WHAT IS MAGICAL REALISM? HOW IS IT PRESENT IN THE WRITINGS OF GABRIEL GARCIA MARQUEZ?
Post your response in two well-developed paragraphs. Include at least two quotes from class sources and one quote from an out-of-class source in your response. Please include your name(s) in the body of the post and be sure to comment on other posts as required by your teacher. In-text citations (internal references) and a works cited (same page and post) should also be included. Mr. Macy’s students should identify one writing standard of focus associated with each posting.
STUDENTS IN CENTRAL AND SOUTH AMERICA: Thanks for joining our conversation! Please feel free to provide any thoughts you have about this theme. We would love to hear about your real-life experiences. Please also feel free to comment on our postings. Postings in any language are welcome!
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ReplyDeleteJake Kerr/Daniel Ullrich
ReplyDeleteMagical realism, “combines the rational with the supernatural by setting fantastical events in the real world” (Kerschen 1). Therefore, it makes unbelievable or impossible things seem realistic. Gabriel Garcia Marquez is a good example for an author of magical realistic writing. He uses dreams or memories to spark emotion and feelings of fantasy or out of this world themes. He makes it seem almost normal for the extraordinary to occur, such as that in “Eyes of a Blue Dog” and “Eva is inside her Cat.”
“It was as if her arteries had become peopled with hot, tiny insects who… [in] her anatomical beauty, had found [their] home” (Marquez). Marquez uses this in “Eva is inside her Cat” and goes on to describe it as a normal reality. In “Eyes of a Blue Dog,” Garcia Marquez, “Portrays the narrator’s dream world as a place of loneliness and isolation” (enotes). He makes the dream world seem like a more real world than actual reality. Therefore, magical realism is clearly evident in Marquez’ work.
"Magical Realism." Enotes. Web.
Steele Dalton
ReplyDeleteIn magical realism, “we find the transformation of the common and the everyday into the awesome and the unreal” (Angel Flores). Authors use this type of writing in order to express the unreal in a real sense. In a critical essay written by Jack Shreve about Garcia Marquez, he tells that Marquez’s work One Hundred Years of Solitude is “best known for its imaginative flights of fantasy” (Shreve). Marquez is one of the best authors that use magical realism in their writing, using it to relate the two worlds of real and unreal.
When Garcia Marquez writes a conversation in Eyes of a Blue Dog between two people in a dream he uses magical realism. “‘I'd like to touch you,’ I said again. And she said: ‘You'll ruin everything.’” (Marquez). If these two wish to stay out of reality and keep in the dream, they must not make contact, since the two want this magical reality to feel real for as long as possible. So Marquez uses a dream as the overlap of a reality and a fantasy.
Flores, Angel
Marquez, Garcia. Eyes of a Blue Dog. Print
Shreve, Jack. Gabriel Garcia Marquez:Overview. Print.
Michal T.
ReplyDeleteMacy
Period 6
Magical realism is a literary genre especially prominent in the Latin American literature of the 20th century that uses the mysterious, magical, and supernatural to render a “more realistic” reality. The person that best represents this genre is Colombia native Gabriel Garcia Marquez. Other famous magical realists include Isabel Allende and Mario Vargas Llosa. According to Lindsay Moore’s essay, many critics claim that “magical realism is ‘an expression of the New World reality which at once combines the rational elements of the European super-civilization, and the irrational elements of a primitive America’” (Moore).
Magical realist works feature some recurrent themes and unique qualities that make them stand out. One of the reappearing themes is loneliness and desperation – this theme is even mentioned in the title of one of Marquez’s books, A Hundred Years of Solitude. As is described in Marquez’s short story Eyes of a Blue Dog, even though the narrator and the woman meet every night in a dream, they will never be able to find each other in the real world, since he never remembers his dreams. The woman is so desperate that she does not hesitate to embarrass and humiliate herself: “…she had spent the whole afternoon on all fours, washing the tiles…” (Marquez Eyes). This theme can be directly linked to the modernist theme of loss and despair. As another theme, magical realism explores the unconscious mind, using dreams and the idea of different levels of the state of mind. In the story Eva Is Inside Her Cat, long sections are dedicated to describe only Eva’s thoughts, concerns and fears. At the end, she is lifted to a higher level of consciousness where only her mind can go and space does not mean much: “…now that she was bodiless, floating, , drifting over an absolute nothingness”(Marquez Eva). In conclusion, magical realism is a very unique literary genre and despair, solitude, human mind and the supernatural are some of the themes used by magical realist authors.
Marquez, Gabriel Garcia. Eva Is Inside Her cat. Print.
Marquez, Gabriel Garcia. Eyes of a Blue Dog. Print.
Moore, Lindsay. Magical Realism. Web.
