El impacto de la dictadura de España (A1)
In this project, we learned about the Franco dictatorship in Spain. We learned about what life was like under the dictatorship, the human rights violations that his regime violated, oppression, and more. To strengthen our knowledge, we read the book La hija del sastre (The Tailor’s Daughter). In the book, a teenager named Emilia must hide her father from Franco’s forces for being a captain in the Republican army. In the end, Emilia and her family flee Spain, planning to escape to France in order to protect the father, and themselves, from imprisonment or worse. For our final project, students explored the question of how the dictatorship impacted the lives of families like Emilia’s in Spain. We chose to do either a creative or written project to represent the themes and outcomes of Franco’s regime, like political oppression, secrecy and deception, and the importance of family and trust. Some students wrote letters between two friends, one living in Spain and one who had escaped to France. I chose to write a movie script for a scene between two ex-Republicans who are at one of Franco’s concentration camps. (Niko)
Zayna says: “I liked this project because we were able to include a combination of historical details about the Spanish dictatorship as well as practicing creative writing in Spanish.”
Mary Alice says: “I chose the artistic option for this project, and I enjoyed doing research on historical aspects, as the postcard I illustrated shows a statue of Franco that actually exists in the town of Girona in Spain. It was a fun and eye-opening project.”
Esmé (Click the photo for the complete text!)
Zayna (Click the photo for the complete text!)
Mary Alice (Click the photo for the complete text!)
Jesse (Click the photo for the complete text!)
Niko (Click the photo for the complete text!)
Absinth: Click this link to read the artist statement (And click the photo to enlarge!)