Introduction
This comprehensive AP® Spanish Language and Culture review will help test-takers learn about one of the AP® Spanish themes of the CollegeBoard’s Spanish Language & Culture curriculum—in particular, about the theme of Personal and Public Identities. Specifically, we will discuss why the CollegeBoard uses themes for their AP® Spanish Language and Culture course; what the theme of Personal and Public Identities actually entails, as well as provide specific context examples of how this theme may be applied in a class or study session.
We will also review some overarching, essential questions regarding Personal and Public Identities to assist you in their understanding of the topic, as well as offer brief examples on how to answer them. Finally, this guide will deliver information on where you can find practice texts, audios, videos and other study tools related to Personal and Public Identities, as well as review top 10 Spanish vocabulary words related to Personal and Public Identities and how to use them in a sentence.
Why does the CollegeBoard use Themes for their AP® Spanish Language and Culture Course?
Six AP® Spanish themes of historical and contemporary importance structure a typical AP® Spanish Language and Culture course. These themes – Global Challenges, Science and Technology, Contemporary Life, Personal and Public Identities, Families and Communities, and Beauty and Aesthetics – are used to create thought-provoking contexts for you to explore the language and culture of Spanish speaking people across the globe. Short hour long lessons, or broader unit plans lasting several days or weeks, incorporate these themes so that you can later implement them into written and oral interpersonal and presentational communication forms for your AP® Spanish exam.
What does the Theme of Personal and Public Identities Entail?
The AP® Spanish Language and Culture theme of Personal and Public Identities may incorporate lessons on – alienation and assimilation; heroes and historical figures; national and ethnic identities; personal beliefs; personal interests; and self-image. Teachers and students may engage in class discussions and projects that focus psychoanalysis in Buenos Aires, Argentina; ethnic identity in Dominican Republic; or heroes and historical figures in Mexican murals. You may be asked to research the biography of an important heroic or historical figure in Latin America and discuss how various events in their life helped to form their personal beliefs and values.
What are Personal and Public Identities Overarching, Essential Questions?
Essential questions relevant to SP Spanish provide an opening to interdisciplinary inquiry, asking students to consider not only skills but perspectives across content areas relevant to language, literature, and cultures of the Spanish-speaking world. AP® Spanish teachers and their students are encourage to identify all-encompassing essential questions to stimulate investigation, activities, and progress assessments. Based on real-life, problem-solving concerns, essential questions encourage you to consider different views on real world issues, and then express your perspectives and connections to aspects of the target culture(s) to your own.
Essential questions pertinent to Personal and Public Identities may involve:
- How are aspects of identity expressed in various situations?
- How do language and culture influence identity?
- How does one’s identity develop over time?
Example Answers to 2-3 Overarching, Essential Questions
Below are examples of how you may answer the essential questions you’ll encounter in your AP® Spanish Language and Culture course.
How are aspects of identity expressed in various situations?
Identity often signifies the assets, views, disposition, appearance, and expressions that mark an individual or a social group. Identity is articulated through self-image, self-esteem, individuality, or how one expresses themselves on a daily basis and on a continuum. Of course we often form these conceptions not as individuals, but as part of a larger social or ethnic group. These conceptions are composed of dimensions of past ancestry and one’s future aspirations in relation to what is acceptable behavior and what is shunned in one’s social sphere.
Gender identity, for example, plays a substantial part in how identity is expressed, particularly how one carries one’s self through situations with other people, with nature, and with the formation of personal values and interests. Further facets of identity—racial, religious, ethnic, occupational, or educational—may be more or less expressed in a person depending on the situation of the individual.
Through community and belonging, many people experience feelings of positive self-worth from their identity groups. The LGBTQ community, for example, has reputably fostered community members who have been outcast from their dominant social groups because of the way they express their sexual or gender identity.
That’s all to say that how much of our identities we express at different times depends upon our social roles and personal experiences. A person self-negotiates the meaning of his or her identity, as well as how it is expressed, depending on the conditions inherent to their environment. These conditions often dictate how people express their individuality, how they attach themselves to different self-identities, as well as how they are accepted or not by others.
How do language and culture influence identity?
Sociocultural linguists agree that language and culture are meticulously linked. Because language is essentially a verbal expression of culture, it can be used to sustain and deliver cultural knowledge. Language offers us the classifications we use to make manifest our beliefs, and so we often adapt our thinking to the language and the environment it is spoken in. Frequently, it is believed, the principles and customs upheld in the country we grow up in, form the ways in which we think and act.
But language does more than play a role in how a person’s identity is formed; it can also influence how others perceive of us and how we react to that perception. Speaking—our accents, vocabulary, pitch, and speed—can showcase our identity by marking our education, occupation, interests, social class history and how we relate to others.
Variations of languages in each country, in addition to dialects, accents, and terminology used in each language, may make speakers in unfamiliar language communities cautious over expressing themselves—making a confident person feel less self-assured. On the other hand, if someone can speak many languages or has a wide range of language repertoires, then all these languages mark their history, thoughts, and identity in some way. This may result is broader levels of confidence in social situations.
