Vocabulary

Xoaxaca?/Oaxaca - Oaxaca is a state in southern Mexico.

Footpath - A path for people going on foot.
Peasant - A member of a class of persons, as in Europe, Asia, and Latin America,who are small
farmers or farm laborers of low social rank.
Seor - A Spanish term of address equivalent to sir or Mr.
Just - Given or awarded rightly; deserved, as a sentence, punishment, or reward.
Questions
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

Why does the peasant think Death is fair?

Why doesnt the peasant choose to share with his family?
Why did the author write this story?
What is the purpose of this story?
Why does the peasant not want anyone to see him eat the chicken?
Answers

1. I think the peasant thinks that Death is fair because no matter your social status,
race, gender, or age you all in the end, or sooner, die. Another reason why I think the
peasant shares the chicken with Death and not God is because the peasant believes that
God is unfair because He plays favorites by giving some people food, a safe place to
live, and clean water while other people are starving to death, dont have a place to live
and have no clean water to drink.
2. I think the peasant chooses not to share with his family because he thinks he has
already sacrificed so much of his own food for his family to eat that he deserves to eat a
good meal all by himself. It also doesnt seem like he has very good morals because he
stole a chicken and hes only using the stolen food to feed himself not to feed his family.
3. I think that the author wrote this story to make you think about your views on God
and Death being fair or not.
4. I think the purpose of this story is to show you that you shouldnt run away from
your problems because in the story it talks about how the peasant stole a chicken and ran
away from his family to a hill to eat the chicken by himself instead of sharing it with his
family whos starving.

5. Why I think the peasant hid in the hills so that no one could see him eat the
chicken is because I think that he felt a little guilty about not sharing the chicken with his
family and because he most likely didnt want to get caught with a stolen chicken.

What did you learn from the text?

What I learned about myself from the text is that I kind of agree with the peasant views on God
being unfair and Death being fair. Why I agree with it is because it does seem like God chooses
favorites because while some people have a safe place to live and plenty to eat others are
homeless and starving. But with death everyone has the possibility to die no matter what you
look like or what you believe, in the end you all die.