So remember, Thursday, the 28th, we will go over the first four (unnumbered) exercises in the BKN unit OJALA QUE LLUEVA CAFE.
Newly assigned Tuesday in class were the first three numbered ones, and I am not above giving a quiz on these Thursday. They’re just verb forms, but we need to know them cold!
That is pretty easy so if you are a go-getter and would like a doable and useful challenge, now is also a good time to review SER and ESTAR. Cruise around in BKN and in this very website, and you will discover a great deal on SER and ESTAR.
Remember as well that if you are doing the extra credit assignment I need it MONDAY at the very latest!
PLANS
In class tomorrow (Thursday) we will talk about the uses of the subjunctive, and do together the BKN exercises 4, 6, 7, and 8.
As homework for the following Tuesday, you’ll do the BKN exercises 5, 9, 10, 11, 12, and 13. Space it out, there are four days Friday-Monday, don’t do them all at once!
We will look at those in class Tuesday, and then have a small group activity involving subjunctive practice.
Then we’ll start working with the next BKN unit, DONDE JUGARAN LOS NIÑOS. If you would like to get ahead, listen to the song!
El conjunto español de MANU CHAO canta “Me gustas tú.”
Me gustan los aviones, me gustas tú.
Me gusta viajar, me gustas tú.
Me gusta la mañana, me gustas tú.
Me gusta el viento, me gustas tú.
Me gusta soñar, me gustas tú.
Me gusta la mar, me gustas tú.
Qué voy a hacer, je ne sais pas.
Qué voy a hacer, je ne sais plus.
Qué voy a hacer, je suis perdu.
Qué horas son, mi corazón.
Me gusta la moto, me gustas tú.
Me gusta correr, me gustas tú.
Me gusta la lluvia, me gustas tú.
Me gusta volver, me gustas tú.
Me gusta marijuana, me gustas tú.
Me gusta colombiana, me gustas tú.
Me gusta la montaña, me gustas tú.
Me gusta la noche, me gustas tú.
Qué voy a hacer, je ne sais pas.
Qué voy a hacer, je ne sais plus.
Qué voy a hacer, je suis perdu.
Qué horas son, mi corazón.
Me gusta la cena, me gustas tú.
Me gusta la vecina, me gustas tú.
Me gusta su cocina, me gustas tú.
Me gusta camelar, me gustas tú.
Me gusta la guitarra, me gustas tú.
Me gusta el reggae, me gustas tú.
Me gustan los aviones, me gustas tú.
Me gusta viajar, me gustas tú.
Me gusta la mañana, me gustas tú.
Me gusta el viento, me gustas tú.
Me gusta soñar, me gustas tú.
Me gusta la mar, me gustas tú.
Qué voy a hacer, je ne sais pas.
Qué voy a hacer, je ne sais plus.
Qué voy a hacer, je suis perdu.
Qué horas son, mi corazón.
Me gusta la moto me gustas tú.
Me gusta correr, me gustas tú.
Me gusta la lluvia, me gustas tú.
Me gusta volver, me gustas tú.
Me gusta marijuana, me gustas tú.
Me gusta colombiana, me gustas tú.
Me gusta la montaña, me gustas tú.
Me gusta la noche, me gustas tú.
Qué voy a hacer, je ne sais pas.
Qué voy a hacer, je ne sais plus.
Qué voy a hacer, je suis perdu.
Qué horas son, mi corazón.
Me gusta la cena, me gustas tú.
Me gusta la vecina, me gustas tú.
Me gusta su cocina, me gustas tú.
Me gusta camelar, me gustas tú.
Me gusta la guitarra, me gustas tú.
Me gusta el reggae, me gustas tú.
Qué voy a hacer, je ne sais pas.
Qué voy a hacer, je ne sais plus.
Qué voy a hacer, je suis perdu.
Qué horas son, mi corazón.
Me gusta la canela, me gustas tú.
Me gusta el fuego, me gustas tú.
Me gusta menear, me gustas tú.
Me gusta la Coruña, me gustas tú.
Me gusta Malasaña, me gustas tú.
Me gusta la castaña, me gustas tú.
Me gusta Guatemala, me gustas tú.
Qué voy a hacer, je ne sais pas.
Qué voy a hacer, je ne sais plus.
Qué voy a hacer, je suis perdu.
Qué horas son, mi corazón
Qué voy a hacer, je ne sais pas.
