The following questions are taken from your blog posts…
The Child Narrator
If we are to believe Campobello was a teenager at the time of the revolution, why do you think she chose to age the narrator down?
in the last two books we see the stories depicted through the eyes of a child. In your opinion, why do you think it is important to view historical events through the eyes of the youth who as lived through them? What advantages or disadvantages does it bring to our understanding of a certain time period?
Isn’t Campobello’s use of a “child narrator” a form of play-acting? Do you think Campobello successfully portrayed the war in a “child narrator’s perspective”, despite writing the book as an adult?
I know reading the story, knowing it was from the perspective of a child made it different from other recounts of the revolution. Do you think the story would have been as popular had the author taken a different approach?
Do you feel that viewing from a child’s perspective provides a unique and powerful perspective on the events of the war?
How do you think the book would differ if it took on another perspective, such as an adult or teenager?
Affect
Did any part of the book make you “uncomfortable”? How do you think Campobello was feeling during this time?
How did you feel reading this book? Was anyone else completely shocked by the gruesomeness of each short story?
Do you think the utilization of poetry and emotion in contrast with violence and brutality during this time is more prominent due to Cartucho being written by a female writer?
Form
why do you think Cartucho‘s chapters are so short? What effect does this brevity have on the reader?
At what point in the story did you become accustomed to the fragmented structure of storytelling and how do you think this type of story structure affected how you understood the narrator’s character?
Other
What do others think of the role of Villa throughout this story? How much do you think his depiction is mythological and how much is personal?
Whose character in the book stood out for you the most?
Campobello admits to recounting only what “impressed” her the most, and not what she did not understand. Given that she is writing based on teenage memories, from the perspective of her childhood – what does this statement actually say about what she chose to share? For example: Are we being told what teenage Campobello recalls, or merely what Campobello feels she would have recalled as her childhood self?
As Jon mentioned in his lecture, there is a discrepancy in Campobello’s reported date of birth, some being a decade or so apart (which puts quite a big gap). Do you think it would have mattered if she wrote it when she was younger or older given how her memory would be affected by her age as well?
Have you revisited a childhood memory and felt differently about it now that you are older? Or Have you noticed that the order of your memories differs from someone else’ same Memory?
I wonder if there are other instances where you have become accustomed to something as you have gotten older that you would not have imagined gaining familiarity with or proximity to when you were a child?
Do you have ‘bedtime stories’ you still think about? It could be a regular fantasy story or maybe it’s something that actually happened that someone has made into a story for you.
Storytelling seems to be a very unique talent (that I do not possess!); would you consider yourself an effective storyteller? How do you know?
What is your favourite and least favourite aspect of reading novels written by young authors?
Does anyone recommend any other sources that provide information about the Mexican Revolution?