House Taken Over Questions

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CUNY John Jay College of Criminal Justice *

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Arts Humanities

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Dec 6, 2023

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Magical realism, as the name suggests, is a literary style that originated in South America that incorporates fantastic elements into ordinary settings, treating them as normal within a realistic context. Typically, the goal for literature written in the magical realism style is to show that the seemingly solid and reasonable assumptions that underlie our conventional view of reality are not always as solid and reasonable as they seem. Characteristics of magical realism include: Characters who seem ordinary in seemingly ordinary situations Something being “off” about the situation Fantastic or strange events that intrude upon the situation Characters who seem unimpressed or undisturbed by fantastic events DIRECTIONS: Answer these questions about “House Taken Over.” Use textual evidence from the story to support your responses. HIGHLIGHT YOUR RESPONSES. 1. How would you describe the setting of “House Taken Over?” How does it match the magical realism model? The setting is a house. The story is real but not true. 2. Does anything seem “off” about the two characters and their relationship? Explain. They only talk to each other about their tasks and nothing else. 3. What is the first fantastic event that occurs? They start hearing voices from the other side of their house. 4. What is the major fantastic event that occurs and how do the characters respond? Half of their house is taken over by intruders. 5. What comment do the events in the story make on modern life? It does not make any comments but signifies how important it is not to live the way the modern is. 6. (a) Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly. Reread paragraphs 6–13. What event occurs? How do the brother and sister react? Cite explicit and relevant textual evidence to support your answer. “The first few days were painful.” Their house is takes over by intruders. The brother and sister flee and try to ignore it but eventually realize that it is not possible. (b) Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support an inference drawn from the text. Based on how the brother and sister react in paragraphs 6–13, what can you infer that they believe about the intruders? Support your inference using details from the text. 7. “Dracula” and “House Taken Over” both involve strange, supernatural events that affect the houses and the characters. However, the two stories differ in the way they use description as a basis for the
story’s structure. Both authors build the structure from description, but they do so in different ways and create different overall moods, or feelings. Explain how description differs in the two texts, and what effects each type of description creates in terms of the overall mood of the story. They are both similar and different at the same time. Dracula is much more descriptive, but I do not know what happens at the end because I haven't finished it yet. Dracula is much more suspenseful, but it is not as still to the point as House Taken Over. \ DIRECTIONS: Complete the following activity as a group discussion. 8. “House Taken Over” represents a literary style—Magical Realism—that is associated with Latin American authors. Magical Realist stories introduce supernatural elements into realistic settings with normal-seeming characters, using an unimpressed narrative tone, or attitude. How does Cortázar use narrative tone and character development to make the supernatural elements in the story seem like normal parts of life? Tell how Cortázar achieves the unimpressed narrative tone. Describe the characters of the narrator and his sister. Explain why they are realistic rather than unusual or fantastical. Explain how the tone and the characters make the supernatural elements seem like an ordinary part of everyday life. TIP FOR DISCUSSION Ask for evidence of one another’s claims or statements. For example, say, “What makes you think so?” or “What evidence can you cite for that?” Take notes on your discussion here:
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