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Teaching One Hundred Years of Solitude

  • Activities: 13
  • Quiz Questions: 70

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Teaching the Nobel Prize-winning novel One Hundred Years of Solitude is a Good Teacher Move if we've ever seen one. But just because the people on the Nobel Committee totally understood and loved this book doesn't mean your students will, too. That's where Shmoop comes in.

In this guide, you will find

  • an activity where students will make sense of the timeline of events.
  • reading quizzes to make sure everyone is on the same page.
  • resources that provide current events and pop culture references to bring this novel into the modern day classroom.

And in case your students still aren't convinced: this book is filled with incest, death, magic, and lots of sex. (Not to mention beautiful, award-winning writing.)

What's Inside Shmoop's Literature Teaching Guides

Shmoop is a labor of love from folks who love to teach. Our teaching guides will help you supplement in-classroom learning with fun, engaging, and relatable learning materials that bring literature to life.

Inside each guide you'll find quizzes, activity ideas, discussion questions, and more—all written by experts and designed to save you time. Here are the deets on what you get with your teaching guide:

  • 13-18 Common Core-aligned activities to complete in class with your students, including detailed instructions for you and your students.
  • Discussion and essay questions for all levels of students.
  • Reading quizzes for every chapter, act, or part of the text.
  • Resources to help make the book feel more relevant to your 21st-century students.
  • A note from Shmoop’s teachers to you, telling you what to expect from teaching the text and how you can overcome the hurdles.

Want more help teaching Teaching One Hundred Years of Solitude?

Check out all the different parts of our corresponding learning guide.



Instructions for You

Objective: Aureliano (II) is the last man standing… well, living anyway. He reads Melquíades's parchment and learns a whole lot about his family and its past—and in the process, unlocks his own death. It's all a pretty big deal, right? To really get into Aureliano and the ending, for this activity, your students are going to dive into Aureliano's mind and write a journal entry of his last day in existence. Students will track him from morning to night, including how he dies. They can switch to third person omniscient there if they wish, or make him into a ghost—it's totally up to them.

This entry should only take about an hour or so to complete (we're busting out our informal wear) and can be handwritten. You know, like an actual journal.

Materials Needed: We're keeping it old school with paper and pen for this one.

Step 1: Okay, so that bit about Aureliano (II) being the last guy is just a bit depressing. That said, your students still have to get in his head, no matter how deeply saddening it will be. How the heck else are they going to write his last diary entry (sniff)? To help them do so, first hold a discussion about everything that goes down on that last day. Here are some questions to get the convo rolling:

  • What happens?
  • What is Aureliano's morning like?
  • What is on Aureliano's mind during the day?
  • What is it like being the last of the family?
  • What does he read? What does he learn in his reading? Why is it significant? 
  • What is his death like?

Step 2: Okay, now that everyone's focused on Aureliano, it's time for your students to think about his character and start writing in his voice. To help them figure out Aureliano's voice, here are a few questions to send your students' way:

  • What would he sound like if he spoke? 
  • Would he have an accent? 
  • Would his speech be simple or highfalutin'?

Aureliano's diary should be written in accordance with however your students think he sounds, so once they have this sorted out for themselves, it's time to put pen to paper. The diary entry should be about one page long and handwritten (gasp)—we're going for authenticity here.

Instructions for Your Students

Objective: Don't tell anyone, but you're getting a bit of a break here. Yes, you still have to write and you still have to do work, but this activity is about you determining how you think a character thinks and feels. So yeah, not too much to worry about in terms of wrong answers for this one—if you stick to the text, you should have no problem.

You'll be writing Aureliano's diary entry about his last day on earth. Let's all have a moment of silence.

Step 1: Done? Okay, so that bit about Aureliano (II) being the last guy is just a bit depressing, right? Right. You still have to get inside his head, though, no matter how saddening it will be. After all, how the heck else are you going to write his last diary entry (sniff)? To help you do so, first you're going to need to identify everything that happens during Aureliano's fateful last day. Here are some questions to kick your brain into high gear:

  • What happens?
  • What is Aureliano's morning like?
  • What is on Aureliano's mind during the day?
  • What is it like being the last of the family?
  • What does he read? What does he learn in his reading? Why is it significant? 
  • What is his death like?

Step 2: Okay, now that you're super focused on Aureliano, it's time to think about his character and start writing in his voice. To help you figure out Aureliano's voice, here are a few questions to consider:

  • What would he sound like if he spoke? 
  • Would he have an accent? 
  • Would his speech be simple or highfalutin'?

Aureliano's diary should be written in accordance with however you think he sounds, so once you have this sorted out for themselves, it's time to put pen to paper. The diary entry should be about one page long and handwritten (gasp)—we're going for authenticity here.

Remember: It's your last day. What have you done? Where have you been? What's important to you standing on the cusp of outer darkness? How do you die?

Have at it and make sure you stay in Aureliano II's voice as best you can, then turn your work in to your teacher.