TRAVEL BLOG – SALVADOR 1 FULL PAGE After watching and reading over the material posted, compose a travel blog where you will share your thoughts and impressions of Salvador. You can include images in your blog post to give it more dimension, but it is not required. Travel blog posts should be concise (200-250 words) and on topic. Video – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gh7c46U5hhY Video – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XNJVlCZxeUY&feature=youtu.be Example of a Travel Blog on Salvador- https://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Brazil/Bahia/Salvador/blog-873367.html TEXTUAL ANALYSIS ESSAY ON CAPTAINS OF THE SAND 2 FULL PAGES After reading the novel Captains of the Sand, you will write a textual analysis essay using one of the two questions below as the prompt for your essay. The essay will be 500-600 words in length and needs to include a clear thesis, 2-3 supporting points, and examples from the novel to support your argument. Captains of the Sands is a Brazilian novel written by Jorge Amado in 1937. Questions: 1) In Jorge Amado’s novel Captains of the Sand, he employs a literary aesthetic known as social realism, which is the realist imagery of the everyday conditions of the working class and the poor that functions as a critique of the social structures that maintain this social inequality. Do you feel that this literary aesthetic is effective in critiquing the social problems of Salvador, and do you feel politics has a place in literature? Why or why not? Provide examples from the novel to support your argument. 2) Jorge Amado frequently references Afro-Brazilian religions and cultures in his novels, which is the identity and culture of the majority of the population in Salvador. Do you feel his depictions of Afro-Brazilian religion and culture in Captains of the Sand provides a complex understanding of Black culture in Brazil, or are there shortcomings? Provide examples from the novel to support your argument. BACKGROUND ON THE NOVEL Captains of the Sands is a Brazilian novel written by Jorge Amado in 1937. The novel tells of a gang of one hundred street children. Their ages range from seven to fifteen and they live by begging, gambling and stealing in the streets of Salvador. The protagonist is “Pedro Bala” (Peter Bullet), the leader of the gang, and other important characters include the “Professor” (Teacher), “Boa-Vida” (Good Life), “Barando”, Joo Grande (Big John) and Sem-Pernas (Legless). Critics have tended to dismiss Amados earlier works, such as Captains of the Sands, as being political rather than literary and for incorporating popular culture, such as Candombl (Afro-Brazilian religion) and malandragem (lifestyle of idleness and fast living; figure of the rogue or hustler is tied to this term; in Brazil this figure is seen as a folk hero, or anti-hero). In response, Amado said that he set out to tell a story to be enjoyed by all, not to please critics, and to show solidarity with the humanity portrayed in the books. Probably for this reason Captains of the Sands is one of the most popular books among students in Brazil and the story is still known for its socialist idealism. Amado was a member of the Brazilian Communist Pary at the time he wrote it, and the book belongs to the Socialist Realism in vogue at the time. In the year of publication 808 copies were burnt in a square in Salvador, together with works of other authors, under the pretext that they were communist propaganda. In a postface to the book, Amado wrote that this was the sixth and final work in the cycle he called “The Bahian Novels” in which he had tried to set down the “life, the customs, the language of my State”. SOCIAL ISSUE BLOG 1 FULL PAGE For this unit, you will write a blog post on the social issue of street children addressed in the novel Captains of the Sand that is a real-world issue for Brazil. After watching and reading the material above on street children in Brazil, you will write a blog post on this social issue for an audience that has no familiarity with Brazil or the issue discussed. This is your chance to share your opinion on the issue while providing information from sources I provided as well as sources you find on your own. You can include images or video in your blog post, but it is not required. The social issue blog post should be concise (250-300 words) and on topic. Material – https://pangaea.org/street_children/latin/sheper.htm Video – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JGGK8ysEzSk