Honors English 11

chiasmus

"A pattern in which the second part is balanced against the first but with the parts reversed." In "Firestone snow tires" the vowel sounds in Firestone (long I, followed by a long O) are reversed in snow tires (long o, followed by and a long I). [←Harmon and Holman]. John Kennedy's imperative, "Ask not what your country can do for you but what you can do for your country" is another example

Tragedy

"Absurd:...sense that human beings, cut off from their roots, live in meaningless isolation in an alien universe....views human beings as moving from the nothingness from which they came to the nothingness in which they will end through an existence marked by anguish and absurdity"; [←Harmon and Holman→] "Absurd, Theater of the...drama that presents a view of the absurdity of the human condition by the abandoning of usual or rational devices and by use of nonrealistic form. Conceived in perplexity and spiritual anguish, the theater of the absurd presents not a series of connected incidents telling a story but a pattern of images presenting people as bewildered creatures in an incomprehensible universe." First true example: Ionesco's The Bald Soprano; Best known: Beckett's Waiting for Godot; Best Known Playwrights (1950's-1960's): ↑ in addition to Ionesco and Beckett= Edward Albee; Harold Pinter

theater of the absurd

"Absurd:...sense that human beings, cut off from their roots, live in meaningless isolation in an alien universe....views human beings as moving from the nothingness from which they came to the nothingness in which they will end through an existence marked by anguish and absurdity"; [←Harmon and Holman→] "Absurd, Theater of the...drama that presents a view of the absurdity of the human condition by the abandoning of usual or rational devices and by use of nonrealistic form. Conceived in perplexity and spiritual anguish, the theater of the absurd presents not a series of connected incidents telling a story but a pattern of images presenting people as bewildered creatures in an incomprehensible universe." First true example: Ionesco's The Bald Soprano; Best known: Beckett's Waiting for Godot; Best Known Playwrights (1950's-1960's): ↑ in addition to Ionesco and Beckett= Edward Albee; Harold Pinter

metonymy

"The substitution of the name of an object closely associated with a word for the word itself." (←Harmon and Holman). In slang, money was once called "bread" because money is associated with meeting needs. Earning money through "sweat of the brow" associates sweat with intense physical labor. Thus, sweat is also an example of metonymy.

Philosophy of Composition

Poe - 1844-5 1. Every plot must be thought through at least to the denouement 2. Consistent tone is essential to unity of effect 3. Work mis be tried (able to read in a single sitting) to sustain effect 4. Direct ration between brevity and intensity of intended effect 5. Before putting pen to paper, writer must determine (in this order) length, effect, tone 6. Melancholy is the most legitimate of poetic tones 7. Beauty is the most legitimate of poetic subject matter (elevates the soul, not the intellect) 8. Truth and Passion are appropriate for prose, rather than poetry

situational irony

The opposite of what is expected occurs: the death of a life guard who wades in shallow water to save a struggling child who later successfully swims to shore is an example of situational irony.

apostrophe

The use of direct address, usually in poetry. The speaker may address an absent person (the lover), an object (the moon), or even a personified concept (war). "Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?" [From a Shakespearean sonnet]

grotesque

____ is achieved in literature when the work elicits simultaneously from the reader laughter and horror. The ____ based incongruity, makes the reader uneasy. The ____ is characteristic of the 20th century and is especially prevalent in works of Southern Regionalism, such as stories by Flannery O'Connor, Eudora Welty, Carson McCulllers. One example of a ____ incident occurs in Faulkner's novel, As I Lay Dying, when young Vardaman nails holes into his mother's coffin (and face) so that she can breathe while inside the box.

gothic

____ literature usually features gloomy settings and supernatural events. ____ works often deal with forbidden themes, such as madness, suicide, incest, necrophilia, etc. ____ novel became popular in England during the 18th C. with authors such as Monk Lewis and Anne Radcliffe. Although Edgar Allan Poe never wrote novels of any kind, he penned many ____ short stories, including "The Fall of the House of Usher."; Charles Brockden Brown was one of the first American ____ novelists.

