American Literature Final

Elements of "Oh, Pioneers!" that is modernism

Cather looks back to a more heroic past. Because she is looking back only a short distance, however, to the mid-to-late 1800s, she is often accused of nostalgia rather than recognized as modern. Alludes to a number of myths:argued that Alexandra is reminiscent of Demeter who, in Greek mythology, was the goddess of the harvest, presiding over grains as well as the very fertility of the earth,Alexandra and the mythical figures of Amazonian women. In the early pages of the novel, for instance, Alexandra's interaction with the drummer is described in this way: "She stabbed him with a glance of Amazonian fierceness" (6). Stylistically, Cather is experimental, and experimentation is typical of modernism. O Pioneers! has a loose organizational structure. For example, thirteen years are skipped between Parts One and Two, and the tense changes from past to present.It seems as if Cather is experimenting with cinematographic elements in narrative at the same time that movies are gaining cultural currency, a very modern form of experimentation through describing the present tense and panoramic descriptions of the Nebraska plains.

Louisa

"A New England Nun" chooses not to marry Joe. Strange for their time, but she really loved the life she created for herself and didn't want to change. Ambiguous on whether this is a good or bad thing. Realism Commentary on Spanish American War and American women ideals

Robert Lowell and the personal/public

"Skunk Hour"The first four stanzas are dedicated to developing the sense that the social structure is disintegrating and people on a broad scale are unwell-the hermit heiress, the fairy decorator, summer millionaire. After the Nautilus Island is described, Lowell describes himself. He is looking for love, his minds not right, he said it was a dark time for him. Spiritual desolation for humankind and him. Skin parallels his need of sustenance, skunks feet parallel human soul, he says "I am myself hell" and the skunk appears satanic. "For the Union Dead"-the poem begins with Lowell's childhood memories of the old South Boston Aquarium. This poem is uncharacteristic for Lowell because much time is spent on public images, rather than Lowell's public landscape. He describes his hand tingling at the aquarium, and now transitions to excitement of civic growth of city. transitions to civil war monument, just as the aquarium is from Lowell's past, the Shaw memorial alludes to a part of the cities past. Just as lowell's present seems inferior to his past, the city's present seems unable to live up to its heroic past as suggested by the bronze shaw memorial. The final stanza brings it full circle, saying the aquarium is gone.

Satire in Editha

. What is the subject that Howells is criticizing? Most obviously, he disapproves of the enthusiastic rush into the Spanish-American War, as well as a certain attitude toward war more generally, both of which are embodied in the character Editha. also criticizing fundamental precepts of romanticism. Or, more accurately, he is criticizing sentimentalism. entimentalism relies upon excessive emotion Howells contrasts Editha's idealistic view of war with a realistic view. The realistic view does not come from George, who instead represents a cynical and contemptuous attitude toward war. Rather, compare Editha's expectations of what George's war experience will bring with the reality of what actually happens. Irony in that Editha does not get what she wants, romanticized idea of amputee. ironic that he dies right off the bat

Romanticism

1830-1865 Highlights the imagination/intuition Concerned with the individual Concerned with nature and the wild no verisimilitude Settings exotic, distant, historic Explores the extraordinary/unusual Lots of symbolism Plot is important

Realism

1865-1914 PResents material objectively concerned with society concerned with urban areas verisimilitude-faithful representation settings recognizable explores the norm of experience less overt symbolism characterization is important

George Gearson

Editha's fiance Editha went to war despite own concerns for Editha He changes is the fact that Editha manipulates him, he is swept up in the rally for war Howell is also criticizing that part of the population that believes the war is wrong but lacks the strength of character to act on its beliefs, as embodied by George. He is identifying what he believes to be a failure of morality in the American Character at this historical moment.Satire is put on george in that Editha is over romanticized war and expects him to return a hero.

