Chronicle of a Death Foretold: Craft Post-Analysis
IB English HL 1
Craft: Characterization
Directions: Work with your team to analyze each name and research underlying nuances
that Marquez intentionally conveys to the reader. While doing so, consider the root
words of each name, or the materialistic objects that it may represent, or the social
connotation that it conveys. If you get stuck, these Quizlet Flashcards may help—though,
you should definitely have more notes than what is identified here!
1. Santiago:
Santiago=Saint/Patron
His name could refer to his wealth and power he had, but also his wealth after death. In
Spanish, Santiago means “Saint James”, which comes from the Spanish word “Santo”, or
saint, and the old Spanish form of James, “Yago”. Santiago’s name relating to a saint may
hint at his alleged innocence from the accusation made by Angela
2. Placida Linero:
Placida= Placid The Spanish word “Placida” translates to “placid”, which means to be
tranquil and calm.
3. Divina Flor:
Divina Flor= Divine Flower The Spanish phrase “Divina Flor” translates to “divine
flower”. This could be alluding to the fact that the women in the novel were seen as
“divine” objects.
4. Pura & Angela Vicario:
Pura= Pure
Angela Vicario= Vicarious Angel
Pura translates to ‘pure’ and Angela translates to Viscarious Angles which means: taking
the place of another. The Vicario sisters have been raised to uphold pure virtue and
honesty in order to accommodate their husbands and recieve total honor from their
appointed husbands.
5. Widower Xius:
Widower Xius= Zeus (greek god of
The name “Xius” sounds similar to “Dios”, which translates to God. This could mean that
the widower was full of pure intentions when not wanting to sell his home.
Craft: Imagery & Symbolism
Directions: Now that you have read the novel, review the Cultural PreSearch Padlet and
analyze the use and meaning of each symbol throughout the text. For each one, provide a
clear and concise THESIS statement that identifies WHAT it means and HOW it is being
used by the author; then support each statement with two or three paraphrased
examples from the text.
1. Dogs:
Throughout the novel, dogs are depicted as the guardians and protectors of humans, that
often know when something awful will happen and has happened. When the Vicario
brothers leave the pigsty with their weapons, the dogs start to bark extremely loud,
almost as if they foreshadowed that something terrible would happen. Once they smelled
Santiago’s body as he was laid out in the living room, the dogs became agitated and
disgusted by it. It had seemed as if they wanted to protect him and even mourned his
death.
2. Cocks/Crowing:
In the novel, cocks and crowing symbolizes a “wake up” call or realization for the town.
On the morning of Santiago’s death, the cocks crowed loudly once the bishop was leaving.
Angela also didn’t want to be blessed by a man who didn’t use all parts of the rooster and
threw them away instead. This depicts the ignorance of the town throughout the town.
3. Birds/Canaries:
Throughout the novel, birds and canaries are portrayed as one not having freedom.
When Santiago walks through the house, he sees the cages of sleeping birds. Angela
Vicario also began to make paper birds, which symbolize a false or weak sense of
freedom.
4. Orange Blossoms:
In the novel, flowers are illustrated to symbolize how women weren’t seen as nothing
more than a “beautiful” object. Throughout the chapters, most references are of artificial
flowers. Angela Vicario is described as carrying two baskets of artificial flowers through
the town. Angela is portrayed as beautiful, innocent, and pure on the outside, but is the
complete opposite in reality. Marquez also mentions that women knew how to
embroider, sew, and make artificial flowers depicting that women are just praised and
seeb for their outer appearance.
5. Almond Trees:
-Almonds are usually associated with purity, virginity, devinity, and delicacy. In the
novel, almonds are still portrayed and refered to a woman’s virginty. In the beginning,
Santiago dreams himself flying through in an airplane through almond trees without
bumping into any. Which can be interpreted as Santiago flying through without causing
any trouble and taking any women’s purity away, showing his innocence. Another
example where almond trees are mentioned in the novel is when Santiago’s mother lets
Santiago leave for the unexpected day of his death and she sees the almond trees before
closing the door. The last glimpse of the almond trees was a sign towards her telling her
that Santiago is innocent on whatever he would be accused of in the future. Almond trees
in Chronicle of a Death Foretold a re a symbol for purity and divinity straightly directed
towards women.
Craft: Plot Structure
Directions: One element that we really haven’t discussed this unit is the intentionality of
plot design and structure. Discuss the following questions with your team, considering
Marquez’s primary intentions. There’s technically no “right” or “wrong” answer to these,
but your responses should be thorough, supported, and reflective.
If you need some help, feel free to review this article: Death a Chronicle of Foretold.
1. How and why does the author manipulate time throughout the novel?
- I believe the author manipulates time throughout the novel to really get a feeling of
what is happening during those hours. It’s a way to understand what occurred during the
specific hours and help readers build an idea of what they think the true verdict of the
case is since it’s really unclear in the end. Shifting between the hours/ time in the novel
helps one understand what truly went on and in the end piece together everything to
build into a case.
2. What was the purpose of disclosing the climactic murder on the very first page of the
novel? How does this type of narration create a compelling and engaging story?
-Marquez discloses the climatic murder on the very first page not only to build suspense,
but to have readers create their own assumptions and details before reading the entire
novel.
By already introducing the major event of the novel in the very beginning, the author is
already setting the stage for the reader to know what to expect. Revealing the details of
the murder at the beginning already foreshadows somewhat what will occur, leaving the
reader guessing and trying to predict which characters and circumstances mentioned as
the novel continues might contribute to the overall development of the murder.
3. Discuss the order of events presented within each chapter, as well as the absence of
chapter titles, and the effect these choices have on the reader:
Notice of Santiago’s murder is announced at the beginning of the novel. However, the
author does not disclose the events that cause or lead up to the murder, leaving the
reader perplexed as to how the death was caused and creating sort of a mystery for the
reader. The elimination of chapter titles throughout the novel adds to the mystery aspect
of the events, as the reader has no idea what to expect in the chapter they will be reading
and have no idea how this chapter will contribute to the development up to the murder.
Craft: Motif of Falconry
Directions: We’ve spent some time discussing the motif of falconry but I can tell that
some students are still a bit confused on the intended meaning...am I right? Yup--thought
so! Therefore, quickly review this Prezi (which is excellent!) and, if needed, also this
article (which is just asi asi). Then, utilize the space below to write a formal THESIS
statement that specifies how the author uses the motif in support of a primary theme.
Please bullet point at least four paraphrased examples from the novel in support of your
thesis (this should be quite easy, as there are numerous ones included in both
resources!).
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