And of Clay Are We Created

These prompts can be used for in-class discussion, exploratory free-writing, or reflection homework before or after reading the story.

Pre-Reading “Icebreaker”

Before reading the story, consider its title. What does the phrase “And of Clay Are We Created” suggest to you or remind you of?

Teaching Suggestion: The story’s title echoes a line from Genesis: “For dust you are, and to dust you shall return” (3:19). Regardless of whether students catch the specific allusion, they may know about creation myths that describe a god or gods creating humans from the earth; the Abrahamic story is a well-known but by no means isolated example. Prompt students to think about why so many cultures might share this belief, what it says about human attitudes towards the cycle of life and death, and how the belief connects to the theme of Acceptance of Mortality.

• “Mesopotamian Creation Myths” is a 2009 essay by Ira Spar for the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
• “Obatala Is Tempted with Palm Wine” is an Oxford Reference entry on the Yoruba creation story.
• “The Creation of Man” is an excerpt from Te Rangi Hiroa’s 1949 The Coming of the Maori (part of the New Zealand Texts Collection).

Post-Reading Analysis

Consider the point of view Allende uses in the story. Why might Allende have chosen to write from the vantage point of Rolf’s lover rather than Rolf himself—or, for that matter, Azucena?

Teaching Suggestion: Use this question to spark discussion about how Empathy and Memory function in the story. While there is no single correct answer, students may note that the story emphasizes how alone Azucena is in her plight; the distance between Azucena’s story and the narrator’s retelling of it underscores that no one, including the reader, can truly understand what the girl is going through. The choice of narrator also lets Allende explore the way Azucena’s story mediates between the narrator and Rolf, helping them understand one another better (though perhaps at the expense of projecting their own concerns onto Azucena).

• "How Reading Fiction Increases Empathy and Encourages Understanding,” a 2020 Discover article by Megan Schmidt, focuses on the relationship between taking another person’s perspective in fiction and the development of real-world empathy.