Aesthetic/moral conflict in the Armadillo

Eggs are the source of life, but this fire-egg brings with it death and destruction. As Bishop describes the ensuing fire, the poem's tone maintains the same aesthetic detachment as when describing the beautiful fire balloons, despite the fact that a tragedy is ensuing. The owl's who nest is caught on fire are described as beautiful. The armadillo who flees is as well. Cute imagery of the bunny conflicts with the reality of the situation As humans, we are capable of looking at it both ways, we have a naturally divided spirit able to see beauty and in the scene, detached from suffering, while we also embody a morality that allows us to empathize with the suffering of others. careful emotional detachment gives way to extreme rage

One Art

Elizabeth Bishop

The Armadillo

Elizabeth Bishop

"Too Pretty, dreamlike mimicry! O falling fire and piercing cry And panic, and a weak mailed fist, clenched ignorant against the sky"

Elizabeth bishop The Armadillo The speaker in the poem is detached, feeling only aesthetic appreciation, which both keeps the poem free from sentimentality and makes the sudden shift in the last stanza more intense. The suffering against which the poet now rages is both for the specific incident created by the fire balloon and sufferings of all humankind Contributes to the personal and public feel of the poem

"The Significance of the Frontier in American History"

Frederick Jackson Turner

Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl

Harriet Jacobs

Differences between Frederick Douglas and Harriet Jacobs

Harriet had less physical violence, she experienced psychological damage. She was trying to appeal to a women audience, and had the task of winning over a group that already saw her as immoral due to her choices. There is more animal imagery in Frederick, and Harriet had a better family life. Harriet took literacy for granted because she was taught as a child.

Realism in American Literature

A literary period that developed after the Civil War and lasted roughly until World War I, realism differed from the previous literary movement, romanticism, in its emphasis on an objective presentation of recognizable life rather than a subjective presentation of personal feelings and imaginings.

Anti Hero

A protagonist in a modern work who does not Exhibit the qualities of the traditional hero. Instead of being brave, honest, and admirable, for example, he is often ordinary or possesses unworthy characteristics. Meatball in Entropy Bub in cathedral

Quantrain

A stanza containing four lines

Postmodernism

A term referring to experimental works of literature and art, produced after Word War II. Postmodernist writing tends to highlight the alienation of individuals and the meaninglessness of human existence.

Historical development and characteristics of postmodernism

After the war, everything was left chaotic and broken. Earlier beliefs, values, and cultural institutions had failed. People left feeling alienated from everything they thought they knew and understood, seeing the world as fragmented. The literature acepted chaos as the new world order. Playful and comedic, albeit often a dark comedy. Mixed genres, no heros, except anti heros. Not an organized movement in literature peaked in the 70s.

Imagery In New England Nun

In the story, three types of beverages play a role: George drinks lemonade but refuses Editha's offer of her own glass of lemonade; he thirstily drinks glass after glass of ice-water after his enlistment; and he appears the next morning with a hangover from, of course, drinking too much alcohol the prior evening. Kehler suggests that the sweet lemonade represents Editha, who looks at the world through a veil of sugarcoated romanticism. While George listens to her and partakes of a single glass of lemonade, he refuses more of the sugarcoating that she has in ample supply. When he tells her he has enlisted, after being caught up in the fervor of the moment, he paces the porch drinking water and considering more rationally the craziness of his own actions; that is, he sees with the clarity of water. The alcohol is the liquid version of the hellfire that excited the mob. If the lemonade created a haze, the alcohol blinds George and the crowd to the irrationality of their actions (41). dominant image of arms in the story. George's father lost his arm in the Civil War, and other more mundane instances of arms appear: Editha thinks that if George returns missing an arm, she will give him hers and he will have three arms; George embraces Editha (with his arms); Mr. Balcom stands with his hat on his arm; and Mrs. Gearson lifts herself from her armchair with her powerful arms. But what might be the significance of these images? Piacentino speculates that Howells may have been alluding to another popular work that satirized romantic notions of war, George Bernard Shaw's Arms and the Man. He also notes that the word arms is often used in a military context, not only today but also during the time of the Spanish-American War. For example, you may have heard references to small-arms artillery fire, taking up arms (going to war or preparing to fight), laying down arms (stopping fighting or surrendering), presenting arms (a military salute), a branch or arm of the service (such as Army versus Navy), and so on (424-432).

