"Gabriel Garcia Marquez announced that he was abandoning literature for journalism until the Pinochet dictatorship disappeared from Chile." How far is this statement true with reference to Garcia Marquez's Chronicle of a Death Foretold?

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QUESTION #3: “Gabriel Garcia Marquez announced that he was abandoning literature for journalism until the Pinochet dictatorship disappeared from Chile.” How far is this statement true with reference to Garcia Marquez’s Chronicle of a Death Foretold?

     Patricia Do Rsario

     February 29, 2004

     IB English Essay

     Mrs. Sankaran

        Chronicle of a Death Foretold is a novel written by Colombian author Gabriel Garcia Marquez in 1981. This piece of work recounted the murder of a man for allegedly violating the law of honor. Marquez sets these dramatic events in a small town where everyday life continues in spite of the fact that everyone knows a murder will happen. Chronicle of a Death Foretold occupies a unique place among Marquez’s works because the description and the narration is both journalistic and an example of fiction. Marquez normally uses journalistic techniques in his fictional writing. In most of his novels, he creates a high level of interest in the very first line of the text and he employs many journalistic details based on close observation throughout the novel. Even though Marquez announced that he was going to abandon literature for journalism until the Pinochet dictatorship disappeared from Chile, in Chronicle of a Death Foretold, both these forms of writing are present.  

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        According to the World Book Encyclopedia, literature means, “the writings of a period, language, or country, especially those kept alive by their beauty or style of thought.” Marquez’s novels and stories are based on fiction, where he uses his imagination to create a piece of work. Chronicle of a Death Foretold is considered to be a literary work because it includes many of the elements of literature, like characters, plot, theme, style, and setting.

        A good writer, such as Marquez, tries to balance all these elements to create a unified work of art. In Chronicle of a Death Foretold, there ...

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