typology

a framework of Puritan belief that colored much colonial literature. The Old Testament of the Bible is seen as revealing what is to come in The New Testament and even in contemporary events. Thus, the colonist sometimes alluded to themselves as "the new chosen people," or "the new Adam." This set of beliefs also involved, on a more primitive level, reading every day events as signs of God's approval or disapproval. If I stumble in the forest, God does not approve of my chosen path in life. The belief system, relying heavily on allegory, metaphor, and symbol, influenced American thought and literature through and beyond the nineteenth century.

realism

a literary movement in the United States flourished between the Civil War and WWI, reaching its height 1870-1900. Realist literature was influenced by French novelists, such as Emile Zola. Industrialization and urbanization, spreading across the northeastern US in the late nineteenth century, also made for particularly effective subject matter for Realism. Realism sought to portray the representative, not the unusual or the individual, realistically and objectively. Most realist works were written from third-person point of view. Realism sought to portray the average man in a literature that was free of subjectivity and romanticism. William Dean Howells, often cited as the "Father of American Realism," served as the chief editor of the Atlantic Monthly, an influential periodical (magazine), from 1871-1881. In this capacity, Howells was able to publish and promote the careers of the most successful realist writers, including Mark Twain, Henry James, Frank Norris, Stephen Crane, Jack London, and many others. Howells himself wrote over 30 novels and articulated the primary principles of realism, including the key role of keen observation in good writing and the suggestion that the writer focus only on subjects taken from careful research or first-hand experience.

caesura

a poetic device that occurs when a pause is created within a line of poetry, rather than simply at the end of lines or sentences. Emily Dickinson's reliance on dashes—often within the line—frequently creates caesura. Perhaps the most famous example of caesura comes from Alexander Pope (18th Century English poet): "To err is human, to forgive divine."

paradox

a statement that at first seems absurd or contradictory but which, upon closer examination, make sense. To paraphrase Hamlet, "I must be cruel to be kind."

Symbol

a symbol is a tangible object that stands for an abstract quality or concept. A heart is often symbol for love. A flag might be a symbol for patriotism.

Charles Brockden Brown

anticipated American gothic novels, doesn't follow sentimental novel, writes about the supernatural. Novels - Edgar Huntly, Wieland, Arthur Mervyn - Americanized gothic since America didn't have the old churches and ruined castles of Europe

Tragic Irony

as is the case when Romeo kills himself because he believes that Juliet is dead. The reader, or audience member, knows that Juliet is not, in fact, dead.

Ann Bradstreet

born in England, raised in America as a Puritan, considered the first American poet. The Tenth Muse, Lately Sprung Up in America (1650) was published in England without her notice. Second edition published with her corrections and additions titled Several Poems Compiled With Great Variety of Wit and Learning

analogy

comparison made between a familiar occurrence, object or idea and one that is new, difficult, abstract or foreign. May also be a simile or a metaphor. Ex: Jonathon Edwards Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God - "The bow of God's wrath is bent, and the arrow made ready on the string, and justice bends the arrow at your heart and strains the bow..." In this example, the familiar image of an arrow ready to fly from a bent bow is used to convey the abstract concept —the immediacy and inevitability of God's vengeance.

Travel literature

descriptions of the New World (flora,fauna, Native Americans, climate, etc.) John Smith - Descriptions of New England (1616) William Byrd - The History of the Dividing Line (between NC and VA) (ca 1730)

dramatic irony

involves information held by the reader or the audience but not by key fictional characters. Dramatic Irony is usually also Tragic Irony

synesthesia

is "the concurrent response of two or more of the senses to the stimulation of one. "loud shirt" and "hot pink" are example. Emily Dickinson writes (in "I heard a Fly buzz- when I died") of "a blue, uncertain stumbling buzz."

aside

is a brief comment from a character in a play. This comment can be heard by the audience, but not by any other characters on the stage. The audience is in the privileged position of hearing the character "talk to himself." In Hamlet, the young prince notes of his relationship with his uncle and now father, "A little more than kin and less than kind"

synecdoche

is a figure of speech in which a part is used to signify the whole; when we hear the phrase, for example, "boots on the ground," we understand that entire troops of ground forces are involved, not merely their footwear,

litotes

is a literary device from France found frequently in medieval works and in poetry. In a litotes the positive is affirmed by negating its opposite: "The lady was not unmindful" as a litotes implies that the lady was sharply aware. Thus, litotes can be used as an ironic form of understatement.

