Summary: Cactus soup is set in a town in San Miguel; the story tells of the peoples attempt to keep to themselves what food they had, rather than sharing it with soldiers. When the townspeople saw the soldiers coming, they quickly hid everything they had including: beans, cornmeal, tortillas, tamales, chickens, ducks, geese, pigs, cows, sheep and chile peppers. Their plan was to tell the soldiers they were very poor and unable to feed their own people, thus they surely couldn’t feed a troop of soldiers who they very well expected would clear out their food. When the mayor expresses this to the Senor Capitan, he “feels sorry” for the people and requests to make Cactus Soup. This strikes curiosity in the people and soon he is boiling water with a single cactus thorn. Senor Capitan continuously drops hints suggesting what ingredients make the soup better, but never comes right out and asks. It isn’t before long that the mayor, priest, children, teachers and townspeople are contributing their products to the soup.
Implementation: This story shares a beautiful message that giving can be rewarding. It also shows that clever requests can sometimes lead to getting what you want. Sharing is a primary ideal from this story I would practice in the classroom. I would urge students to share with one another so that both may benefit. Give and take is all a part of getting along in society. Furthermore, this is a Hispanic based multicultural literature piece similar to Stone Soup. I think this would motivate some ELL students to help their peers learn and understand some on the Spanish words and culture exposed in the story.
No comments:
Post a Comment