The Mixquiahuala Letters

What role do food and drink play in the story? Is cuisine intended to make the story more realistic and detailed, or is it symbolic?

Discuss the impact of societal beauty standards on Alicia and Teresa. How do they each view and react to these expectations? Use evidence from the text to illustrate their attitudes toward beauty.

The Mixquiahuala Letters is written nonchronologically. Why do you think Castillo wrote the book this way? How does the nonlinear storyline affect the reader? Does it help the reader understand any of the themes?

Compare The Mixquiahuala Letters with Hopscotch by Julio Cortázar. What similarities exist between the two books? What about differences? Focus on the narrative construction, not plot. Examine how each author uses nonlinear time, letters, and reading “paths” to tell a story, and consider the effects of those choices.

Go through The Mixquiahuala Letters according to at least two of the three suggested “paths” (Conformist, Cynic, or Quixotic). Compare the different paths. How does following one versus another change the story?

An epistolary novel is novel written as a series of letters. Why do you think Castillo chose this style? Why do you think Teresa’s letters use prose as well as poetry?

How is reproduction treated in the book? Do Teresa and Alicia’s relationships with their parents explain their attitudes toward childbearing? If so, how?

What factors do you think affected Teresa and Alicia’s attitudes toward sex? Do you see any connection between other areas of their lives and personalities and their sexual attitudes?