iambic pentameter

is a poetic verse form comprised of five iambs (or five stressed syllables) in each line

iambic pentameter

is a two-syllable foot of poetic meter consisting of an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable. In the word afraid, the first syllable a is unstressed or unaccented, while the second syllable fraid is stressed or accented. Lines of verse that include predominantly four iambs (eight syllables) per line are said to be written in iambic tetrameter. Verse whose lines are predominantly five iambs (ten syllables in the repeated pattern of unstressed, stressed) are said to be written in ____. Ann Bradstreet's "The Author to her Book" is written in ____

Alliteration

is created through the repetition of initial consonant sounds. Dunkin Donuts defiantly dares to double my dietary deficit.

foreshadowing

is material is a work that prepares the reader or audience for future events or action. An example of foreshadowing can be found in Hamlet when the ghost of the dead king walks in full armor, as if dressed for war.

free verse

is poetry that features neither meter nor rhyme. Whitman's "Song of Myself" is one of the first significant poems in American literature written in ____

didactic novel

meant to teach a lesson, often epistolary novels (told through letters)

allegory

narrative in which characters, settings, conflicts, objects and plot incidents carry meaning simultaneously on two levels. Ex: Pilgrim's Progress by John Bunyan - protagonist Christian completes a journey to the Celestial City. In the course of his journey, Christian comes closer to his destination through overcoming many challenges (Vanity Faire; Sloth of Despond, etc.) from which he learns valuable lessons. Obviously, Christian is both a traveler as the protagonist on a literal level, but he is also an allegorical representation of all Christians trying to reach heaven. Thus, throughout the novel, settings, characters, incidents, conflicts, and objects work together in an elaborate system to advance the literal plot story but also to develop the abstract allegorical meaning.

sentimental novel

one of the earliest forms of the novels, features characters in heightened emotional states and seeks to evoke similar emotions from its readers. The plot usually involves some sort of domestic tragedy that tests the moral virtue of the heroine (or, less often, hero). Thus, sentimental novels are often also didactic novels (novels intended to teach a moral lesson). Many of the first sentimental novels, such as Pamela by Samuel Richardson, were composed as a series of letters, and-- as such--may also be classified as epistolary novels.

oxymoron

oxymoron often involves an adjective-noun compound such as "jumbo shrimp" or "living death." The primary feature of an oxymoron, however, is the immediate linking of two opposites.

Washington Irving

satire and humorous gothic, transplanted European myths, rendering them distinctly American. The Sketch Book (1820) -Collection of short stories Bracebridge Hall (1822) Tales of a Traveller (1824) positive about the agamic myth

frontier humor

tall tales, based on exaggeration

personification

the attribution of human qualities to non-human objects. "The sky wept" is an example.

Verbal irony

the opposite of what is intended is stated: a protagonist's reference to his enemy as a "swell guy" is an example of verbal irony

consonance

the repetition of consonant sounds in the middle or at the end of words (as opposed to alliteration, the repetition of consonant sounds at the beginning of words). I looked up from the cap I held in my hand and wondered if I should launder the headgear.

dramatic monologue

type of poem (genre of poetry) in which a single speaker addresses an un-named but often identifiable listener at a moment of crisis. The poem reveals the character of the speaker and is thus a psychological study. Robert Browning's "My Last Duchess" and T. S. Eliot's "Te Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" are examples

blank verse

unrhymed iambic pentameter

unreliable narrator

(also, see Intentional Ambiguity): Unreliable narrators may inaccurately convey or interpret the very events they report. This unreliability may come about because the narrator lacks honest perception, psychological stability, or sophistication. Diedrich Knickerbocker in Irving's short stories is one example of an unreliable narrator. Quentin Compson in Faulkner's The Sound and the Fury is another.