Standard: Conventions of Punctuation
Magical Realism was is a main theme in a lot of Latin American Literature. Throughout many different pieces of Latin American Literature, magical realism is a major theme and is very reoccuring. One author that uses magical realism often is Gabriel Garcia Marquez. Through out many stories such as "Eyes of a Blue Dog" and "Eva is Inside her Cat." Both of these stories use magical realism often. Some examples of magical realism are in "Eva is Inside her Cat" such as " It was as if her arteries had become peopled with hot tiny insects who, with the approach of down, awoke easch day and ran about on their moving feet in a rending subcutaneous adventure in that place of clay made fruit where her anatomical beauty had found its home." That is a graphic image that is described. Some examples from "Eyes of a Blue Dog" are that the two people meet eachother in a dream every night and can't find eachother in the real world. Magical realism is a major part in Latin American literature.
ReplyDeleteMarquez, Gabriel Garcia. Eva Is Inside Her cat. Print.
Marquez, Gabriel Garcia. Eyes of a Blue Dog. Print.
Chuck Fellows and Coleton Joos
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteDylan Stup
ReplyDeletePeriod 6
Magical realism is a trait common among Latin American writers. Magical realism is a technique of writing that describes the supernatural in a natural way. An example of this is in “Eva is in Her Cat” when it describes the insects in her blood stream. The says, “It was as if her arteries had become peopled with hot, tiny insects who, with the approach of dawn, awoke each day…”. A famous author who uses this is Marquez. The supernatural part of magical realism is usually a supernatural phenomena believed in South American culture.
I forgot to cite my source
ReplyDeleteMarquez, Gabriel Garcia. Eva is Inside Her Cat. Print.
Bo, Jesse
ReplyDeleteMagical realism is a style of writing were rational thoughts are combined with the super natural. Magical realism is when “magical elements blend to create a realistic atmosphere that accesses a deeper understanding of reality” (Wikipedia). Magical realism stories may have unreal aspects such as time, “only then did she understand that three thousand years had passed since the day she had had a desire to eat the first orange” (Gabriel Garcia Marquez). This quote shows magical realism stories may have time be expressed with traits of magical realism and time is not a set thing but can change to go past very fast. Magical Realism settings can be in a dream to help combine the rational thoughts with the super natural ideas. Natural ideas such as a human are not always real in magical realism but an idea in side of someone’s imagination from someone’s subconscious mind. Gabriel Garcia Marquez says “Eyes of a blue dog” (Gabriel Garcia Marquez) is a natural idea in a dream but it is not taking place in reality.
Wikipedia. 2011. 3/18/11,.web
Marquez, Gabriel Garcia. Eva Is Inside Her cat. Print.
Marquez, Gabriel Garcia. Eyes of a Blue Dog. Print.
Magical Realism is a unique form of literary style developed by Latin American Writers. It is "the seperation between dream and reality"(Critical Essay, Lois Kerchen) Stories that consist of Magical Realism form a meaning to the story.For example "she imagined him there, sleepwalking under the grass in the courtyard beside the orange tree, a handful of wet dirt in his mouth"(Eva Inside Her Cat) Magical Realism adds tension to the story. It inspires readers alike to continue reading the book.
ReplyDeleteTaylor R.
ReplyDeletePeriod 6
“Literature of this type is usually characterized by elements of the fantastic woven into the story with a deadpan sense of presentation,” (The Modern World.com). Magical Realism is a description or image of something that is not real but described in a realistic way. Gabriel Marquez demonstrates the use of Magical Realism in almost all of his works. He has become quite familiar with this style of writing and it has transformed Latin America’s culture. A critical essay on Eyes of a Blue Dog states, “Magical Realism combines the rational with the supernatural by setting fantastic events in the normal world. It is a paradoxical literary technique that attempts a truer reality than conventional realism will allow,” (Kerschen). This excerpt clearly describes how conventional realism has evolved into a style of writing that allows the supernatural and fantastic settings to depict realistic events.
In Marquez’ Eva Is Inside Her Cat, the story starts of in “medias res” and is about this girl named Eva who has this disease or insomnia that has been passed down from generation to generation starting off with her Great Grandmother. This disease is described as, “It was as if her arteries had become people with hot, tiny insects who, with the approach of dawn, awoke each day and ran about on their moving feet in a rending subcutaneous adventure in the place of clay made fruit where her anatomical beauty had found its home,” (Marquez). These insects are considered to be the motif of the story because they keep reoccurring. The use of similes is this story truly brings out the magical realism within the text. Another example of this would be, “Sweat broke out on her body as if the blood in her arteries were pouring out its cargo of insects,” (Marquez). This sentence reflects how Eva is feeling at this point in time and this incident could never possibly happen, but the way it is described sounds very realistic to the reader.