Qué voy a hacer, je ne sais plus.
Qué voy a hacer, je suis perdu.
Qué horas son, mi corazón.
Me gusta la canela, me gustas tú.
Me gusta el fuego, me gustas tú.
Me gusta menear, me gustas tú.
Me gusta la Coruña, me gustas tú.
Me gusta Malasaña, me gustas tú.
Me gusta la castaña, me gustas tú.
Me gusta Guatemala, me gustas tú.
Qué voy a hacer, je ne sais pas.
Qué voy a hacer, je ne sais plus.
Qué voy a hacer, je suis perdu.
Qué horas son, mi corazón…
+ el resto de las presentaciones orales
+ comentarios sobre el quiz
+ OJALA QUE LLUEVA CAFE (B. K. Nelson): La canción y los ejercicios en las cuatro primeras líneas de la hoja de ejercicios (the four before the exercise labeled #1 – write and be ready to speak cogently about the song and all of these)
Noticia: Buena Vista Social Club, la película para el ejercicio de crédito extra, está en reserva en la biblioteca.
Consejo:
Y’all! You have to prepare these presentaciones orales! For example: getting up and reading an English translation of a song does not fulfill the requirements in any way! Having a cogent presentation prepared but then giving it in English does not do it either! Look at how Barbara K. Nelson presents the songs: talking about the concept, the origins, annotating hard words. You should really be able to figure this out.
If you need help figuring it out or with any aspect of Spanish, remember that I have office hours and we also have a tutor available, right here in Griffin, just for our very own class (and our musical edification ). She will even be there Monday from 8 to 3. Call her ahead if you’d like at 482-1279.
N.B. Next week’s work involves the BKN unit on “Ojalá que llueva café.” Details forthcoming but if you want to get ahead, you can start working on this song and the related exercises.
Meanwhile, we have an optional extra credit assignment and no, it is not because people did poorly on the quiz – they didn’t – it was planned. It could be a good thing to do, though, for people who have missed class, or who would have liked to do even better on the quiz, or who would just like some more advanced practice.
What: see the film Buena Vista Social Club and write a cogent, typed, 200-225 review, using the present and when appropriate, the past tenses and the present subjunctive correctly, and the verbs like gustar.
Why this movie? Because it has to do with Afro-Cuban music, and because the Spanish in it is very clearly pronounced and relatively easy to understand.
When is this due? Thursday, February 28 or before the following Tuesday class.
Where do we get the film? It is available via all the usual outlets. It will also be at the reserve desk in the library beginning Friday afternoon, one copy for viewing in the library itself, and another on one day reserve.
Point of the oral presentation: practice talking. Show you can talk understandably, using the present and past tenses, and the present subjunctive when necessary, and verbs like gustar. Show that you, as a member of the audience, can ask questions or make comments, and that you, as a presenter, can respond to them.
What is the oral presentation: a discussion of / presentation of an interesting song or poem, in Spanish or English – something you like.
How long it is: 3 minutes per presentation, including questions and comments, so plan on about 2 minutes, which isn’t long.
Is it a solo or a group presentation? It can be solo, or you can do it in pairs. If it is in a pair, both people have to talk, and it is twice as long!
What should we do? Show us the text or perhaps a video / audio clip, tell us something about its context, tell us what it means to others and to you, why you like it (note: you could also decide to present something you think is BAD, and explain why you DON’T like it – of course!).
What should we not do? Print a music review from the Internet and read it to us. The point is to practice speaking Spanish in your OWN words.
How is this going to be graded? 20% each: preparation, sophistication, pronunciation, fluidity, comprehensibility (note: to be really comprehensible you have to have reasonably correct grammar and syntax – not perfect, but good enough).
Lagniappe: here is a song I might present, if it were my presentation. It is by famous Argentine singer Mercedes Sosa. Notice that it comes with lyrics which are fairly easy to read and understand, and that she also talks about her music on the video. She speaks slowly and clearly, so she is comparatively easy to understand.
Piedra y camino
(Letra de Atahualpa Yupanqui)
Del cerro vengo bajando
Camino y piedra
Traigo enredada en el alma, viday
Una tristeza.
Me acusas de no quererte
No digas eso
Tal vez no comprendas nunca, viday
Porque me alejo.
Es mi destino
Piedra y camino
De un sueño lejano y bello, viday
Soy peregrino.
