Jorge Borges; Metafiction
We'll screen the last song from Evita, then take the rest of period 1 to work on your song, musical, historical story, or any of the previous writing prompts for your 2nd marking period portfolio.
You may also write something creative about what you learned from your discussions on Friday about Climate Change (essays, fiction, non-fiction, documentaries, scripts, poems, PSAs, etc.)
If you need some more inspiration to write a musical, take a look at this: 22 Musicals in 12 minutes.
If you did not complete your homework (the Borges packet, see below) please read that during the rest of period 1.
Period 2:
TASK: From your homework, please post a COMMENT in the COMMENT section of this blog about what are some of the things that you learned about Borges that you found interesting or important from the packet. Then, please, choose one of the two short stories we read ("The Circular Ruins" & "August 25, 1983")--see your homework rubric for details about grading--and explain how some of the important styles/elements of Borges are found in this story.
Metafiction
Some Conventions of Fiction:
4. Metafiction forces readers to be aware that they are reading a fictional story.
Infinity according to Jorge Borges.
We will begin reading some of Jorge Borges' other short fiction:
You may also write something creative about what you learned from your discussions on Friday about Climate Change (essays, fiction, non-fiction, documentaries, scripts, poems, PSAs, etc.)
If you need some more inspiration to write a musical, take a look at this: 22 Musicals in 12 minutes.
If you did not complete your homework (the Borges packet, see below) please read that during the rest of period 1.
Period 2:
TASK: From your homework, please post a COMMENT in the COMMENT section of this blog about what are some of the things that you learned about Borges that you found interesting or important from the packet. Then, please, choose one of the two short stories we read ("The Circular Ruins" & "August 25, 1983")--see your homework rubric for details about grading--and explain how some of the important styles/elements of Borges are found in this story.
Metafiction
- Metafiction is fiction about fiction.
- It is fiction in which an author self-consciously alludes and/or refers to the literariness or artificiality of a work of fiction by parodying or departing from novelistic conventions (especially realism) and traditional narrative techniques.
Some Conventions of Fiction:
- While readers know that fiction is meant to be made up (a lie), they "suspend their willingness of disbelief" (as in theater) to believe that the characters, settings, events, etc. are true and real--at least in the context of the diegesis (the world) of the story.
- Stories have a beginning, middle, and end; usually, they resolve a problem by the end of the story.
- Stories introduce an inciting incident to start the story and begin in the middle of the action (in media res)
- Stories have only a limited number of characters (and those characters are described by only a few details, as opposed to complex human beings who are contradictory, difficult to describe completely, or change to much to be unrecognizable)
- Stories follow only the perspective of one (1st person), or a few characters (3rd person limited), or by an unnamed (often) narrator who knows and sees all (3rd person omniscient).
- Setting and description of action leave out unnecessary details (typically) in favor of a more appropriate pacing of a story. (i.e., some events/details are omitted)
- The plot is usually a simple one, with cause and effect clearly connected; as opposed to real-life where motive, result, and effect of an action is not revealed.
- Words and sentences are used to convey meaning.
- A message, theme, or idea is communicated to make sense of a character's "world" or life or purpose in the story.
- Dialogue is reduced to only the most essential spoken lines or speeches to further the plot, as opposed to real-life where characters ramble for no purpose. Also, only one character speaks at a time in an orderly fashion.
- Stories can be divided into chapters, parts, or "books"
- Narrative structure is provided by the writer, who we assume wrote the words on the page we read.
4. Metafiction forces readers to be aware that they are reading a fictional story.
Borges is best known for his poetry and his magical realism or metafiction short fiction.
Magical Realism? What is this? Do you remember?
Infinity according to Jorge Borges.
We will begin reading some of Jorge Borges' other short fiction:
- "The Book of Sand"
- Prompt: Consider infinity. Write about it. Join the debate! (Here's another site (article) that might help...)
- "Who's Writing This?"
- Write about yourself as a writer. What does your writer self write? Why? About what? Where? When? For what purpose? Describe your writer self.
- "The Garden of Forking Paths"
HOMEWORK: Please read the short story "The Library of Babel" and visit The Library of Babel. Keep writing any of the pieces we began today in class.
Comments
He has an extensive background in world languages and cultures which allowed him to cross into different thresholds in his writing.
2) In his short story "August 25, 1983," there are many stylistic elements that repeat in other works. For example, there is the idea of a double--another version of himself-- that challenges his perspective and thoughts. The concept of dreams appear in this story, and it examines the difference between the dream and dreamer. Throughout the story, his voice is philosophical and intellectual, retaining the same seriousness throughout his other works. "August 25, 1983" also ends on a final sentence that leaves a question for the audience to reflect on because of how ambiguous or philosophical it is. "Outside were other dreams, waiting for me" leaves more implications than the story wanted to answer itself. This story is short and concise, much like his other works. Overall, "August 25, 1983" is unique in its own story but echoes the familiar style of Jorge Borges, making his works easily recognizable for his signature voice and artistic elements.
2) In Borges' short story, The Circular Ruins, many elements of Borges style are epitomized. Borges mentions the Zend language, which "has not been contaminated by Greek," showcasing his fascination with etymology. Moreover, Borges uses poetic writing--"no one saw the bamboo canoe sink into the sacred mud"--to discuss philosophical ideas, like the death of gods, within a fictional framework in which a mysterious man can heal wounds and use magic. Borges discusses the nature of dreams and the mind.