Listen to some of Charlie Parker's recordings, such as Confirmation: The Best of the Verve Years (Polygram Records, 1995). What stands out to you about "Bird," as Charlie Parker is often called? Listen to other saxophone players such as Lester Young (Parker's hero when he was young) and Cannonball Adderley. How is Bird's style different from Young's and that of other saxophonists popular in the 1930s? How does Bird's sound differ from that of his contemporaries such as Adderley? What does Bird's music have in common with the literary style of "The Pursuer?" Explain the similarities and differences.

Read several short stories by the Argentine writer Jorge Luis Borges, such as "The Garden of Forking Paths" (1941). How does Cortázar compare to Borges, who was considered the master of Latin American fiction when Cortázar began writing? Do the compatriots have...