Question

analyze craft and structure: magical realism. read the passage from a short story. then, answer the question(s). the city express bus pulled up to the curb. “about time,” somebody muttered in the brilliant but frigid winter sunlight, we clutched our cups of coffee, checked our cell phones for the hundredth time, and shuffled toward the folding doors. as they opened, a single sheet of paper sailed forth and began looping in elegant circles around the group of waiting passengers, each of us impatient to board. it was nothing special, that flyer, just a black - and - white notice with a blurry, black collection of lines and dots that approximated the shape of a face. the face—was it male or female? it’s difficult to say, as my mind was preoccupied. i kept mulling over what had gone wrong at yesterday’s conference call and pondering how to squeeze in the badly needed haircut that i couldn’t keep rescheduling. for a senior sales executive, the state of my hair had become alarming. by the time i boarded the bus, the flyer was moving a little more shakily, fluttering from passenger to passenger. part a the following question has two parts. answer part a first, and then part b. part a which of the following is a feature of the passage that most clearly suggests it is a work of magical realism? a a sense of urgency that foreshadows the strange events that follow b a contrast between routine details and a fantastical occurrence c a sense of mystery that makes each story event as unexpected as the last

Explanation:

Magical Realism often blends the ordinary with the extraordinary. In the passage, the routine details like waiting for a bus and checking phones are contrasted with the fantastical event of a flyer looping around in an elegant way. This contrast is a key feature of Magical Realism.

Answer:

B. a contrast between routine details and a fantastical occurrence