Por más que la dicha busco,
Vivo penando
Y cuando debo quedarme, viday
Me voy andando.
A veces soy como el río
Llego cantando
Y sin que nadie lo sepa, viday
Me voy llorando.
Es mi destino,
Piedra y camino
De un sueño lejano y bello, viday
Soy peregrino.
1. Obituario de Nicolás Guillén (10 minutos / 75 palabras). Incluya información relevante y apropiada para un obituario del conocido poeta. Use correcta y apropiadamente el presente, el pretérito y el imperfecto, y el subjuntivo si es necesario. [25 puntos]
2. Altar para Nicolás Guillén (10 minutos / 75 palabras). Describa el altar que Vd. construiría “para que vuelva” el poeta. ¿Qué pone ( o pondría) en el altar, y por qué? Use correctamente el verbo gustar, y otros verbos semejantes. [25 puntos]
Note: sequence of tenses for this has to be either PRESENT – PAST (e.g. “I am putting a bongo drum on the altar since he has indicated willingness to answer the call of the drum”) or, for the advanced crowd, CONDITIONAL – PAST (e.g. “I would put a bongo drum on the alter since he has indicated willingness. . . .).
3. Preguntas sobre el vocabulario y el contenido de la Balada de los dos abuelos. [N.B. Para alegrarnos la vida hay audio del poema con la voz de N.G.] (49 puntos)
4. One-point mystery question! Hint: if you did the assignment “tell us one fact about Nicolás Guillén,” and now that you have written his obituary, you probably know the answer to this question.
Rules for the quiz: I, Leslie, am your walking dictionary! No other dictionaries allowed! Each person may ask for three words. Questions about vocabulary on the quiz or in Balada de los dos abuelos will not be answered!
Don’t freak out: these are notes, we’ll talk about these in this space! But we have to do a mini-quiz and mini-oral presentation, because it’s in the syllabus, and so we can have feedback. Here are our materials:
TEXTS WE’VE READ or HEARD:
The song in Ofrendas – the interviews on the Day of the Dead – background material of your choice on Guillén – four poems by Guillén. From this page you can hear him reading Tengo.
TEXT FOR PREPARATION OUTSIDE CLASS (YES, you can do this):
Guillén’s famous Balada de los dos abuelos.
GRAMMAR WE HAVE REVIEWED: present tense (mostly), preterit and imperfect (some), present subjunctive (some), and VERBS LIKE GUSTAR. You should be able to use the present very well, and to easily recognize the past tenses and the subjunctive and understand how they are working.
***
Quiz: questions, to answer mostly in the present tense, on the texts we’ve read.
Oral presentation: brief, in pairs. Describe one one of our texts, or an aspect of one of them, and express an opinion. Amor y muerte / música y poesía / biculturalismo.
Thursday in class the first thing we will do is shout out four lines each, perfectly pronounced (and ideally, well memorized), from today’s poem, “La canción del bongó.” I’ll have some comments on written work done today.
Then we’ll read three poems: Sensemayá [see also two audio / video versions of this poem: Sensemayá and Sensemayá con Inti-Illimani]; Si tú supiera [see also video/song; this was later retitled Sóngoro cosongo], and Tengo. I’m choosing the first two because they are so famous and they have words in them that are fun to say, and Tengo because it’s easy to read. It’s from the poet’s ‘revolutionary’ period. The speaker is a campesino who now has the things he needs: “tengo.”
Be ready to talk about these poems – what are they doing, what do they mean – both thematically and in terms of grammar. How are the words working together, how is he using the tenses and pronouns? How many of the words are actually words and how many are there just to sound like drums?
Follow the link to Sensemayá … what is the poem doing, what is it talking about, how many of the words are actually words and how many are there just to sound like drums? Here are two audio / video versions of this poem: Sensemayá | Sensemayá con Inti-Illimani.
Here is Si tú supiera. How is it working, what is it doing, why is it using dialect?
¡Ay, negra
si tú supiera! [supieras]
Anoche te bi pasá [vi pasar]
y no quise que me biera. [vieras]
A é tú le hará como a mí, [a lé tú le harás]
que cuando no tube plata [tuve]
te corrite de bachata, [corriste]
sin acoddadte de mí. [acordarte]
Sóngoro cosongo,
songo be;
sóngoro cosongo
de mamey;
sóngoro, la negra
baila bien;
sóngoro de uno
sóngoro de tre. [tres]
Aé,
bengan a be; [vengan a ver]
aé,
bamo pa be; [vamos para ver]
bengan, sóngoro cosongo, [vengan]
sóngoro cosongo de mamey!
