The Motorcycle Diaries: CTK AP Spanish Unit: March 2014

In 1952, 23-year-old Ernesto Guevara de la Serna (Gael Garcia Bernal) is two years away from completing his studies to become a doctor. His best friend Alberto Granado (Rodrigo de la Serna), a 29-year-old biochemist, has asked him to come along on a 5,000 mile journey on his motorcycle to see the continent. They will begin in Buenos Aires and travel across the Andes into Chile, through the Atacama Desert to Peru, and then into Venezuela.

The world would soon know him as Che Guevara. By the time of his execution in Bolivia in 1967, he had passed into myth. Jean-Paul Sartre called him "the most complete man in history" and in 1968 with youthful protests kicking up around the world the slogan "Che lives" appeared on walls from Paris to Berkeley and everywhere else where change was in the air.It was a long and challenging journey for this earnest Argentinian who didn't have the faintest idea of what lie ahead of him when he took off on a motorcycle journey in 1952. It forged his character and set his course as a revolutionary who would advise the rest of us, "Always be capable of feeling deep inside any injustice committed against anyone anywhere in the world."

by Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat

Your assignment for this week is to complete 4 interactive blog posts while watching the film: The Motorcycle Diaries.

You must have a Google account in order to post your answers on this blog.

Assignment is due: May 10, 2014

The Motorcycle Diaries: Journal Entries

South America- (in spanish:) Reflect on what you learned about South America in class. Refer to your KWL Chart for help in writing your entry.
Trip Itinerary: (in spanish:) At the end of Senior year, if you had the opportunity to take the trip of a lifetime, where would you go? What type of transportation would you use to travel to your destination(s)? Who would you take with you as your travel companion(s)? Post your travel itinerary. You can use Google Earth or Google Maps to chart your journey.
Supplemental Reading: (in spanish:) Read the poem: The Heights of Machu Picchu Cantos XII by Pablo Neruda: Look for phrases which relate to the history and cultural state of South America. Blog about the poem in relation to the Machu Picchu scene in the Movie.

Alturas de Macchu Picchu ,XII
Sube a nacer conmigo, hermano...

Pablo Neruda

Dame la mano desde la profunda
zona de tu dolor diseminado.
No volverás del fondo de las rocas.
No volverás del tiempo subterráneo.
No volverá tu voz endurecida.
No volverán tus ojos taladrados.

Mírame desde el fondo de la tierra,
labrador, tejedor, pastor callado:
domador de guanacos tutelares:
albañil del andamio desafiado:
aguador de las lágrimas andinas:
joyero de los dedos machacados:
agricultor temblando en la semilla:
alfarero en tu greda derramado:
traed a la copa de esta nueva vida
vuestros viejos dolores enterrados.

Mostradme vuestra sangre y vuestro surco,
decidme: aquí fui castigado,
porque la joya no brilló o la tierra
no entregó a tiempo la piedra o el grano:
señaladme la piedra en que caísteis
y la madera en que os crucificaron,
encendedme los viejos pedernales,
las viejas lámparas, los látigos pegados
a través de los siglos en las llagas
y las hachas de brillo ensangrentado.

Yo vengo a hablar por vuestra boca muerta.
A través de la tierra juntad todos
los silenciosos labios derramados
y desde el fondo habladme toda esta larga noche
como si yo estuviera con vosotros anclado,
contadme todo, cadena a cadena,
eslabón a eslabón, y paso a paso,
afilad los cuchillos que guardasteis,
ponedlos en mi pecho y en mi mano,
como un río de rayos amarillos,
como un río de tigres enterrados,
y dejadme llorar, horas, días, años,
edades ciegas, siglos estelares.

Dadme el silencio, el agua, la esperanza.
Dadme la lucha, el hierro, los volcanes.
Apegadme los cuerpos como imanes.
Acudid a mis venas y a mi boca,
Hablad por mis palabras y mi sangre.

The Revolutionary: (in english:) The Motorcycle Diaries is more than just a young man's reflection of a travel experience. What factors lead to a change in his social conscience? What transforms Ernesto into the Revolutionary "Che"? How is this depicted at the end of the film? Identify three moments in the film.

Reflect on the following poem and how does it tie in to the Motorcycle Diaries:

Robert Frost: The Road Not Taken:

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,

And sorry I could not travel both

And be one traveler, long I stood

And looked down one as far as I could

To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,

And having perhaps the better claim,

Because it was grassy and wanted wear;

Though as for that the passing there

Had worn them really about the same,