Development Unit: The Book of Unknown Americans
There is more than one side to every story. In this unit we will read The Book of Unknown Americans, a novel by Cristina Henríquez, and will explore the Central Question: How does perspective shape our understanding of events? We will examine the novel, along with a collection of short stories, memoirs, narrative poetry, and literary non-fiction, to understand how authors use literary elements and narrative techniques to explore meaning and convey themes. We will also analyze constructs that help define character and perspective: culture, ethnicity, gender, life experience, adversities, and triumphs. To synthesize what we have learned about the elements of storytelling, we will rewrite a vignette from The Book of Unknown Americans from the perspective of another character.