Broken April

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: “Cultural Traditions Globally”

In this activity, students will draft and present a research paper on a pervasive cultural tradition in contemporary society.

Kadare’s novel focuses on the pervasive traditions of the mountainous region of Albania. For this Activity, you will select another culture that maintains and practices ancient traditions, and then compare those practices with the Kanun. Use the following questions to guide your research:

• Which culture are you researching, and where is it located?
• Does this culture have a named set of laws relating to their customs?
• How have governments treated this culture? For example, is it autonomous, or does it function within an existing set of traditions and laws?
• How does this culture’s set of laws function compared to the Kanun in the novel?

After drafting your research paper, share your findings with the class. Reflect upon the similarities and differences of customary law in an in-class discussion.

Teaching Suggestion: This Activity invites students to take the basic premise of Kadare’s novel and apply it to a country/region of their choice. Students are encouraged to select an area that governs itself semi-autonomously under a traditional code of law that is not necessarily related to the national jurisdiction in the region. If students struggle to generate ideas, consider reviewing this list of some of the oldest cultural traditions in the world; it may also help to discuss rituals and traditions related to weddings (intermarriage), funerals/burials (mummification), executions (crucifixion), sacrifice (seppuku), and/or fashion (foot binding).

Use these essay questions as writing and critical thinking exercises for all levels of writers, and to build their literary analysis skills by requiring textual references throughout the essay.

Differentiation Suggestion: For English learners or struggling writers, strategies that work well include graphic organizers, sentence frames or starters, group work, or oral responses.

Scaffolded Essay Questions

Student Prompt: Write a short (1-3 paragraph) response using one of the bulleted outlines below. Cite details from the text over the course of your response that serve as examples and support.

1. Consider the relationship between violence, pain, or death to one of the  characters in Broken April.

• How does this character grow, or fail to grow, throughout the story? (topic sentence)
• Identify at least three pieces of evidence that demonstrate how this character does or does not develop.
• In your concluding sentences, consider the message being conveyed through this character’s story and its significance within the larger theme of Normalized Violence Causes a Cycle of Pain and Death.

2. Compare and contrast how various male characters treat Diana throughout the novel.

• How is Diana perceived by her husband? (topic sentence)
• Identify at least three pieces of evidence that show whether the people of the High Plateau treat Diana differently than her husband treats her.
• In your concluding sentences, consider what this treatment suggests about the role of women in Albania, particularly in relation to the theme of Women Face Hardships in Traditional and Modern Societies.

3. Consider the motif of suffering as a lived experience for the characters in the novel.

• In which ways do Diana and Gjorg suffer because of the situations they are born into? (topic sentence)
• Identify at least three pieces of evidence that show whether their bond relates to their shared experiences of suffering.
• In your concluding sentences, consider the message being conveyed through the fate of these characters, particularly in regard to the theme of Change Is Possible but Difficult.

Full Essay Assignments

Student Prompt: Write a structured and well-developed essay. Include a thesis statement, at least three main points supported by textual details, and a conclusion.

1. Chapter 4 is the only chapter focused on Mark Ukacierra. How is Mark similar to or different from the other characters? What commentary on cultural traditions does Kadare make through Mark’s perspective? What was the purpose of including this perspective? Does it shape the overall viewpoint of the novel? If so, how?

2. Using direct quotes, explain how Broken April utilizes setting and the weather to develop mood and tone. How does the remote location of the story’s setting relate to the central plot and characters’ choices? How would this story change if it were set in a city, such as Albania’s capital Tirana?

3. Consider the role of government and politics in the novel. Does the local and federal government support the people of Albania equally? In which ways does the blood feud fit into politics in the High Plateau? Overall, what point is Kadare making about politics and traditions?

Multiple Choice and Long Answer Questions create ideal opportunities for whole-text review, exams, or summative assessments.