Stream of consciousness

(and internal monologue)`is an interior narrative that records the unspoken and unedited flow of thoughts, impressions, memories, and associations. The technique attempts to capture the mind of an individual at a given moment. Stream of consciousness can provide psychological insight into the character and is a technique found primarily in modern and post-modern works. Harmon and Holman begin their definition with, "The total range of awareness and emotive-emotional response of an individual from the lowest pre-speech level to the highest fully articulated level of rational thought." William Faulkner and James Joyce are two novelists who employ stream of consciousness.

satire

(topical and universal): "A work or manner that that blends a censorious attitude with humor and with for the sake of improving human institutions or humanity" (←Harmon and Holman). Universal satire will usually apply to all people, all cultures, and all times. Much of Twain's satire of the "human race" is set in America but could be applied to almost any group of people located anywhere in any century (human cruelty, human greed know no temporal or geographic limits). Topical satire is limited to a given place and time. Much of the satire seen on Saturday Night Live is topical satire. A literary example of topical satire is Washington Irving's A History of New York, a novel whose footnotes, in the 21st century, almost exceed in length the novel itself. In the work, Irving satirizes politics and political figures of a very specific time and place.

metaphor

1. (tenor and vehicle; extended metaphor): A metaphor is a figure of speech that makes a comparison without using the word like or the word as. A metaphor is comprised of a tangible, familiar object, the vehicle and an abstract concept, the tenor. In the metaphor, "My love is a red, red rose," the rose is the vehicle and love is the tenor. The metaphor is comparing love, an emotion (abstraction) to a rose (a literal flower). An extended metaphor carries the comparison to multiple parallels between the tenor and the vehicle. For example, in Ann Bradstreet's poem her poetic skill is compared to a child (the basic metaphor); the metaphor is extended when the speaker stretches the child's feet to make it walk without a limp (the poet's attempts to improve meter) and when the speaker washes the child's face (engages in additional revisions). The comparison between poetry and a child is extended throughout the poem, "The Author to Her Book."

parody

1. A parody is a type of satire that involves a humorous imitation of a legitimate, serious work of art. Visual art can be parodied (the Mona Lisa and American Gothic are two favorite targets of parody). Music can also be parodied (Weird Al). Literary parodies include mock epics and Fielding's parody Shamela of Richardson's novel Pamela.

point of view

1. The perspective from which the story is told; a narrative may come from first-person limited pointed of view [the narrator tells the story as "I," and is a character in the story (Nick Caraway in The Great Gatsby)]: third-person, omniscient point of view (the narrator is not a character in the story and there are no limits to her or his knowledge; the story) [Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens]; third-person limited involves a narration that seems to be told from an objective if not omniscient perspective, but in fact is a story—told in third person but—largely from the perspective of a single character (Main Street by Sinclair Lewis). Narratives may also be told from multiple points of view, from any blend of those perspectives mentioned above, OR from the points of view of multiple characters (as in As I Lay Dying, a work whose narrator changes with each chapter)

Indian Captivity Narration

1. These narrations, often autobiographical were written primarily in the colonies later to become the United States during King Philip's War (1675-8). The stories are sometimes sensationalized stories of having been taken captive by native Americans, living with a tribe for an extended period, and eventually being released or "restored to civilization." Mary Rowlandson's The Narrative of Captivity and Restoration of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson was one of the most popular of such narratives.

form follows function

1. This phrase, originally borrowed from architecture, indicates in literature that a work's structure and literary devices reflect and complement its subject and theme. For example, Whitman's many catalogues in "Song of Myself" can be seen as consistent of his celebration of America's abundance (expanse and natural resources) and inclusivity (democracy). Because the catalogues often celebrate opposites (death/life; male/female; Black/White), the catalogues also reflect the speaker's desire to reconcile opposites. The speaker implies that the opposing concepts are equal by placing them in the same catalogue and celebrating them equally. Hemingway's understatement complements the hero's value of stoicism. His short sentences and simple words reflect the hero's belief that deliberate control and consciousness may impose some order on a chaotic universe.

