Don Quijote/Quixote ~ Miguel de Cervantes

What's Schoolin'?

My olders and I have touched on Don Quixote.  However, as we are studying the Middle Ages and World Literature it's time to delve a little deeper into Miguel de Cervantes' famous and beloved tale of the ultimate confused hero.  I know it wasn't actually written in the Middle Ages... but since he is delusional about being a knight, I thought it would fit (plus we actually have time right now!).

Before delving into Don Quixote I want to expose them to the original picaresque novel.  The 3 major literary genres affecting Cervantes' creation were the chivalric romance, pastoral, and picaresque.  Lazarillo de Tormes was the first picaresque novel.  I couldn't find an English version at the library but I did find this great summary/outline of the book/genre (although it has some grammatical errors).  It is a very biting social commentary as the main character goes from archecharacter to archecharacter [okay, I made up that word - it is actually archetypes for each social class].  Cervantes actually rejects the picaresque technique within Don Quixote but they won't catch that unless they know what it is that he's rejecting ;).

http://www.classicspanishbooks.com/lazarillo-de-tormes.html

Free English translation (Please make sure to preview!  It has some rough language sometimes.  Think of it as the precursor to Huck Finn.):
http://www.lazarillodetormes.com/ingles.htm

Here are my loose lesson plans for Don Quixote:

My main resources are:
Twayne's Masterwork Studies: Don Quixote The Quest for Modern Fiction by C. Johnson
Cliff Notes on Cervantes' Don Quixote (I got a bunch of different titles for $.25 each at the library!)
Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra [We are using a nice copy illustrated by Magda      Bogin from the library.  It is oversized and has nice illustrations.  Unfortunately, it only has Part 1 so  we are probably going to use the Kindle for Part 2 (I don't like the library copy we found for Part 2  mainly because of the creepy illustrations!)]

Read the following together before reading the text:
~ Historical Context [Twayne's p. 8-11]
~ The Importance of the Work [Twayne's p. 19-21]
~ Biographical Sketch [Cliff Notes p. 5-8]
~ Purpose [Cliff Notes p. 73]
~ Technique and Style [Cliff Notes p. 74; 1st and 2nd paragraphs only]
~ Skim over the Themes (will read more carefully after the text)[Cliff Notes p. 82-86]

Read Part I

Read the following together:
~ Introduction of the Protagonists [Twayne's p. 39-44]
~ A Book about Books [Twayne's p. 71-80 (up through 1st paragraph on p. 80)]

Read Part 2 (probably from Kindle or through interlibrary loan)

Read the following together:
~ Themes [Cliff Notes p. 82-86]
~ Read over Questions for Discussion (briefly) [Cliff Notes p.86-88]

Choose a topic from the Questions for Discussion or a theme for an essay.  We chose #8: In your own words, discuss the nature of quixotism.  They needed to include the following in their essay:
- Short synopsis of the story in the intro paragraph
- Description/definition of quixotism
- Examples from the book
- Real life examples of people demonstrating quixotism
- Conclusion

Resources Around the Web:

We will image google Don Quijote/Don Quixote and do a variety of art work based on the book/art ideas.

Here are some links in no particular order...

http://www.bookrags.com/lessonplan/donquixote/funactivities.html

This has short questions (with key), vocabulary, and activity ideas for each chapter.  It is geared toward 5th but can be used with high schoolers to enrich their reading:
http://tinyurl.com/l4fo6p9

Very interesting approach of studying the musical Man of La Mancha.  [Note 1.9]  [Note to self: print this before watching the movie - I have 2 on hold at the library; with Orson Wells and with Peter O'Toole]
http://jerz.setonhill.edu/theater/musical/man-of-la-mancha-lesson-plans/

These last 2 came from this blog post:
http://www.montessorienelhogar.com/2011/08/don-quijote.html

Here is a great Spanish grammar interactive site where students can practice putting tildes.  It doesn't really have much to do with Don Quijote except for the watermark background, but still great:
http://www.juntadeandalucia.es/averroes/recursos_informaticos/concurso2005/45/ficheros/principal_no_ie.htm

This site has recipes mentioned in the book that are still eaten today. It will give us a jumping start to look for recipes/instructions:
http://www.jimena.com/cocina/apartados/quijote.htm

Man of La Mancha :  I just previewed this movie with Peter O'Toole and Sophia Loren.  We will be skipping the 2 scenes with the violence toward her character at the inn, just FYI in case you need to preview for your children.











MTFHR:

Here is a great explanation of the 2 genetic mutations.  Not even remotely related to Don Quixote, lol, but a succinct explanation of something I need to deal with in life and need to remember where to find :) :
http://journeyofhealth.org/hello-world/


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