READING ANALYSIS WORKSHOP

TITLE: THE CHRONICLE OF A DEATH FORETOLD

AUTHOR: GABRIEL GARCIA MARQUEZ

In Chronicle of a Death Foretold Gabriel Garcia Marquez uses the device of an un-
named shadowy narrator visiting the scene of a killing and beginning an investigation
into the past. From the beginning of the text, the author sets up a dialogue between
the past and the present. García Má rquez does not assert that the truth exists
objectively in the world and present a version of this reality to the passive reader as
fact. In Chronicle of a Death Foretold the narrator and reader are forced to choose
between contradictory versions of what constitutes the truth. His narrator is not all-
knowing, but a shadowy detective figure who actively invites the reader's
participation in the detective process. Juxtaposing viewpoints, making the most of the
uncertainties of memory, García Má rquez's questioning narrator is perfectly suited for
a non-fiction narrative where the murderer or murderers are unknown. Where the
truth is not straightforward. Working quietly as a detective in partnership with the
reader he tries to reconstruct from the words and documents of others a true fiction,
of what ‘really’ happened. For this work is an investigation not only of the past and a
small Colombian community, but also a work which explores the dominant narrative
in the lives of all human beings: the chronicle of a death that cannot be escaped, and
which will bring every individual narrative to an end.

http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs
 Literary Analysis: Using Elements of Literature

Read and analyze the definitions given below for the terms used to make literary
analysis and use them to move through your literary piece. You must justify your
answers without merely choosing among the different options provided, on the
contrary, you must support your answer adequately.

I. Character - representation of a person, place, or thing performing traditionally

human activities or functions in a work of fiction

 Protagonist - The character the story revolves around.

 Antagonist - A character or force that opposes the protagonist.
 Minor character - Often provides support and illuminates the protagonist.
 Static character - A character that remains the same.
 Dynamic character - A character that changes in some important way.
 Characterization - The choices an author makes to reveal a character’s personality, such
as appearance, actions, dialogue, and motivations.  

Look for: Connections, links, and clues between and about characters. Ask yourself what the
function and significance of each character is. Make this determination based upon the
character's history, what the reader is told (and not told), and what other characters say about
themselves and others.

II. Figurative language - the use of words to express meaning beyond the literal
meaning of the words themselves

 Metaphor - contrasting to seemingly unalike things to enhance the meaning of a situation

or theme without using like or as  
o You are the sunshine of my life.
 Simile - contrasting to seemingly unalike things to enhance the meaning of a situation or
theme using like or as  
o What happens to a dream deferred, does it dry up like a raisin in the sun
 Hyperbole - exaggeration
o I have a million things to do today.
 Personification - giving non-human objects human characteristics
o America has thrown her hat into the ring, and will be joining forces with the
British.

III. Plot - the arrangement of ideas and/or incidents that make up a story

 Foreshadowing - When the writer clues the reader in to something that will eventually
occur in the story; it may be explicit (obvious) or implied (disguised).
 Suspense - The tension that the author uses to create a feeling of discomfort about the
unknown
 Conflict - Struggle between opposing forces.
 Exposition - Background information regarding the setting, characters, plot.
 Rising Action - The process the story follows as it builds to its main conflict
 Crisis - A significant turning point in the story that determines how it must end
 Resolution/Denouement - The way the story turns out.
IV. Point of View - pertains to who tells the story and how it is told. The point of view of a
story can sometimes indirectly establish the author's intentions.

 Narrator - The person telling the story who may or may not be a character in the
story.
 First-person - Narrator participates in action but sometimes has limited
knowledge/vision.
 Second person - Narrator addresses the reader directly as though she is part of the
story. (i.e. “You walk into your bedroom.  You see clutter everywhere and…”)
 Third Person (Objective) - Narrator is unnamed/unidentified (a detached observer).
Does not assume character's perspective and is not a character in the story. The
narrator reports on events and lets the reader supply the meaning.
 Omniscient - All-knowing narrator (multiple perspectives). The narrator knows what
each character is thinking and feeling, not just what they are doing throughout the
story.  This type of narrator usually jumps around within the text, following one
character for a few pages or chapters, and then switching to another character for a
few pages, chapters, etc. Omniscient narrators also sometimes step out of a particular
character’s mind to evaluate him or her in some meaningful way.

V. Setting - the place or location of the action.  The setting provides the historical and
cultural context for characters. It often can symbolize the emotional state of
characters. Example – In Poe’s The Fall of the House of Usher, the crumbling old
mansion reflects the decaying state of both the family and the narrator’s mind. We also
see this type of emphasis on setting in Thomas Mann’s Death in Venice.
VI. Symbolism - when an object is meant to be representative of something or an idea
greater than the object itself.

 Cross - representative of Christ or Christianity

 Bald Eagle - America or Patriotism
 Owl - wisdom or knowledge
 Yellow - implies cowardice or rot

https://www.roanestate.edu/owl/elementslit.html
 LITERARY ANALYSIS CHART

Protagonist - Antagonist - Minor character - Static character - Dynamic character - Characterization

Type of character Santiago Nasar The Vicario’s twins,

Pedro and Pablo.
Flora Miguel. Placida Lineros. Cleotilde Armenta María Alejandrina

Cristo Bedoya. Ibrahim Nasar. Cervantes.

Angela Vicario.

Metaphor Simile Hyperbole Personification

Figurative Language

foreshadowing suspense Conflict Exposition Rising action /Crisis Resolution

ot
Pl
 “ON THE DAY THEY “Clotilde Armenta grabbed
WERE GOING TO KILL Pedro Vicario by the shirt
him, Santiago Nasar got and shouted to Santiago
Nasar to run because they
up at five-thirty in the
were going to kill him. It
morning to wait for the
was such an urgent shout
boat the bishop was that it drowned out all the
coming on.”(pag.2) others. "At first he was
startled," Clotilde Armenta
told me, "because he didn't
know who was shouting at
him or from where." But
when he saw her, he also
saw Pedro Vicario, who
threw her to the ground
and caught up with his
brother. Santiago Nasar
was less than fifty yards
from his house and he ran
to the main door.”(pag.68)
Narrator First person
Point of View
The ltwin’s brothers This story is based on
looking for Santiago I true events that taken
place in the 50’s in the
order to kill him, Caribbean coast region of
because of what
Colombia in the
Angela Vicario department of Sucre
previously confessed.
"All right, girl," he said to
her, trembling with rage,
"tell us who it was." She only
took the time necessary to
say the name. She looked for
it in the shadows, she found
it at first sight among the
many, many easily confused
names from this world and
the other, and she nailed it
to the wall with her well-
aimed dart, like a butterfly
with no will whose sentence
has always been written.
"Santiago Nasar," she said.
(pag.28)
Second person Third Person Omniscient
(objective )
 function
Grammar
Symbolism Setting (s)

Verb
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Noun
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Adjective

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PERSONAL VOCABULARY BANK

Pronoun

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Preposition

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Example(s):
Word