Hello 9th Grade,

I hope you enjoy reading Like Water For Chocolate! Over the next few weeks, your online assignment will be to post chapter summaries. I have completed the first two chapters as an example of what I expect you to do! This weekend, you have the choice to write a summary for either Chapter #3 OR Chapter #4. YOU DO NOT HAVE TO WRITE A SUMMARY FOR BOTH! This is due by Monday Morning at 8:00 a.m. Please choose only one chapter- The chapter that you feel most comfortable summarizing! The following are my summaries that include an explanation of the main example of Magical Realism in each chapter. Enjoy!

-Like Water For Chocolate-

Chapter 1, January- Christmas Rolls

The story begins with the narrator Tita, Esperanza’s daughter – Rosaura’s granddaughter – the protagonist’s great-niece, telling us that she is especially sensitive to onions just like her great aunt Tita. Her great-aunt reportedly cried in the womb and was born on a wave of tears in the kitchen. From then on, the kitchen was Tita’s domain and her life would revolve around the preparation of food for her family. When Tita was a young girl, she was very close to Nacha- the family cook-, playing games and even shaping the sausage they made into the shapes of animals, and she looked to her as a mother figure.

From Nacha, Tita learned the secret skills and recipes of cooking and it represented everything Tita loved about her life at home. This included the magical rituals of the sausage making, the rising of the yeast, the raising of animals, the use of all sorts of natural ingredients and, of course, the closeness that develops between women who work together in the kitchen.

One day, when most of the women were in the kitchen, Pedro Muzquiz came to ask for permission to marry Tita. Tita’s mother, Mama Elena, had warned her not to encourage him to ask for her hand. Tradition prohibits the youngest daughter from marrying so that she will always be available to take care of her elderly mother.

When Pedro came, Mama Elena surprised everyone when she offered her oldest daughter, Rosaura, instead of Tita for marriage. Chencha was the first to tell Tita but Tita did not want to believe it. Later, Mama Elena seemed to enjoy telling Tita the shocking. Nacha tells Tita about the conversation she overheard between Pedro and his father: Pedro explained that if he could not have Tita, the woman he truly loves, then he must marry her sister so that, “at least he could be close to her.”

Chapter #1 begins quickly describing the story’s subject, setting, conflict, tone and themes. The traumatic news broke Tita’s heart on the family’s ranch close to Piedras Negras, Coahuila during the Mexican Revolution. There is passion, tears and, of course, traditional food. The characters are all very strong women and there doesn’t seem to be any men in the family, except Pedro. The main example of Magical Realism is the story of Tita’s Birth on the kitchen table.

Chapter 2, February- Chabela Wedding Cake

As Tita and Nacha prepare the wedding cake for Rosaura’s marriage to Pedro, Tita is overwhelmed with her emotions. They need use 170 eggs to make the cake but as they pass the 100-egg mark, Tita’s hands begin to shake because can no longer hide her fury and anger that her sister marrying her boyfriend. Mama Elena is very cruel and shows no sympathy when she tells Tita that she will not tolerate any outburst and warns her to behave. Tita continues to beat the cake but cannot help crying into the cake batter. Nacha understands Tita’s situation and, noticing Tita’s tears falling into the batter, tells her to go to bed for fear that the cake will never be ready.

They are able to finish the cake with its apricot filling and meringue frosting but Tita is so sad that isn’t sure she will be able to get through the wedding! Tita feels better after Pedro tells her that she is the woman he really loves during a private moment at the reception. Tita is so happy that she doesn’t notice that the guests are crying over their lost loves after eating the cake. Tita leaves to tell Nacha about her conversation with Pedro but finds her dead in her own bed.

In chapter #2, Tita is forced to watch her boyfriend marry her sister while she must prepare the wedding feast, the enormous cake and special frosting. Mama Elena continues to abuse and oppress Tita and tells her that she will not tolerate one moment of self-pity. The big example of Magical Realism in this chapter is when Tita’s crying into the cake batter affects everyone at the wedding banquet with longing and remorse for lost loves. The response is so powerful that they become physically sick and Tita is the only one unaffected by the strange sickness.