Magical Realism

Which of the following would you expect to see at the beginning of a magical realism story?

• a setting 200 years in the future

• a setting that includes dinosaurs

• a setting in a suburban home

• a setting in the home of a super-famous rock star

Which plot event would you most expect to see as a magical realism story unfolds?

• a visit from people in a time machine

• a tree that seems to sigh and groan in the wind

• aliens take over The White House

• ghosts who rob The Metropolitan Museum

Tags

CCSS.RL.9-10.5

Which of the following would you expect to see as a magical realism story progresses toward its conclusion?

• Characters realize that they are in a traffic jam that is a thousand miles long.

• Characters realize that their bank is giving away free candy.

• Characters find their lost dog at the animal shelter.

• Characters find that a raccoon has been raiding their garbage.

Which of the following would you most expect to see at the end of a magical realism story?

• Characters are astonished that their tree is giving them advice.

• Characters accept that their dog is sending text messages.

• Characters do not believe that a herd of rampaging dinosaurs coming.

• Characters win a singing contest and become famous musicians.

Which would be the most likely setting for a magical realist story?

• an apartment building in Ohio

• a space station floating above Earth

• the White House

• a prehistoric jungle

Which event would be a likely part of the development of a magical realist story?

• Huge sharks threaten the main character.

• The mayor is finally voted out of office.

• A teen finds out that she was accepted into college.

• Water in a bowl turns red and boils for no reason.

In a magical realist story, a truck driver gets four flat tires in a row. When he goes to fix them, he finds that they have fixed themselves. What would you expect to see as the truck driver’s response to these events?

• The truck driver would call his boss and angrily quit on the spot.

• The truck driver would search frantically for the person who made the repair.

• The truck driver would keep driving as if nothing unusual had occurred.

• The truck driver would call the police to report the unusual incident.

Tags

CCSS.RL.9-10.3

Which of these endings would you expect in a magical realist story?

• The characters sob hysterically in their grief and fear.

• The characters mindlessly watch their favorite TV show.

• The characters go to the FBI to report an unusual occurrence.

• The characters set up a video chat with beings from another planet.

Which setting would you be most likely to find in a magical realist story?

• the home of the richest person in the world

• a sixth-grade classroom in a small town

• the cone of a volcano that is about to erupt

• backstage at the Super Bowl before the halftime show

Which event would you expect to see as a magical realist story unfolds?

• A poor but kindly woman finds out that her old typewriter is actually worth thousands of dollars.

• An old typewriter begins to type words at a very fast speed, although there is no one at the keyboard.

• An eccentric scientist uses an old typewriter to build a teleportation device that takes him to another galaxy.

• A frustrated man quits his good job and decides he will now write movie screenplays on an old typewriter.