*
Comparación: Paul Lawrence Dunbar (1872-1905) was apparently the first African-American poet to write in dialect (some poems are in classical English, some aren’t). Guillén also wrote non-dialect poetry.
For the advanced / the interested: see this article on Motivos de son by a really famous Cuban-American scholar.
Here is Nicolás Guillén’s son, a visual artist, interviewed in Miami (1999) on his family and his work. It isn’t easy to understand for the average 203 student, but even so it is fun to look at and listen to, just for the sound of his voice and the energy in it.
And note that in Tarea #3, the poem now has hyperlinks to all the difficult vocabulary words!
I. Para la primera parte de la clase del martes próximo:
Today in class we redefined homework assignment #2 as the first set of exercises on Ofrendas. That includes the composition on creating your own altar. This homework was due today in class, has been collected, and cannot be made up.
However, we reassigned the next two sets of exercises on Ofrendas (based on the interviews), due Tuesday the 12th of February, with the poem (the final exercise) being extra credit.
Before doing these exercises (under actividades) you may want to review the entrevista and the ensayo de imágenes.
II. Para la segunda parte de la clase:
1. Search for and find any single fact about Cuban poet Nicolás Guillén and come to class ready to explain it to us in Spanish! We have a few Guillén resources right here and more in the last post, and there are many more available.
2. Read and listen to “La canción del bongó” (that’s Guillén himself reading it). Be ready to talk about it / summarize it / ask specific questions about it. After listening to it, practice reading it out loud! Feel and sound confident, like a drum! Roll out those hard consonants and vowels!
Notes: The speaker in the poem is the bongo drum itself … in the poem the bongo calls all people, of all colors and social classes, and they all respond. That is, the African cultural influence is in everyone and the culture of even white Cubans is actually Afro-Hispanic. Everyone is “dark” in some way: even if they do not look African descended (are not “cueripardos” or dark-skinned) they are still African descended culturally (they are “almiprietos,” i.e. they have Black souls).
Esta es la canción del bongó:
Aquí el que más fino sea,
responde, si llamo yo.
Unos dicen: Ahora mismo,
otros dicen: Allá voy.
Pero mi repiquebronco,
pero mi profunda voz,
convoca al negro y al blanco,
que bailan el mismo son,
cueripardos y almiprietos
más de sangre que de sol,
pues quien por fuera no es de noche,
por dentro ya oscureció.
Aquí el que más fino sea,
responde, si llamo yo.
En esta tierra, mulata
de africano y español
(Santa Bárbara de un lado,
del otro lado, Changó),
siempre falta algún abuelo, [i.e., there are unmentioned African grandfathers] cuando no sobra algún Don [i.e., extra noble Spanish ancestors are claimed] y hay títulos de Castilla
con parientes en Bondó: [a district in Kenya] Vale más callarse, amigos,
y no menear la cuestión,
porque venimos de lejos,
y andamos de dos en dos. [i.e., we go two by two, we have double ancestry] Aquí el que más fino sea,
responde si llamo yo.
Habrá quién llegue a insultarme,
pero no de corazón; [de corazón = sincerely, from the heart] habrá quién me escupa en público,
cuando a solas me besó…
A ése, le digo: Compadre,
ya me pedirás perdón,
ya comerás de mi ajiaco, [ajiaco = indigenous root stew, fig. cultural mixture] ya me darás la razón, [darle la r. alguien = recognize someone is right] ya me golpearás el cuero, [remember it is the leather drum speaking here] ya bailarás a mi voz,
ya pasearemos del brazo, [del brazo = arm in arm, on someone's arm] ya estarás donde yo estoy:
ya vendrás de abajo arriba,
¡que aquí el más alto soy yo!
III.Optional, for the advanced / the interested:
a. The Mexican band Café Tacuba has a song based on this poem, although the song lyrics are somewhat different from the original text. Can you see and understand the changes?
b. Check out this article (in English) on the fusion of West African and Hispanic cultural elements in this poem. (Note: if you are off campus, you will have to log into the library website and gain access to it through JSTOR, using your CLID and password. If you are on campus, it should come right up.)
). She will even be there Monday from 8 to 3. Call her ahead if you’d like at 482-1279.