12th Grade AP World Literature

Week 3: September 18-24, 2016

We have been focusing on the role that storytelling has played in the creation,
development, and preservation of human communities. Storytelling is a process;
as one person tells a story, another hears it, reinterprets it, and eventually retells it. The stories development mirrors our own. As we change and as we see
the world through different eyes, our stories change as well to fit the
environment around us. The narratives that thrive hold power. They teach us
lessons, express values and fears, and shape our perceptions.
This week we are moving to our first novel! We will start reading One Hundred
Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garca Mrquez. It is a beautifully-written
multigenerational narrative following members of the Buenda family through
economic and political developments and upheaval. Garca Mrquez blends
allusions to Colombian history with rich magical realism to create a story about
a familys inescapable fate in the town of Macondo. We will focus especially on
characterization this week, exploring the early generations of the family and
identifying early themes. We will also establish a conversation about the
relationship between the characters and the flow of time itself.

Specific concepts: the founding of Macondo; women in One Hundred Years of

Solitude; diversity and identity; time.

Texts: One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garca Mrquez; Colombias

Civil Conflict by Danielle Renwick in CFR Backgrounders; Putting Coca Back in
the Cola, Colombia Mulls Coca-Based Products by Jim Wyss in The Miami
Herald.

Assignments: Reading response; quiz on Thursday

Looking ahead: continuing a conversation about One Hundred Years of Solitude

and history as a cycle