The Poet Slave of Cuba by Margarita Engle

Engle, Margarita, and Sean Qualls. THE POET SLAVE OF CUBA: A BIOGRAPHY OF JAUN FRANCISCO MANZANO. New Work: Henry Holt, 2006. ISBN: 9780312659288

Margarita Engle pens a stirring account in the free verse biography of a Cuban slave, Juan Francisco Manzano. Using poetic devises, Engle tells of Manzano and his ability to memorize and recite poetic verses which made him a plaything of sorts to his mother’s owner Dona Beatriz and would often have him entertain and show off his talent to visiting guests. Later, Mazano secretly learned to read and write, and began developing his own poems about courage and the noteworthy things around him. At the young age of 6, Manzano’s mother was given her freedom and was promised that Juan would gain his when Dona Beatriz died. This did not happen for Juan. Upon her death his ownership was transferred to La Marquesa de Prado Ameno a mean, cruel, mentally ill woman who often subjected Juan to beatings and confinement.

Juan

Now I’m shackled, chained, trapped

twenty-five lashes of the whip

in the morning

my breakfast of screams

twenty-five more lashes at noon

instead of lunch

I taste my tears

I eat shame

Engle writes the biography in a multi voice format with each person in Juan’s life having their own say within the pages. Readers will hear from his mother, owner, Juan himself and others who shaped Juan into the notable man he became. These individuals are the ones that were instrumental in Juan’s course throughout life…whether in a positive or negative way.

Accompanying several pages are black and white illustrations, a plain and compelling depiction of Manzano’s life as a Cuban slave.

The Poet Slave of Cuba is the winner of the 2008 Pura Belpre Medal for Narrative and a 2007 Bank Street - Best Children's Book of the Year.

 

To introduce an art lesson about art being used as an expression for human emotions, I would book talk The Poet Slave of Cuba and share this excerpt told in Juan’s voice.

Juan

My mind is a brush made of feathers

     painting pictures of words

     I remember

     all that I see

     every syllable

     each word a twin of itself

     telling two stories

     at the same time

     one of sorrow

     the other hope

Students would discuss types of emotions and what those emotions look like to others.

Students should use an artistic media of their choice to depict a human emotion of their choice.

Other lessons involving art and emotions:

http://www.princetonol.com/groups/iad/lessons/high/hs-emotions.htm

http://www.princetonol.com/groups/iad/lessons/elem/Colleen-poetry.htm