catalogue

1. a long list. One epic convention is the cataloguing of ships and warriors. Catalogues often create a sense of vastness, abundance, or breathless detail. An example from Whitman's "Song of Myself": The blab of the pave, tires of carts, sluff of boot-soles, talk of the promenaders, The heavy omnibus, the driver with his interrogating thumb, the clank of the shod horses on the granite floor, The snow-sleighs, clinking, shouted jokes, pelts of snow-balls, The hurrahs for popular favorites, the fury of rous'd mobs, The flap of the curtain'd litter, a sick man inside borne to the hospital, The meeting of enemies, the sudden oath, the blows and fall, The excited crowd, the policeman with his star quickly working his passage to the centre of the crowd,

iamb

1. a poetic foot of two syllables, an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable. This verse form originated in Italy but is also the natural rhythm of the English language. Many poets and playwrights (including Shakespeare) relied on blank verse. The example below is from Milton's Paradise Lost (1667). - But God left free the Will, for what obeys Reason, is free, and Reason he made right, But bid her well beware, and still erect, Lest by some fair appearing good surpris'd She dictate false, and misinform the Will To do what God expressly hath forbid.

imagery

1. a word or phrase that calls forth a picture by appealing to association, memory, and the senses. A series of images calling forth the same picture, or similar pictures, creates an image pattern. If I allude to a tea kettle as "issuing shrill screams and hot tears" as it "stamps angrily upon the stovetop," I've created an image pattern of a temper tantrum. An isolated reference to the kettle's "hot tears," would simple be an image. In prose and poetry, series of images calling forth the same types of pictures might be alluded to as a specific type of imagery—such as "Chopin's The Awakening relies heavily on ocean imagery." The collective term imagery, preceded by no specifying adjective refers to all types of images that have no common point of reference.

cavalier poets

1. also known as The Sons of Ben, were a group of poets in seventeenth-century England who attempted to write in the same style as their contemporary, Ben Jonson. These poets wrote poems with regular meter and rhyme that tended to be very pleasing to the ear (lyrical and sometimes almost sing-songy). They often wrote about love and used traditional, flowery imagery. The ____ were primarily interested in the sound of poetry, rather than its intellectual content. Their most frequently recurring motif was Carpe Diem (Seize the day). The influence both of the _____ and of their literary opposites, The Metaphysical Poets, can be seen in the Puritan poet, Anne Bradstreet.

allusion

1. as a reference to a commonly—or, occasionally, not so commonly—recognized reference from the Bible, mythology, history, popular culture, or any other source assumed to be a shared body of knowledge among readers. Examples include, "the patience of Job", "Strong as Atlas", "rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic," The novel title Death Be Not Proud (John Gunther, 1949) is a literary allusion to John Donne's 10th Holy Sonnet

Harlem Renaissance

1. began in New York shortly after the end of World War I. New York became the intellectual and artistic center for African Americans who had recently migrated to Northern urban areas to find work. African American culture, as expressed through the arts, gained a white and, although somewhat small, moneyed audience. White patrons supported Black musicians (in the area of jazz most specifically), poets, visual artists, and dancers. African-American artists later became less dependent on white patronage, especially with the stock market crash of 1929. Langston Hughes is usually considered one of the most important poetic voices to emerge from the Harlem Renaissance. Other literary figures of the movement include Countee Cullen, Claude McKay, and Zora Neal Hurston.

anaphora

1. features a series of lines in poetry that begin with the identical words or phrases. Such repetition can create rhythm, intensity, or emphasis. An example for Walt Whitman's Song of Myself: And I know that the hand of God is the promise of my own, And I know that the spirit of God is the brother of my own, And that all the men ever born are also my brothers, and the women my sisters and lovers, And that a keelson of the creation is love, And limitless are leaves stiff or drooping in the fields, And brown ants in the little wells beneath them, And mossy scabs of the worm fence, heap' d stones, elder, mullein and poke-weed.

enjambment

1. in poetry occurs when one syntactical or conceptual unit runs into the following line instead of reaching a natural pause or conclusion at the end of the line. The first example below is an example of traditional end-stop poetry. The second is an example on enjambment. End stop: Because I could not stop for Death, He kindly stopped for me; Enjambment: With that some cried, "Away!" Straight I Obeyed, and led

onomatopoeia

1. includes words -such as buzz and hiss—"that by their sound suggest their meaning" [←Harmon and Holman→]. In the best examples, "sound is used to suit sense" as in Tennyson's lines: The moan of doves om immemorial elms And murmuring of innumerable bees

diction

1. indicates a level of discourse. Depending on context of speaker, audience, purpose, & subject, diction may be Colloquial (appropriate for conversation but not for most written communication: "You guys act bummed out.");Standard grammatically correct); Formal (appropriate for official documents and ceremonies); Elevated (used only in the most formal of situations & a stylistic flaw when used In conventional contexts). Diction will often determine voice and tone in poetry.

