Life itself is a quotation.
— Jorge Luis Borges
If God hadn’t rested on Sunday, He would have had time to finish the world.
— Gabriel García Márquez
Unit Goals
After learning the unit, students are expected to be able
·to know Jorge Luis Borges as a great short story writer and his unique writing techniques,
·to understand the concept of metanarrative expressed in the story of The Circular Ruins,
·to understand the postmodernist tendency in the story,
·to explore the themes and significance of the story,
·to enlarge English vocabulary and reinforce grammatical knowledge, and
·to improve language proficiency and critical thinking through the content of this unit.
Before You Read
1.Form groups of three or four students.Try to find information about Jorge Luis Borges and his famous short stories such as The Garden of the Forking Paths, The Library of Babel, The Lottery in Babylon and Tlon, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius. Prepare a presentation of ten minutes about the author and one of his short stories.
2.Study the social and literary context of this story to better understand the story in Text A.
Start to Read