Ambiguity in "A New England Nun"

Louisa is a complex character, and the social situation is complex; if it were not, we would have solved it by now and would no longer be discussing the conflict for women who must choose between, or learn to balance, independent work lives and domestic, care-giving responsibilities. Many daytime talk shows, books, and ongoing discussions between men and women still focus on this issue, attesting to its continuing relevancy. The fact is that Louisa did gain something by deciding not to marry Joe—and she lost something as well. The story successfully captures the tension between fulfillment and deprivation. The imagery used is also ambiguous.

"A New England Nun"

Mary E. Wilkins Freeman

Elements of "Oh, Pioneers!" that isnt modernism

Modernists mirrored the complexity of modern life with complexity in their texts. Cather's approach was different; she, too, recognized the complexity of modern life, but her response was to simplify her writing rather than purposefully make it obscure For example, she agrees with other modernists that people who inhabit the contemporary world don't have the same strength of character as those who came before. We see this clearly in O Pioneers!, in which the heroic pioneers quickly become figures from a more glorious past. But Cather's focus remains on the heroic pioneer rather than on the modern character. Her novel never fully sinks into the despair we often see in modernist works that focus on characters that are fearful and unable to communicate, to express love, and to make decisions and take meaningful action. Cather's focus is on the exact opposite—on the bold transformative powers of the pioneer over the land. Nor is the setting of O Pioneers! dirty and sterile; again, it's quite the opposite—the land is beautiful and fertile.

Frederick Douglas

Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave

O Pioneers as a pastoral

Of course, only part of Cather's novel deals with Alexandra Bergson's taming of the land. The other part is the tragic love story of Emil Bergson and the Bohemian girl Marie Shabata, nee Tovesky. Originally, Cather conceived the two parts of the novel as separate stories, but they eventually came together in her mind as a single work,

Cathedral

Raymond Carver

"'I guess I don't believe in it. In anything.'"

Raymond Carver Cathedral Bub Postmoderism Goes along with theme of chaos disorder, no hope. Everything and everyone broken. mundane anti hero. entropy, no meaning, no energy, no insight, no direction

For the UNion Dead

Robert Lowell

Skunk Hour

Robert Lowell

Editha

Satire, irony shown what Editha wants is for her George to be a war hero, and when he does go to war he dies. Realism.Commentary on war or women's roles.

Nautilus Island Hermit heriess still lives through winter in her Spartan cottagel thirsting for the hierarchic privacy of Queen Victoria's centruy, she buys up all the eyesores facing her shore, and lets them fall.

Skunk Hour Robert Lowell This description, along with the description of the fairy decorator, and summer millionaire are creating the idea that something is off, society is a bit weird. Things are confused. Contributes to the sense that society is disintegrating and society as a whole is unwell. This is prefiguring Lowell himself, that he is describing his own experiences looking for love and feeling worthless.

O Pioneers! has been called an epic. Traditionally, epics include both supernatural entities and superhuman actions. In what way do these features exist in the novel?

Superhuman entities: The Great Plains of the United States are called great for a reason. They are one of the largest such land masses on earth, if not the largest. Even today, if you have driven across a portion of the Great Plains, say from Kansas City to Denver, you get a small sense of the enormity of the area. The drive seems to last forever, with an unrelenting flatness and sameness (although the Great Plains in total includes a variety of landscapes). And should the weather turn bad, storms and winds seem larger and stronger over the plains than elsewhere, leaving people with few places to find protection. Today the plains are farmlands, which evoke comfort more than threat, but it takes only a little imagination to realize how such an enormous area could be experienced as an overwhelming force to the earliest European American inhabitants who stood solitary in its vastness, with only their minds and muscles to counter its power. A spirit with consciousness Superhuman action: It is against this supernatural being—the landscape of the Great Plains—that Alexandra pits her imagination and daring; and she wins. Therefore, her strength must be superhuman to struggle successfully against such a force. As we have discussed, she is not like the ordinary mortals around her; she is larger than life. It is not so much through force, however, that she succeeds in taming the wild spirit of the plains. Instead, it is through love and empathy that the land yields to her, rather than her overpowering it: For the first time, perhaps, since that land emerged from the waters of geologic ages, a human face was set toward it with love and yearning. It seemed beautiful to her, rich and strong and glorious. Her eyes drank in the breadth of it, until her tears blinded her. Then the Genius of the Divide, the great, free spirit which breathes across it, must have bent lower than it ever bent to a human will before. The history of every country begins in the heart of a man or a woman. (41-42)

Personification in o pioneers

The land is personified

Entropy

Thomas Pynchon

Conclusion on cathedral

We don't know the effect on Bub's life. It is ambiguous. anti hero

Ambiguity

When language is worded in such a way that its meaning cannot be definitely determined. In everyday speech, ambiguity is considered a flaw, but that richness of literature os often dependent upon ambiguity.

