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53 pages 1 hour read

Sandra Benitez

A Place Where the Sea Remembers

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1993

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Essay Topics

1.

How does Remedios symbolize the tension between Santiago’s past and its present?

2.

Magical realism blurs the line between fantasy and reality. What do the fantastical elements of A Place Where the Sea Remembers add to the narrative? How would the novel be different without these magical elements?

3.

The residents of Santiago live in a patriarchal society. How is this evident in the gendered roles enacted by the different characters? How is it demonstrated in their relationships with each other? Do any of them overcome or subvert these social expectations? If so, how?

4.

How might a reader analyze the novel through a socioeconomic lens?

5.

Why does Benitez give Remedios such a prominent place in her narrative?

6.

Describe the importance of water as a symbol in the novel. Use examples from the text to support your answer.

7.

Esperanza, more than any other character, straddles the line between tradition and modernity. How does she embody both past and present?

8.

Both Marta and Esperanza were victims of sexual violence. Describe the cultural and institutional beliefs that permit these crimes.

9.

Benitez frequently brings back characters from previous chapters as secondary actors in other stories. Why does she do this, rather than making each chapter a standalone story?

10.

Remedios’s chapters are all written in present tense while the others are all written in past tense. What is the purpose of this?

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