Active reading Journal 17

I.      Elements of magical Realism

l  “Its body was covered with rough hair, plagued with small ticks, and the skin was hardened with the scales of a remora fish…..” pg.343 this is magical realism, fantasy about half human and half animal, weird creatures.

II.    Characters

l  Ursula- dies after the rain stops

l  Jose Arcadio Segundo- locked himself in a room to study but at the end he dies at the same time as his brother

l  Jose Aureliano Segundo- dies after succeeding to raise money to take Amaranta Ursula to Europe for education

l  Rebeca- widow of Jose Arcadio dies at the same time as Ursula

l  Amaranta Ursula- went to Europe for education

III. Plot Summary

Since the rain ended Ursula decided to come out of bed, she tries to fix the house it used to look. While she found out that Jose Arcadio Segundo locked himself in his room for years studying the ancient prophecies of the gypsies. Jose Aureliano finds himself gradually spending less time with his children, who he realizes that they have grown so much. Ursula at this time still continues thinking about her past and dies at the age of 120. At this time Rebeca dies as well. Even though Aureliano Segundo goes through poverty he tries to send Amaranta Ursula to Europe so that she can get good education. After he succeeds he dies. Also at the same time his twin brother Jose Arcadio dies with him. Although at the end they ended up in each other’s grave because people confused them.

IV.  Quotes

l  “So much trouble teaching you good manners and you end up living like a pig” pg.335 I like it because the way Ursula is saying it I can feel Ursula’s feeling.

l  “Carried Ursula out by her neck and ankles”pg.341 It caught my eye because it is really sad of how much respect they have for their great-great-grandmother.

V.    Themes

l  Death- Almost all characters mentioned in this chapter ended up dying

l  Last hope- Ursula came out of bed to clean and decorate the house, Jose Aureliano tries to make money for Amaranta Ursula before he died

Active reading Journal 16

I.      Elements of Magical Realism

l  “It rained for four years, eleven months, and two days” pg.315 Magical realism because the author is exaggerating and putting fantasies in this because it is obvious in reality this cannot happen.

II.    Characters

l  Aureliano Segundo- becomes very quiet and starts to care for his kids

l  Fernanda del carprio- has been hiding people

l  Petra Cotes- temporarily abandoned by Aureliano Segundo

l  Ursula- grows more senile and less coherent

l  Colonel Gerineldo Marquez- dies in this chapter

III. Plot Summary

The rain keeps raining for four years and eleven months. Aureliano Segundo becomes very quiet and starts to take care of his children. Meanwhile Ursula said that she is just waiting for the rain to end so she can die. She was used as a dress up toy by the children. Aureliano gets very interested in Ursula’s fortune and he spends so much time looking for it that he lost all the weight he gained all the years. Once the rain ended the town macondo was such a mess. The rain took away the house and also the animals that Aureliano Segundo and Petra Cotes have been bred. Also the banana plantation was a mess with everything washed away.

IV.  Quotes

l  “say hello to my people and tell them I’ll see them when it stops raining” pg.320 It caught my eye because I think it is very sad the fact that Ursula is saying that she is going to die soon and she knows it

l  “People in Macondo were waiting for it to clear in order to die” pg. 322 I think it is really interesting how everyone lost their hope in life.

V.    Themes

l  Disaster- everything in Macondo became a mess and was eaten away by the rain

Active reading Journal 15

Chapter 15

I.         Elements of Magical Realism

l  “It had not rained for three months and there had been a drought. But when Mr. Brown announced his decision a torrential downpour spread over the whole banana region…a week later it was still raining” Pg.309 this is magical realism. It suddenly started raining to exaggerate the situation and kept raining without stopping for a week cannot be true in reality.

II.      Characters

l  Fernanda- takes meme to where she was born

l  Meme- spend the rest of her life thinking about Mauricio Babilonia

l  Jose Arcadio Segundo- leads a protest however it doesn’t succeed.

l  Ursula Iguaran- thinks her husband went crazy

III.   Plot Summary

Fernanda takes meme on a long trip back to where she was bornand raised. Meme spends the rest of her life thinking about Mauricio Babilonia. At that time José Arcadio Segundo has been planing the banana plantation workers for a strike of the inhumane working conditions. The meeting was always surrounded by army workers with machine guns and ends up kills them all. The bodies are collected onto a train and dumped into the sea. José Arcadio Segundo was also is thrown onto the train as well, but he manages to jump off the train and walk back to Macondo. None of the people of Macondo remember what happened, and deny to what Jose tells them. Soon José Arcadio Segundo lives only for the study of his texts and to keep the memory of the people who died.