Works Cited
Eva Is Inside Her Cat by Gabriel Marquez
http://www.themodernword.com/gabo/gabo_mr.html
Kerschen, Lois. “Critical Essay on ‘Eyes of a Blue Dog’.” Short Stories for Students. Ed.
Ira Mark Milne. Vol. 21. Detroit: Gale, 2005. Literature Resources from Gale.
Web. 5. 2011.
Magical Realism is a method of writing typically used by 20th century Latin American authors. The most famous of these authors is Gabriel Garcia Marquez. Magical realism typically describes something more realistic than reality, such as when Marquez uses “It was as if her arteries had become peopled with hot, tiny insects…” (Marquez). Marquez is not the first person to use magical realism, Modernism could be considered a form of magical realism, but he is one of the most well known authors to use it.
ReplyDeleteYou could define magical realism as “a kind of modern fiction in which fabulous and fantastical events are included in a narrative that otherwise maintains the 'reliable' tone of objective realistic report” (Rios). It enhances detail further than writing realistically can. Magical realism can contain events to fantastical to be real, yet are told realistically. Again, when Marquez writes, “Hadn’t she heard, perhaps, that pure spirits can penetrate any body at will?” (Marquez). This is most likely talking about resurrection, in another body. That’s magical realism.
Taylor R.
ReplyDeletePeriod 6
I completely agree with Jake and Daniel when they state how Gabriel Marquez uses dreams or memories to spark emotion and feelings of fantasy. These dreams depict those feelings and emotions that people can’t feel anywhere else but in their dreams. A dream could almost be considered like someone’s “fantasyland”. Places where they go at night and let their thoughts run wild. Dreams can feel so real that when we wake up, we can assume that we are still in them or that they actually happened. The use of dreams in his stories also helps strengthen the idea of the magical realism that the author is trying to portray to the reader.
Magical realism is fantasy told as truth. It can also be “where real forms are combined in a way that does not conform to daily reality” (Rios). It is used often to describe situations that are not real and most likely impossible in the scientifically bounded world. Magical realism is evident in its name in that it is both magic and comprehended as real. There are many examples of magical realism through modern times, and now many authors use magical realism in their writing.
ReplyDeleteMagical realism is evident in Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s writing, and the author’s writing is quite well known for it. The way that unbelievable things are talked about in the writing as truth is magical realism; for example: “the smooth wall, which was like another blind mirror in which [he] couldn't see her” (Marquez) is used in “Eyes of a Blue Dog”. The wall is still a wall but while looking at this non reflective object the man can still see the woman behind him like the wall was a mirror. This could be a reflective thought on the saying “if these walls had eyes”. Although the man and women are asleep and have never met they still see each other in a dream. This is another example of magical realism in Marquez’s story.
Marquez, Gabriel Garcia. Eyes of a Blue Dog. Print.
Rio, Alberto. Magical Realism: Definition.
Natalie Elmgreen
ReplyDeleteMagical Realism
Gabriel Garcia Marquez is called the god father of magical realism. Making the impossible, not just possible but real is the idea behind magical realism. Some of the characteristics of magical realism are having a realistic setting, event, detail, character or plot that isn’t actually real. Something contains an unrealistic quality that is written about in away that is completely real. Marquez himself said “My most important problem was destroying
the lines of demarcation that separates what seems real from what seems fantastic.” Kafka is another author that has some qualities of magical realism. “Metamorphosis” is about an ordinary family leading an ordinary life; accept for the main character turns into a bug. But the writing doesn’t become any different. The tone and writing style of the writing is not different. It all just seems like a detail not an event. Marquez makes magical realism even more of a style. He includes dream like qualities that make the unreasonable and unlikely, reality.
“Eyes of a Blue Dog” is a short story that is all about a dream that becomes a person’s reality. A woman becomes obsessed with finding the man that has been in her reoccurring dreams. She has a connection with him through the dream. But in the morning he doesn’t remember anything. Every time that this dream occurs he calls her “Eyes of a Blue Dog.” She spends all of her time trying to find him. She writes “Eyes of a Blue Dog” everywhere. When she writes the pet name on the tiles at a drug store people begin to really believe that she is crazy. When everyone asks her what she is doing she tells them “I have to find the man who told me those very words in my dreams.” She searches for a long time but is not successful. They are doomed the repeat the dream over and over but never find each other in the reality. “Eva is in her Cat” is another of Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s stories that includes magical realism. Her nightmares are written like they are real. Bugs haunt her and her family at night making it impossible her/them to sleep. Eventually on the story she begins to inhabit a cats body. Her only hope is that inhabiting the body of the cat will stop her desire to eat an orange. She wants to eat the fruit but cant because a boy from her past is always in the back of her mind. At night he too becomes part of her nightmare along with the desire to eat an orange. “Probably when her spirit began to inhabit the cats body she would no longer feel any desire to eat an orange…”
Cowan, Kathleen. "Definition of Magic Realism." Texas A&M University | Department of English | Home. 02. Web. 17 Mar. 2011. .
