Use these questions or activities to help gauge students’ familiarity with and spark their interest in the context of the work, giving them an entry point into the text itself.

Short Answer

1. When a book or movie is called ‘epic,’ what does that usually mean? What films or novels would you consider to be epic? Next, what is usually meant when we say a character ‘comes of age’? Can you think of any stories in which a character matured as a result of their experiences?

Teaching Suggestion: Summer of the Mariposas draws on both Mexican culture and Western European forms of storytelling. You can use the questions about epic films/novels as a springboard to discussing epic tales. Similarly, the questions about coming of age can segue into a discussion about the Bildungsroman. After students have a basic understanding of both, you can ask them to compare the attributes of an epic tale to those of a Bildungsroman. Students should have a basic understanding of these attributes to understand the workings of the novel and to analyze the literary elements. 

• “What Is a Bildungsroman? Definition and Examples”- An article from MasterClass explains the genre, its origins, and examples of such tales.
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