IV.   Quotes

l  “You must have been dreaming…Nothing has happened in Macondo, nothing has ever happened in Macondo, nothing will ever happen” pg.310 It is interesting how people ignore or doesn’t even try to listen to him but just believe in their town.

l  “There must even be snakes in here” pg.312 I like it because of the exaggeration to show that it is old and it looks like no one has been living there for years.

V.      Themes

l  Ignorance- no one tried to listen to Jose when he was explaining the situation that happened.

l  Loss of sanity- he loses sanity and locks himself in a room to study. 

Active reading Journal 14

Chapter 14

I.      Elements of magical realism

l  “She was authorized to make it as complicated, and as fine as she wanted…and she was told she was going to die without pain, fear or bitterness at dusk on the day she finished it” pgh.279 Magical realism because she did as she was told by the image of death.  

II.    Characters

l  Fernanda del Carprio- gives birth to her third child

l  Amaranta Ursula- new born child

l  Amaranta- lives with depression and loneliness, but dies after a warning

l  Ursula- sleeps in her bed and never gets out

l  Meme- grows up only showing interest in clavichord

l  Mauricio Babiliona- is loved by Meme and sneaks into her house everyday

III. Plot Summary

Fernanda del Carprio gives birth to her third child Amaranta Ursula. Amaranta finally finishes sewing her own shroud, she announces to everyone that she will die at the dust and as she said she really died. After the death of Amaranta, Ursula goes to bed and never gets out of bed for years. Meanwhile Meme grows up only showing interest in clavichord. However she later falls in love with a man called Mauricio Babiliona, however after him coming every night to meme’s house he was one day shot by the guard. Resulted that he had to stay in bed forever. Meme is stuck mute after the shock.

IV.  Quotes

l  “One minuet of reconciliation is worth more than a whole life of friendship” pg.282 It caught my eye, but I didn’t believe in this statement.

l  “Amaranta Buendia is leaving this world just as she came into it” pg.282 I like it because I think it meant that Amaranta will leave as pure as when she was first born.

V.    Themes

l  Sadness- Ursula is sad after Amaranta dies and goes to bed and never gets up for years

l  Death- Amaranta dies with notice to the people 

Active reading Journal 13

Chapter 13

I.         Elements of Magical realism

l  “After some time she discovered that every member of the family, without realizing it, repeated the same path every day, the same actions, and almost repeated the same words at the same hour” pg.247.  It is impossible for someone to speak the same words at the same hour every day.

II.      Characters

l  Jose Arcadio 2- hitting adolescence and getting ready to go to school

l  Meme- hitting adolescence and getting ready to go to school

l  Ursela- gotten really old, becomes blind but no one notices

l  Amaranta-starts weaving her own shroud to prepare for her own death

l  Fernanda del Carpio- gains increasingly domestic control

l  Petra Cotes- almost kills himself with an eating competition

l  Coloenl Aureliano Buendia- dies slowly at the end of the chapter

III.   Plot Summary

Uresula becomes very noticeably old and she becomes old but no one notices that she is blind because she acts as if she can see. However she becomes so depressed the house is becoming lonely, and after Jose Arcadio and meme leave the house it becomes emptier and sadder. . Petra Cotes one day had an eating competition and almost killed himself. When meme comes back from school Aureliano comes home to play a role of a father. At the end of the chapter Jose Arcadio Segundo came to talk to Colonel Aureliano, however he is still depressed and still makes gold fishes but not as much as he used to. He looked as if he lost hope to live. Finally one morning he was found dead in his room.

IV.   Quotes

l  “Jose Arcadio helped Ursula in the exhausting task of keeping herself up to date on the smallest changes in the house” pg.247 I like it because it shows Jose Arcadio’s kindness.

l  “Aureliano Segundo grew fat, purple-colored, turtle shaped” pg. 255 I like how magical realism is used to make things funnier.  

