Jorge Borges: Short Stories Lesson Plan

Why do you think Borges starts with this banal introduction, which makes it sound as if the manuscript being quoted exists only to provide information concerning war history—or more specifically, a delay in a single British attack?

There are many possible answers. Some include:

• Borges uses this introduction to demonstrate how the same text can carry very different meaning for different people. In other words, the editor is only concerned with its meaning in terms of its relationship to a very specific context.
• Borges is pointing out that although the manuscript’s context might make it seem like it has only military or historical value, there is a much more interesting...