Multiple Choice

1. Why must Gjorg journey to the town of Orosh?

A) To escape justice for killing Zef

B) To pay a death tax for killing Zef

C) To visit relatives

D) To look for work

2. In his discussion of the myth surrounding the blood on the shirt, Kadare notes, “The seasons, hot or cold, would affect the color of the dried blood, and so would the kind of cloth that the shirt was made of, but no one wanted to take such things into account; all those changes would be taken as mysterious messages, whose import no one dared question” (Chapter 1). Which of the following phrases best summarizes the impact of this quote?

A) To show the divide between local customs and science

B) To present an important argument that the people of Tirana would adopt

C) To mock the stupidity of Albanian tradition

D) To exemplify the necessity of education in rural regions

3. Which of the following phrases best describes the rule of law in Gjorg’s community?

A) Tribal

B) Federal

C) Martial

D) Continental

4. Which of the following words describes the demographic distribution of Gjorg’s region of residence?

A) Urban

B) Sparse

C) Dense

D) Bureaucratic

5. Which of the following phrases best summarizes how Gjorg reacts to finally reaching the kulla of Orosh?

A) Relieved to be warmly welcomed

B) Apathetic to his comfortable surroundings

C) Bashful from his jovial companions

D) Anxious about the imminent delay

6. Which of the following phrases best summarizes the interaction between Bessian and Diana as they enter the High Plateau?

A) An opportunity for Bessian to share his homeland with his bride

B) A moment for Bessian to introduce an infamously mystical region to Diana

C) A joint discussion on the importance of the Kanun

D) A monologue from Diana on the history of mountaineers in the north Albanian highlands

7. Which of the following words best describes the process of Gjaks presenting their blood tax to the kulla?

A) Straightforward

B) Arduous

C) Pleasant

D) Jovial

8. Which of the following sentences best describes the necessity of family feuds for the kulla of Orosh, based on Mark’s internal monologue?

A) It is an important link with ancient Serbian ancestors.

B) It is a stable source of income.

C) It is a product of Turkish occupation.

D) It is an increasingly popular form of settling conflict.

9. Which of the following words best describes the role of the kulla of Orosh in blood feuds?

A) Arousing

B) Apprehensive

C) Ashamed

D) Apathetic

10. In his musings of the patterns of cultivation among families engaged in a blood feud, Mark notes, “Each man chose between corn and vengeance. Some, to their shame, chose corn, others, on the contrary, vengeance” (Chapter 4). Which of the following literary terms is used in this quote?

A) Malapropism

B) Maxim

C) Metaphor

D) Metonymy

11. Which of Diana’s features do many of the male characters find particularly haunting?

A) Her eyes

B) Her arms

C) Her voice

D) Her neck

12. Which of the following words best describes the mood of the weather throughout the novel?

A) Dynamic

B) Jovial

C) Comforting

D) Mysterious

13. Which of the following assertions would the author most likely agree with?

A) Governments always have their citizens’ best interests at heart.

B) Remote municipalities are best left to their own devices in terms of local politics.

C) The politicization of violence can benefit financial government institutions.

D) Women are a deterrent to the stability of democracy.

14. Which of the following phrases best describes the case on the young pregnant victim over which Ali Binak presided?

A) The willingness to end a blood feud over a misunderstanding

B) The sanctity of the male lifeform

C) The importance of women’s rights in a marriage

D) The advocacy of abortion in necessary instances

15. As his bessa ends, Gjorg considers the expanse and wonders, “Was that how it looked, the time beyond the bessa? Eternal time, that was no longer his, without days, without seasons, without years, without a future, abstract time, to which he had no attachments of any kind” (Chapter 7). Which of the following literary terms does the author use in this quote?

A) Metaphor

B) Simile

C) Personification

D) Anaphora

Long Answer

Compose a response of 2-3 sentences, incorporating textual details to support your response.

1. What is the narration style of the novel? How does this contribute to readers’ overall understanding of the text?

2. What is the meaning of the title Broken April?