view_context: Dynamic page
Making the Ordinary Extraordinary: Magical Realism in Latin American Literature
Students 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.
ELA
Unit 4
10th Grade
Unit Summary
Please Note: In July 2026, this unit and its lesson plans received a round of enhancements. This unit is now 26 instructional days (previously 24 instructional days). The writing projects of the unit have been adjusted significantly and additional assessment options have been added. Teachers should pay close attention as they intellectually prepare to account for the updates.
This unit introduces students 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, Jorge Luis Borges, and Octavio Paz. They also read the stories of Aimee Bender and Karen Russell, two contemporary American writers who are writing within the genre. To conclude this first part of the unit, students write a short argumentative piece about Russell's short story "St. Lucy's Home for Girls Raised by Wolves."
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 twenty-seven years after the murder of his friend Santiago Nasar to piece together the events surrounding the tragedy. Another example of magical realism, García Márquez's novella explores how a society's values impact individual decisions and actions as well as the community's sense of responsibility towards its members. While reading, students consider how García Márquez develops important themes about honor, collective guilt and responsibility, and the nature of truth/memory. After finishing the novella, students engage in a summative Socratic Seminar on blame and victimhood in the text, choosing one of the prompts to write an argumentative essay that effectively addresses a counterclaim.
Fishtank Plus for ELA
Unlock features to optimize your prep time, plan engaging lessons, and monitor student progress.
Texts and Materials
Some of the links in the sections below are Bookshop affiliate links. This means that if you click and make a purchase, we receive a small portion of the proceeds, which supports our non-profit mission.
Core Texts
-
Book: Chronicle of a Death Foretold by Gabriel García Márquez (Vintage) — 1210L
-
Book: Collected Stories by Gabriel García Márquez (Harper Perennial Modern Classics)
-
Short Story: “Two Words” from The Stories of Eva Luna by Isabel Allende
-
Short Story: “House Taken Over” by Julio Cortázar
-
Short Story: “The Book of Sand” by Jorge Luis Borges
-
Short Story: “My Life with the Wave” by Octavio Paz
-
Short Story: “The Rememberer” by Aimee Bender
-
Excerpt: “St. Lucy's Home for Girls Raised by Wolves” from St. Lucy's Home for Girls Raised by Wolves by Karen Russell
Supporting Texts
-
Painting: Beach of Dangast with Flying Boat by Franz Radziwill (Google Arts & Culture)
-
Painting: American Gothic by Grant Wood (Art Institute Chicago)
-
Painting: Late Visitors to Pompeii by Carel Willink (museum noijmans van beuningen)
-
Painting: Self-Portrait with Thorn Necklace and Hummingbird by Frida Kahlo (1940)
-
Painting: The Subway by George Tooker (Whitney Museum of American Art)
-
Podcast: “Revisionist History: Free Brian Williams” by Malcolm Gladwell (Pushkin)
-
Website: True for Who? Thinking Routine by Project Zero (Harvard Graduate School of Education)
- Recommended Texts for Independent Reading
Rubrics
Resources for Lessons and Projects
Assessment
The following assessments accompany Unit 4. For more guidance, see the Summative Assessments Teacher Tool.
Authentic Assessments
The Socratic Seminar measures students' ability to think critically, engage meaningfully in discussion about key unit content, and support their ideas with evidence.
The Performance Task is the culminating assessment of the unit in which students have the opportunity to demonstrate the skills and content they have learned through an authentic task.
Optional Assessments
The Warm Read Assessment measures students' ability to apply the core reading standards and their knowledge from the unit to comprehend new, topically or thematically aligned texts. It includes multiple choice and an optional on-demand essay.
The Vocabulary Assessment measures students' acquisition of text-based vocabulary words from the unit.
Unit Prep
Intellectual Prep
Before you teach this unit, unpack the texts, themes, and core standards through our guided intellectual preparation process. Each Unit Launch includes a series of short videos, targeted readings, and opportunities for action planning to ensure you're prepared to support every student.
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 do a community's values impact its relationship with individuals?
- What is our collective responsibility to people in our community? What prevents individuals from acting on behalf of a community member?
- What is truth, and how do our personal biases and memories shape our understanding of it?
Vocabulary
Text-based
desolationfeignimpenetrableimplacableindispensableingenuousineradicablyirrevocablemagnanimousmachismoominousostracizeresolutereverence
Literary Terms
Gothic literatureepigraphmagical realismnovella
Root/Affix
dispenseradicgenin-
To see all the vocabulary for Unit 4, view our 10th Grade Vocabulary Glossary.
