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Paired Texts > Excerpt from Pedro's Theory: Reimagining the Promised Land

by Marcos Gonsalez 2021

We've identified these texts as great options for text pairings based on similar themes, literary devices, topic, or writing style. Supplement your lesson with one or more of these options and challenge students to compare and contrast the texts. To assign a paired text, click on the text to go to its page and click the "Assign Text" button there.

The White Man's Burden
The White Man's Burden
Rudyard Kipling

Rudyard Kipling (1865-1936) was a British writer who is best known for The Jungle Book. In 1899, he wrote "The White Man's Burden," a poem about America's imperative to colonize and rule the Philippine Islands. This poem sparked considerably controversy when it was written.

Pair “The White Man’s Burden” with Excerpt from Pedro’s Theory: Reimagining the Promised Land and ask students to discuss the modern legacy of colonialism and its foundational racial stereotypes. In “The White Man’s Burden,” who is the speaker’s audience, and what is the speaker calling upon them to do? In stanza 5 of the poem, what is the speaker’s attitude toward the unspecified indigenous people to be colonized? In paragraphs 4 and 5 of Excerpt from Pedro’s Theory: Reimagining the Promised Land, the author notes that tourists in Mexico “want a landscape that is fit to be consumed with little or no resistance,” and that their “quest to experience and know mimics far too closely the conquerors of yesterday” and the “power dynamics which gave shape to this unequal, this suffering, Americas.” Explain the connection between the narrator’s observations about modern tourism in Mexico and the earlier belief system represented in the poem. How would the narrator in Excerpt from Pedro’s Theory: Reimagining the Promised Land respond to the speaker in “White Man’s Burden” and vice versa?

10th Grade Poem
Capitalism Will Eat Democracy — Unless We Speak Up
Capitalism Will Eat Democracy — Unless We Speak Up
Yanis Varoufakis

In "Capitalism Will Eat Democracy — Unless We Speak Up," Yanis Varoufakis discusses the state of democracy today and how it relates to the political sphere and the economic sphere.

Pair “Capitalism Will Eat Democracy — Unless We Speak Up” with Excerpt from Pedro’s Theory: Reimagining the Promised Land and ask students to discuss whether it is possible for capitalism to facilitate a more inclusive and equal world. What is the author’s main criticism of capitalism in “Capitalism Will Eat Democracy — Unless We Speak Up”? How does he think that capitalism could work to more effectively benefit all people? Explain the separation between the economic sphere and the political sphere that the author describes, and why it is problematic. What solution does the author propose? How might the narrator of Excerpt from Pedro’s Theory: Reimagining the Promised Land respond to Veroufakis’ arguments about capitalism and his hopes for reuniting the economic and political spheres? Would the type of capitalism that Veroufakis describes lead to the more inclusive world that the narrator hopes for in Excerpt from Pedro’s Theory: Reimagining the Promised Land? Explain areas where the narrator and Veroufakis would likely agree and disagree, and support your explanation with details from both texts.

12th Grade Speech 1200L
Excerpt from
Excerpt from "Our America"
José Martí

In this excerpt from "Our America," José Martí discusses the governing of Latin American nations newly independent from outside influence.

Pair Excerpt from “Our America” with Excerpt from Pedro’s Theory: Reimagining the Promised Land and ask students to consider the influence of José Martí’s views on the work of Marcos Gonsalez. Explain Martí’s and Gonsalez’s shared definition of “America” in both texts. According to Martí, what were some of the “hostile elements” that America inherited and still endures “from its perverse, despotic colonizer” (Paragraph 2)? Choose a quote from Excerpt from “Our America” that illustrates these hostile elements from Martí’s point of view. Though the texts were written over 125 years apart, both authors share a similar vision for the America — and world — they would like to create and inhabit. Describe their ideal, and discuss the philosophical beliefs underlying their goals. Beyond sharing a world view, are there similarities in style between the two texts? Explain your response.

12th Grade Political Theory 1300L
The Blue Dress
The Blue Dress
Saeed Jones

In "The Blue Dress," a speaker's free-flowing thoughts guide the reader through an emotional contemplation of what it means to feel whole, accepted, and seen — or the opposite.

Pair “The Blue Dress” with Excerpt from Pedro’s Theory: Reimagining the Promised Land and ask students to discuss how each author’s identity as a LGBTQIA+ person of color has influenced their content and stylistic decisions. In “The Blue Dress,” how does the blue dress belonging to the speaker’s mother represent a range of emotions and experiences? Compare and contrast the poem’s tone with that of the narrator when they discuss their identity in paragraph 2 of Excerpt from Pedro’s Theory: Reimagining the Promised Land. In the poem, Jones uses only commas and a single period. How does this stylistic choice impact the pace and the mood of the poem? What feelings might the author intend to provoke in the reader? Similarly, Gonzalez at times uses short sentence fragments throughout the memoir, and few paragraph breaks. What are the author’s possible intentions for choosing to sentence fragments at various points, and few paragraph breaks throughout? What effect might he hope these stylistic choices will have on the reader? In both texts, how have the the authors’ identities as LGBTQIA+ people of color influenced the content and style of these works?

10th Grade Poem
Tell Them
Tell Them
Kathy Jetn̄il-Kijiner

In "Tell Them," Kathy Jetn̄il-Kijiner writes about how the beauty of the Marshall Islands and its people are at risk because of climate change. Pair “Tell Them” with Excerpt from Pedro’s Theory: Reimagining the Promised Land and ask students to consider the consequences of climate disasters for indigenous communities in the context of colonialism and capitalism. In “Tell Them,” how does the speaker feel about their community in the Marshall Islands? Why has the speaker sent items from the Marshall Islands to friends in the U.S. and what do they hope their friends will do with those items? Compare and contrast the poem with the narrator’s reference to Hurricane Maria in paragraph 3 of Excerpt from Pedro’s Theory: Reimagining the Promised Land. In paragraph 5, the narrator calls for “the commitment to unlearn what we have come to understand as normal ways of being and living together on this planet. The normality of possessive individualism, monetary accumulation at all costs, and lawful exploitation of others which colonialism and capitalism has wrought across this Americas, and this planet.” In the context of “Tell Them,” explain the connection the narrator draws between colonialism, capitalism, and the suffering of others in this quote from Excerpt from Pedro’s Theory: Reimagining the Promised Land.

11th Grade Poem