O Pioneers!

Willa Cather

"Editha"

William Dean Howells

Frederick Douglas Character

Wrote a slave narrative. Was the protagonist, escaped from slavery and learned to read.

Foil

a character who is different from the main character, or protagonist, when those differences serve to accentuate the protagonist's distinctive qualities.

Neo-Slave Narrative

a fictional, imaginative account (usually a full-length work or novel) written in contemporary times about the experience of slavery. A neo-slave narrative should not be confused with either an actual historical slave narrative or memoirs of contemporary enslavement.

Slave narrative

a genre of narrative; more specifically, a type of autobiography written by a former African American slave that typically recounts that person's life as a slave and how he or she managed to escape to freedom. In addition to having the basic purpose of all autobiographies (depicting a life), slave narratives also had the important social purpose of convincing the reader that slavery needed to be abolished.

Stanza

a grouped set of lines in a poem, usually set off from other such clusters by a blank line.

Satire

a literary genre that relies upon irony, wit, exaggeration, and sometimes sarcasm or ridicule to expose a problem so that it can be improved. Satire reduces the overly inflated worth of someone or something to its real (lower value). Because its intention is to correct folly or immorality in people or institutions, it has an essentially moral purpose, even though it may deride someone or cause a reader to laugh at something in the process.

Modernism

a literary movement that gained influence during and after World War I. Modernist works reflected the overwhelming sense of loss, disillusionment, and despair that artists and others felt in the wake of destruction on a global scale. Modernists tended to see the world as fragmented and disordered, and through art they hoped to provide a restorative force. However, because they were disenchanted with the old ways that led to the war, and in turn with all the constraints and conventions of the past, they experimented in literature with new forms.

Ephiphany

a moment of insight or revelation when the protagonist understands something that he or she didnt see, or understand, before. This sudden insight may or may not have long lasting effects that significantly change the protagonist; if there is change, it may or may not be for the better.

tercet

a stanza containing three lines

Villanelle

a verse form consisting of nineteen lines in five tercets followed by a quatrain, with a rhyme scheme based on only two rhymes that follows this pattern: aba aba aba aba aba abaa. The first line of the tercet is repeated as the last line of the second and fourth tercets, while the third line of the first tercet is repeated as the last line of the third and fifth tercets. Finally, these two lines are repeated as a couplet in the last two lines of the quantrain. "One Art" Elizabeth Bishop

Epic

a work, usually a long and formal narrative poem, that recounts the adventures of a hero of almost mythic proportions, who often embodies the traits of a nation or people. Traditional or folk epics originate in oral tradition, so they are not the invention of a single person or of the person who commits them to writing. Literary epics are the creation of a single writer. Other characteristics include: 1) a protagonist/hero of great stature who is both brave and wise; 2) a setting on a grand and vast scale; 3) superhuman actions; 4) supernatural entities; and 5) elevated style.

Allusion

an indirect reference to a person, event, or statement or to history, myth, popular culture, etc. These references evoke associations that are used to enrich meaning or broaden the impact of a literary work.

Narrative

any telling of a story, an account of a situation, or an event, whether fictional or true. Examples include a novel, a biography, a newspaper account, a doctor's case history, etc.

Image of Armadillo vs image of skunk

both odd little creatures manage to survive despite living in a world of danger and deprivation, perhaps like the poets themselves, who as artist exist outside the mainstream of society

Form and Content in "One Art"

compliment each other. The poem is villanelle, this highly structured and complicated form helps her develop the subject. The tone in the first few stanzas is about control, just as villanelle is. As the poem continues the content speeds up and starts to loose control. She is purposefully losing control of the form of the poe to mirror the loss of control that is the subject of the poem.

