Love in the Time of Cholera ( 1985) By Gabriel Garcia Marquez Affectionately known as Gabo

1. Love in the Time of Cholera (1985)By Gabriel Garcia Marquez Affectionately known as Gabo Lesson developed by Kim Amador

2. Love in the Time of Cholera Essential Questions: How do works of literature depict themes about love, death, aging, and societal constructs through stylist storytelling? How do they help us to understand our own journey? Unit Questions: How does Marquez use magical realism to convey those themes? How do the characters in the novel help to define or contradict the experience of love, the notion of the journey, of inward questioning and outward conformity? Are characters defined by their actions, by what others say, or by how they are perceived? How does Marquez use symbolism, satire, imagery, and/or characterization to portray social class and the history of colonialism in the setting?

4. Literal: - The information is available within the text. It is not up for debate. There are explicit answers. • Practical question about what something means. • Defining, describing, naming, noting… For example: - What were Dr. Urbino’s last words? - Who is called the “Crowned Goddess?”

5. Inferential: • The reader’s interpretation or opinion of a text. Making an educated guess at its meaning. Text + Self • Readers create an understanding about what the work implicitly states by gathering evidence or clues from the text. • Analyzing, grouping, synthesizing, comparing/contrasting, etc. For example: How are Dr. Urbino and Florentino Ariza similar and different? If not for love, why do Fermina and Dr. Urbino get married?

6. Evaluative: • Readers look at the broader picture by making connections between his/her understanding of the text and how it connects with the world: “why does it matter?” Text + Self + World • Readers think beyond what the text states. Answers are based on reader’s prior knowledge and experience, and will vary. • Evaluating, speculating, imagining, predicting, hypothesizing.. For Example: How do works of literature depict topics of love, aging, and society through stylistic storytelling? How do they help us to understand our own journey? What is the goal of love?

7. Critical thinking is about questioning Literal (Text) Inferential (Text + Self) Evaluative (Text + Self + World)

8. Good viewing: • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rnNgjUWgrGQ

9. Socratic Seminar Discussion Questions • Love in the Time of Cholera • Take 45 minutes to work on your reading. As you read, take time to reflect on passages that you have questions about. Find one practical (literal question about what something means) and several thought-provoking questions about the deeper meaning of the novel or the author’s message (inferential and evaluative). • During the last 25 minutes of class today, each student will ask his or her favorite deeper meaning question and the teacher will type up student questions onto a master sheet for you to consider and write about during next class.

10. AP English Literature – Love in the Time of Cholera • Literal: write one practical question: • __________________________________________________________________________________________ • Inferential: write two or three under-the-surface questions about the text. (How, should, could, would, why, etc. about characters, plot, themes, setting…) • _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ • Evaluative: write two or three deeper meaning questions. These are life application questions; they connect the text to self or knowledge of the world. (e.g. the author’s message, symbolism, cultural or psychological ideas, attitudes toward society, etc.) • _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

11. Some themes and motifs defined: Nostalgia: “a yearning for the past, often in idealized form. It was described as a medical condition, a form of melancholy, in the Early Modern period, and became an important trope in Romanticism.” Unrequited Love: “love that is not openly reciprocated or understood as such, even though reciprocation is usually deeply desired by the admirer. The beloved may or may not be aware of the admirer's deep affections, or may not return it in kind.” Magical Realism: is an aesthetic style in which magical elements are blended into a realistic atmosphere in order to access a deeper understanding of reality. These magical elements are explained like normal occurrences that are presented in a straightforward and unembellished manner which allows the 'real' and the 'fantastic' to be accepted in the same stream of thought.

12. Additional deeper meaning questions to consider for the Socratic Seminar. Write a response to one question from this list: 1. Can love be invented between two people who don’t really feel it? 2. Were Dr. Urbino and Fermina ever successful in their attempts to create of invent love? Were they ever actually in love? 3. Is socio-economic class still and obstacle for people in love? What other socially constructed barriers exist today that prevent people from being able to love and marry? 4. Is love rational? Is it a choice? 5. Does age enhance or detract from the experience of love? Does your ability to love deepen as you grow older, or is youthful love more potent and emotionally charged? 6. Would Florentino be your modern day stalker? Which parts of the books sort of “waved a red flag” in terms of obsession? Or is Florentino a hopeless romantic? 7. Is obsession a natural part of love? Is it healthy? Is Dr. Urbino’s relationship with Fermina healthier than Florentino’s relationship with her? 8. How does narrative technique (back-and-forth in time) affect the way you feel about the story or the characters as you read? Why does Marquez do this? 9. Do you see the characters as static, or are they changing over time? 10.How does Marquez’s use magical realism to enhance themes of love, death, and aging in the novel? 11. How does this story help you to understand or reflect on your own journey?

13. Socratic Seminar rules and guidelines for earning points: 1. Share your favorite question and answer from Wednesday 2. Listen actively and take notes to comment on what others share in 2nd round. 3. Make your comment – look for raised hands – Call on the next person after you speak, and always aim to empower the minority voice (meaning the person who has not spoken yet in the discussion gets priority) - Do Not dominate the discussion/Show humility - Do Not sidetalk - Two people must speak before you speak again (no matter what) - Be an active participant – Raise hands - Invite others into the discussion - Comments must be appropriate/respectful/focused - Listen to and build on one another’s comments

14. Beginning of class challenge question: Think about Fermina Daza (e.g. issues around decision making, being true to herself and others, etc.) and how the patriarchal structure of the time was forced upon her; was it possible for her to break free from the class and gender system, from the institution of marriage, or other social constructs that caused her confinement? Are we judging her by modern standards? Is our frustration coming from our own relative liberation?

15. For further enrichment: Latin American Writers: - Carlos Fuentes - Pablo Neruda - Julio Cortazar - Jorge Luis Borges - Rosario Castellanos - Alejo Carpentier - Isabel Allende - Julia de Burgos Music: -Astor Piazzolla -Buena Vista Social Club Movies (Magical Realism): -Like Water for Chocolate -Amelie -Whale Rider -Stranger than Fiction -Being John Malkovich -Adaptation -The Life Aquatic

16. References: • http://mrkash.com/costa.html • http://www.themodernword.com/gabo/ • Abrams, M. H. A Glossary of Literary Terms. Fort Worth: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich College, 1993. Print • www.wikipedia.com • www.cartoonstock.com