Dear Students:
Here are lists of themes mentioned in each chapter of Nervous Mary. I prepared them in case any of the themes piqued your curiosity and you wanted to learn more about them on your own. Or in case your teacher decided to use them for assignment suggestions; in which case I wanted you to have plenty of options to choose from! Hope you enjoy Nervous Mary! Write to me if you want, and tell me what you think! (You can email me on the Author page at the bottom!) - Oh! And check out the FAN ART PAGE!!! Maybe you'd like to send me your NM art?!!!
All the best! ~ LAD
Chapter 1
1) The saying used for this chapter’s title
2) A street map of Maria walking home from school, including street names and landmarks mentioned in the text, using an online map such as google maps for reference
3) Maria, a.k.a. Nervous Mary
4) The veneration of the statue of Jesus de Medinaceli in Madrid, which is still as popular today as it was in Maria’s time, especially on the first Friday of every March (see this link or similar... www.efe.com/efe/english/patrocinada/spain-s-king-kisses-feet-of-revered- christ-statue-for-1st-time-as-monarch/50000268-3540704)
5) Saint Teresa of Ávila, her life or the poem that Maria was memorizing
6) The ‘Second Spanish Republic’ that was established in 1931
7) The Burning of the Convents (see photos in Slideshow #2 on Nervous Mary website)
8) Something of your choosing that has to do with Chapter 1
Chapter 2
1) The expression from this chapter’s title, in both English and Spanish
2) Alcoy, ‘City of Bridges’
3) The ‘Moors & Christians’ festival, still celebrated every year in Alcoy (www.spanish-fiestas.com/festivals/moros-y-cristianos/; and en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moros_y_cristianos)
4) Arabic influence on Spain’s language and culture
5) The European Goldfinch
6) The catching/selling of songbirds in Spain, mostly illegal but still practiced
7) Something of your choosing that has to do with Chapter 2
Chapter 3
1) The saying from this chapter’s title
2) Cádiz, ‘Little Silver Cup’
3) The French Protectorate of Morocco; the Spanish Protectorate of Morocco
4) King Alfonso XIII
5) The Rif War and the Battle (‘Disaster’) of Annual
6) Something of your choosing that has to do with Chapter 3
Chapter 4
1) The saying from this chapter’s title, machismo, and gender roles
2) Spain’s autos in the early 1920s, including the Ford Model T plant in Cadiz
3) The military march Maria sings (www.youtube.com/watch?v=sGhzRcAHA3g)
4) Something of your choosing that has to do with Chapter 4
Chapter 5
1) The saying from this chapter’s title
2) The city of Madrid
3) Flamenco music: dance, guitar, castanets, song (lots on YouTube)
4) Madrid’s unique festivals, traditional dress, and customs
5) Antonio de Trueba, Spanish writer cited in this chapter
6) Gypsies of Spain (also called the Roma or Romani people)
7) A game! Put toothpicks (instead of pins) into a deep bowl, have people line up with sticky tape on their hand and, by turn, lower hand with tape onto toothpicks, draw hand out of bowl, and see how many boyfriends/girlfriends St. Anthony will bring them this year!
8) Something of your choosing that has to do with Chapter 5
Chapter 6
1) The saying from this chapter’s title
2) Foods of Madrid or other parts of Spain
3) Fashion in Spain in the 1930s
4) Christmas/Epiphany traditions in Spain
5) Something of your choosing that has to do with Chapter 6
Chapter 7
1) The saying from this chapter’s title
2) The port city of Ferrol, and its naval base
3) Hollywood actress Myrna Loy
4) Spain’s mountains, including the Sierra de Guadarrama
5) Jerez de la Frontera, a city in the province of Cádiz
6) The curious expression used for someone who is full of him/herself: ‘No tiene abuela...he/she doesn’t have a grandmother’
7) Something of your choosing that has to do with Chapter 7
Chapter 8
1) The saying from this chapter’s title
2) Our Lady of the Angels parish, and St. Josemaría Escrivá’s testimony of how the ringing of its bells led him to found the Opus Dei movement
3) The Catholic tradition of the Angelus
4) Alopecia (the hair loss condition Kirico had)
5) General Miguel Primo de Rivera
6) Something of your choosing that has to do with Chapter 8
Chapter 9
1) The saying from this chapter’s title
2) Postpartum depression
3) The Great War (World War I)
4) Maria’s grandmother’s possible route through France on her way to
England when WWI broke out and the Western Front established (encyclopedia.1914-1918-online.net/article/western_front)
5) Mental breakdown
6) The Popular Front and the Republican government (the political left)
7) The Nationalists (the political right)
8) Jose Antonio Primo de Rivera and the Falange Party
9) Something of your choosing that has to do with Chapter 9
Chapter 10
1) The saying from this chapter’s title
2) The Graf Zeppelin airship and its flights around the world
3) Dreams, according to science/medicine
4) José Calvo Sotelo, his life and assassination
5) The military coup and the beginning of Spain’s civil war
6) Something of your choosing that has to do with Chapter 10
Chapter 11
1) The saying from this chapter’s title
2) Draw a map showing the route Maria’s family took from their home on Santa Engracia Street to 7 Génova Street (use an online street map)
3) Siege of the Montaña Military Barracks in Madrid
4) The Temple of Debod, Egyptian temple located where Montaña Barracks once stood
5) The Anarchist song, ‘Viva la FAI’
6) Something of your choosing that has to do with Chapter 11
Chapter 12
1) The saying from this chapter’s title
2) Panic attacks
3) What does it mean to be brave?
