Gabriel García Márquez

The use of fantastic elements in an acceptable and believable setting is reminiscent of other texts that have been categorized as magical realism. Investigating the use of magical realism within ethnic writings of non-Latin American origin, Roland Walter notes that "magic is an integral part of reality in that the natural and supernatural categories of reality are harmoniously intertwined" (2). This mingling of the natural world with the supernatural is a key component in The Hundred Secret…

You know a man to be rather interesting when the first thing someone tells you about them is their incredibly peculiar disappearance. Ambrose Bierce disappeared somewhere into Mexico after December 26, 1913, the date found on what is presumed to be his last letter. Carlos Fuentes, famous contemporary writer of Mexico, swears that you can still hear stories of some old foreigner wandering the Mexican landscape. This, paired with Bierce’s own impressive works and history, inspired writers such as…

In “Tuesday Siesta” by Garcia Marquez, the author introduces a character and provides a flashback about the character. The flashback added more meaning to the story and a better understanding about the character’s (Carlos Centeno) personality. Additionally, the flashback helped developed a theme in the story. The flashback was a week before in the story and it was about the death of Carlos Centeno. At 3AM, a widow heard someone trying to force the front door open from the outside. She went and…

Gabriel Marquez’s unique choice of diction and literary allusion creates an allegorical portrait of ideas such as love and death. The choice of diction and literary allusion allowed for Marquez to combine realistic historical narration with fantasy thus creating some of the most notorious stories in the genre known as magical realism. In the story “Death Constant Beyond Love”, one can see the how Marquez’s choice of diction and literary allusion allowed for him to create the fantastical…

Averonica Roth once said” Maybe it’s a little depressing to think that my version of a perfect world is actually so messed up, but I think it mean that I don’t really understand what perfect is”. This quote is a belief description on how the main character Zavalita feels about Peru. Peru has Zavalita feeling some type of because of all the wild and crazy events that occur in the streets of Peru. This paper will discuss Mario Vargas Llosa novel “The Conversation in the Cathedral” on how similar…

The legend of El Dorado refers to a highly sought after gold city in the New World during the era of European exploration. Many conquistadors and voyagers traveled to the Americas seeking these vast riches to return to their land as kings. However, being that this land was mythical, no adventurer returned in such fashion. In the poem “El Dorado”, by Edgar Allan Poe and the book Candide by Voltaire both make reference this mythical land. With a character disconnected from reality, the…

A short story named The Padre’s Neighbor was written by Manuela Williams Crosno. During 1870’s in Los Hermanos, Stephen Bowen is lost in the blizzard. While he is looking for the passage, he falls down and lay there exhausted. When he is on the ground, a person comes and takes him to Father Jacobo. Father Jacobo takes care of Stephen to get better. One day, a small boy with broken arm comes to see the padre and Stephen announces that he is a doctor. He helps the villagers to cure a disease that…

Similar to Billy’s ability to release a sense of guilt by believing in fate, the townspeople in a Chronicle of a Death Foretold overlook their lack of intervention to save Santiago by suggesting that they could not have done anything to help him, since his death was completely foretold. The narrator’s statement that “there had never been a death more foretold” further depicts that the community including the narrator perceived Santiago’s death was fate and it was something that was out of the…

M. Leilani Burke LA 238 OL1: World Literature October 11, 2014 Instructor: Kelly Holt Close Reading Analysis Paper Luis Arturo Ramos, author of “Underwater”, masterfully uses a combination of similes and metaphors to present a perfect example of magical realism. This short story pulls the reader into an event that dances a thin line between realism and fantasy. This analysis will take a look at the definition of magical realism and it’s use in “Underwater” by looking at its functional…

Antonio Machado‘s poem A un olmoseco’ from his book, Campos de Castilla was written in Soria in 1912 .The poem, like others in Campos de Castilla, is a piece of landscape literature contributing to the work of Spain’s Generacion del 98 (Generation of 98). The poem, set in the Sorian landscape, tells of an old elm tree, which although rotting and dying has a few new leaves sprouting from it. Throughout the poem, Machado expresses his intimate feelings, both with regards to his personal…