Being a writing technique of multifarious authors during the 20th century, one of the most profitable authors that engaged this style was Gabriel Garcia Marquez. In his two short stories, Eyes of a Blue Dog and Eva Is Inside Her Cat, magical realism is indubitably easy to recognize. “[Combining] the rational with the supernatural by setting fantastic events in the normal world” magical realism is a “paradoxical literacy technique that attempts a truer reality than conventional realism will allow,” as seen in Eva Is Inside Her Cat (Kerschen 1).
ReplyDeleteWhile thoughts of reincarnation dash through Eva’s head, magical realism is used by Marquez to draw the reader in for more. By stating “It was as if her arteries had become peopled with hot, tiny insects who, with the approach of dawn, awoke each day and ran about on their moving feet in a rending subcutaneous adventure in that place of clay made fruit where her anatomical beauty had found its home,” the reader gets a stronger idea and feeling of what the character is experiencing (Marquez 1). This is also presented in Hillary Duff’s song Metamorphosis as she sings about how “everyday is transformation, everyday is a new sensation, alteration, modification, an incarnation, celebration,” while referring to a humanly life situation, love. (Duff 1).
"Hilary Duff - Metamorphosis Lyrics." LYRICS. Web. 18 Mar. 2011. .
Eva Is Inside Her Cat by Gabriel Marquez http://www.themodernword.com/gabo/gabo_mr.html Kerschen, Lois. “Critical Essay on ‘Eyes of a Blue Dog’.” Short Stories for Students. Ed.
forgot to add this
ReplyDeleteMarquez, Gabriel Garcia. Eva Is Inside Her cat. Print.
Marquez, Gabriel Garcia. Eyes of a Blue Dog. Print.
Sam Kroll and Stephen Hardy
ReplyDeleteMagical realism is describing a fantastical or impossible event in a realistic way. It is described by Kerschen as “combines the rational with the supernatural by setting fantastical events in the real world” (Kerschen). In “Eva is Inside Her Cat” she feels that there are bugs in her blood because of her beauty. Gabriel Garcia Marquez describes this in specific examples and makes it seem like a reality, “It was as if her arteries had become peopled with hot tiny insects…” (Marquez).
Marquez started the use of magical realism as a trend among authors. He may have borrowed some of his ideas from modernist writers like Kafka. When Gregor Samsa is turned into a beetle, it is well described with small details. Marquez also uses this writing style in his story “Eyes of a Blue Dog”. In this story there are two people that meet in a recurring dream. These people do fantastical things during the dream.
Marquez, Gabriel Garcia. Eva Is Inside Her cat. Print.
Marquez, Gabriel Garcia. Eyes of a Blue Dog. Print.
"Magical Realism." Enotes. Web.
Konnor Propst
ReplyDeletePeriod 6
Magical Realism
Magical Realism was a writing style that was introduced into Latin America during the early 20th century. One of the most influential and important writers of this genre was Gabriel Marquez. Magical is a unique writing. This quote describes it well, “Literature of this type is usually characterized by elements of the fantastic woven into the story with a deadpan sense of presentation” (Modernworld.com). Gabriel Marquez knew how to use this unique writing style, while using influences from writers from the modern era such as Kafka to make his writing very interesting. He uses traits from the Modernism era such as unreal things but uses it in a way that is realistic to the reader, which basically describes the concept of Magical Realism. This quote from Eva is Inside her Cat shows it well, “It was as if her arteries had become peopled with hot, tiny insects” (Marquez). This is showing the magical part of it, while relating it to the writings of Kafka at the same time.
In another of his famous short stories, the Eyes of a Blue Dog, he shows this magical realism very well. He shows it in a way that makes sense to the reader and makes the fantasies believable. Although what occurs in this story is almost unbelievable, Gabriel uses dreaming, a realistic aspect of humanity, to let fantasies and impossible thing things to happen. Here is a quote that shows it well, "I'm the one who comes into your dreams every night and tells you: 'Eyes of a blue dog’” (Marquez). This quote talks about a woman who has met a man in a dream and she remember shim by the eyes of a blue dog. These two people meet in their dream which is impossible, but since they are “dreaming,” it makes it seem possible. Magical Realism is a very unique writing style, and Gabriel Marquez shows why he was such an influential writer of this genre through his works.
Sources:
"Garcia Marquez - Magical Realism." The Modern Word. 09 Oct. 2001. 19 Mar. 2011.
. Web.
