may be helpful to consult a standard history such as Skidmore and Smith, _Modern Latin America_, for background.