English 5

Brief and Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao

Jeopardy CategoriesMain

CharactersMinor

Characters Plot Elements Structure & Narrative Elements

Misc.

200 200 200 200 200

400 400 400 400 400

600 600 600 600 600

800 800 800 800 800

1000 1000 1000 1000 1000

Bonus Question: 5000 pts

Topic 1: 200• Question:• Which three characters in the novel have had

abortions?• Answer• Belicia, Lola, and Ybon

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Topic 1: 400• Question:• Which character narrates the majority of the

novel and can bench 300 pounds?• Answer• Yunior

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Topic 1: 600• Question:• Which character dresses up as Dr. Who for

Halloween?• Answer• Oscar

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Topic 1: 800• Question:• Which character is a renowned surgeon?• Answer• Abelard

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Topic 1: 1000• Question:• Which character is referred to as “the failed

cattle thief,” “fuckface,” and “El Jefe”?• Answer• Rafael Trujillo

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Topic 2: 200• Question:• Who were the three heartbreaks of Belicia

Cabral?• Answer• Jack Pujols, the Gangster, and De León

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Topic 2: 400• Question:• Who were the three heartbreaks of Oscar de

León?• Answer• Maritza Chacón, Ana Obregón, and Jenni

Muñoz

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Topic 2: 600• Question:• Lola lost her “virginity” to whom?• Answer• Aldo

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Topic 2: 800• Question:• Otherwise known as “la fea,” which character

is 13 years older than her husband and orders the Elvises to beat Belicia because she is pregnant?

• Answer• Trujillo’s sister

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Topic 2: 1000• Question:• Which character was killed by a stray bullet

while praying in church?• Answer• Astrid Cabral

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Topic 3: 200• Question:• Why does Lola cut her hair?• Answer– To rebel against Beli– To keep men from noticing her– To symbolize the change in her character

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Topic 3: 400• Question:• What did Lola do with the money she received

for her “big puta” moment?• Answer• She gave it to Max’s family after he died

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Topic 3: 600• Question:• Why is Belicia beaten in the cane field?• Answer• She is pregnant with the child of a man who

has married into the Trujillo family

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Topic 3: 800• Question:• What does Oscar do after he graduates from

college?• Answer• He becomes an English teacher at his old high

school

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Topic 3: 1000• Question:• How does Oscar die?• Answer• He is shot by the captain’s goon squad

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Topic 4: 200• Question:• How do the footnotes contribute to the text?• Answer• They provide relevant historical background,

character development, and context

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Topic 4: 400• Question:• The novel includes which literary genre

elements?• Answer• Science fiction and fantasy, Postmodernism,

Magical Realism

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Topic 4: 600• Question:• The novel is told from which point of view?• Answer• Predominately first person (Yunior and Lola)

with occasional moments of second person.

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Topic 4: 800• Question:• Identify the epigraphs that the novel begins

with.• Answer• A quote from the Fantastic Four and an

excerpt from a poem by Derek Walcott

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Topic 4: 1000• Question:• How would you describe the structure of the

narrative?• Answer• It is nonlinear to highlights the analogous

relationship between the fragmentation of Postmodernism and the cultural fragmentation associated with diaspora

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Topic 5: 200• Question:• Who does the narrator credit with brining

fukú to the New World?• Answer• Christopher Columbus

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Topic 5: 400• Question:• In the novel women’s power is portrayed

mainly through what?• Answer• Their sexuality

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Topic 5: 600• Question:• The faceless man is a harbinger of what?• Answer• Fukú

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Topic 5: 800• Question:• The golden mongoose represents or is

associated with what?• Answer• Zafa

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Topic 5: 1000• Question:• Why does Diaz focus so much on Trujillo and

Dominican Republic history?• AnswerTo show the long-lasting generational effects a dictatorship can have

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Bonus Question: 5000 pts.

• Question:• What does Diaz accomplish by including myriad

storylines? • Answer– He attempts to preserve unpleasant but important truths of

the Dominican diaspora’s painful past by filling the country’s historical “página en blanco”

– He highlights the cultural complexities and generational challenges immigrant families face

– He shows how all the main characters experience relationships that are emotionally—and often physically—traumatizing

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Final Jeopardy

All contestants: Write down on your white boards how many points you are willing to risk.

If you get the question right, you win the amount, but if get it wrong, you loose that amount of points.

The Question:Identify a theme in the novel.

You have one minute.

The Question:Answers will vary.

All contestants: If you got the question right, you win the amount, but if get it wrong, you lost the amount of points.