Gabriel Marquez:
Eyes of a Blue Dog
Eva is inside Her Cat
Magical Realism is used greatly throughout much Latin American Literature. Magical Realism is the idea of describing something with non-realistic traits, in a realistic way. The famous author Gabriel Garcia Marquez portrays Magical Realism throughout many of his stories. There are many examples of this in his writing including, “It was as if her arteries had become people with hot, tiny insects.” As we all know that cannot actually happen therefore this is called Magical Realism. Also critics describe his writing about Magical Realism, “… the novel is best known for its imaginative flights of fantasy…” Other writers also use this technique, “The worst realities of our age, are manufactured realities, it is therefore our task, as created participants in the universe to redream our world.” (Ben Oakrey)
ReplyDeleteMagical Realism is like the culture of writing for Latin America. Everyone loves to read and hear stories with those elements since the early 20th century, when this style began. Kafka was recognized for his great use of Magical Realism, due to fantastic stories he produced while using these techniques. He wrote the story “Metamorphisis” which was considered a outstanding story of the time. Though there is much more to Magical Realism, these Latin American authors did a great job portraying it in their writing.
Marquez, Gabriel Garcia. Eva is Inside Her Cat. Print.
Ben Oakrey
Contemporary Popular Writers
Jacob Souther
ReplyDeleteMr. Macy, Pd. 6, Organization
Magical realism is a very specific genre of fiction that works to blend the impossible with the practical in such a way that the events of the story do not appear unreal. This “differs from pure fantasy primarily because it is set in a normal, modern world with authentic descriptions of humans and society,” (Moore). One of the most well known writers of magical realism is Gabriel Marquez who’s book One Hundred Years of Solitude is “best known for its imaginative flights of fantasy such as levitation and bodily assumption into heaven,” (Shreve 1). Another of Marquez’s works, Eva is Inside Her Cat, displays the theme of magical realism quite well.
In, Eva is Inside Her Cat, Eva sees her beauty as a sickness that burdens her and drives her to insomnia. She believes her “arteries (have) become peopled with hot, tiny insects,” and everyday “she (struggles) to chase (the) horrible creatures away.” (Marquez 1). These insects are described as if they actually are inside of Eva fueling the beauty that she despises. Marquez combines fantasy with reality in a way that makes the events seem entirely real.
Moore, Lindsay. "Magical Realism." Emory University. N.p., n.d.
Web. 17 Mar 2011. .
Marquez, Gabriel. Eva is Inside Her Cat.
Shreve, Jack. Gabriel Garcia Marquez: Overview.
Brandon Johnson
ReplyDeleteP.6
Ok, i've written this several times but it wont post hopefully this one works...
"My most important problem was destroying the lines of demarcation that separates what seems real from what seems fantastic" (Gabriella Garcia Marquez). Magical realism was first applied as a style of painting in the early 1900's. It wasn't until the 1960's when the term was used to describe unique forms of writing that combines unrealistic phenomenon with conventional events. Some well known magical realism writers would be Franz Kafka who wrote the Metamorphosis or of course Gabriella Garcia Marquez who's best work includes Eyes Of A Blue Dog or Eve Inside Her Cat. Some forms of magical realism in Eyes Of A Blue Dog would be when the two main characters meet in their dreams and try to meet in real life. An example of magical realism in Eve Is Inside Her Cat would be the fact that "a person is trapped in her cat". That is magical realism.
Alanna and Allison did the Magical Realism blog together.
ReplyDeleteBenton and Kyle
ReplyDeleteMagical realism is a unique literary style that has been developed among the Latin Americans. Magical realism is a form of a writing style that combines a fiction story into reality. In the writing’s of Eyes of a blue dog, Magical realism is described as “An art critic who was trying to describe a visual response to the inexplicable aspects of reality”. In the story of “Metamorphosis” Magical realism is portrayed in Kafka’s writing. As Sam Kroll said in his description by Kerschen as “combines the rational with the supernatural by setting fantastical events in the real world” (Kerschen). This is a good example because it shows that magical realism takes place in the real world settings. Magical realism is a unique writing style; Gabriel Marquez shows why he was such an influential writer of this genre through his works.
Magical Realisim is a trait common among latin american writters. Magical Realisim is when " magical elements blend to create a realistic atmosphere that acesses a deeper reality")wikipedia) There is an exsample of magical realisim in "Eva is in her Cat" when it describes when she has inscets in her blood stream. "It was as if her arteries had becomed peopled, with hot, tiny inscets who with the aproach of dawn awoke each day.." this is a unreal sitiuation but described with real description.
ReplyDeleteMarquez,Gabriel Garcia.Eva is inside her cat.print.
