ENCW 202 Spring 2020
Posted in coronavirus, dystopia on Mar 16th, 2020
In my email this morning, I asked you to think a bit about the current circumstances we face — the pandemic created by the novel coronavirus, the social isolation being imposed on our society and throughout much of the world, and the myriad ways in which our lives have been abruptly interrupted and altered — and […]
Posted in One Hundred Years of Solitude, Utopia on Mar 14th, 2020
One Hundred Years of Solitude is very fast-paced because it covers a century of the Buendía family, and the movement in time distorts the line between fantasy and memory since years sometimes pass by without mention or notice from the narrator. The story opens by informing the reader that they will be going back in […]
Posted in Mystery on Mar 12th, 2020
Many years later as he faced the firing squad, Colonel Aureliano Buendia was to remember that distant afternoon when his father took him to discover ice. (Garcia Marquez 1) After finishing the first chapter of One Hundred Years of Solitude, I immediately returned to the story’s opening line; I had always known that it was […]
Posted in Senses and Words on Mar 6th, 2020
Here’s an interesting snippet from Washington Post Book Editor Ron Charles’s email newsletter: The next audiobook you hear might sound like the voice of an actor you recognize — but the narrator could actually be a robot. A British company called DeepZen has developed “emotive voice technology” that uses artificial intelligence to replicate particular human […]
Posted in Uncategorized on Mar 5th, 2020
“Salt Slow” is a heart wrenching account from the woman narrator who recounts the love she has for her partner, which she depicts as an intense love that fades between them as time goes on. Fall in love with someone who makes you ache, her mother had always told her. Which as the reader can […]
Posted in Captivity, Desperation, Obsession on Mar 5th, 2020
In Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings” elements of the Fantastic exist right away. With the homely details of Pelayo and Elisenda’s life with Fantastic elements such as an “angel” being sent to heal a sick child. From the beginning of the story, Garcia Marquez’s style comes through in his unusual […]
As the story began, I thought the point of view of “A Very Old Man With Enormous Wings” was very important. The story begins when a supernatural weather occurrence happens and no one knows what is happening. One day, a weak old man is found lying in the mud. Everyone is curious and frightened, but […]
Posted in Animals, Desire, Desperation, Transformations on Mar 5th, 2020
The fantastic in “Salt Slow” is not the many sea creatures that appear dead on the surface of the water; it is the size of the sea creatures. There is not one specific element of the fantastic in this story; a few others are the “baby” born, the webbed fingers that grow as the creatures […]
The detail that stuck out the most to me in my readings of “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings” was Father Gonzaga’s initial interaction with the angel. Alien to the impertinences of the world, he only lifted his antiquarian eyes and murmured something in his dialect when Father Gonzaga went into the chicken coop […]
I think “A Very Old Man With Enormous Wings” brings up some very interesting points and questions about human behavior — in particular, our inclination to trap all that is different and perhaps all that is beautiful. Throughout the story, the characters are incredibly fascinated by all that is out of the ordinary, but instead of admiring […]
Posted in Desperation, Fragility, Motherhood on Mar 5th, 2020
God, “Salt Slow” was a gut-wrenching read. There was something about it that felt like a confession, as if it were a piece that I should be looking away from. A part of “Salt Slow” that resonated so massively was this love between the man and woman that seemed to be eroding, which as the […]
Posted in Uncategorized on Mar 5th, 2020
In contrast with most stories that have been read within the context of the class, the outstanding fantastic element is not only explicit in the first paragraph but within the title “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings” by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. The troublesome thing about this story is the emotions, resonance, and empathy towards […]
Posted in Uncategorized on Mar 4th, 2020
While reading “Salt Slow,” I instantly noticed many similarities between the story and Julia Armfield’s other work, “Smack.” It seems as though this collection of her stories have a recurring theme of ocean life or the ocean in general; however, there were more noticeable similarities between “Salt Slow” and “Smack.” At the start of the […]
Posted in Uncategorized on Mar 4th, 2020
In Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings” he is writing it in a very similar style as Franz Kafka’s “The Metamorphosis.” As they both have normal people turning into something different and it becomes a struggle for them to get up and do what they usually do in their everyday life. […]
Posted in Uncategorized on Mar 4th, 2020
In “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings,” Gabriel Garcia Marquez shows how humans are always looking for the next interesting thing. When the old man is found, many automatically assume he is an angel. Some people turn to him for miracles, hoping he will heal them, but more interestingly, many people do not seem […]
Posted in Mystery on Mar 3rd, 2020
Posted in Longing for Answers on Mar 3rd, 2020
As an ex-Catholic, this story captured my attention from the very beginning. It feels realistic that many people would consider the winged man to be an angel and treat him reverently, coming from miles around just to catch a glimpse of him. None of them question the fantastical nature of the winged man’s existence because, […]
Posted in Death, Fragility, Loneliness on Mar 2nd, 2020
Three of Julia Armfield’s stories in a row have been about showcasing how fragile relationships can be: “Granite,” in which Maggie falls too hard for a man and he turns to stone; “Smack,” in which Nicola hides out in her husband’s beach house and contemplates their marriage; and “Cassandra After,” in which the narrator reminisces about her relationship with […]
There is one thing that Nicola reiterates throughout the story: her ability to take care of herself. Unfortunately, it is patently obvious that Nicola possesses no practical skills. In the middle of her divorce with her husband, Daniel, she lays siege to the beach house he insists upon having, holing herself up inside. However, she can’t […]