Notes to the Teacher
Chronicle of a Death Foretold contains mature and/or disturbing content, such as graphic violence, sexual content, sexual harassment, misogyny and gender-based violence, and domestic violence. Before starting the text, it is imperative that teachers prepare students for this content, which may be emotionally challenging for students. To foster a safe learning environment, teachers should create or re-establish their classroom contract and have a dialogue with students about what would make them feel safe when reading and discussing upsetting moments in the text. Before students complete a homework reading with sensitive or uncomfortable content, teachers should warn students about what they will come across in that particular reading, so that students can mentally and emotionally prepare themselves for it. Additionally, teachers should be aware of signs of abuse in the event that a student displays signs or discloses abuse they are experiencing inside or outside of their home.
Below are some resources to prepare yourself and your students for this text:
- "Contracting" by Facing History and Ourselves
- "An Introduction to Content Warnings and Trigger Warnings" by the University of Michigan
- "Content Warnings" by the University of Waterloo
- "Recognizing Signs of Abuse in Students and How You Can Help" by Education World
- "Responding to Dating Violence" by The Center for Relationship Abuse Awareness
- "Teaching About Sexual Assault in Young Adult Literature" by Kathleen C. Colantonio-Yurko, Henry "Cody" Miller, & Jennifer Cheveallier (Journal of Language & Literacy Education)
Lesson Map
Write an argumentative piece.
Make a claim that acknowledges the opposing viewpoint.
- "True for Who?" Model Diagram (G10, U4, L12)
- "St. Lucy's True for Who?" Diagram (G10, U4, L12)
- Assimilation Viewpoints in St. Lucy's (G10, U4, L12)
- Two Paragraph Argumentative Outline (G10, U4, L12)
Standards
W.9-10.1.aW.9-10.5
Analyze textual evidence by breaking down a quote and connecting it back to the overall claim.
- Two Paragraph Argumentative Outline (G10, U4, L12)
- Zoom In, Zoom Out Chart (G10, U4, L12)
- Zoom in, Zoom Out Exemplar and Practice (G10, U4, L12)
Standards
W.9-10.1.bW.9-10.5
Use conjunctive adverbs and punctuation to show relationships between ideas and create emphasis.
- Two Paragraph Argumentative Outline (G10, U4, L12)
- Conjunctive Adverbs and Punctuation Chart (G10, U4, L12)
- Conjunctive Adverbs Practice (G10, U4, L12)
Standards
L.9-10.2.aW.9-10.1.cW.9-10.4
Write an argumentative essay.
Develop a clear, arguable claim using Socratic Seminar notes, and outline body paragraphs that support the claim with strong reasons, evidence, and analysis.
- Argumentative Essay Outline (G10, U4, L20)
- Self/Peer Feedback Form (G10, U4, L20)
- Socratic Seminar Packet (G10, U4, L20)
- Socratic Seminar Reflection Questions (G10, U4, L20)
Standards
W.9-10.1.aW.9-10.1.bW.9-10.5
Write the body paragraphs for an argumentative essay using blended quotations.
- Argumentative Essay Outline (G10, U4, L20)
- Self/Peer Feedback Form (G10, U4, L20)
Standards
W.9-10.1.cW.9-10.5
Develop a counterclaim that addresses an opposing viewpoint with evidence and analysis.
- Argumentative Essay Outline (G10, U4, L20)
- Socratic Seminar Reflection Questions (G10, U4, L20)
Standards
L.9-10.2.aW.9-10.1.aW.9-10.1.bW.9-10.1.c
Write a rebuttal that effectively responds to and challenges the counterclaim.
- Counterclaim, Support, Question Diagram (G10, U4, L20)
- Argumentative Essay Outline (G10, U4, L20)
- Self/Peer Feedback Form (G10, U4, L20)
Standards
L.9-10.2.aW.9-10.1.aW.9-10.1.bW.9-10.1.c
Provide feedback on a peer's writing and then use peer feedback to improve one's own writing.
- Self/Peer Feedback Form (G10, U4, L20)
- Guide to Effective Feedback Handout (G9–12)
Standards
L.9-10.2.aW.9-10.1W.9-10.4W.9-10.5
Projects
These projects are optional and serve as a great way to enrich students' experience and deepen their content knowledge in this unit. If teachers have flex days in their schedules, we strongly recommend any of the below options.