LAC - Magical Realism Short Stories Lesson

Magical Realism Short Stories

Short Stories, like novels, have fully-developed themes, but they are shorter in length than a novel. When reading and analyzing a short story, there are important items to note in order to fully understand the text. Remember to use your Genre Term Reference Sheet for more details regarding the terminology used when analyzing short stories.

Steps to Analyzing a Short Story

1. Note the Setting — Where and when the story takes place provides readers with a perspective on why certain events take place in the story.
2. Trace the plot — Remember that the plot is the sequence of events in a story. Understanding the plot allows the reader to know what happens in the order of the story.
3. Select the Point of View — The point of view is the perspective from which a story is told and influences what the reader knows about the lives of the characters.
4. Analyze the Characters — The descriptions and actions of the character serve as a main vessel for activity in a story.
5. Record the Literary Devices — Any kind of imagery, symbolism, or other literary devices contribute a deeper meaning to the story.
6. Determine the Theme — Themes represent the main ideas of a text, so understanding the theme is an integral part in gaining a deeper understanding of the text.

Reading Assignment: Short Stories

Click here to read the"House Taken Over" written by Julio Cortázar. Links to an external site. Cortázar is from Argentina, and he is known as the "modern master of the short story" and one of the founders of the Latin American Boom, or Latin American influence across the world. As you read the following short story, use the tools to analyze the story, and notice the political undertones and elements of magical realism.

Click here to read "A Very Old Man With Enormous Wings" by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. Links to an external site. Marquez is from Columbia and received many awards for his writing, including the Nobel Prize for Literature. He is the author of many popular Latin American novels, such as 100 Years of Solitude and Love in the Time of Cholera. As you read the following short story, use the tools to analyze the story. Remember that Marquez portrays how life really is in Columbia and adds in elements of magical realism.