Use these questions or activities to help gauge students’ familiarity with and spark their interest in the context of the work, giving them an entry point into the text itself.

Short Answer

1. Love in the Time of Cholera is one of the most famous examples of the literary movement known as magical realism. What is magical realism? What are some other examples of magical realism you have encountered? With what historical periods, countries, or literary devices do you associate magical realism?

Teaching Suggestion: Magical realism is a distinctive literary movement that can be difficult to define, but that is often characterized by merging elements of realism with elements of fantasy. Works of magical realism are set in the real world while incorporating fantastical elements that are treated as though they are part of normal everyday life. In addition to defining magical realism, it can be helpful to discuss the history of the literary movement with the class. Magical realism is associated most closely with Latin American authors of the “Boom” period such as Gabriel García Márquez and Isabel Allende; elements of magical realism, however, can be found in writers as diverse as Salman Rushdie, Toni Morrison, Haruki Murakami, and Neil Gaiman.

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