Literary Realism in "A New England Nun"

gender equalities and issues represented in story and time fundamental question about what women give up by marrying, versus what they gain, is a concern to which many women could relate in the late 19th century norm of experience Ambiguos-some could see her as heroic, applauding her decision to maintain her autonomy, recognizing the bravery it takes to resist society's expectations and to take the road less traveled, a path that lets her indulge in selfish desires. OR her life as lonely and circumscribed, you think she lack courage, unwilling to open her narrow life to include others who could bring her human companionship, a family, and love. Shut up and isolated from love, neurotic. The story successfully captures the tension between fulfillment and deprivation.

Pastoral

generally speaking, a work with a rural setting that praises a simple country existence.

Characteristics of slave narrative in Fredrick Douglas's "Narrative"

horrific whipping of his aunt, which made him realize the condition he was under, which led his decent into hell, a characteristic of slave narratives. His life begins with the illusion of freedom because he was born on the outskirts of the planation. He has thoughts of suicide because he was treated so poorly. His narrative also includes the break up of his family. He was separated from his mother as an infant, he includes a plot twist of sorts talking about how many slave's dads are the plantation owners themselves. The break up of family lead slaves to develop such strong friendships that they didn't want to escape. Animal slavery is used throughout. Douglas compares his life to that of a horse, not knowing what to make of it. People were treated like pigs, eating from sloths, sometimes even with the pigs. Children were also treated like animals, running around naked until age 10. Slavery not only dehumanized the slaves, but the masters as well. Mr. Covey is compared to a snake because he sneaks around, sometimes on his hands and knees, trying to catch slaves in the act of something wrong. Douglass pities Covey for being so self-deceiving that he convinced himself he was a sincere follower of God, even as he forced his female slave to commit adultery so that he could use her as a breeder—another example of animal imagery."for it is almost an unpardonable offence to teach slaves to read in this Christian country" At the other end of the resistance spectrum is a moment that serves as the turning point in Douglass's life as a slave: after suffering many beatings from Covey, Douglass fights back—and wins. It was, as Douglass himself admits, a "bold defiance" (963) Also, Covey asks Douglas to sing hymns. Sometimes he did, and sometimes he didnt, it was one of the only ways that he could assert his power. The fact that he could read and write was a defiance. But reading also gave him insight to his wretched condition. This is ironic juxtaposition-something seemingly good will happen (in this case, learning to read) that has the unexpected effect of making the slave feel even worse.

Intertextuality

interconnectedness among texts; when one text draws on, plays off, quotes, suggests the style of, or in any way alludes to another text or texts. When one text draws on, plays off, quotes, suggests the style of, or in any way alludes to another text or texts, then we have a case of intertextuality, or connectedness between texts. As with other examples of allusion, the impact of Cather's title is heightened in those readers familiar with Whitman's poem. All sorts of emotional and intellectual associations are automatically called forth just from the title O Pioneers! I think you will notice correspondences between the two works that go beyond the titles. For example, you may find Whitman's vast reaches across time and space ("Ages back in ghostly millions" [311] and "all the clustering suns and planets" [312]) similar to Cather's own uses of time and space: the land emerging "from the waters of geologic ages" and the landscape of the great plains. .

Imagery in "A New England Nun"

largely ambiguous little yellow canary: flutters wildly beating tis wings against the bars of the cage whenever Joe enters the room. Louisa think his presence upsets the bird, like he upsets her space. She thinks when they break up that the bird will rest, but it still does, and it could mirror the fluttering of Louis's heart, which beats against her ribcage in Joe's presence. In the end, both heart and bird are still. Finally, the image of a nun is likewise unclear in helping us interpret the story. On one hand, nuns live admirable committed and contemplative lives, but they are also deprived of some aspects of life that other people hold dear. As "an uncloistered nun," Louisa has a life that includes both "serenity" and "narrowness" (1628). It is the narrow, confining, and restrictive nature of her existence that disrupts (at least for some readers) the image of Louisa as a heroine. The Dog: ambigous, but somewhat negative. The dog is chained up, lives a life below its ability, and doesnt know what it is missing out on, similar to Louisa.

