Signs Preceding the End of the World

Use this activity to engage all types of learners, while requiring that they refer to and incorporate details from the text over the course of the activity.

“Research Paper: Global Border Crossings”

In this activity, students will write a research product on dangerous border crossings globally.

Individuals who cross borders are often faced with harrowing journeys. Whether they choose to migrate for better economic possibilities, or are forced to migrate because they are persecuted, these journeys can result in trauma, injury, or even death.

For this activity, you will select a dangerous border crossing in contemporary society, research the difficulties that people on the move (refugees, asylum seekers, migrants) face in their journeys, and compare the experience to that of Makina’s in the novel. Use the following questions to guide your research paper:

• Which communities seek to cross the border? Why do they seek this?
• What are some of the obstacles they experience?
• What are the political implications of this border crossing (e.g., is there a war, genocide, etc.)?
• For countries of origin and countries of destination, what have been the responses to these increased flows of people on the move?
• How are these experiences like and unlike those of Makina in Signs Preceding the End of the World? Why might the author have chosen to give the character’s journey a mythlike status?

Finally, share your research findings with the class.

Teaching Suggestion: This activity encourages students to consider border crossings in contemporary society through the research paper exercise. For classes unfamiliar with the research paper process, this activity is a good opportunity to introduce the various steps (annotated bibliography, thesis, outline, draft, peer review, and final submission). At the time of writing, border crossings are a widely discussed subject politically and socially in the world; some examples for students to choose include the following: Turkey–Greece boat crossing; Libya–Italy boat crossing; Myanmar–Bangladesh land border crossing; Israel–Palestine land border crossing; North Korea–South Korea land border crossing; Afghanistan–Pakistan land border crossing; India–Pakistan land border crossing; and the US–Mexico land border crossing. Many international agencies and non-governmental agencies provide statistics regarding safe and unsafe border crossings. This activity links with the theme of Violence and Racism in the Borderlands.

Paired Text Extension:

Ann Jaramillo’s La Línea comments on the difficult journeys that many people on the move experience as they attempt to cross the US–Mexico border. Compare and contrast Herrera’s and Jaramillo’s narratives. How does the concept of the “journey” differ for each protagonist?

Teaching Suggestion: While Herrera’s narrative focuses very little on the actual border crossing itself, the majority of Jaramillo’s narrative is the dangerous journey that her protagonists must face to first reach, and sequentially cross, the US–Mexico border. Students may focus on what constitutes a “journey” for each author, as well as the message and points-of-view Herrera and Jaramillo have.