Lesson 27: The Last Cuentista, Chapters 25–26

Retell and Paraphrase Partner Check

Instruct students to take out their homework annotations from the previous lesson and open their copy of The Last Cuentista to Chapters 25 and 26.

Transition students into partners.

Say these Directions: With your partner, take turns retelling the key events from Chapters 25 and 26. Use sequence words to keep the order of events clear. After your partner retells an event, paraphrase in your own words what he or she said. Remember that this is a summary, so identify only the key events and ideas in the chapter.

• Ask: What key events or incidents happen in Chapters 25 and 26 that propel the story forward?

  • When Petra realizes that the ship will be leaving as a result of Len’s death, she has to work quickly. In order for an escape to work, she needs Javier’s help. She sneaks into the relic room and grabs his favorite book in hopes of it helping him retrieve his memory. When Voxy comes to the secret room, Petra shares a cuento with him. Then, she returns to Javier and starts to read the book to him, reminding him of who he is. However, they are interrupted by Nyla, who knows that Petra has retained memories of Earth, and she is taken away, and they plan to reprogram her to forget all her memories.

Connection to Today's Learning

• Say: You will use your understanding of the text’s events and the importance of storytelling to further explore the central ideas of the novel.

Word Associations

Display the following target words.

Target Words: sacrifice, commitment, accord

• Say: The Collective often uses positive-sounding words to make harmful choices sound necessary. We are going to look closely at three words from Chapter 25—sacrifice, commitment, and accord—and determine what their connotations usually are versus how they are used by the Collective.

Say these Directions: Discuss with a partner the associations that come to mind for the words sacrifice, commitment, and accord. Jot down your ideas for later reference.

Display the following sentences and read them aloud.

Target Sentences

• "High above on the projected ceiling, the words Sacrifice, Commitment, Accord flash intermittently.” (p. 233)

• “As if it reads my mind, the word Sacrifice flashes across the Collective’s subliminal ceiling.” (238)

• Her [Nyla’s] face hardens. “Sacrifices have . . . and must be made.”

• “Sacrifices? We lost our planet! Eleven billion of us! There are only hundreds of you! We lost our homes, our families, our friends. . . . The Monitors were willing to spend their lives on a ship to ensure the rest of us made it to Sagan safely. That was sacrifice!” (pp. 257–258)

Prompt Student Thinking:

• Ask: When you hear the word sacrifice, what images or ideas come to mind? What about the words commitment and accord?

  • Usually, these words sound positive because they mean that you are taking action of some kind. Sacrifice sounds honorable, like you are willing to be selfless and do something for others. Commitment sounds loyal and like you are part of something that you are dedicated to, like being a part of a team. Accord sounds peaceful and like you are willing to be in agreement with others.

• Ask: How does the Collective use these words?

  • The Collective understands these associations and uses them to manipulate people, convincing them to accept control, silence, and even death as if those actions are necessary for the Collective’s future.

• Ask: What is the Collective asking people to sacrifice, commit to, and agree with?

  • The Collective convinces people to accept these ideas and commit to the Collective, no matter what. The Collective wants you to sacrifice everything, your identity, your past, your memory, your emotions, even your life, if those things are necessary for order. They use these words to dehumanize the ship’s inhabitants to maintain control.

• Ask: How does the Collective draw connections between these words?

  • The Collective’s dogma involves sacrifice as a necessity and proof of one’s commitment. If a person refuses to live in “accord,” or agreement with the Collective’s rules, then they will be “sacrificed” for the good of the Collective.

Connection to Today's Learning

• Say: You will use your understanding of connotation and word associations as you analyze how the Collective justifies violence and how Petra uses story to restore memory.

Part A: Connecting Stories to Memory (RL.8.3, L.8.5.a) (20 minutes)

Teach: Paradox—Figure of Speech

Explain to students that a paradox is a figure of speech. Explain that in today’s text analysis, they will examine how Nyla uses a paradox to elicit support for the Collective.

Display and read aloud the following definition.

• A paradox is a statement or situation that is contradictory, illogical, or absurd and that can, underneath it, be true to those who believe it. Examples of paradox include statements like the following:

Paradox Examples:

• “Less is more.”