Thematica and structural elements in Entropy

means a gradual decline into disorder, mounting chaos, or too much sameness. Too much sameness can be just as deadly as too much disorder. structurally, continuous interweaving. Thematically it is a altered states of consciousness. A story about the decline of American culture. It goes back and forth between what's happening in Meatball's apartment and what's happening in Callisto's apartment. This is consistent with musical fugue, which interweaves two melodies. And consisted with entropy, the apartments resemble the effects of entropy, Meatball's apartment results in too much chaos, and Callisto's too much sameness. Both a declining into death. The story itself is chaotic, filled with references to science,literature, music, history, and politics. Thematically, dissipation, meatball (alcohol) and callisto (cutting off personal contact with world) are escaping from their lives.

character in cathedral

more realistic than entropy only three characters appear- protagonist unnamed husband, robert, the blind man calls him bub. He is not very welcoming or compassionate, not enthusiastic about the visit from the blind man and says the blindness bothers him. He is jealous of Bub, has stereotypes from movies, and is jealous of his wife's fist husband. He has given up, he doesnt see the point of anything. He shares characteristics of many postmodernist- alienated, apathetic, passive, and avoiding or failing to find meaningful existence. Robert, blind, outgoing, friendly. NOt insulted from the world. Bub becomes blind to try to desrcibe a cathedral, and he feels more than ever. This is his epiphany, and it not a coincidence that he is drawing a cathedral, which is meant to transcend ordinary expereince. Robert lacks the power of sight, Bub lacks insight. It is only when robert instructs him to close his eyes that BUb is able to glimpse a more meaningful existence.

"O Pioneers is an Epic"

notice that Cather's work is obviously a literary epic rather than a traditional or folk epic, because it is the creation of Cather's imagination rather than an oral tale told by earlier generations. Epics include grand settings, and the Great Plains is just that. Incredibly expansive and same. Alexandra is a character who is able to be strong and counter the force of nature. Throughout the novel, Alexandra is compared to her brothers, Oscar and Lou. They serve as foils to Alexandra; that is, their lack of imagination and antipathy to risk-taking highlight those very qualities that Alexandra embodies She certainly qualifies as a protagonist that is brave and wise. She is able to save the farm, and use her imagination to see what it could become In O Pioneers! the landscape of the Great Plains is presented as a powerful supernatural entity, a spirit with a consciousness.It is against this supernatural being—the landscape of the Great Plains—that Alexandra pits her imagination and daring; and she wins. Therefore, her strength must be superhuman to struggle successfully against such a force. As we have discussed, she is not like the ordinary mortals around her; she is larger than life. It is not so much through force, however, that she succeeds in taming the wild spirit of the plains. Instead, it is through love and empathy that the land yields to her, rather than her overpowering it: That is, Alexandra's mythic proportions are complemented by the grand scale of both place and time: of the Great Plains and of geologic ages. Although not a traditional epic in the form of a narrative poem, O Pioneers! is a literary epic that recounts the adventures of a hero of almost mythic proportions, who embodies the traits of a natio briefly elevated style

Poetry

one of the three or four major literary genres, along with fiction, drama, and sometimes nonfiction prose. Poetry is a subset of verse (broadly speaking, ay rhymical or metrical composition) that is generally considered superior by virtue of its imaginative quality, intricate structure, or sophisticated subject matter.

Possible themes in Entropy

order and disorder, life and death, are the natural cycle of life. Entropy may lead to death, but it is a part of life. No theory or doctrine should be taken as absolute thruth as castillo does. Compromise is the best approach (as Meatball does at the end): between action/passivity, escape/control, chaos/order. Love is a feeble power (it does not save Callisto, Aubade, or the bird; it is weakened by "leakage" for Saul). Nothing (such as love) is effective unless it's active.