4) What does it mean to be a coward?
5) Something of your choosing that has to do with Chapter 12
Chapter 13
1) The saying from this chapter’s title
2) ‘Las Escuelas Pías de San Antón’, the school where Papa is imprisoned
3) Draw a map of Maria’s walk to and from Papa’s prison
4) Silkworms as pets or silk industry (sciencing.com/silkworms-5455701.html; or, blog.fabrics-store.com/2015/04/24/traveling-the-silk-road-the-history-of-silk/; or, another site I am unable to link but you can find by going to: www.medievalists.net and then searching for the article titled, "Medieval Silkworm Farming".
5) The proverb Maria remembers when Teresita asks for her help (‘To a friend in need, right away, not tomorrow but today.’)
6) Something of your choosing that has to do with Chapter 13
Chapter 14
1) The saying from this chapter’s title
2) The Spanish custom of using two last names (surnames) www.thoughtco.com/spanish-surnames-mother-and-father-3078099
3) Spanish bota bag
4) Maria’s dream
5) Goya’s painting of Saturn devouring his son, or another that isn’t gory!
6) Something of your choosing that has to do with Chapter 14
Chapter 15
1) The saying from this chapter’s title
2) The Fifth Column, including how the term originated
3) Badajoz
4) In Spanish, sniper is francotirador. Another word for sniper, paco, was coined by Spanish soldiers fighting on the Moroccan cliffs during the Rif War. When the Moors shot at them with their old rifles, it sounded to the Spanish soldiers like “pa”...and then, as it echoed back, another sound...“co”. Snipers were often referred to as pacos in the Spanish Civil War as well.
5) Something of your choosing that has to do with Chapter 15
Chapter 16
1) The saying from this chapter’s title
2) The saying by Victor Hugo: Laughter is the sun that drives winter from the human face
3) Top Hat or another film with Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers
4) Anarchists; Communists; or Socialists, leading up to and during the Spanish Civil War
5) Saint Francis of Assisi
6) Something of your choosing that has to do with Chapter 16
Chapter 17
1) The saying from this chapter’s title
2) General Francisco Franco becomes Generalísimo
3) El Vito, the song, or the dance (youtu.be/4CNaqLvLnXI; or youtu.be/hdIqbOL7HaY)
4) Joseph Stalin, U.S.S.R. leader, and his influence in Republican Spain
5) Propaganda used on both sides (see photos on Slideshow #2 on Nervous Mary website)
6) Something of your choosing that has to do with Chapter 17
Chapter 18
1) The saying from this chapter’s title, in English and Spanish
2) Madrid’s Olavide Market, its history and its demolition hiddenarchitecture.net/mercado-de-olavide/
3) The Spanish custom of asking your place in line: here is a great article that explains it, go to: theolivepress.es/spain and search for article: 'The Curious Case of Queuing in Spain'
4) Widowed Potatoes www.marga.org/food/int/castile/patatas.html
5) The plight of Refugees, in this war or any war
6) The bomber planes used by both sides in Spain’s civil war
7) The history of Madrid’s Metro: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madrid_Metro; or madridnofrills.com/madrid-metro-100
8) Something of your choosing that has to do with Chapter 18
Chapter 19
1) The saying from this chapter’s title (which is the subtitle of this book)
2) Maria’s dream
3) The Siege of Madrid
4) The International Brigades
5) Famous monuments of Madrid
6) Spanish artist Diego Velázquez and his painting, Las Meninas
7) Catholic monarchs Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand
8) Something of your choosing that has to do with Chapter 19
Chapter 20
1) The saying from this chapter’s title
2) Symbols, uniforms, hand signals, flags, etc. of the many political parties represented in the war (Anarchist, Communist, Falangist, Monarchist, etc.)
3) The expression, ‘sarna con gusto no pica’. Literally translated as, ‘scabies with pleasure doesn’t itch’. If it’s something you enjoy, it’s not a chore.
4) The banners carried by the communist marchers (see photos on Slideshow #2 on NM website)
5) Military knots
6) Something of your choosing that has to do with Chapter 20
Chapter 21
1) The saying from this chapter’s title
2) When Luis says to Maruchi, “Don’t ignore me...you’re not taking me seriously,” what he was saying in Spanish was, “no me tomes por el pito del sereno. Don’t take me for the night watchman’s whistle.” Tomar por el pito del sereno is an interesting Spanish expression!
3) Coffee, its origins and the different ways of preparing and drinking it
4) Something of your choosing that has to do with Chapter 21
Chapter 22
1) The saying from this chapter’s title
2) Las sacas, and the massacres of Paracuellos del Jarama/Torrejón de Ardoz
3) The city of Alcalá de Henares and its historical significance
4) Something of your choosing that has to do with Chapter 22
Chapter 23
1) The saying from this chapter’s title in Spanish is sarcastic and comical: There weren’t enough of us, so Grandma had a baby!