• “The only constant is change.”

• “I must be cruel to be kind.”

Discuss the paradox examples with students.

• Ask: How are these statements contradictory or in opposition?

  • The first example, “less is more,” means that the simpler life is or the less you take, the more you might actually have. It means that doing less can mean more for your life overall. The second example is saying that the only thing that actually never changes in the world is change. Change is ongoing, so it’s actually never-ending, or constant. The third example means that sometimes you have to be mean to someone to actually show them kindness.

Provide the following paradoxical statement from Animal Farm. Remind students that they studied this statement in Unit 8.2 when reading and analyzing Animal Farm.

• Ask: Remember the commandment from Animal Farm: “All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others.” This is an example of a literary paradox. What makes this statement a paradox?

  • The statement contradicts itself. Equality is absolute for everyone; one cannot be more “equal” than another.

• Ask: What was Orwell’s purpose in having the pigs create this new commandment? What was he trying to show with this paradox?

  • Orwell uses this paradox to show how the pigs have corrupted the animals' original intentions of equality. They claim to uphold equality, and yet there can be no equality when one set of animals is more equal than another. He uses the paradox to show the dictatorship or hierarchy that the pigs have created, wherein they are in control.

Explain to students that as part of their analysis during this lesson, they will be exploring a paradox.

Transition students into small groups. Students will reread several excerpts from Chapters 25 and 26 to analyze the text before engaging in a whole-class discussion in the next part of the lesson.

Say these Directions: With your small group, you will revisit several key excerpts in Chapters 25 and 25 for close reading and analysis. As you read and discuss, you will closely analyze where the Collective uses language to justify harm and where Petra uses story to elicit memory.

Provide the following excerpts and questions for student groups to reread and discuss.

Excerpt #1: Beginning on p. 234 with the paragraph “With our arrival comes trepidation” to the paragraph on p. 235 ending “A new origin!”

• How does Nyla justify Len’s death?

  • Instead of mourning Len as a person, the Collective turns him into an example to keep everyone obedient. Nyla says “matter-of-factly” that “one of our Collective was lost to research,” demonstrating no sorrow for Len as an individual human being (p. 234). She doesn’t even name him specifically, which shows that his individual humanity doesn’t matter to the Collective. She also describes his death as “a setback that is ‘not one of disappointment,’” showing that she only cared about Len as a subject to test out Sagan’s environment (p. 234).

• How do Nyla’s statements about the “settlement” and the “hostiles” demonstrate paradoxes, and what do those paradoxes reveal about Nyla’s character? (p. 235)

  • Nyla’s statement that “...we will ensure peace, by eliminating any chance of a future war” is a paradox because she is justifying killing the “hostiles” in the name of “peace” (p. 235). She also says it is “truly a kindness to humanity to halt those who would destroy this planet, as they’ve done to their own.” This is a paradox because she is saying that the Collective must destroy others to save humanity from destruction. And she is saying that the “hostiles” destroyed their planet, but it was destroyed by a comet (p. 235). These paradoxes show that Nyla truly does not care about “humanity” because if she did, she would not want to harm others. Additionally, it shows that she only cares about the “Collective alone,” which does not truly include all of “humanity” in her mind (p. 235).

Excerpt #2: Beginning on p. 239 with “I press 2061 and hurry inside” and ending on p. 242 at “I crawl through Voxy’s sleep cell, poking the rolled baseball card . . .”

• When Petra revisits the room of relics, what does she do? What is her motivation?

  • Petra collects meaningful relics for Javier, herself, and Suma. She wishes she could collect them for the other Zetas, but she doesn’t know their names. She is motivated by the hope that these possessions will “bring something of their family back” (p. 242). Even though they are alone, Petra determines, “Javier and I will be their new family” (p. 242).

Excerpt #3: Starting on p. 247 at “If I can give him his own memories . . .” and ending on page 250 at “There’s no time left. I need you to help me get all of the Zetas on the shuttle.”

• In the exchange with Javier, how does Petra help him remember himself?

