Centro Teaching Guide
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Centro Teaching Guide “Plena, stories that become songs”: A Puerto Rican music and culture Introduction: This guide is meant to be primarily for teachers of Puerto Rican history and Social Studies courses from the 9-12 grade level, as well as teachers of introductory freshman courses in Puerto Rican History, sociology and humanities at the university level. Plena is a music performance in the form of storytelling song. Plena is originally a Puerto Rican musical form. Hence, to appreciate the full scope and meaning of plena, we must engage in a journey to explore its cultural milieu and history. The aim of this study and teaching guide is to use the documentary film, Plena is Work, Plena is Song, as a vehicle to pursue such a journey of exploration. Two key broad questions drive the purpose of this study guide: 1) What role does popular folk music play in survival struggles and the remaking of immigrant, migrant and indigenous people’s communities within the U.S.? 2) How can folk songs be a source of oral history and a way to learn about a people’s history and culture? Teaching Activities: To watch Plena is Work, Plena is Song should be analogous to watching and listening to a plena song about the story of plena. But of course, plena's history and culture is a more complex phenomenon. For this reason, we will organize this study guide along thematic lines, following the storytelling form and structure of the film, while suggesting a set of texts and activities aimed to inquire the social history that has shaped Plena's performers and audiences, as well as more examples of songs and performances. The documentary film, Plena is Work, Plena is Song, the main reference text of this guide, suggests a general outline of the origins and transformation of plena as a folk way of storytelling and commentary in music form. This film should be a launching pad to explore the social and cultural history of plena, and deepen the appreciation of this folk expression beyond the context of our own daily lives. To do this we have designed a series of activities to be pursued before, during and after watching the film. Through the course of these activities both teachers and students will be encouraged and directed to explore other readings and audiovisual materials regarding the broader cultural context of the plena tradition. The first activity we recommend before students watch Plena is Work, Plena is Song is to assess students’ prior knowledge of plena. A semantic map based on comments and basic questions students may want to pursue about plena will help teachers to fine tune the activities suggested in this guide. The second and, in fact, the pivotal activity of this teaching guide will be an exercise in close reading of the film, Plena is Work, Plena is Song, as an audiovisual text. This will require a careful deconstruction of the film's story which will be facilitated by watching the film in segments. To perform a close reading of these film segments students should be directed to write their commentaries in the form of a simple but fairly sophisticated note-taking device known as the “dialectical notebook”, a tool to help students read and respond to complex texts (written and or audiovisual), while creating their own meanings through comments and questions. In brief, the way to make and use a dialectical notebook can be described as follows. Students must divide the pages of a notebook into two columns. One column will be labeled Text. In this text column they will record chronologically what they think are the most important points of the text, in each segment so that when they finish they will have a summary of the film text. The second column will be titled Response and will contain students' questions, comments and ideas about parts of the text that have elicited their doubts or curiosity. To prompt students’ creativity the teacher should request them to title each of the segments as part of their note-taking/commentary exercise. This exercise will help them to focus and summarize the main ideas/images within each segment of the film text, while providing with the space to create their own meanings, which is ultimately the central pedagogical goal of the “dialectical notebook”. Teachers should also discuss briefly the term dialectical, which connotes dialogue, opposition, contradiction and movement. For more information in this regard refer to the bibliographic section of this guide. In addition to watching and doing a close reading of each film segment, the teacher may choose to suggest other supplementary materials in the form of online audiovisual presentations and/or writings about a subject relevant to the film segment under study. After discussing students' notes, comments and questions, each sequence will include references for suggested supplementary learning materials. First, teachers should request students to come up with a heading that in their view best describes the contents of each of the segments they will be watching and taking notes on. The heading should be the first item in their Text section of their dialectical notebook. After deciding on the headings remind students that they should remember the specific visual images and words that best summarize what goes on in each segment. Possible questions are: What is going on in this segment? Who are the persons involved in the story being told? When and where do you think the events depicted took place? How is the story being told? These questions may be useful guide for students in doing their note taking in the Text column of their dialectical notebook. Finally, we would also suggest examples of specific questions designed to prompt students into pursuing further research of topics that will serve as generative themes to enrich their understanding of the Plena history and culture. In the Response column you may encourage students to answer the following questions in order to ensure that they are dialoguing with the text while pursuing their own lines of interests and questioning their previous assumptions: 1) .00:10-01:22 What is a güiro? Why is it important in the Plena tradition? Is it found in other music traditions? See plena musician, Héctor "Tito" Matos, demonstrate how to play the güiro or güícharo (as it is also called in Puerto Rico) for Plena rhythm: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cA3LUr_fNSA For a live action demonstration of how a singer can lead his group with a güiro you can see this performance at a plena event in Mayagüez, Puerto Rico go to: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ONN7XhqNGY Also if you get curious about the guiro, you can learn about how to make a quick home version following the instructions in this user-friendly workshop: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=06fCItgL8vA 2) .01:56-02:18 What is a pandero? Where does it come from? How is its use in Plena similar or different from other music traditions? For both teachers and students who may need a quick but insightful overview of Plena, you can read: The Power of Plena by Roberta Singer http://www.salsacrazy.com/salsaroots/plenatotalpage.htm For teachers who need a stimulating background reading on the subject of the pandero, go to: La circulación del pandero http://bembeteo.com/ensayos/plena7.pdf and El pandero de plena-mulato sin gloria http://bembeteo.com/apop/apop11.pdf For a brief but fascinating account of Rafael Trinidad, a worker who became a virtuoso pandereta artisan, you must go to: http://www.casamerica.es/en/contenidoweb/pandero-de- la-plena . For a visual sampling of his panderos go to: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J1zXzdRTqdQ Also, for a broader perspective on global significance of the pandero folk music throughout the world, visit this site: http://www.nscottrobinson.com/framedrums.php 3) 02:20-03:55 What are plenas? Where do they come from? 4) 3:55-5:05 5) 5:06-6:09 When did plena become a music form? Who were the first plena musicians? To enrich the discussion of segments #4 and #5 teachers should encourage students to read sections 4 and 5 of Edgardo Díaz Díaz’s summary of Plena's history: http://centropr.hunter.cuny.edu/voices/musica/plena 6) 6:10-7:30 7) 7:30-9:39 Why do you think plena was not always music to some people’s ears? 8) 9:40-14:06 Find out about Plena and workers’ strikes and protests. The question and topic for discussion suggested for segments 6, 7 and 8 imply a discussion of the relationship between social class, culture and music. To facilitate and encourage students' interest and discussion of these issues, teachers should become familiar with Ramón López’s insightful views in: http://www.caribejazz.com/ARTICULOS/Entries/2007/6/20_Breve_y_ajorada_historia_de_la_ Plena.html 9) 15:06-17:27 Why do you think that plena became a commercially successful music? Teachers will find Jorge Pérez’s analysis of this question in his essay: La Plena Puertorriqueña: de la expresión popular a la comercialización musical Vol ll Number 2 (1991) http://centropr.hunter.cuny.edu/journal/journal-collections/journal-1991 10) 17:27- 22:07 What is call and response? Why is it important in a form of music like plena? Read about call and response in: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Call_and_response_(music) Also, for a more specific discussion about call and response in Plena go to: http://centropr.hunter.cuny.edu/voices/musica/plena/analyzing-plenas 11) 22:07-29:13 Why do plenas seem happy even when they sing about sad situations? Why is the plena tradition still alive even though it is almost a hundred years old? Follow-up Activities: Students should be prepared to conduct an interview with a member of their family and/or their neighborhood who has personal experiences as a participant of plena events.