2) The sad changes that have taken place in Mama due to her mental illness
3) Luis discovers that using his artistic talent can help them all.
4) Something of your choosing that has to do with Chapter 23
Chapter 24
1) The saying from this chapter’s title in Spanish: breadandonions.net/?p=2177/
2) The Spanish word for ‘hangnail’ is padrasto, which happens to be the word for stepfather. Hmmm...how do you think that happened? Actually, something similar can be said of a word for hangnail in English: stepmother’s blessing! mdockraymiller.hcommons.org/?s=stepmother%27s+blessing
3) Don’t look a gift horse in the mouth.
4) Something of your choosing that has to do with Chapter 24
Chapter 25
1) The saying from this chapter’s title
2) The game of chess
3) El qué dirán, or in English, the fear of what others say or think about you
4) Something of your choosing that has to do with Chapter 25
Chapter 26
1) The saying from this chapter’s title
2) The plight of the destitute. Maria had never known what it was like to lack warm clothes, shoes that were the right size, necessary food...until the war.
3) El Porvenir, the Protestant school near Maria’s home and church www.elporvenir.es/es/inicio (Scroll down for English on right of home page)
4) Something of your choosing that has to do with Chapter 26
Chapter 27
1) The saying from this chapter in Spanish: When there’s no bread, flatbread will do, referring to when bakers had no yeast to make regular bread.
2) Pata negra Iberian ham: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jam%C3%B3n_ib%C3%A9rico
3) Something of your choosing that has to do with Chapter 27
Chapter 28
1) The saying from this chapter in Spanish and English
2) The Hindenburg Zeppelin and its explosion
3) Guernica, the town and its destruction by the Nationalists
4) Guernica, the famous painting by Pablo Picasso
5) Nazi Germany’s involvement in the Spanish Civil War
6) Something of your choosing that has to do with Chapter 28
Chapter 29
1) The saying from this chapter
2) Maria’s dream
3) Something of your choosing that has to do with Chapter 29
Chapter 30
1) The saying from this chapter in Spanish and English
2) Melchor Rodriguez, El Angel Rojo
3) Major Antonio Para Olivares
4) Something of your choosing that has to do with Chapter 30
Chapter 31
1) The saying from this chapter
2) New Year’s traditions in Spain
3) A year of snow, a year of plenty
4) Traditional children’s games in Spain
5) Something of your choosing that has to do with Chapter 31
Chapter 32
1) The saying from this chapter, in Spanish and English
2) The problem of hunger in the world
3) Something of your choosing that has to do with Chapter 32
Chapter 33
1) The saying from this chapter, in Spanish and English
2) Mental health in war zones
3) Something of your choosing that has to do with Chapter 33
Chapter 34
1) The saying from this chapter, in Spanish and English
2) Women on the Nationalist side of the war
3) Women on the Republican side of the war
4) Jarama Valley, the battle and the song
5) Something of your choosing that has to do with Chapter 34
Chapter 35
1) The saying from this chapter
2) Something of your choosing that has to do with Chapter 35
Chapter 36
1) The saying from this chapter
2) “Trial Against the 195 Accused”
3) Howard Hughes’ famous flight around the world in 1938
4) Something of your choosing that has to do with Chapter 36
Chapter 37
1) The saying from this chapter
2) The Republican anthem, El himno de riego: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Himno_de_Riego; and, www.youtube.com/watch?v=s-Xemd4X97E
3) Something of your choosing that has to do with Chapter 37
Chapter 38
1) The saying from this chapter
2) Something of your choosing that has to do with Chapter 38
Chapter 39
1) The saying from this chapter in Spanish and English
2) Juan Negrín
3) Luis’ map
4) Barcelona
5) Pablo Neruda
6) Something of your choosing that has to do with Chapter 39
Chapter 40
1) The saying from this chapter
2) Starvation and its physical and mental effects, whether due to lack of food or self-imposed (such as with an eating disorder)
3) Bread and propaganda dropped from Nationalist planes
4) Something of your choosing that has to do with Chapter 40
Chapter 41
1) The saying from this chapter
2) Something of your choosing that has to do with Chapter 41
Chapter 42
1) The saying from this chapter - in Spanish, this expression, “I love you as much as the female trout loves the male trout,” is a tender sign of affection. But it is also comical! Because in Spanish, the word for trout is used only in the feminine: trucha. There is no masculine ‘trucho’. However, there is one in this expression, for the sake of a rhyme!
2) The Moors of the Army of Africa that helped Franco win the war
3) Something of your choosing that has to do with Chapter 42
Chapter 43
1) The saying from this chapter
2) The hymn of the Spanish Falange, Cara al Sol – Facing the Sun:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cara_al_Sol; and www.youtube.com/watch?v=FLhoqmt9hEw&t=111s
3) The Republican collaborators at the end of the war
4) Belarmina
5) Something of your choosing that has to do with Chapter 43