You must post 2 times before Monday,November 15th. Your first post must be submitted by Thursday, November 11th. It should be in response to one of the prompts below. The second time you post, it must be in response to or in reaction to the post of another student.
1. One Hundred Years of Solitude is seeped in symbolism, allegory, hyperbole and parable. (These literary terms are defined below.) Why do you think Gabriel Garcia Marquez chooses to write his narrative in this way? Choose an aspect of the novel that makes use of one of the aforementioned literary devices then attempt to give meaning to it.
Symbolism: a word or phrase referring to a concrete object, scene, or action which also has some further significance associated with it
Allegory: a story or visual image with a second distinct meaning partially hidden behind its literal or visible meaning. The principal technique of allegory is personification. In written narrative, allegory involves a continuous parallel between two or more levels of meaning in the story. An allegory may be conceived as a metaphor that is extended into a structured system.
Hyperbole: Exaggeration for the sake of emphasis
Parable: A brief tale intended to be understood as an allegory illustrating some moral or lesson.
2. Choose a particular character to evaluate. Determine whether the character traits you have noted are ultimately positive or negative, or both. Explain your reasoning. For example Jose Arcadio Buendia: He is inventive and spends many hours alone on his alchemy experiments trying to discover already known science. This is ultimately negative, because he isolates himself from his family and eventually goes mad.
3. Identify elements of the story that you find particularly confusing, interesting, or worthy of discussion. Pose your own questions. Include portions of the text that you feel contribute to your questions/your point. Cite page numbers.
Amaranta: She is moody and bitter, especially towards men. When Pietro Crespi finally falls in love with her & proposes she says no. When Colonel Gerineldo Marquez purues her and proclaims his deep love for her, she rejects him. And when her nephew Aureliano Jose becomes infatuated with her she tells him that it would be wrong to be together& they would make armadillos.
ReplyDeleteHer traits are negative because she doesn't know what she wants in life therefore she can't see when a good thing comes a long... such as Colonel Gerineldo Marquez.
Ursula is a strong person and seems to be untroubled by all the issues that surrounds her and the ones she faces directly. She tries to keep the house and family from falling apart although they go through wars and scandals that should have made them weaker. This is positive because she binds the house together and without Ursula the family may have broken apart.
ReplyDeleteI am confused about something... On pg. 133 it says that Jose Arcadio is shot, and right after they got his body out of the house Rebeca buried herself alive. Yet the next sentence is talking about how she "went into the street one day when she was very old." Did she kill herself right after they got the body out of the house or not?
ReplyDeleteThere is some symbolism when yellow flowers fall from the sky right after Jose Arcadio Buendia. I feel like that showed everyone, who thought that he was crazy and didn't really know what to think about it, that he was actually a good man. It made Jose Arcadio Bunendia seem like he was a very honorable man, and a true leader!
ReplyDeleteOne part from our most recent readings that I found confusing was on pg. 175, when Aureliano believes he's going to die and he's standing in the kitchen with Ursula:"He thought confusedly, finally captive in a trap of nostalgia, that perhaps if he had married her he would have been a man without war and without glory, a nameless artisan, a happy animal." What I found confusing was who the 'her' was referring to. I didn't think he meant his mother, but she was the only one in the room with him. Miss Dale suggested that it could mean the gypsy girl that he was going to marry to free her from her bad situation, but I'm not sure. . .
ReplyDeleteI am confused on the part of the book when Jose Arcadio was shot and then found with no wounds? "As soon as Jose Arcadio closed the bedroom door the sound of a pistol shot echoed through the house." (pg 131). Then on the next page, "...and was almost suffocated by the smell of burned gun-powder, and she found Jose Arcadio lying facedown on the ground........They found no wound on his body nor could they locate the weapon. Nor was it possible to remove the smell of powder from the corpse." (pg 132) This may be a small detail but it stuck out to me while I was reading. I'm not sure if it was a mysterious death or if I maybe missed something.
