100 Years of Solitude Discussion; Hecho en Mexico: A look at a few Mexican short stories & mythology

Period 1: 100 Years of Solitude Discussion

Discussion Questions:

1. Discuss the importance of the setting in the novel. How is Macondo a character in this book?
2. Using Ecocriticism, consider how nature is represented in this novel. How are natural forces treated in the book? How does Marquez effectively create conflicts between person v. nature? For what reason do these conflicts occur? Why might this be important to understand the point of the novel?
3. Discuss your favorite character in the novel. Why was this character compelling to you or how did the character catch your attention?
4. There are so many characters in this novel. Why? What might Marquez be trying to do by providing us with an epic story like this? What was your experience trying to figure out the different characters in the novel? What did you learn about writing interesting characters in stories from reading this book?
5. Take a feminist/gender focus or reading of this text. Are female characters interesting or powerful in this book? Which females? Why or how are they inferior or superior to the males? Compare/contrast the female characters in this novel with the males. Who comes out represented in a better light?
6. How does the text respond to or comment upon the characters, themes, or assumptions of a canonized (colonialist) work?
7. What does the text reveal about the operations of cultural difference--the ways in which race, religion, class, gender, sexual orientation, cultural beliefs, and customs combine to form individual identity--in shaping our perceptions of ourselves, others, and the world in which we live?
8. Describe your experience reading (or attempting to read this novel). How does the interaction of text and reader create meaning for us? What scenes, chapters, or sections of the novel held you entranced or bored you? Why? What are we to conclude from this reaction?
9. Why might critics say that this book should be "required reading for the human race"? What lessons or viewpoint does it offer us that we cannot get through other sources of media? Would this book have made a better: poem, tv series, stage play, or film instead of a novel? Why or why not?
10. What might we learn about writing from reading this book? What did you learn about writing from reading?
11. Other questions/topics you would like to discuss?

Period 2(ish): 

• "This is Just to Say" or "The Colonel" by Carolyn Forche (El Salvador) 

Mexican culture padlet. Let's see what we can add!

Let's look at a few contemporary Mexican writers today:

• "Lazarus" by Liliana Blum
• "Iguana Hunting" by Hernan Lara Zavala

and some Mexican mythology:

Let's read the short article about Mexican mythology/Aztec mythology. 

Check out these important Aztec gods.

And read/learn about some Mexican myths/legends.

• Write an ode to one of them--or an elegy (since they are no longer worshiped) or a story involving one of them...this might be humorous (an Aztec god who now works in a Taco Bell) or horror (a maniac who kidnaps someone to call forth one of the Aztec gods through blood sacrifice), or any other genre you might be interested in (mystery, romance, western, adventure, science fiction, etc.)
• Write a documentary poem like Forche's prose poem "The Colonel"--use the country you studied for your presentation, or some other event of your choosing. Want some current Mexican news? Check here. Or current Puerto Rican news? Check here.

HOMEWORK: None.