- What’s the magical element that drives this particular story?
- As far as imagery, what is the implied connection between insects and ancestry?
o What is significant about the narrator’s obsession with beauty?
o What insight into her character does her use of religious language reveal? About her? About message of the story??? Anything…
- In what way does the use of the undefined “boy” effect your reading of the story?
- Does a cat seem like an appropriate transformation for the narrator? How so?
- 3,000 years have gone by? Really?
“ Eyes of a Blue Dog”
- What’s the magical element that drives this particular story?
- When in this particular story do you get the sense that the world is not so “real”?
- How does the title of the story operate within the piece? When is the meaning of the title revealed – and to what extent?
- What images or descriptions within the story’s structure hint to the fantastical nature of the relationship between the narrator and the woman “of his dreams”?
“The Handsomest Drowned Man in the World: A Tale for Children”
- Magical Element(s)? What is different about the drowned man from those of village? List…
- What is the significance of naming him Estaban?
- What connection does Estaban have with the village, and how does it transform? What statement does this transformation then make?
- What does Estaban’s body bring to the villagers – woman, men, children? How does this serve as a larger statement about humanity?
Homework for next two classes:
Thursday, by e-mail (not meeting in class): One well-developed paragraph with supporting material and explanation, which answers the following:
From reading either “Two Words” or “Wicked Girl,” what are qualities that you see Isabel Allende is instilling in her female main characters?
- Though you only need to answer the above for one of the two stories, we will discuss both short stories on Thursday, 4/20, along with “Clarisa”
Tuesday, 4/20: Have closely and actively read all three of the first short stories in Allende’s collection: “Two Words,” “Wicked Girl,” and “Clarisa.” I’d like each of you to come up with one question for each story that asks something about a major theme, Allende’s use of “magical realism” or a noticeable trend in Allende’s language/writing style. (Remember: the more specific the question the better; any ideas you have, or intuition that you want to figure out…ASK!)
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