The Composition

By Antonio Skármeta

This story follows a young boy, Pedro, and his family living under a dictatorship. Pedro and his friends struggle to understand what’s happening in their neighborhood, when he really just wants to be a carefree kid. Where are they taking Daniel’s father? What will happen to the grocery store? Why do Pedro’s parents listen to the faraway broadcast on the radio every night? Why is this soldier asking me to write an essay? Pedro tries to find the answers to these questions. Pedro seeks some answers from his mother and father. Some of the answers come from Daniel. In the end, Pedro will need to listen to his own answers to keep his family safe.

Fifth Grade Student and family connections...

We talked about the themes and the big ideas in the book. We talked about personal connections and I shared one. -Gr 5 Student

I felt so bad for the people who lived in this place. -Gr 5 Student

About Authoritarian countries and how they are different from our country. It made me feel glad that I don't live in one of those places.

-Gr 5 Student

We talked about the theme, dictatorship, and I really did like this book, and it was very powerful. I also thought it was a powerful book, and I am very thankful for the freedom that we have. Also, relating to dictatorship, in Calvin and Hobbes, Calvin doesn't want to take a bath, and when his mother puts him in it, he says that it is a free country. In reality, it is a free country compared to other countries under dictatorship. -Gr 5 Student

The Theme of the story could be protect your family and the story made me feel a little sad because a country has to go through dictatorship. I want to say thank you for giving us this book to read, enjoy and take home -Gr 5 Student

One of the themes we talked about was don't share personal information. I really enjoyed this book and learned a lot about dictatorship. -Gr 5 Student

I enjoyed this book because it showed us that we are greedy human beings compared to kids who live in troubled areas and taught us what the REAL world is like, not the spoiled life we live.

-Gr 5 Student

This was an amazing book, and I really enjoyed talking about it with my class. We also talked about the difference between an Authoritarian government vs. a Democracy, and how lucky we are to have the freedom we do. -Gr 5 Student

We talked about a kid that grows up in an authoritarian government and doesn't have freedom of speech or press and he has to an essay on what his family does at night. we talked about what an authoritarian and an democracy government is and whats the difference is. we also talked about what it would be like if you grew up in an authoritarian government.

-Gr 5 Student

I learned about what a dictator is. I'm glad the USA is a free country and we have a say what the lawns should be. -Gr 5 Student

We talked about the theme like some lies can be good and speak the truth when its the right time and I learned a lot about what a authority government was is and what kids have to go through and I am glad we have freedom of speech and press . -Gr 5 Student

One of the themes for this book would be to protect your family. This book made me feel sad and if for example my dad was taken away. Its a great book. Thank you for choosing this book. -Gr 5 Student

Pedro lives in a place with an authoritarian government, they don't have the freedom of press, speech or religion, and this book made me thankful for the democracy government that we have in the U.S.A. -Gr 5 Student

Well we had a whole class talk-thing. We found lots of personal connections and this book made us think about how this is really happening around the globe. We are now more thankful than ever for our freedom-ness. The setting in the book has an Authoritarian government so this opened a lot of new doors. Thank you for choosing such a wonderful book! -Gr 5 Student

We talked about what the theme of the story was and if we had somebody how was going through this and if it was dictator ship they only want to now what people do every night but Pedro lies so his dad doesn't get taken away by the soldiers Daniel's dad because he was against the dictator ship. -Gr 5 Student

One of the themes that we talked about was "the world is a harsh place/life isn't fair," to me it means that sometimes bad things can happen, like a family member or friend passing away, or not having the same rights as other people.

-Gr 5 Student

My classmates and I talked about what an Authoritarian government was, and dictators. We talked about how the family I this book, and the other characters were being ruled by one or a few people that had all the power. One connection I made was from another book where the character did not agree with the countries government and was thrown in jail. This story made me realize that this type of living actually exists and how lucky I am to have freedom of speech and freedom of press. It also made me feel sad during the times when the characters were arrested just because they believed differently than the government. Thank you Mr. Martellone for choosing this book and making me realize that I am luckier than I think when it comes to living. -Gr 5 Student

My class talked about what we thought the theme(s) of the book were like "Protect your family", and connections we had to the book such as losing our own family members. This story made me aware of all the people who lived in dictatorship and had no freedom unlike people who live in America and other countries.

-Gr 5 Student

The story made me feel very lucky, to know that I have freedom to almost do anything I want to do. I feel very bad for kids that do not have ghe same amount of freedom that I do. This is a very unfair thing that is happening all around the world, even in Chile where the setting of this book is taking place. This book is very very good. This book really makes me think of how it would be like for me to live in an authoritarian government. This book is really deserves a medal(already has one.) So in conclusion I think the theme of this story is tell the truth when it is appropriate. Because Pedro has to write a story about what him and his parents do when te get home for work and school. Pedro is very smart and does not include anything about him and his family listening to the radio. He just includes that they go home and while he is doing his homework his parents play chess till they sleep at night. The reason why this was a very smart idea is because if he actually tells the truth, him and his parents might get in trouble. So please read this book! -Gr 5 Student