Lesson 14: The Last Cuentista and “Blancaflor”

Turn and Talk

Instruct students to take out their copy of “Blancaflor,” The Last Cuentista, and their homework notes from the previous lesson.

Instruct students to transition into partners.

Say these Directions: For homework, you read the traditional story “Blancaflor” and annotated the similarities and differences between it and Petra’s cuento in Chapter 16. Share with your partner your answer to the following question. Provide at least one specific annotation to support your response.

• What is one similarity or difference you noticed between the traditional “Blancaflor” and Petra’s version, and why does that change matter?

  • One similarity is that a clever girl escapes a tyrant. One difference is that Petra’s version changes the ending to tell how the clever girl becomes a fair and just ruler, unlike her ogre of a father.

Connection to Today's Learning

Say: In earlier lessons, we have studied how Higuera incorporates traditional tales into her modern text. Today, we will analyze how she uses the story of “Blancaflor” to support Petra’s story.

Fluency Practice

Instruct students to turn to the first four paragraphs in their copy of “Blancaflor.”

Say: To read fluently, you can use punctuation to help you read with expression. Listen as I model reading the first paragraph of “Blancaflor.” Pay attention to how I “read” the punctuation. You will echo read when I finish.

Model reading the first paragraph fluently, pausing for punctuation, and using expression to read aloud the narrative. Invite the class to echo read.

Say these Directions: You are going to read for partner practice, only this time you will read the first four paragraphs of “Blancaflor”. Partner A will read first while Partner B listens for one strength and one next step. Then you will switch.

Pair students with consistent, trusted partners whenever possible. When a student is still building reading confidence, pair that student with a patient peer who can model, wait, and give one precise suggestion rather than many corrections at once.

Model feedback language before partner reading:

Feedback Language

• _____ sounded smoothest in your reading.

• You might try ______ to make the sentence sound more natural.

• Read this dialogue like _______.

Connection to Today's Learning

Say: You have practiced reading and listening to the traditional cuento as spoken language. Keep this in mind as you study Petra’s retelling of that same story inside the novel.

Part A: Comparing Content and Structure (RL.8.5, RL.8.9) (10 minutes)

Provide each student with a Venn Diagram graphic organizer. Instruct students to review the traditional “Blancaflor” and Petra’s retelling in The Last Cuentista, pp. 122–124, as well as their homework annotations.

Say these Directions: Review or reread the traditional cuento of “Blancaflor” and then reread Petra’s version in Chapter 16. As you read, record what happens only in the traditional story, what happens only in Petra’s retelling, and what appears in both using the Venn Diagram. Use your homework annotations to guide your work.

After students have completed the Venn Diagram, facilitate a whole-class discussion using the following questions. Tell students to add notes to their Venn Diagrams.

Say these Directions: Let’s analyze the comparisons between the two stories by discussing the following questions. Add notes in your Venn Diagram.

• Ask: How are the events organized in each of the stories?

  • Both stories organize events in time order or sequentially, but the story in Higuera’s novel is broken up by Petra’s thoughts, Feathers’s reactions, and Petra’s memories.

• Ask: How does the pacing compare between the two folktales?

  • Even though Petra’s story includes interruptions, it goes at a much faster pace because Higuera doesn’t include all of the details of the traditional story.

• Ask: How do the dialogue and description compare between the folktale and Petra’s retelling?

  • The original folktale includes a lot of dialogue between characters, especially Blancaflor and the prince, whereas Petra’s story relies more on descriptions. She uses the descriptions to connect the characters to the Chancellor, herself, and Feathers.

Part B: Analyzing Adaptations (RL.8.5, RL.8.9) (20 minutes)

Give One, Get One

Place students in groups of three or four. Tell students that they will now do a deeper analysis of how Higuera uses the traditional story of “Blancaflor” by engaging in a Give One, Get One discussion routine. Students should keep their Venn Diagrams available and jot down new ideas they hear from their peers. Emphasize that students are not repeating the same point; they are adding or refining observations with evidence.

Say these Directions: In the following Give One, Get One routine, in each round, you will share your response to a question and record another group member’s response. Use your Venn Diagram notes, the novel, and “Blancaflor” to help you answer the questions.

Begin by reading the first question aloud and having group members rotate partners to give and get ideas. Remind students to record at least one new idea for each round. Time students’ interactions and present the second question when the time is up. Continue until students have answered all the questions.

Display the questions when reading them aloud so students can reference them throughout the discussion.

• Ask: What does Higuera adapt, omit, or emphasize in Petra’s retelling of “Blancaflor,” and why might she make some of those choices?

  • Higuera keeps the main characters, but she changes the story from a prince seeking a princess to a prince held captive by a king who fears outsiders. For example, Petra describes the father as a king whose “fear of the outside world turned him into an ogre” (p. 122). Additionally, in Petra’s retelling, she does not end up married to the prince but, instead, is chosen to be the “heir and next ruler,” choosing to highlight the princess as an intelligent leader who “outwit[s] other rulers who are “unkind” (p. 124). Higuera probably makes that choice because the cuento reflects Petra’s experience and her dream to escape the Collective’s control.

• Ask: How does Petra use the themes and characters in the traditional story to make sense of her current situation aboard the ship?

  • Petra uses the cuento as a lens for understanding her current situation. For example, she describes the king, who is an ogre, as having “see-through skin,” which alludes to the people in the Collective, like Nyla and Crick (p. 122). She also describes Blancaflor as being “open minded,” which is in direct opposition to the Collective’s beliefs (p. 123). The story helps her think about the current manipulation that they are all enduring and how Blancaflor can be a hero and “outwit” other leaders and tyrants who are “unkind” (p. 124). Instead of seeing the cuento as just entertainment, she treats it like a guide for surviving the Collective’s forced conformity.

• Ask: How is the structure of the traditional story similar to or different from its structure in the novel? Think about order of events, point of view, pacing, dialogue, and description.

  • The traditional story unfolds like a traditional story with a sequential order of events, while Higuera embeds only the parts that apply to Petra’s situation in a tense moment in the novel. The narration is told from the third-person point of view in both stories, but the original folktale includes more dialogue to develop character. Petra describes the characters and events directly without a lot of description or dialogue. By creating characters that reflect the people around her, Petra makes the story in the novel accessible to the other characters, like Feathers and Rubio. The pacing in the novel feels tighter because Petra is using the story to reflect their own circumstances, rather than telling all the details of the original story.

Check for Understanding

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 respond to a Quick Write using two to three sentences.

Say these Directions: In a short Quick Write response, use at least two specific details, one from the traditional tale and one from Chapter 16, to respond to the following prompt:

Display the following question.

• How does the author change the original cuento to help Petra tell the story of “Blancaflor” in a new way?

  • The author has Petra tell the cuento in a way that makes it relatable to their current situation on the ship. The description of the ogre king makes it clear that he is a stand-in for the Collective. Blancaflor is a reflection of Petra—a girl with “rich reddish-brown skin” who is “kind and open minded to all she encountered” (p. 123). The author also has Petra tell the story in a way that highlights her memories of Earth and its geography. While the original cuento says that “a great sea” will rise from Blancaflor’s thrown slipper, in Petra’s story, it is specifically “blue waves and white foam, like the Pacific” (p. 123).

Have students review Chapters 10–16 of The Last Cuentista. Instruct students to take notes in their Journal on the following prompt:

Choose one chapter that best shows how Higuera uses dialogue or pacing to develop key events or characters. As you read, annotate the text for the following:

• What does the dialogue reveal about the characters?

• How does the pacing develop key events?