  • Petra helps Javier remember himself by speaking to him personally and reminding him of memories from their childhood. She asks him about the time “we stole one of Papa’s cigars” and “when Mom found Rápido injured on a walk” (p. 247). She also reads to him from his book Dreamers, a story she has “read” to “him a thousand times.” Petra reads, “Books became our language. Books became our home. Books became our lives” (p. 248), which finally unlocks something in Javier to remember who he is.

• How does the scene with Petra and Javier further develop a theme in the novel?

  • This scene further develops the theme that storytelling is a powerful tool to access memory. Through the reading of the book, Javier remembers who he is and who Petra is.

Tell students they will use their analyses in the whole class discussion that follows in Learning in Action Part B.

Part B: Determining Theme (RL.8.2, RL.8.3) (10 minutes)

Have students keep out their notes from Learning in Action Part A for the discussion. Explain that they will share their ideas with the class.

Say these Directions: Let’s consider how the author develops a theme about storytelling in Chapters 25–26. Use your text analysis from the previous part of the lesson to help you analyze the development of themes in this part of the novel.

Display the following questions for students and invite students to build on and disagree with their classmates’ ideas through whole-class discussion.

• Ask: What has changed about the purpose of storytelling in these chapters?

  • In these chapters, storytelling changes from something Petra shares to soothe, comfort, and entertain others to something that actively brings other people’s memories and identity back. When Petra goes to the room of relics, she searches for tokens that will help Javier and Suma remember who they were, such as when she shares Dreamers with Javier on p. 248. Storytelling also becomes a source of hope for the recovery of memory and the development of human connection. Petra searches the relics to find objects that will stir memories. Both of the objects, Suma’s “baby book” and Javier’s book, contain stories. If these relics can bring back memories, then the new community of the Zetas may be able to thrive on Sagan as their individual selves, rooted in their true identities, and not as members of the Collective (p. 241).

• Ask: In the exchange between Nyla and Petra on p. 257, what argument is each character making, and how do similar words reveal opposite beliefs?

  • On p. 257, Nyla argues about order, peace, and survival through control. She says, “We do care. We care greatly for the greater good of a singular Collective.” Petra rebuts this idea with “We lost our homes, our families, our friends,” focusing on the human connection, the sense of comfort, and the love between people that they all sacrificed. Nyla defines sacrifice as giving up that human connection and individual freedoms for the Collective’s plan (p. 257). Petra explains that sacrifice involves taking risks to protect others and keep memory alive (pp. 257–258). Nyla’s argument is about the sacrifice of individuality and memory, while Petra's use of “sacrifice” is about human connection, individuality, and memory.

• Ask: How does Nyla and Petra’s argument about “ancestors” demonstrate a theme in the novel? (p. 258)

  • Petra realizes that Nyla, Crick, and the others truly have no “connection to ancestors” and don’t feel any connection to “tradition” (p. 258). Instead, Petra understands that “by honoring our past, our ancestors, our cultures—and remembering our mistakes—we become better” (p. 258). This argument further develops the theme that connections to memory, culture, and the past can actually help people become better versions of themselves and the world. Instead, Nyla believes that by not having any connections to the past, they will create a “greater good,” but without history, there is nothing to learn from, as Petra argues (p. 257).

Provide students with a confidence continuum (i.e., 1–5). As needed, model how to demonstrate a level of confidence using the continuum.

Quick Write

Instruct students to reflect on their learning in a Quick Write response.

Say these Directions: Choose one quote or exchange from Chapters 25–26 that shows how storytelling and books are connected to identity and memory. Explain how the quote develops a theme about storytelling.

• A strong example is the part where Petra uses a book to try to jumpstart Javier’s memory. She says, “I’ve read it to him a thousand times, but this will be the last if he doesn’t remember me” (p. 248). That moment develops the theme that memory is not only stored in the brain but also carried through stories. It shows that books and storytelling help people remember who they are, even when someone has tried to erase that identity.

Instruct students to read Chapter 27 of The Last Cuentista and take notes in their Journal on the following prompt:

• As you read Chapter 27, how does Petra’s dream further develop her identity?