Language Arts 12: Magic Realism with a Social Purpose

Writer's Journal entry: We talked yesterday about how "A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings" made a point about exploitation, and about how the inclusion of the fantastic element helps to strengthen that theme.

Now, brainstorm in writing another way that magic or folklore could be introduced to a realistic story in order to make a social or political point stronger. Explain in a paragraph what could happen in that story.

Discuss examples of magic realism used to make a social or political point. 

Assignment: In pairs, create a magic realism movie-ish poster to demonstrate your understanding of the genre. Your poster should include an image that clearly shows fantastic elements within an ordinary world, delivering a social or political message. Include a tagline or quote (make up the quote yourself) from the hypothetical story as well. Your story and its social message should be told through both the image and the line of text. 

Homework: Poster due on Friday, if not finished in class. 2 points.