Elements of Slave Narrative in "incidents in the life of a slave girl"

physical cruelty-Jacobs experiences some physical abuse at the hands of her owner, Dr. Flint. For example, he strikes her on more than one occasion and once throws her down the stairs. There is a relative lacking of physical abuse in this narrative though. She is more prone to psychological cruelty and rape. She claims that slavery is worse for women than men. And when Jacobs wants to marry the young black man she loves to create her own family, she is prevented from doing so by Dr. Flint. Jacobs explains the attitudes of even relatively "good" owners like the one she had as a child: "my mistress, like many others, seemed to think that slaves had no right to any family ties of their own. All of her grandmother's child went to the auction block. She had much more family ties than most did- she knew her parents and lived with them till they died early deaths She takes literacy more for granted, she learned to read and write from her childhood mistress. The plot pattern is typical in that it begins with her thinking she was free. She has a more gradual dissent into realization, until it cumulates to a time she wished she could die. Although illustrating a lesser downturn than the previous two examples of ironic juxtapositions, notice that Jacobs's ultimate triumph in escaping slavery is somewhat diluted when a white friend, in an effort to secure Jacobs's long-term security, buys her freedom from the Flints, who have been doggedly pursuing her. Jacobs recoils at the idea of being bought and sold, yet once it happens, she feels the lifting of a lifelong burden. Ironic juxtaposition- she was happy she was free, but could never be happy until she had her own home and children. Jacob's longtime involvement with Dr. Flint was always a power struggle. She describes their interactions using words one might choose to describe the history of a war and its many battles: triumph (813), struggle (812), defeat (812), and tyrant (813). An episode such as the one when Flint cuts off her hair is a good example of a power struggle. The action doesn't physically hurt her, but it is a step he takes simply to humiliate her and to prove that he has power over her life. When she claims she is pregnant with Sand's child she is asserting power because it was her choice, she was freeing herself somewhat from the dangers of Mr. Flint. She doesnt actually romantically love Sands. The second main way in which Jacobs resisted Flint was by hiding from him in her grandmother's tiny, un-insulated attic for seven years he few uses of animal imagery in the narrative are more likely to apply to Flint who, for example, is venomous (815) and springs upon her like a tiger (809). We have discussed how Douglass pointed out the hypocrisy of those who professed to be Christians but whose behavior didn't match their values. Of course, Jacobs has already confessed to her own immorality, which makes it somewhat more difficult for her to criticize the behavior of others. Frequently, the slave author himself or herself is a virtuous figure, even under the duress of slavery. In Jacobs's narrative, the grandmother fits the role of the good, faithful, loving, moral, and upstanding slave rather than Jacobs herself. She is able to document the hypocrisy of the slave owners: Jacobs's childhood mistress taught her God's word, as in "Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself" and "Whatsoever ye would that men should do unto you, do ye even so unto them"; however, upon the mistress's death she does not free Jacobs, leaving the young slave to think, "I suppose she did not recognize me as her neighbor" (807). So many slave women gave birth to children fathered by white slave owners that Jacobs remarks on the hypocritical cunning of the law, which guarantees "that licentiousness shall not interfere with avarice" She proves she is at least 50% white She suggests both religious and political hypocrisy in speaking with "contemptuous sarcasm" about her inability to safely attend church after fleeing to New York City because of the constant threat from fugitive slave hunters, acting legally in the non-slavery North: "Oppressed Poles and Hungarians could find a safe refuge in that city; ...but there I sat, an oppressed American, not daring to show my face" Finally, notice the irony when Jacobs speaks of having her freedom bought: "A human being sold in the free city of New York! ...in the nineteenth century of the Christian religion" (824).

rhyme

simply put, the repetition of sounds in two or more words. However, a fuller definition would reveal that there are various kinds of rhyme. Rhyme is not essential to poetry.