motif

1. is a recurring series of closely related objects, words, images, or concepts in literature. For example, "distorted time" is a recurring motif if The Great Gatsby as revealed by the protagonist's delusion that he can control time, by images of an outdated train schedule, a broken clock, and by skips, throughout the narration, in chronological time. A motif is usually identified as a syntactical fragment such as "flowers" or "distorted time." A theme, in contrast, must be stated as a complete thought, such as "Greed is the root of all evil." Greed may be a motif, but the word alone is not a statement of theme.

Intentional Ambiguity

1. may occur in prose, poetry, or drama as language or situations that allow for two or more equally plausible readings. In Henry James's The Turn of the Screw, the governess tries to protect children from malicious ghosts, but as the governess is also the narrator, the existence of the ghosts is called into question as the narrator is implied to be—possibly—psychologically unstable and in need of praise and validation. Thus, it may be the needy governess and no ghosts at all that torments the children. Intentional ambiguity, as in the case cited may be used to enrich the narrative with multiple layers of meaning. Intentional ambiguity can also be used comically, as in "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow." The fate of Ichabod Crane is less likely to involve a headless horseman and more likely to involve relocation due to a refused marriage proposal.

assonance

1. most common in verse, can also be found in drama and in prose. Assonance is the repetition of the same vowel sound in close proximity. A not very poetic example is, "He sleeps when not fleet and is most sweet when swept off his feet."

modernism

1. refers to a period that runs approximately 1915-1945; the reality of the modern world is seen as increasingly fragmented, used up, meaningless, materialistic, alienating, and violent. Many feel that religion and authority have little or no importance in a world that is spiritually empty. This modern way of life provokes a modernist response, a search for the "new" in art and literature: new ways of seeing, new ways of saying, new forms in art and literature and new subject matter. In the absence of a unified view of reality, modern writers turned their attention to private, internal realities to call attention to how we create the world in the act of perceiving. Hemingway, Faulkner, and Fitzgerald are Modern American novelists.

Hemingway Code

1. system of conduct and values adopted by male protagonists in most of ____ novels. The beliefs on which this code is based include the following implied tenets: there is probably no God or other authority that can be trusted; man has limited control of his fate, justice and rational outcome are rare in human existence. The code values loyal adherence to ritual, respect for authenticity and tradition, personal responsibility, stoicism, integrity, physical and emotional courage, excellence (in material items and in human performance), dignity, generosity, and fellowship with worthy comrades.

Edward Taylor

1642-1729, New England Puritan left England during the Great Ejection, studied divinity at Harvard

King Phillip's War

1675 - Metacom leads Indians in New England; Indians are tired of being exploited. Wars lasted more than a year, killing over 600 colonists and 6,000 Native Americans - Inspired Indian captivity narration

Benjamin Franklin

1706-1790 culture based on the idea of self-improvement. Signed the Declaration of Independence, the constitution and many other political documents. Also a printer, scientist, philosopher, and inventor.

Nathaniel Hawthorne

1804-1864 Gothic elements, dark treatment of Adamic Myth, importance of fellowship, heart over intellect, science, perfection, motif of seclusion Novels - The Scarlet Letter (1850), The Blithedale Romance (1851), The House of the Seven Gables (1852), The Marble Faun (1860) Collections of Short Stories - Mosses from an Old Manse, The Snow Image and Other Stories, Twice Old Tales

Edgar Allan Poe

1809-1849 Gothic, science, inventor of detective stories Wrote short stories, literary criticism and theory, poetry

The Poetic Principle

1849, Poe most repeated from Composition The lyric is the highest form of poetry poetry shouldn't be didactic

regionalism

46. Also sometime called "local color writing" in the US is defined by Harmon and Holman in A Handbook to Literature as "Fidelity to a particular geographical area; the representation of its habits, speech, manners, history, folklore, or beliefs." Also portrayed are landscapes, flora, fauna, and climate. Harmon and Holman assert that "action and personage of such a work cannot be moved, without major loss or distortion, to any other geographical setting. Examples include "The Bayou" by Kate Chopin, a regionalist of Louisiana and "A Rose for Emily," by William Faulkner, a southern regionalist.

soliloquy

46. In a play, a single character stands on stage, and—as if speaking aloud to himself—speaks a significant number of lines that will usually provide the audience or reader with significant information about internal conflicts, unspoken thoughts, or plans for the future. Hamlet's soliloquy is probably the most famous: "To be or not to be/ That is the question."

