Making the Ordinary Extraordinary: Magical Realism in Latin American Literature

Students will explore the literary genre of magical realism through a selection of short stories and the novella Chronicle of a Death Foretold, analyzing how writers blend realism with fantastical elements to reveal truths about human nature.

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ELA

Unit 4

10th Grade

Unit Summary


The fourth unit, centered around the core text Chronicles of a Death Foretold, fits into the year-long theme of the individual in society as students use the novella to explore a community's responsibility for the tragic murder of one of its own members. In this unit, students are introduced to magical realism, a literary genre most often associated with Latin America. First used to describe art in the 1920s, magical realism blends elements of realism with fantasy; however, characters do not question the magic and instead, accept it as a normal occurrence. The term was later used to describe the works of writers of the Latin American Boom during the 1960s and 1970s, a literary movement in which young Latin American writers challenged the European literary canon.

In the first arc of the unit, students familiarize themselves with the characteristics of magical realism by reading a selection of short stories by Latin American writers Gabriel García Márquez, Isabel Allende, Julio Cortázar, Jose Luis Borges, and Octavio Paz. They will also read the stories of Aimee Bender and Karen Russell, two contemporary American writers who are making important contributions to the genre. After closely examining the writers' craft and style, students will write their own magical realism short story in a mid-unit Performance Task.

In the second arc of the unit, students read Gabriel García Márquez's novella Chronicle of a Death Foretold. In this short text, an unnamed narrator returns to his hometown 27 years after a murder took place there to find out exactly what happened. He interviews members of the community to figure out why no one intervened to stop a murder that they all knew was going to happen. Another example of magical realism, García Márquez's novella explores how a community's values impact its sense of responsibility to individuals. While reading, students will pay particular attention to the text's nonlinear structure and how García Márquez uses this structure to reveal important ideas about truth and memory. 

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Texts and Materials


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Core Materials

Supporting Materials

Assessment


These assessments accompany Unit 4 and should be given on the days suggested in the Lesson Map. Additionally, there are formative and creative assessments integrated into the unit to prepare students for the Performance Task.

Free Response Question

The Free Response Question is an open-ended prompt that assesses students ability to analyze and interpret a given text or literary work, apply critical thinking skills, and construct well-supported arguments. Free Response Questions can be on-demand timed writing or take-home assignments, depending on the needs of students.

Socratic Seminar

The Socratic Seminar assesses students on their ability to push themselves and their peers to think critically and participate meaningfully in conversation by collecting and evaluating evidence, actively listening, and responding thoughtfully. Socratic Seminar assessments may occur mid-unit as a way to synthesize the ideas of the text/unit to that point or summative, taking place at the end of a unit.

Performance Task

The Performance Task is the culminating assessment of the unit in which students have the opportunity to show the skills and content they have learned.

Key Knowledge


Intellectual Prep

Essential Questions

  • What are the defining characteristics of magical realism? How do writers use magical realism to tell us about the real world and ourselves?
  • How does a community's values impact its relationship with individuals?
  • What is truth? How does our own bias and perspective distort the truth? 
  • What is our collective responsibility to people in our community? What hinders a community from acting on behalf of one of its own members?

Vocabulary

Text-based

augurychronicleconjectureculture shockdesolationevokefeignforetoldfrivolityimplacableimpertinenceimpenetrableindispensableineradicablyingenuousinterminableirrevocableluciditylycanthropicmachismomagnanimousobscureobliqueominousostracizeperniciousreproachresolutereticencereverence

Literary Terms

allegoryepigraphgothic literaturemetafictionnovellasymbol

To see all the vocabulary for Unit 4 , view our 10th Grade Vocabulary Glossary.

Notes for Teachers

Chronicle of a Death Foretold contains some profanity and mature themes including violence and sexual content. Be sure to fully preview the text before teaching the unit in order to best support students as they encounter these moments.

Lesson Map


Common Core Standards


Core Standards

L.9-10.5
RI.9-10.1
RI.9-10.2
RL.9-10.1
RL.9-10.2
RL.9-10.3
RL.9-10.4
RL.9-10.5
RL.9-10.6
RL.9-10.7
SL.9-10.1
SL.9-10.1.a
SL.9-10.1.b
SL.9-10.1.c
SL.9-10.1.d
SL.9-10.3
SL.9-10.4
SL.9-10.6
W.9-10.1
W.9-10.3
W.9-10.3.a
W.9-10.3.b
W.9-10.3.c
W.9-10.3.d
W.9-10.3.e
W.9-10.5
W.9-10.9.a

Supporting Standards

L.9-10.1
L.9-10.2
L.9-10.2.c
L.9-10.3
L.9-10.6
RI.9-10.3
RI.9-10.4
RI.9-10.10
RL.9-10.1
RL.9-10.2
RL.9-10.3
RL.9-10.4
RL.9-10.5
RL.9-10.6
RL.9-10.10
SL.9-10.1
SL.9-10.6
W.9-10.4
W.9-10.9
W.9-10.9.a
W.9-10.9.b
W.9-10.10

Next

Observe and analyze paintings within the magical realism style.

Lesson 1
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