Guided Reading of "Drown": Listing the Events Part 3

 In the next section of our reading, we've gotten to know a little bit more about the narrator, his world, and relationships? What are some things you notice about him? What do you notice about his family? Do you feel you can characterize better his friendship with Beto?

Now for this next post, you're going to read page 5 (starting with "Nights I drink with...") up to 7 (ending with "Eat me"). You're continuing to look for important events, but still you're only listing 7 events, continuing to practice really synthesizing (boiling things down to a nutshell). Continue to keep track of what is happening in the present and what is happening in the past (introduce past events with "He remembers when...").

Challenge Paragraph:

When the narrator first meets the recruiter, the military recruiter talks about how the army has given him "a house, a car, a gun, and a wife. Discipline. Loyalty." When the narrator sees the recruiter during his run, he says,

"He’s a southerner, red-haired, his drawl so out of place that the people around here laugh just hearing him. I take to the bushes when I see his car on the road. These days my guts feel loose and cold and I want to be away from here. He won’t have to show me his Desert Eagle or flash the photos of the skinny Filipino girls sucking dick. He’ll only have to smile and name the places and I’ll listen."

Why does he take to the bushes when he sees the recruiter's car? Why does he say the recruiter won't *have to* show him his Desert Eagle (gun) or flash the photos? What would the recruiter have to get him to do to get him to listen? Why will he listen? And if he'll listen, why is he hiding?

Also, for the last scene of this section, it's important for you to know that the word "pato" is a Spanish word that literally means duck but is used as a derogatory, insulting term for gay men.

Share your list of events and answer to the Challenge Paragraph questions here:

https://forms.gle/TixThDYwKTRiGaNC8

Feel free to ask any questions or share any thoughts about the reading in the comments below.

Guided Reading of "Drown": Listing the Events Part 2

 So after the first few pages, you're starting to get a sense of the narrator's friendship with Beto. What do you think is the narrator's deal with Beto? Any insights? Predictions?

Now for this next post, you're going to read 2 (starting with "We live alone...") up to  (ending with "the bones in our fingers pressing together"). You're continuing to look for important events, but now you're only listing 7 events, so you're going to have to really synthesize (boil things down to a nutshell). Continue to keep track of what is happening in the present and what is happening in the past (introduce past events with "He remembers when...").

Challenge Paragraph:

In the first paragraph of this section about halfway in, the narrator writes:

"She has discovered the secret to silence: pouring café without a splash, walking between rooms as if gliding on a cushion of felt, crying without a sound. You have traveled to the East and learned many secret things, I’ve told her. You’re like a shadow warrior."

Why does he describe his mom in this way? What is he telling us about her? Why does he tell her she’s traveled to the East and learned secret things, that she’s like a shadow warrior? Has she really been to the East? What does he mean by this? Why does he tell her this? What does it suggest about their relationship?

You can share your list of events and answer to the Challenge Paragraph questions here:

https://forms.gle/48ffzsSTTWn1GKQ57

Feel free to write in questions you have on the reading in the comments section below.

Guided Reading of "Drown": Listing the Events Part 1

In "Drown," we have an unnamed narrator who recounts experiences in two verb tenses. You will note that sometimes he uses the present tense ("My mom tells me Beto's home), and sometimes he uses the past tense ("We were raging then"). So there's a little grammar practice with this reading where we're going to want to pay close attention to verb tenses because our story is happening in two time periods: the narrator's present circumstances and the past he remembers.

Read pages 1-2, stopping at "not even dictionaries." Note the important things that happen, describing them in a sentence or 2 in your own words. If something is happening in the present, just write about it in the present tense. If it's happening in the past, start with "He remembers when/how..." You need to come up with 10 events for this section. 

Example for first paragraph:

1. The narrator's mother lets him know that Beto's home, but he acts like he doesn't care until she goes to sleep and he goes to look for him.

2. He remembers when they were friends two years ago and Beto was like a member of the family.

3. .....


Challenge Paragraph: Note this challenging paragraph when the narrator is at the community pool.

The water feels good. Starting at the deep end I glide over the slick-tiled bottom without kicking up a spume or making a splash. Sometimes another swimmer churns past me, more a disturbance of water than a body. I can still go far without coming up. While everything above is loud and bright, everything below is whispers. And always the risk of coming up to find the cops stabbing their searchlights out across the water. And then everyone running, wet feet slapping against the concrete, yelling, Fuck you, officers, you puto sucios, fuck you.

Do the cops actually appear in this scene? Note that he says "And always the risk of coming up to find the cops." What does that mean?

You can complete your list of ten events and share with us your ideas on the Challenge Paragraph here:

https://forms.gle/AaLGfLAMNBJruEEk9