Haroun and the Sea of Stories

One characteristic of magical realism worth discussing in relation to Haroun and the Sea of Stories is hybridity. Hybridity refers to blending elements from more than one tradition—in the case of Haroun and the Sea of Stories, Rushdie blends European and Indian traditions.

What are some examples of this hybridity in Rushdie’s novel? Do both traditions contribute magical elements to the novel, or does one of the two traditions seem more heavily represented in this way? What does this balance—or lack of balance—say about Rushdie’s relationship to these two traditions?

Teaching Suggestion: Answering this prompt effectively requires students to generate a wide variety of examples of both European and Indian traditions reflected in the novel. Even if they are answering in written form, it may be helpful to them to brainstorm examples as a class. This also creates an opportunity to remind students to think of more than plot and character details—beyond the inclusion of things like water genies to elements of the novel such as its structure, use of allusions, and so on.

As they move on to an analysis of the balance of these elements, it may be helpful to remind them that they are being asked about the balance of “magical” elements only. If your students are ready for an additional challenge, you might list various conclusions that students come to in the final section of the prompt and then ask students to vote for the most likely conclusion, offering textual evidence to back their choice.

Differentiation Suggestion: This prompt requires students to review a large amount of text and think abstractly about the implications of its balance of European and Indian magical elements. English language learners, students with dyslexia, and those with attentional concerns or executive function differences may struggle to review enough text to answer effectively. Even if the class as a whole is completing the prompt individually, you might consider allowing these students to work in small groups so that they can divide up the text while looking for examples.

Students who would benefit from strategies in abstract thought may need assistance with drawing a conclusion from the evidence they have gathered. For these students, it may be helpful to discuss ahead of time some possible conclusions that might be drawn from different evidence sets, so that once they have gathered their evidence, they have a limited number of possible implications to choose from.