Midterm

Question 1

What stories has Borges written?

Answer 1

the book of sand, the garden of forking paths, the dead man, the library of babel, and the lottery of babylon

Question 2

What stories has Garcia Margquez written?

Answer 2

a very old man with enormous wings, the handsomest drowned man in the world

Question 3

What stories has Reyes written?

Answer 3

Major Aranda’s Hand

Question 4

What stories has Kafka written?

Answer 4

A country doctor, the metamorphsis

Question 5

What stories has Paz written?

Answer 5

My life with the wave

Question 6

What are the things you need to use to check to see if a story is magical realism?

Answer 6

Fantastic elements
characters accept the magic
symbols and imagery
distortion of time
folklore, myth, legend
doubles, mirrors
does the ending leave the readers wondering if magical or the mundane is more truthful

Question 7

What is ambiguity?

Answer 7

a story with a hidden meaning

Question 8

What is allegory?

Answer 8

adds layers of meaning and enrich what is trying to be said
it is a combination of symbols working together

Question 9

Who made magical realism popular?

Answer 9

Gabriel Garcia Marquez

Question 10

What is kafkaesque?

Answer 10

elements of alienation, anxiety, distortion, isolation, surrealism, depression, dehumanization

Question 11

What is the significance of a metaphorical labyrinth?

Answer 11

perplexities of interpretation; think of forking paths story

Question 12

What is the importance of “other” in post-colonial literature?

Answer 12

It helps explains the other in a culture and someone that does not fit into the norms; such as being turned into a bug or a being a bird that can fly

Question 13

What is book of sand about?

Answer 13

a book that has no beginning or end and there is a large distortion of time and the book controlling his life

Question 14

What is garden of forking paths about?

Answer 14

spy, death, and the labyrinth there is a large amounts of double

Question 15

What is the dead man about?

Answer 15

Otalora and Bandeira and how they are fighting each out to be more in charge

Question 16

The library of Babel about?

Answer 16

an infinite library with many variations of all various stories; symbols of light

Question 17

What is the lottery of babylon about?

Answer 17

all the decisions are decided for you and so the lottery and those people control your life for you

Question 18

What is a very old man with enourmous wings about?

Answer 18

trapped man that they use to exploit to get money so their house can be improved and then the man flies away at the end because people become disinterested

Question 19

What is the handsomest drowned man in the world about?

Answer 19

a man that is found in the water and everyone adores him and treats him very well and they give him a proper burial etc

Question 20

What is major aranda’s hand about?

Answer 20

his hand that is not connected to him (right hand) that has a mind of its own and does whatever and so gets in a lot of trouble

Question 21

What is a country doctor about?

Answer 21

a doctor that has to go treat a patient but leaves rosa at home with the groom that treats her poorly and so the doctor is in the wrong place at the wrong time and he is questioned on his ability because at the time a lot of people questioned doctors abilities; there are doubles around rosa and the patient, the doctor and the groom

Question 22

What is metamorphosis about?

Answer 22

A man turns into a bug and he used to provide everything for his family so his family doesn’t know what to do with the transformation and so the sister is the only one that cares for him but it turns into a pain for him and he dies

Question 23

What is my life with wave about?

Answer 23

the wave which is a women he goes to jail for and then she basically controls and torments his life and he becomes jealous of the fish within the wave that has this connection with her that he doesn’t have