Describe the setting of the story. What details about the Mexican countryside and its system of justice give you a clearer understanding of this time and place?
What will be an ideal response?
- The landscape is harsh, bare, and unyielding, subject to frequent droughts, as seen both at the time of the killing of Don Lupe and at the present time, with the withering of Juvencio Nava’s corn crop. The essence of the countryside is caught in this sentence from paragraph 36: “The wind blew slowly, carrying dried earth with it and bringing something else, full of that odor, like urine, that road dust has.”
The system of justice seems endemically corrupt: murder can be theoretically absolved by bribes and other financial payments, although, according to Juvencio, the system is not honored in fact: “The ten cows I gave the judge did me no good, nor did the bond I paid on my house to get out of jail. And they still paid themselves out of what was left so they wouldn’t keep after me, but they kept after me all the same. . . . I figured that with about a hundred pesos everything would be fine. . . . But other people considered that I was still under warrant and awaiting trial so they could keep on stealing from me” (par. 25–27). Also, it appears that a military officer can order a man to be shot at will, without trial or appeal, and without fear of penalty. The people of the countryside expect nothing from nature or the law, and they feel that all that they have, including their very lives, is what they can secure for themselves.
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Complete the sentences with the correct from of the verb in parentheses in the imperativo formale.
Dottor Rossi, ________________ da me quando vuole. (venire)
Circle the correct form of the pronoun who. The congressman is interested in discussing forest preservation with (whoever, whomever) will listen
What will be an ideal response?
On the blanks next to the statements in each group, write a P if a statement is the point and S if the statement offers support for the point.
___ It is impossible to install a dish in a heavily wooded area; tree branches often get in the way of your signal, making it difficult to get reception. ___ Even though cable television boasts fewer channels than a satellite dish, the reception is always clear and goes out only in the event of a power outage. ___ Cable television is more reliable than a satellite dish, even though you can get more channels with a dish.
Verena hat sich an das stressige Leben in München gewöhnt.
a. Verena will in München nicht bleiben. b. Verena findet das Leben in München nicht mehr so schwer. c. Verena findet das Leben in München ganz gewöhnlich.