Style

Warm-up Think of a story you know (from a book, movie, TV show, etc.) that contains an alien or other extraordinary character who visits Earth. What usually happens to those strangers visiting a strange land? Write a response of at least 3 sentences in your notebook.

Magical Realism “Magical Realism” is a kind of fiction popular with many contemporary South American writers. This style of writing is characterized by elements of fantasy (often borrowed from mythology) that are casually inserted into earthy, realistic settings.

Magical Realism Magic realist writers often suspend the laws of nature. By using this bizarre mixture of the commonplace and the outlandish, magic realists force readers to think about their fixed notions of “reality” and “normality.” This is often an important part of the themes that these writers want to convey.

Questions? Keep the characteristics of this unique style of writing in mind as we read, “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings” by Gabriel Garcia Marquez.