ReplyDeleteMy post is similar to Ceci's. I am confused about Amantra's character. Why does she always want someone and then feel the need to turn them down? Page 162 to 163 says "But for four years he kept repeating his love and she would always find a way to reject him without hurting him, for even though she had not succeeded in loving him she could no longer live without him." If she can't stop thinking about him or can't live without him, why won't she just accept him? Is this a game? Does she not think she is deserving? I guess I am just confused about how she is constantly and consistently turning people down.
ReplyDeleteon p174 Pilar tells Aureliano to " watch out for your mouth" How is Aureliano supposed to watch his mouth. Does this mean to watch what he says or to be careful of what he eats?
ReplyDeleteRemedios: Aureliano fell in love with her when she was at a very young age. After she reached puberty, she had to grow up very quickly. Remedios took care of JAB by bringing him food, cleaning him, and even started communicating with him in Latin, while everyone else thought he was crazy. She brought joy into the Buendia house with singing and being the only person that would intervene between Rebeca and Amaranta's arguments. Page 81 says "From that day on the sense of responsibility, the natural grace, the calm control that Remedios would have in the face of adverse circumstances was revealed." Even though she died soon after the wedding, her traits were positive because she brought joy to the Buendia family and was very unselfish and mature, especially for her age.
ReplyDeleteIn response to Jacob..not sure if this is exactly the meaning but it may pose another question. The book says that after Colonel Aureliano Buendia had attempted suicide and failed "he was sorry that he had not shot himself in the roof of the mouth as he had considered doing if only to mock the prediction of Pilar Tenera."(p178)This may have meant that Pilar was trying to tell Aureliano something or it could have another unknown meaning.
ReplyDeleteIn response to baby j...
ReplyDeleteI agree, when I was reading that I was very confused but like we were talking about in class, I think it has a religious comparison. Throughout the book there has been instances of relating things to God or Jesus or just heavenly powers, and I think this is another one of those times. If someone thinks differently I think it would be interesting to hear, but since it has happened other times in the book I think that is it.
In response to Carly..
ReplyDeleteI agree that Remedios was a joyful character who was beloved by all of the Buendias. When Fernanda had her first child who was a girl, she wanted to call her Renata after her mother, but Ursula decided to call her Remedios. Page 212 says, "They baptized her with the name Renata Remedios, but Fernanda went on calling her just Renata while her husband's family and everyone in town called her Meme, a diminutive of Remedios." I think this shows that Remedios was a positive Character who left her mark in the town at such a young age.
I agree with Maria. I think the yellow flowers falling had some religious symbolism. I think it is just another sign to help compare JAB to Jesus. We also touched on it in class that the yellow color of the flowers could symbolize royalty, like a king. This also would compare JAB to Jesus, like how Jesus was a "king". I think Maria is right about the flowers showing that JAB might not be crazy and that he could be a good guy with good intentions, but I think the flowers fell on the same day as his death to represent these things.
ReplyDeleteIn response to Carlys
ReplyDeleteI really like how you summarized Remedios! The quote from the book describes her well. The more I think about each character, I realize how much I enjoyed Remedios. I thought it was really sweet of her to care for JAB. Also, I found it refreshing how naive and innocent she was compared to everyone else in her family.
Amaranta is a strong indpendent woman. I really like that about her. I admire that she is proud, but there is such a thing as being TOO PROUD and she should have learned that life is too short when her first love died. She needs to stop feeling guilty, making her life miserable, and just go on with her life and find happiness somehow. She needs to stop punishing herself.
ReplyDeleteI would like to help clarify things for you Nick. Rebeca never really buried herself alive. I think it was just a figure of speech. What she really did was lock herself in her home and never came out until someone had tried to break into her house, so she came out and was going to shoot him if he didn't go away. So the answer No, she never killed herself =D
ReplyDeleteI agree with Sara. I'm also confused as to the motives behind Amaranta's actions, but I think that the author made her that way for a reason it's just not completely clear to us. And maybe she believes that for her anger and hatred toward Rebeca, she doesn't deserve happiness anymore and that's why she kept pushing away Colonel Marquez.
ReplyDeleteIn response to Sara...
