Book Information: Skármeta,
A. (2000). The Composition. Toronto, Ontario: Groundwood Books.
Genre: Fiction, Historical
because Antonio Skármeta was
born and raised in Chile during a time of dictatorship
Grade Level:
3-5, I would recommend this book to any teacher who wants a realistic portrayal
of a country ruled by a dictator, or to teach multicultural/ global studies
Part Two
Response to Book: Reflection, predictions, and thoughts
about the book’s themes!
Before
reading the story, I examined the cover
and back to search for images or information that might reveal what the story
was about.
The book cover gave a few clues as to what the story might be about. On the
cover, a boy stands with a large paper in his hands while a few armed soldiers
are in seen the background. The large piece of paper in the boy's hands on the cover and the title, The Composition, led me to believe the story had something to do with composing a piece of art
or writing. I had no idea what the armed soldiers meant, however, you could
tell by the boy’s face that the soldiers were not a friendly presence.
The story presents some complicated
issues and topics that students may not be familiar with. The book explores powerful
themes and issues of social justice, the innocence/maturity of children, bravery/taking
social action, and becoming a part of a community. The story depicts a young
boy, Pedro, who lives in a South American country under a dictatorship. At the beginning of the story, Pedro is innocent and naïve to his country’s oppression. "'Children
aren’t against anything,’ she said. ‘Children are just children. They have to
go to school, study hard, play and be good to their parents.’” These are the
words of Pedro’s mother that emphasize his innocence. He doesn’t seem to understand why all the
adults in his community sit around the radio every day after work. This all
changes when one day he sees his friend Daniel’s father being taken away by
soldiers. This is a turning point in the story where we see Pedro losing his innocence in a sense. When he asks his parents about what happened, he learns
that Daniel’s father, as well as his own parents, are against the government
dictatorship. I thought it was interesting how Pedro starts to become a part of
his community in this way because he is exposed to the social injustices of his
country. At the end of the book, a man in uniform enters Pedro’s classroom and
asks all the children to write a composition as part of a contest called “What
my Family Does at Night.” Pedro is no longer an innocent and naïve child at
this point. He has matured from the experience with Daniel’s father and knows
the devious motives of the soldier. It is somewhat suspenseful because as an
audience we do not know if Pedro is going to unintentionally disclose how his
parents listen to the resistance on the radio at night. However, the readers discover
that Pedro describes a very boring, and blatantly false story of what his
family does at night in his composition. In the end, we see how brave and fearless Pedro is to take such action.
I
think the book incorporates many multicultural and global experiences. Although
the country where Pedro lives is not given directly, the audience can assume it
is in South America. Pedro and his friends love to play soccer, or fútbol,
which is one of the most important South American sports. The portrayal of the dictatorship
is also significant. This book exposes its audience to a culture that has a
different govenerment. This is especially important for American students to
see in my opinion. It teaches students that different cultures and governments can be unpleasant and oppressive. It also allows students to see the injustices of these types of governments and appreciate the great democracy we live in. I think it is a very effective example of
multicultural literature.
Part Three
Overall, I felt that this book was a great story to
introduce students to a different culture, country, and government. I think it
is a powerful story with an age appropriate depiction of a oppressive
government and it's affects on the people. The setting is general enough to
relate to anyone who has lived in a dictatorship. I think the author did this
purposefully. There is an enormous amount of character development that we see,
especially with Pedro. The language is also suitable for elementary students,
although it is somewhat lengthy in parts. I liked how there was some humor to
highlight the innocence of the characters. It thought this contrasted well with
the more somber parts of the story. The illustrations were realistically done,
with a hints of color for more emphasis. I think the story does a great job of
depicting an oppressive country and the social injustices.
Part Four
Lesson Sketch
Grade: 5th
Lesson Objectives:
Students will:
- Be able to define the words dictatorship and democracy mean
- Provide examples from the book “The Composition” about dictatorship, and how it took control of people’s lives and their freedom
- Describe the type of government that they live in
- Be able to identify their rights and freedoms as individuals
Lesson Outline:
- Read the book “The Composition” by Skarmeta and Ruano.
- Talk to students more about dictators and how much power they have. Then show the government that we live in the United States. This is a good time to go over the governments branches to test students’ background knowledge on our government. Explain that our government is balanced out between many people who we have ELECTED as officials by voting.
- We will then designate one student to be the dictator for the day. This student will come up with a couple of ridiculous rules that all students must abide. If they do not they will have to face the consequences (which in this class may be sitting in a different chair across the room from the class.) But explain that in a real dictatorship this could mean being taken away from your family, like Pedro’s friend did in “The Composition” or you could even be killed. Examples of rules a student may use could be saying a specific word, such as the word desk or even another student’s last name.
- Discuss dictatorships and give students many examples of different influential dictators and how they ruled their countries. Show some pictures of people living in a dictatorship and how hard it must have been to live during these times.
Discussion:
Class will have a grand discussion about the positive things that
come from living in a free country. Have students name some of the rights they
have just for living in this country. Example: freedom of speech, freedom of
religion or freedom of press. Make sure that students understand the
consequences of acting a certain way in a dictatorship. Have students name off
a few of the dictators they know of.
- Complete this statement, “This book made me feel _____.”
- Did Pedro let his small size bother him or did he use it to his advantage?
- Do you think children can be against a dictatorship? Why or why not?
- If you were given the same assignment that Pedro received, what would you write? What if you lived in Pedro’s country? Would your essay be different? Why or why not?
- What was your favorite part of the book? Your least favorite part?
Links to Outside Sources:
Advise and Consent-Limits of Power
http://www.learningtogive.org/lessons/unit3/le
sson1.html
Bringing Down a Dictator
http://www.pbs.org/weta/dictator/classroom/le
sson1.html
Dictator For a Day
http://school.discovery.com/lessonplans/progr
ams/tlc-ancientrome/#que
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