Lesson 18 Home

Logo: a gaucho couple

This is Lesson 14, "Costumbrismo"

If you would like to change languages, click here: SPANISH (Sorry, this is still under construction. Come back next semester, when we expect to have a fully bi-lingual web site to accompany our projected offering of the course in both Spanish and English)

If you would like to see the full text of the Lesson in English, click here.

If you would like to read the Spanish side-by-side with the English, click here (note: this is an excellent language learning technique).

Multiple choice questions for the Lesson (click on the correct answer; if you are wrong, nothing happens; if you are right you will get a confirmation):

MC-1. Palma based his "traditions" on

c. a mix of history and imagination

MC-2. The original language of "Martín Fierro"

a. is difficult because of the gaucho dialect

Short-answer questions for the Lesson. Instructions: If you are not sure about the answer and would like a hint, click on the figure labeled "Hint".

Note: In later versions of this web site we plan to make it possible for you to type your answer directly on the web site and send it back to the instructor electronically. For the moment you might want to type your answers in a word processing program and let the instructor have them for extra credit (on paper or electronically via email to jchild@american.edu). We may also be discussing these questions orally in class, and similar questions will appear in unannounced quizzes.

HINT SA 1: What is "Costumbrismo"?

HINT SA 2: What do we know about Palma's life?

HINT SA 3: What was the significance of the fact that Palma was a Mestizo?

HINT SA 4: What impact did barbed wire and the railroad have on the life of a gaucho like Hernández' "Martín Fierro"?

HINT SA 5: What motivated Hernández to write "Martín Fierro"?

HINT SA 6: Describe the mayor in López' poem.

HINT SA 7: What are the "spinster girls" like in López' poem?No hint Did you like Azuela's story? Why?

HINT SA 8: What are the foundations of "Costumbrismo"?

HINT SA 9: What is a "tradition" as used by Palma?

HINT SA 10: What opinion did Hernández have of Sarmiento, and why?

HINT SA 11: What is López' style like?

HINT SA 12: How did "Costumbrismo" affect folk art?

HINT SA 13: What political significance does Costumbrismo have in Latin America?

HINT SA 14: What was the impact of the War of the Pacific (1879-1883) on Palma' life and work?

HINT SA 15: Describe the barber in López' poem.