Wikipedia.2011.3/20/11.web
Dusty age: 17
ReplyDeleteMagical Realism was developed in Latin America. Magical Realism is taking something that is impossible and putting it into the real world, as something that is seemingly possible. This has been done in many stories outside of Latin America as well as in it. In Gabriel Garcia Marquez's "Eva Is Inside Her Cat" the girl believes that she has insects inside her veins. An example of this is when the girl says, or rather thinks, “What good was beauty like that? Night after night, sunken in her desperation, she thought it would have been better for her to have been an ordinary woman, or a man. But that useless virtue was denied her, fed by insects of remote origin who were hastening the irrevocable arrival of her death” (Marquez). These insects are supposedly responsible for her beauty.
In “Eyes of a Blue Dog” the man and the woman can meet each other in their dreams. The problem is that the man remembers nothing and the woman only remembers the phrase ‘eyes of a blue dog’. We know this because in the story we have the following conversation, “’Tomorrow I'll recognize you from that,’ I said. ‘I'll recognize you when on the street I see a woman writing 'Eyes of a blue dog' on the walls.’ And she, with a sad smile--which was already a smile of surrender to the impossible, the unreachable--said: ‘Yet you won't remember anything during the day.’ And she put her hands back over the lamp, her features darkened by a bitter cloud. ‘You're the only man who doesn't remember anything of what he's dreamed after he wakes up.’” (Marquez). As a noun the term Magical Realism means: a style of painting and literature in which fantastic or imaginary and often unsettling images or events are depicted in a sharply detailed, realistic manner (dictionary.com)
Work Cited
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/Magical+Realism
Marquez, Gabriel Garcia. Eva is Inside Her Cat. Print.
Marquez, Gabriel Garcia. Eyes of a Blue Dog. Print.
Magical realism is apparent in many of Gabriel Garcia Marquez's works. In "Eva is inside her cat", the main character describes tiny insects that live inside of her, constantly reminding her of her beauty and preventing sleep. Eva, the main character, dies of old age halfway through the story. She decides to reincarnate herself as the cat "in a body different from her own."
ReplyDeleteAnother one of Marquez's acclaimed works is "Eyes of a Blue Dog". This story has many examples of magical realism, with the most prominent aspect being that the main character sees his love in his dreams. In fact, the man and the woman are so connected to each other that they "had been seeing each other for several years." These dreamy encounters provide a magical realism that sounds believable, but is purely fiction. Magical realism, and Marquez's employment of it in his stories are a staple of Latin America's literature.
Keenan Prouty and Josh Conroy
ReplyDeleteMagical Realism
Macy
Magical Realism is a theme that is ever present in Latin American literature. It is found in the book of many famous authors, the best example is Gabriel Garcia Marquez. He was one of the most famous authors in Latin American history. In many, if not all his books you can find examples of magical realism. He emerged as a famous writer when he wrote the book One Hundred Years of Solitude. “the novel is best known for its imaginative flights of fantasysuch as levitation of the body (Shreve).” This quote shows how Marquez used his magical realism to engage his audience.
Eva is Inside Her Cat is the best example in my opinion of Marquez’ use of magical realism. “It was as if her arteries had become peopled with hot, tiny insects… (Marquez)” He uses magical realism very well in all of his stories. Magical realism is important because it shows that in the time period it was a unique style of writing that became very popular in Latin America.
I think Dan and Jake had a good analysis, but I think it would be good to consider some other authors that are connected with magical realism in order to establish some trends or patterns in the writing style
ReplyDeleteKonnor Propst
ReplyDeleteReply to Dusty
Magical Realism
I agree with a lot of what you said Dusty. I liked the way that you described what magical realism was and where it was from. I did a lot of the same in my blog about magical realism. I also used the same example of how Marquez shows this literary style. The example was in Eva is Inside Her Cat and how she has insects in her veins. Something that you did that I didn’t was including a quote and example from The Eyes of a Blue Dog. Overall I agree with what you posted because it has a lot of similarities to what took out of it.
I enjoyed reading Stephanie's post about Magical Realism due to the creative ways she used to explain Magical Realism. Her analysis was easy to read and her examples were great because she used a modern day song to compare, though i would of enjoyed it more if she compared the Hilary Duff song to more of Gabriel Garcia and Magical Realism.
ReplyDeleteClaire Martin
ReplyDeleteResponse to Jake and Daniel
The quotes you picked out supported your ideas and your paragraphs got right to the point and supported what has been said in class and the ideas behind the stories we have read. I agree with your points and the sources that you had found. I also used some of these same points in my own paragraphs on magical realism.
Magical Realisim is common among latin american writters. Magical Realisim is when magical elements blend to create a realistic atmosphere that acesses a deeper reality. There is an exsample of magical realisim in "Eva is in her Cat" when it describes when she has inscets in her blood stream. "It was as if her arteries had becomed peopled, with hot, tiny inscets who with the aproach of dawn awoke each day.." this is a unreal sitiuation but described with real description.