Characteristics of a slave narrative

slave narratives not only recount the experience of slavery itself but also describe the life of a given slave who eventually achieves freedom some slave narratives included characters, events, and anecdotes that were based upon truth but that were represented in a way to achieve the most persuasive effect upon the reader. Being taken seriously was only one rhetorical challenge that faced the author of a slave narrative. So the author repeatedly challenges and even criticizes the white audience yet must do so without being too antagonistic or insulting. 1.Documentation of the physical cruelty of slavery 2.Documentation of the break-up of slaves' families 3.A specific plot pattern 4.Animal imagery 5.Documentation of hypocrisy 6.Struggle for power 7.Documentation of varieties of resistance 8.An emphasis on literacy

Literary realism in Editha

social issue: war and the attitudes of ordinary people toward it. Howells is also criticizing that part of the population that believes the war is wrong but lacks the strength of character to act on its beliefs, as embodied by George. Howells is identifying what he believes to be a failure of morality in the American character at this historical moment. We know, for example, that Editha lives in New York and that Mrs. Gearson, George's mother, lives in Iowa. But more important than these recognizable locations are the time period and social environment pinpointed by the Spanish-American War of 1898. the story exhibits verisimilitude by faithfully representing war, whereas a sentimental presentation of war by someone like Editha is nothing short of a lie. "Editha," the story, represents material objectively, whereas Editha, the character, so infuses her perspective with romantic idealism that it bears no relation to actuality.

Rhythm

the basic beat in language that comes from a pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables. Rhythm should be distinguished from meter, which his more formal, organized, regular pattern of stressed/unstressed syllables. Meter is not essential to poetry, but rhythm is. in fact, rhythm is a natural part of written and spoken language, but poetry uses it in repetition, parallelism, line length, harmonious sounds) to enhance the rhythm of poetry so that it is distinguished from ordinary speech patterns and from prose.

Rhyme scheme

the pattern of rhyme in a poem. To provide a way of describing rhyme schemes, a lower case letter is typically assigned to each new rhyming sound.

Myth

traditional, anonymous, often supernatural story told by a particular cultural group to explain phenomena such as the creation of the world, the creation of people, death, the afterlife, and so on. Myths from different cultures offer strikingly similar explanations, which led psychiatrist Carl Jung to argue that myths reveal a collective unconscious among all human beings. Many writers have incorporated myths into their works in an effort to tap into the power of a collective unconscious and touch their readers on a deep, elemental level of thought and emotion.

Characteristics of slave narrative in "Incidents in the life of a slave girl" Harriet Jacobs

trying to win over a judgemental audience relatively little physical brutality compared to other narratives, however she experience psychological abuse by Dr. Flint. She was always in danger of being raped though. She says slavery is worse for women because of this. Break up of the family and literacy: her grandma's children never escaped slavery. Dr. Flint would not let her marry the man of her own chosing. But uniquely, her family was a little more together. She lived with her parents when she was young, and even when she escaped she kept up a good relationship with her Grandma. Literacy: she learned when she was young. Ultimately, literacy may be responsible for saving her hard-won freedom: as a result of reading the newspaper, Jacobs became aware that Flint's daughter, Mrs. Dodge, was in town tracking her down Plot: starts out with her realizing slowly her state. When she finally does, she wants to die. This story is full of ironic juxtaposition, where good things actually turn out to be bad. For example, she falls in love... but is saddened by it because she realizes that any joy that would come of love would be squelched by Dr. Flint. She begins a relationship with Mr. Sands to get back at flint, which demonstrates the struggle of powers. She finally becomes free when a white friend buys her and sets her free. Freedom is not her only goal. She is writing to a female audience and says that her dreams will not be realized until she has home and a hearth that she can sit with her children at. the entire time she struggles with power, using words like tyrant, defeat, struggle, triumph. she resists dr. flint through taking mr. sands as her lover, and hiding in the attic for 7 years. This is an indirect view of animal imagery, a more direct example is applied to Flint who is "venemous" and "springs on her like a tiger" Hipocrasy: jacob's mistress taught her biblical sayings, but didnt apply them to jacobs. jacobs confessed her own immorality, which makes it hard for her to criticize others. she uses blantant irony when discussing the law that says the condition of the mother should be the condition of the child. she talks about her inability to attend church in NYC with contemptuous sarcasm.

couplet

two successive lines of rhyming verse

occasional verse

written to celebrate or commemorate a particular occasion or event. The tone of poetry can vary depending upon the nature of the event. In general. these poems tend not to have lasting importance, because they are written for a specific occasion, although some occasional verse defies the tendency. "For the Union Dead" Robert Lowell

Harriet JAcobs Character

wrote a slave narrative. Was born a slave and was sold out of slavery by a white friend.