 What do you need to know… about Gabriel Garcia Marquez?

Background  Born in Colombia, March 6, 1927  Mostly raised by his grandparents  Went to law school and wrote for different newspapers  Acknowledged as a master of magical realism*  Best known for his novel, One Thousand Years of Solitude which earned him the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1972  He has said a writing style is different for every piece of writing because the stories and moods are all different  He recently passed away at the age of 87.

Magical realism  A literary or artistic genre in which realistic narrative and naturalistic technique are combined with surreal (bizarre) elements of dream or fantasy  Examples in film you may be familiar with:  “Big Fish” –> which we will view  “Black Swan”  “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind”  “It’s a Wonderful Life”

Vocabulary for “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings”  antiquarian (adj.) –pertaining to antiquaries of the study of antiques  bailiff (n) – an officer, similar to a sheriff or sheriff’s deputy, employed to execute writs and processes, make arrests, keep order in the court, etc.  catechism (n) –an elementary book containing a summary of the principles of the Christian religion, especially as maintained by a particular church, in the form of questions and answers  cataclysm (n) – any violent upheaval; especially one of a social or political nature  conjectures (n) – formation or expression of an opinion or theory without sufficient evidence for proof  hermetic (adj.) – not affected by outward influence or power; isolated

Vocabulary Continued  ingenious (adj.) – characterized by cleverness or originality of invention or construction  ingenuous (adj.) – free from reserve, restraint, or dissimulation; candid, sincere  proliferated (v) – to increase in number and grow rapidly and often excessively  pontiff (n) – the Roman Catholic pope  sidereal (adj.) – of or pertaining to the stars  stupor (n)- mental torpor; apathy

Other items to take note of:  La Violencia: (The Violence) the ten-year (1948–58) period of civil war in Colombia between the Colombian Conservative Party and the Colombian Liberal Party - although sides differ, it ultimately cost 200,000 people their lives; both sides eventually came together  Figurative Language to Know:  Setting  Symbolism  Imagery  Metaphor  Simile