Equally, those with little experience of communicating with those who do not speak the dominant language of a social group they belong to, may look down upon someone who speaks a different language. This may result in the non-native speaker feeling cautious over when and where it is ok to express themselves comfortably.
Every person has a different voice and a different way of talking, as well as different environments within which they express themselves. This sets their identity based on language.
Where can you Find Practice Texts, Audios and Videos Related to Personal and Public Identities?
In this section, you’ll find a few suggestions on AP® Spanish Language and Culture practice texts, audios, and videos that will bring you specific content knowledge related to the AP® Spanish theme of Personal and Public Identities.
For a General Overview of AP® Spanish Language and Culture Themes.
First, for general overviews of all six themes, a great place to being would be the AP® Spanish Language and Culture homepage. Here AP® students and test takers can access official CollegeBoard information on the course. Here there are example sample syllabi, course milestones, and other useful material to assist both teachers and learners. Textbooks are also available to help students strengthen their skills. For a book focused particularly on the six themes, check out: Temas: AP® Spanish Language and Culture.
Granted by Instituto Cervantes and the Ministry of Education, Culture and Sport of Spain, DELE (Diploma de Espanol como Lengua Extranjera) is comparable to the AP® Spanish Language and Culture exam in that it confirms test takers capability and mastery of Spanish. Their website offers practice exams based on oral and written expression and interaction.
Quizlet is a fun online tool to create “index cards” with key terms and definitions relative to any of the six AP® Spanish themes. These can then be turned into review items in the form of games or practice tests. Click here for flashcards on Personal and Public Identities.
Another entertaining online too for AP® students and teachers to draw ideas from is Audiria, which offers entertaining podcasts and videos in Spanish that are centered on various cultural and thematic issues.
For More Intensive Practice with the Theme of Personal and Public Identities.
Las Posadas (Spanish for lodging or accommodation) is a nine day religious event that is celebrated December 16 through December 24. It is primarily held in Mexico, by Mexican-Americans in the United States, and in some Spanish villages. Las Posadas, in this case, is enacted by two people dressing up as Mary and Joseph and visiting various homes in their neighborhood; these homes are symbolic of the posadas visited the night that Jesus was born.
Mary and Joseph are accompanied by friends and neighbors who serve as angels and shepherds, as well as children who serve as pilgrims carrying images of holy personages and poinsettias. The procession is often accompanied by lively, festive musicians who lead the group in songs. Upon entrance to residents’ homes, posada hosts allow guests to pray around their Nativity scene, children to break open piñatas to obtain candy hidden inside, and offer food and drink. Here are some great educational videos to learn about and observe how Las Posadas is celebrated.
Diego Velázquez (1599-1660) was an important Spanish painter of the Baroque period who served in the court of King Philip IV, and was most notable for his portraits of the Spanish royal family, prominent European figures, and commoners. His masterpiece, Las Meninas, is said to be one of the most analyzed works in Western painting. This page offers interesting insights into some of the inner-mysteries and layers of the painting.
The Bay of Pigs was a failed military invasion of Cuba taken on by CIA-sponsored paramilitary groups in 1961. The intention of their coup d’état was to oust the government of Fidel Castro, which had forged economic ties with the Soviet Union, an enemy of the US at the time. On the night of April 16, an invasion team landed at a beach named Playa Girón in the Bay of Pigs, but with only half the air and naval forces the CIA deemed necessary for a successful attach.
As such, on 20 April, the invaders laid down their arms in surrender, with the majority imprisoned and publicly interrogated. For a simple summary, check out the following page for a brief overview. For a more advanced understanding, check out journalist Jim Rasenberger’s book, The Brilliant Disaster, which draws upon unclassified CIA and other historical documents to contextualize the events in the larger scope of the 1960’s.
Top 10 Spanish Vocabulary Words for Personal and Public Identities
Here is a list of frequently used AP® Spanish vocabulary words related to the theme of Personal and Public Identities.
To be used to: Acostumbrar
En Argentina, acostumbramos a cenar a las nueve y media.
To retire: Jubilar
El presidente, cuyo partido perdió la elección, dice que se va a jubilar.
Shame: Vergüenza
Me muero de la vergüenza cuando estoy hablando enfrente un grupo.
Strike: Huelga
En ese momento, el director no sabía si habría huelga o no.
Rain: Lluvia
En algunas partes del desierto de Atacama en Chile nunca se ha documentado lluvia.
Budget: Presupuesto
Este año mi presupuesto para vacacione es mucho mayor.
To save money: Ahorrar dinero
Un automóvil compacto le va a ahorrar dinero en gasolina.
Factory: Fábrica
Mi hijo quiere visitar una fábrica de chocolates.
Loyalty: Lealtad
El padre de la iglesia demostró su lealtad al rey.
Boss: Patrón
El patrón echó a diez trabajadores de la fábrica.
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