V.      Themes

l  Loneliness- Uresula is sad and lonely that the house keeps getting empty.

l  Hopeless- Colonel lost his hope and he even gradually stoped making fishes which was his only hobby

l  Death- Amaranta gets ready for her death and Colonel dies. 

Active reading Journal 12

Chapter 12

I.          Elements of Magical Realism

l  “The others, more honorable, were still waiting for a letter in the shadow of public, charity, dying of hunger, living through rage, rotting of old age amid the exquisite shit of glory” pg. 242 Magical realism because it is kind of impossible in reality

II.       Character

l  Colonel Buendia- falls into depression because his sons were killed and he decides to start a war

l  Colonel Marquez- stopped Colonel Buendia from going to war

l  Remedios the beauty- dies and never showed up forever

III.     Plot Summary

Macondo starts to get more technology in the village. Foreign Capitalists built a banana plantation next to Macondo. Everyone highly gets influenced by all these new coming thing, except Remedios the beauty. She never noticed her beauty and was ignorant of love. One day, Remedios floats off the ground and up to Heaven and never showed up forever. The wealthy banana plantation owner set up a dictatorial police force, which was so stricked that they attacked citizens for the smallest sins. When Colonel Buenidiai said that he will start a war with his seventeen sons, then the unnamed assassins heard the news and went to kill all his son’s except one. Resulting Colonel Buenidiai to fall into depression and attempts to start a war, but Colonel Gerineldo Marquez refused and stopped him

IV.     Quotes

l  “A person doesn’t die when he does but when he can” pg.241 I like it because he said it with so much passion

l  “I already knew that you were old, but now I realize that you are a lot older than you look” pg.243 I like it because it sounds funny

V.       Themes

l  Technology- many new inventions and new influences in Macondo

l  Tragedy- Except one all the seventeen sons die

Active reading Journal 11

Chapter 11

I.      Elements of Magical Reality

l  Thirt-two belfries tolled a dirge at six in the afternoon in the manor house, which was paved with tomblike slabs, the sun never seen. The air had died in the cypress” pg.205 Magical realism because it is written with exaggeration a bit far from reality.

II.    Characters

l  Aureliano Segund-marries the queen yet has an affair with Ternanda

l  Ternanda del Carpio- sleeps with Aureliano even when he is married

l  Fernanda- marries Aureliano Segunda

l  Colonel Aureliano- rejects the honor from the president

l  Jose Arcadio 2- child of Aureliano Segunda

l  Renanta Remedios- child of Aureliano Segunda  

III.  Plot Summery

When Aureliano Segunda saw Ternanda del Carpio, he became obsessed with her that he started tracking her down to her city. However still continued sleeping with Petra Cotes. After Fernanda and Aureliano get married they soon get two children. (Renanta Remedios and Jose Arcadio 2) Civil war occurred and the president tries to honor Colonel Aureliano Buendia, but he rejects it. When the seventeen children of Colonel buendia receive a cross on their forehead with ashes, and they do not wash the cross off till they die. Aurelaino Triste and Aurelaino Centeno start to build an ice factory in Macondo while he also builds a railroad connection to the modern world.

IV.   Quotes

l  “The only candle that will make him come is always lightened” pg.204 I like it because it seems like there is a deeper meaning to what it just says.

l  “Her little great-great-grandson had his pontifical future assured” pg.213 I find it interesting how Ursela is very healthy yet she should be really old having great-great-grand children.

V.     Themes

l  Affair-Even when Aureliano Segundo was married to Fernanda he still slept with Petra Cotes.

l  Fulfill- Aureliano Triste and Aureliano Centeno made an ice factory to fulfill Jose Aureliano Buendia’s world of ice. 

Active reading Journal 10

Chapter 10

I.      Elements of Magical realism

l  “They would wake up at the same time, suffer the same upsets in health, and they even dreamed about the same things” Pg. 182. This is magical realism because in reality even though they are identical twins they do not act this way.

