Read the excerpt from Cristina Garcia’s Dreaming in Cuban.The sunset flares behind a row of brownstones, linking them as if by a flaming ribbon. Lourdes massages her eyes and begins walking with legs that feel held by splints.“I’m glad to see you, Lourdes. Thank you for everything, hija, the hat, the cigars. You buried me like an Egyptian king, with all my valuables!” Jorge del Pino laughs.Lourdes perceives the faint scent of her father’s cigar . . .“Where are you, Papi?”The street is vacant, as if a force has absorbed all living things. Even the trees seem more shadow than substance.“Nearby,” her father says, serious now.The author uses magic realism by
Answer
A
revealing Jorge’s appreciation for his valued burial gifts.
B
describing the support for Lourdes’s unstable legs as she walks.
C
using words such as “flares,” “faint,” “vacant,” and “shadow.”
D
comparing the description of the setting sun with a flaming ribbon.
Explanation
Magic realism blends supernatural events into an otherwise realistic setting. Jorge has been buried, yet Lourdes perceives his cigar scent and hears him speak to her, thanking her for the gifts she buried with him. His conversation with his living daughter is the magical element; the flaming-ribbon comparison is figurative language, not magic realism by itself.
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