A Labyrinth of Decisions in Borges
A C2 Spanish reading on Borges's «El jardín de senderos que se bifurcan», time, choice, and narrative structure.
Un laberinto de decisiones: leer «El jardín de senderos que se bifurcan»
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About this article
What you'll learn
Literary-analysis vocabulary, aunque + subjunctive, es posible que + subjunctive, lo que, and argumentative links.
The text examines the meeting of Yu Tsun and Stephen Albert and explains how Borges turns branching time into a way of reading.
After reading
Article learning block
Phrases, words, grammar, and quick practice from this text.
Phrases for training
Add useful phrases to SRS or mark them as already known.
A primera vista
newat first sight
An expression for a first and still incomplete impression.
Useful for cautiously stating an opinion about a text.
El laberinto de decisiones
newa labyrinth of decisions
A metaphor for a situation with many possible choices.
Useful for describing complex choice with vivid language.
poner en duda
newto call into question
To avoid accepting a claim without questions or examination.
An important phrase for critical analysis.
sin reducirlo a una teoría científica
newwithout reducing it to a scientific theory
Not explaining a complex work through only one approach.
Useful for carefully limiting an interpretation.
Key words
Vocabulary that carries the school-day topic.
bifurcación
bifurcación
branching
The division of one path into two or more directions.
A key word for discussing choice and narrative structure.
verosímil
verosímil
plausible within the fiction
Seeming possible within the world of a work.
Useful for judging the plausibility of a fictional world.
conjetura
conjetura
conjecture
A conclusion without complete proof.
Useful for making a cautious interpretation.
desenlace
desenlace
ending or resolution
The part of a story where its conflict reaches an end.
An essential term for analysing plot.
simultánea
simultánea
simultaneous
Happening at the same time.
Useful for describing events and possibilities in time.
ambigüedad
ambigüedad
ambiguity
The presence of more than one possible meaning or interpretation.
A key word for analysing complex literature.
Grammar in context
Patterns from the text worth noticing after reading.
no limitarse a + infinitive
no se limita a contar una persecución
not limit itself to telling a chase
After limitarse a, use a noun or an infinitive to name the limit of an action.
It helps explain precisely that a work does more than one thing.
aunque + subjunctive
Aunque el relato no ofrezca una respuesta definitiva
although the story may not offer a final answer
After aunque, use the subjunctive when the fact is not presented as an asserted fact or does not change the main point.
It helps build a complex argument with concession.
lo que for an idea or situation
Lo que parecía un laberinto espacial termina por ser un libro.
What seemed to be a spatial labyrinth turns out to be a book.
Lo que refers not to one specific noun, but to the whole preceding idea.
Useful for linking complex ideas in a text.
es posible que + subjunctive
Es posible que cada lectura cambie el sentido del relato.
It is possible that each reading changes the meaning of the story.
After es posible que, use the subjunctive because the sentence expresses possibility, not certainty.
Useful for expressing a hypothesis in an academic style.
cuando for a general situation
Cuando una persona se enfrenta a varias opciones
When a person faces several options
Use cuando with the Present when describing a general rule or recurring situation.
Useful for introducing generalisations in analytical writing.
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