II.    Characters

l  Colonel Aureliano Buendia- locks himself in his workshop making tiny golden fishes

l  Jose Arcadio Segundo- begins to show passion into releigion

l  Petra Cotes- sleeps with the twins thinking it is the same person

l  Fernada del Carpio- A rival queen

l  Remedios the beauty- became queen of the carnival

III.  Plot Summary

Colonel Aureliano Buendia locks himself in his workshop making tiny golden fishes. Jose Arcadio Segundo begins to show passion into religion. The twins grow up together having the same things. They also have sex with the same woman called Petra Cotes, however she didn’t know they were two different people. Soon, Aureliano Segundo becomes very wealthy that the whole village seems to share in his money. Jose Arcadio Segundo tries to engineer in a passage to the ocean, and succeeds in bringing the boat. With the boat many prostitutes were brought and Remedios the beauty became queen of the carnival. A rival queen, Fernada del Carpio comes with men who started killing many people.

IV.   Quotes

l  “Make us poor again, the way we were when we founded this town.”Pg.192. I find it interesting because people usually pray to get rich not to get poor.

l  “She’s got you so bewitched that one of these days I’m going to see you twisting around with colic and with a toad in your belly.”Pg.190. I like it because Uresula is claiming so hard but Jose Arcadio Segundo doesn’t even seem to care or understand.

V.     Themes

l  Wealth- Aureliano Segundo becomes very wealthy and the whole town seems to rely on him

l  Engineer- Jose Arcadio tried to make a passage to the out side world and he succeds.

Active reading Journal 9

Chapter 9

I.      Elements of Magical Realism

l  “He had had to start thirty-two wars and had had to violate all of his pacts with death and wallow like a hog in the dang heap of glory in order to discover the privileges of simplicity.” Pg.169 it is magical realism in the sense that small bits are exaggerated.

II.    Characters

l  Colonel Gerneldo marquez- Looses faith in war

l  Colonel Aureliano Buendia- looses faith in war as well as emotions and connections with people.

l  Ursula- happiness comes back to her when she found out her son is alive

l  Amaranta- banns remedios from her room

III. Plot summary

Both Gerinaldo Marquez and Colonel Aureliano lose all faith in the purpose of war. Colonel Aureliano Buendia takes life harder and starts to feel no emotion, and start to lose memories. He starts to feel comfort in only his solitude that he starts to refuse people coming near him. When he almost executed his loyal friend Colonel marquez, he realized how foolish and gone he was. After all this that happened he looses hope and meaning of life that he tries to commit suicide, however this did not work out and he survived. Ursela was very happy to hear that he was still alive.

IV.  Quotes

l  “You may be in command of your war, but I’m in command of my house” pg.165 I like this because Ursula still has dignity and wants him to respect her even though he is grown up and might be in higher authority.

l  “We’ll finally have a man in this house again” pg.171 I like this quote because I can feel the happiness in Ursela’s tone of speech.

V.    Themes

l  Happiness- Ursula was happy once again about her son being alive

l  Loss of faith- Colonel Gerinald Morques and Colonel AUreliano loose all faith in the purpose of war. 

Active reading Journal 8

Chapter 8

I.      Elements of Magical Realism

l  “The woman said that he had been born with his eyes open, looking at people with the judgment of an adult” pg. 150 This is magical realism because it is not possible for a child to be born with eyes opened .

II.    Characters

l  Aureliano Jose- grows to maturity

l  Amaranta- has an affair with Aureliano Jose but breaks up the affair

l  Jose Maquel Maconda- new mayor of the town. Conservative and also humane and intelligent

l  Colonel Aureliano Buendia- comes back to town and batize his kids and condemns the mayor to death

III.  Plot Summary

Aureliano Jose turns out to be in love with his aunt Amaranta. Since she was also feeling lonely they started having a thing with him. However it ended because she didn’t want it anymore and Aureliano Jose had to go join the army. While Macondo seems to be in peace, while the new mayor called Jose Maquel Maconda leads the town. When Aureliano came back hoping he could marry Amarnta, but she rejects him. Then one day he was killed by a conservative soldier. Soon after he dies Colonel comes back with his 17 sons to baptize them and name them all Aureliano. And Colonel condemns the mayor to death.

IV.   Quotes

l  “I don’t care if they’re born as armadillos” Pg. 149 its interesting because he doesn’t care about how his child will look because he is too much in love with her.

l  “The only thing missing is for him to make chairs rock by simply looking at them pg.150 I like this because it shows that they are completely identical if that is the thing that she mentioned.

V.     Themes

l  Loneliness- loneliness made Amaranta have an affair with Aureliano Jose but turns out to end it.

l  Death- Aureliano Jose was killed by a sodier