Romantic Era

46. Romanticism occurred in most branches of the arts in most Western cultures during the 19th C. In American Literature, the Romantic Era marks the beginning of a national literary voice distinct from that of England. American authors began to capture distinctly American dialects, humor, and cultural concerns. As with other Romantic movements, American literature at this time celebrated the imagination, nature, the unusual, and the individual. American Romantic writers included Irving, Poe, Cooper, Hawthorne, Melville, Whitman, Dickinson, Thoreau, and Emerson.

theme

A central idea, expressed as a complete thought, of a literary work. A single work can have multiple themes. For example, in Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter, themes include (but are not limited to): "Private guilt can be more painful than public guilt"; Violations of the sanctity of the human heart can involve more evil than do violations of man's law."; "Out of great sorrow can come great joy."

simile

A simile is a simple, direct comparison that relies on the word like or on the word as. "His look was cold as ice" is an example of a simile.

Trochaic Tetrameter

A trochee is a two syllable foot of poetic meter comprised of an accented syllable followed by an unaccented syllable. In the word fearful, fear is the accented syllable and full is the unaccented syllable. The repetition four (4x) times of a trochaic (2 syllables) will produce a series of eight-syllable lines of verse, each line featuring the pattern on an accented syllable followed by an unaccented (or "unstressed") syllable. Example from Longfellow's poem The Song of Hiawatha" Should you ask me, whence these stories? Whence these legends and traditions, With the odors of the forest, With the dew and damp of meadows,

Sarah Kemble Knight

American diarist who wrote about colonial customs. Wrote about a business trip she took in a journal called Journey from Boston to New York in the Year 1704. She talked a lot about colonial customs and manners, as well as verse and ornithography. It was published in the Journal f Madame Knight and Rev. Mr. Buckingham in 1825 and as a serial in the Protestant Telegraph of Boston and Litter's Living Age

Susanna Rowson

Charlotte Temple: A Tale of Truth, example of a sentimental novel

Naturalism

Donald Pizer has defined naturalism as "realism infused with determinism." Thus, naturalism is a type of realism and may use the definition of realism as starting point for its own definition. To that foundation, however, we must add the influence of science, particularly genetic and environmental determinism. Genetic determinism originates in Darwin's work, which suggests that man has evolved from more primitive life forms and will revert, particularly in times of stress [feeling deprived, driven, or threatened], to animal behavior. On a more individual level, genetic determinism suggests that a person's physical health, vulnerability to addiction and other psychological disorders are dictated in large part by the genetic make-up of direct ancestors. Environmental determinism suggests that the individual's identity, behavior, and values are formed in response to the physical setting and cultural environment in which he lives. Naturalism often portrays man as animal, struggling in an indifferent universe, against forces he cannot control or understand. Jack London is a famous naturalist. Naturalists portrayed characters who were shaped more by environment and genetics than by free will or individuality.

enlightenment

In the United States _____ occurred during the eighteenth century. The movement came from Europe and England, stressing human intelligence and reason. Benjamin Franklin and many of America's other founding fathers were inspired by this philosophical movement, and thus its influence is apparent in the Constitution. The ____ focuses on man's role in this world and promotes the fullest achievement of human potential. Not surprisingly, the _____ is marked by many achievements in scientific advances, geographic discoveries, practical inventions, and written argument. In the U.S., the movement's emphasis on human achievement and reason upset many traditional Puritans and other religious constituents. In response to the ____ new values, these folks became more rigidly devout in a reactionary response. This counter movement in response to the _____ became known as The Great Awakening (1730's and 40's) and featured such talented orators as Jonathan Edwards ("Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God").

Most popular literary genres of the colonial era

Indian Captivity Narration Political Documents and Religious Sermons Personal Journals Travel literature