ReplyDeleteBrandon Johnson
ReplyDeleteI agree with Benton, magical realism was first used to describe art, not a peice of literature
Josh Conroy
ReplyDeleteresponse to Scott Moranetz
Scott a really like how you explained the story in depth and showed how it related to magical realism. You used very informative quotes and you really helped me get an understanding of how and why Marquez uses magical realism in his stories such as "Eyes of a Blue Dog"
Charles Fellows
ReplyDeleteResponse to Taylor Rauch,
I really enjoyed reading you post. You did a great job making connections between Magical Realism and real world things. For example you connected Magical Realism and pieces from Gabriel Garcia Marquez such as " Evan is inside her Cat", and " Eyes of a Blue Dog". I thought that when you said "This excerpt clearly describes how conventional realism has evolved into a style of writing that allows the supernatural and fantastic settings to depict realistic events" it really explained a lot to me. It was a greatly worded and very well written. You connected Magical realism very well.
Ryan McClung
ReplyDeleteMagical realism is a common theme in latin american literature. There are many authors that use this type of writing but the main on that we focused on was Gabrial Garcia Marquez. Some of the stories that we read from Marquez was "Eva is inside her cat" and "Eyes of a blue dog". I thougth that both of these stories went into alot of detail on the smallest aspects of there stories. For example in Eva is inside her cat the author writes, “It was as if her arteries had become peopled with hot tiny insects…” (Marquez). I thought that this was a great example of magical realism because of the amount of detail that it goes into. Marquez was pretty much the first to start magical realism and it has become a trend among authors.
Ryan McClung
ReplyDeleteResponse to Same Kroll.
I like your thoughts on magical realism and I liked the quotes that you used and your thoughts on magical realism. Great Job.
Jake Spicer
ReplyDeleteMagical Realism
MAGICAL REALISM
Magical Realism as one of many literary genres in Latin America and it makes magic or dreams seem more realistic to people. Gabriel Marquez uses many good examples of Magical Realism in his stories and it is reoccurring in Eyes of a Blue Dog and Eva is Inside Her Cat. “It was as if her arteries had become peopled with hot, tiny insects who, with the approach of dawn awoke each day and ran about their moving feet in a rending subcutaneous adventure in that place of clay made fruit where her anatomical beauty had found its home” (Marquez 1). This is a good quote because it shows how she has changed in her life in a non-realistic way. In Eyes of a Blue Dog, Marquez states, “Sometimes I think I am made of metal.” This shows magical realism because she is not actually made of metal but in her dream, she feels that way.
This helps out in Latin America by letting people get out of the real world and start imagining things on their own. When times were bad, they read these stories and it got their mind off of what was actually happening in the world. Magical realism actually originated in Latin America who travels to Europe and influenced by the Europeans new art forms.
Marquez, Garcia, Eyes of a Blue Dog, Eva is Inside Her Cat
library.umaine.edu/theses/pdf/RaveMEB2003.pdf
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ReplyDeleteAlex Dlin
ReplyDeleteMagical Realism
Magical realism is a very influential topic of writing in the Latin American region of the world. In fact, this writing style originated from Latin Americans who traveled to Europe and were influenced by their art (library.umaine.edu)As seen in most all of Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s works, magical realism is the main theme. In Eva Is Inside Her Cat, Marquez writes, “It was as if her arteries had become peopled with hot, tiny insects who, with the approach of dawn, awoke each day and ran about on their moving feet in a subcutaneous adventure…” From this quote, we imagine tiny insects crawling around inside of her, and while it is a very powerful description, it’s most likely not true and therefore magical realism. Another example of magical realism is from Marquez’s Eyes of a Blue Dog. Marquez writes in this piece, “‘I’m warming up.’ And she said it with her voice a little lukewarm and fleeting…” If you were to read into this story more, you would find that she is actually in a dream while this is happening. It’s a very realistic scene so it confuses the reader when you find out that everything is a dream and nothing makes sense anymore.
“Eyes of a Blue Dog” Gabriel Garcia Marquez.
“Eva Is Inside Her Cat” Gabriel Garcia Marquez.
library.umaine.edu/theses/pdf/RaveMEB2003.pdf
JAke Spicer
ReplyDeleteResponse to Ryan McClung
I really liked your quote, “It was as if her arteries had become peopled with hot tiny insects…”. I used that same quote and it really puts a strong image in your mind.
Steele,
ReplyDeleteYour quotes from the story resemble magical realism very well, and your explanation of what the dream was used for helped me understand the story a little better.
Magical Realism-Dylan Stup
ReplyDeleteMagical realism is a trait common among Latin American writers. Magical realism is “…characterized by elements of the fantastic woven into the story with a deadpan sense of presentation (The modern word). An example of this is in “Eva is in Her Cat” when it describes the insects in her blood stream. The says, “It was as if her arteries had become peopled with hot, tiny insects who, with the approach of dawn, awoke each day…” (Marquez) A famous author who uses this is Marquez.