ReplyDeleteI think that she is consistently showing interest in people and then pushing them away because she doesn't know what she wants. She likes the attention and then realizes that she isn't really committed and doesn't want to be with that person. I also think she is independent, but at the same time, is very influenced by others and gets easily consumed with jealousy.
In response to Jeff..
ReplyDeleteYeah when i was reading that part i was also confused. Also, how did that man know that he wanted to commit suicide? Because Jose Arcadio never mentioned anything like that to him, all he bascially asked him where his heart was. Anyways i think that it was smart for him to tell Jose the wrong place. :]
One of the things ive come to notice about Remedios the Beauty, and also something we touched on in class, is her innocence. She only sees the good of situations, and seems completely oblivious to the men trying to court her. It seems more evident with her most recent move to shave her head and wear the sack n'stuff. All In all I think shes just a wee lil lass.
ReplyDeleteAs I look back on how Ursula has acted the entire book she seems to always have the best interest for her and the family in mind for all that she does. She doesn't wanna disrespect the family name because it's ultimately disrespecting her name. She feels as though the family is her and she knows what's best. She also feels that she is somewhat responsible because of the incest. Along with this is the blindness. She feels she is the sense of stability and doesn't want anyone to know that she is fading, so she hides it.
ReplyDeleteI agree with John. She is somewhat an allusion to the Virgin Mary with her purity and innocence. We talked about that in class and how she is not ignorant, but sees the good in all. How an allusion was made to Mary with her ascending, much like the Assumption of Mary.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Ceci, it seems Amaranta is never sure about what she wants. Take Pietro and Colonel Marquez for example, both she loved, yet she spurned both of them away when they wanted to marry her. Its either she doesnt know what she wants, or it could be that she is afraid of what she wants, or something along that line. but all in all I wouldnt be surprised if she dies alone, cause shes got man problems, and she had a fling with her nephew...which is weird...just thought id throw that in.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Kalli...Ursula's character is a really strong. She has control over the house and she's the one in the house that keeps everything running smoothly. And no matter how many problems the family has had she's the one that keeps them all together. Also I see Ursula as a very loving character. All throughout the book she takes in many different people into her home and treats them like they are part of the family.
ReplyDeleteIn Response To Sean's First Post...
ReplyDeleteUrsula is like the town mama. She always tries to do things that should be considered right. Yet she gives herself a hard time for every decision she makes and is criticized for each one. She is kind of like the president. Everyone looks to her for answers and she tries to give the best answer she can, some people like it while some don't. Also I think Ursula feels incredibly guilty for the "mental" issues of people in the family, from Remedios the Beauty being a bit strange, to Jose Arcadio's mean spirit of governing, to Colonel Aureliano's troubles in life. I think she thinks that the incest lead not to physical disformations but mental ones.
I think that Marquez wrote in this way because he wanted his readers to discover a meaning for themselves. He didn't want to just have a general meaning but also a meaning that is personal for different people. I believe he wanted each reader to find their own connections and relations to the book. An example of symbolism and allusion would be on page 236 where Remedios the Beauty ascends into heaven. The allusion to it is of Mary ascending into heaven. I think the symbolism to it would be that she is similar to Mary as they are both without sin and Remedios is oblivious to the desires of the men around her. I think it symbolizes her innocence and her focus on everything but that.
ReplyDeleteIn response to Erika, I also like how Amaranta is independent but her pride gets in the way and when things go bad, she ends up blaming herself and never forgets about it. Like how she never forgets how she's the reason Pietro Crespi kills himself. She remembers this by wearing the black cloth.
ReplyDeleteRemedios is a strong, positive character. She seems to even out the family and keep the craziness a little more balanced. Even in her young age, she is looked on with respect by the entire family because of her way of taking care of everybody (especially JAB) before herself, especially when she wasn't even an original member of the Buendia clan. She brings joy and normalcy to the family.
ReplyDeletein response to Annarie's first post i feel the same way. I believe Marquez made the story intentionally confusing in order for the reader to make his or her own decisions on what the story means. I feel like the reader is supposed to connect the aspects of the story to their own life and interpret it in a way that would make it more personal to the individual.
ReplyDelete