Informational Texts- (Literary Texts-Fiction) “The Transformation of Arachne into a Spider“ from Metamorphoses, Ovid “Sestina,” Elizabeth Bishop “Ode to Sadness,” Pablo Neruda “The Nose,” Nikolai Gogol “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings,” Gabriel Garcia Marquez “Nothing but Death,” Pablo Neruda
Informational Texts (Nonfiction) Pages 6-8 of “A Necessary Confusion: Magical Realism,” Bainard Cowan Part 1 of “Magical Realism in the Works of Nikolai Gogol,” James D. Hardy and Nicholas Stanton Introduction to Lecture on the Metamorphosis, Vladimir Nabokov Nonprint Texts (Fiction or Nonfiction) (e.g., Media, Video, Film, Music, Art, Graphics) “Magical Realism Is Still Realism“ from Big Think, Salman Rushdie (Video and transcript) Roots, Frida Kahlo
Through the study of various fictional works and literary criticism, students explore “magical realism.”
Students learn about the interconnectedness of texts over time and space as they study how authors transform source material.
Students come to understand the style and characteristics of magical realism, even though many critics disagree about what exactly qualifies as “magical realism.”
They also explore how literature can express “real human truth” and be used as a vehicle for social commentary.
Elements of Literature Addressed in this Unit: Character and theme development, symbolism, elements and characteristics of a genre