The supernatural part of magical realism is usually a supernatural phenomenon believed in South American culture. Some supernatural things in the texts we have read described are the afterlife and dreams. Magical realism is also a trait of modern writers.
“Magical Realism." The Modern Word. Web.
Marquez, Gabriel Garcia. Eva is Inside Her Cat. print.
Marquez, Gabriel Garcia. Eyes of a Blue Dog. print
Dylan Stup per. 6
ReplyDeleteTo Alex Dlin:
Alex, I like how you stated that the Latin Americans were influenced by art.
Melissa Schweitz
ReplyDeleteMagical Realism
Magical realism is “a narrative technique that blurs the distinction between fantasy and reality” (Web). Gabriel Marquez, a Latin American write, uses this technique in his writings. In Eva Inside Her Cat , magical realism is use when he describes “tiny insects who, with the approach of dawn, awoke each day and ran about on their moving feet in a rending subcutaneous adventure in that place of clay made fruit where her anatomical beauty had found its home” (Marquez). This quote proves how Marquez uses magical realism to make something unreal seem real. He wants the reader to believe that the insects are what causes her to be so beautiful.
Magical realism is also used in Eyes of a Blue Dog. Marquez describes a man and women who can’t remember each other because they only meet in dreams. When the women is frustrated because she can’t remember she “sometimes think[s] [she is] made of metal” (Marquez). Marquez uses magical realism to make her feeling come alive. Marquez does a great job in combining magical realism and dreams. Dreams can be portrayed as realistic or unreal. This is alike magical realism because something that seems unreal can be portrayed as being factual.
Marquez, Gabriel Garcia. Eva is Inside Her Cat. Print.
Marquez, Gabriel Garcia. Eyes of a Blue Dog. Print.
http://www-english.tamu.edu/pers/fac/andreadis/474H_ahapw/Definition_Magic.Realism.html. Web
Garrett Autry, Per 6
ReplyDeleteTo Dylan Stup
Dylan, i like the quotes you used while describing what magical realism was, and the supernatural motif of the second paragraph.
Daniel Ullrich
ReplyDelete@Alex Dlin
Alex i really like how you introduced your topic for the magical realism paragraph, starting off with introducing the history of it before going into your details and examples.
I agree with Jesse and Bo when they describe how dreams and magical realism can be related.
ReplyDeleteResponse to Steele:
ReplyDeleteThe description given about magical realism was nice. You used similar details that Dan and I did. I like the quote you used: In magical realism, “we find the transformation of the common and the everyday into the awesome and the unreal” (Angel Flores). Well done, Mr. Dalton.
Response to Michal T.
ReplyDeleteI liked how you gave your own opinion on who you believe is the best at using this specific technique and how you gave a good example of magical realism and gave a sample of how it should be used. You explained what is going on in each sample very well. NICE WORK!
Magical Realism
ReplyDeleteBy: Ellie Petrik
Magical Realism is the idea of a visual response being described “to the inexplicable aspect of reality.” Magical Realism is a way of taking the reality of a situation and turning it into something bizarre and out of this world, to allow the reader to connect in a more creative and visual way, rather than an intimate way. It is a theme of literary tactics used in Latin American writing.
Magical realism is used in many Latin American literary pieces like, “Eyes of a Blue Dog” and “Eva is Inside Her Cat.” These are two short stories written by the Latin American author Gabriel Garcia Marquez. Magical realism is used in his stories to add imagination and creativity. Instead of using realistic themes and describing them in a way that the reader can relate to them, he uses realistic themes but puts a spin on the factual parts and turns them into more magical situations. Gabriel Garcia Marquez uses this in “Eyes of a Blue Dog” when he says “How strange. It’s certain that we’ve met in other dreams.” His characters only meet in dreams but they can meet in many different dreams. The realistic part of this is that these people are having dreams, but the magical part is that they are living a life together in the dreams but not in real life. He also writes that “Sometimes I think I’m made of metal.” He says that his characters are made of metal because they feel cold and lifeless; or so one would think. He goes on and describes his characters feelings of being metal as “when the blood beats inside me, it’s as if someone were calling by knocking in my stomach and I can feel my own copper sound in the bed.” Marquez uses this imagery to explain the characters connection with metal but obviously no one is inside her knocking on her stomach; which is the magical realism coming into play.
Works Cited
Kerschen, Lois.“Short Stories for Students.”Critical Essay on “Eyes of a Blue Dog.”New York: Cengage Learning. Detroit: Gale, 2005. Print
Marquez, Gabriel Garcia.“Eyes of a Blue Dog.”Classic Short Stories.Print
I do not understand how the students of Mr. Macy's class can write this in two paragraoh form. I am a ninth grade Honors English student in the U.S. and I am writing a research project on this same topic. These were all very well done!
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