Plot
What is Nenita’s main goal in the novel?
Answer: To find love and nourishment
Who is the protagonist of Banana Heart Summer?
Answer: Nenita
What symbol represents love and survival in the novel?
Answer: Banana heart
How does the mimetic approach apply to Banana Heart Summer?
Answer: The novel reflects real-life struggles of poverty and desire
Where does Nenita work to help her family?
Answer: The Valenzuelas' house
Who is Nenita’s strict and hardworking mother?
Answer: Nana Dora
What is the main recurring theme in Banana Heart Summer?
Answer: Hunger as both physical and emotional longing
How does the affective approach analyze the novel?
Answer: By focusing on how the reader emotionally responds to Nenita’s struggles
What personal struggle does Nenita face throughout the novel?
Answer: Her complex relationship with hunger and love
Which family represents wealth and power in the novel?
Answer: The Valenzuelas
How does the author use food as a metaphor in the story?
Answer: It shows relationships, class struggles, and personal growth
What would an expressive analysis focus on in Banana Heart Summer?
Answer: How the novel reflects Merlinda Bobis’s personal and cultural experiences
What event makes Nenita realize the harshness of social class differences?
Answer: Is witnessing the lives of the wealthy while working for them
Who is a kind neighbor that influences Nenita’s perception of love?
Answer: Emilia
What narrative style is used in the novel?
Answer: First-person narration
How does the objective approach view Banana Heart Summer?
Answer: By analyzing its structure, themes, and literary devices without personal bias
How does the novel conclude in relation to Nenita’s growth?
Answer: Her understanding that love is more than material nourishment
What character serves as a symbol of oppressive authority in Nenita’s life?
Answer: Señor Ino Valenzuela
What literary technique does the author use to blend reality with fantasy?
Answer: Magical realism
Which literary theory best explains the symbolic meaning of food in the novel?
Answer: The mimetic theory, as food represents real-life struggles and emotions