English: Short Story Test

motifs

cinderella, fairy tale, revenge, childhood, duality, good and evil

social competition

jealousy and peer pressure drives the relationship between Marjorie and Bernice reflecting the issues of adolescent social competition for attention, boyfriends and popularity

guant

lean

themes

life is unpredictable in modern time people are often presented with false hopes and promises

diction

military diction creates verisimilitude

1st person point of view creates

narrow perception, suspense, immediacy

immobile

not moving, motionless

3rd person point of view

omniscient narrator- all knowing, creates dramatic irony limited narrator- describes things as they happen, creates more suspense

vigilance

the action or state of keeping careful watch for possible danger or difficulties

diction

the author uses linguistic devices often associated with children: simplicity of language, list making

diction x2

the author uses poetic language to bring the childhood experience to life

theme

"There's never two of anything" the author takes a nostalgic look back at the pleasures of a simple childhood experience connecting with an adult in preparation of the holidays

black room on the westernmost side- meaning

"red death" red-red window, death- black room

biblical allusion

"thief in the night"

Everyday Use

Alice Walker

A Horseman in the Sky

Ambrose Bierce

setting

America, the 1920s, the "Jazz Age" the "Roaring Twenties"

A Young Girl's Wish

Amy Tan

characters

Carter Druse, his father

setting

China, in the most "beautiful" city of Guilin

The Masque of the Red Death

Edgar Allen Poe

In Another Country

Ernest Hemingway

Bernice Bobs Her Hair

F. Scott Fitzgerald

Separating

John Updike

new image for women

Marjorie: popular, restless, seldom embarrassed, never frightened Bernice: loner, stodgy, easily embarrassed, sensible

plot

Miss Moore takes the kids up to the toy store and shows how money makes a difference

Young Goodman Brown

Nathaniel Hawthorne

setting

New York,

shroud

a cover

plot

Olivia was awakened by her half-sister Kwan on her first morning in China. She and her husband, Simon, were staying in Guilin and they planned to visit Kwan's hometown of Changmian. Guilin was supposed to be China's most beautiful city, but Changmian was rumored to be cursed. Kwan was born in China and lived there until Olivia's mother brought her to America to live with their family when Olivia was six. Her father had told her mother about Kwan on his death bed and had asked her to bring her to America. As they walked through the streets of Guilin, they spotted a vendor selling a cat-eagle. Kwan bought the owl and told Olivia that she would set it free on top of a mountain in Changmian called Young Girl's Wish. Girls in her village would go to the top of the mountain and make a wish. Her guardian in China, Big Ma, told her that such dreams were silly, but all of her wishes except one came true: she had her sister, Olivia; she had returned to China with her sister; and her last wish, for Big Ma to see this and say she was sorry for sending her away, never came true. Kwan was going back to Changmian now in part to confront Big Ma and make that third wish come true. They take a taxi to Changmian. The taxi driver's name is Rocky and his fast driving shocks Olivia and Simon. On the way there, they pass by an awful accident involving a bus. Kwan says she can see many "yin people" or ghosts. When they finally get to Changmian, the village seems familiar to Olivia from Kwan's many stories. There are a dozen villagers waiting to greet them. Kwan greets each one, than stops. She tells them that Big Ma has died, and she is overcome with grief. She seems to be talking to Big Ma's ghost and telling her that she knew. When they find out later that Big Ma died in the bus accident they saw, Olivia asks her what Big Ma's ghost said to her. Kwan says that she said she was wrong about Young Girl's Wish and was sorry that she sent her away.

The Lesson

Toni Cade Bambara

A Christmas Memory

Truman Capote

modernism

a literary movement in which writers tried to capture the essence of modern life in both the form and content of their work

life is unpredictable

War's impact on individuals leaves them rethinking their former goals in life. The major's marriage which had supported him is suddenly over when his wife dies after a short illness

point of view

a particular attitude or way of considering a matter

setting

a precipice in West Virginia, a border state in 1861 (Civil War); setting makes the plot possible

ambush

a surprise attack by people living in wait in a concealed position

impetuous

acting or done quickly and without thought or care

themes

anti-war, whenever you kill someone in war you are killing a member of your (human) family

main characters

buddy, his friend (old lady)

"In the fall the war was always there, but we did not go to it any more."

considered one the most memorable opening lines in all of American literature. Line is simple and direct yet evoke a sense of desolation and despair

freedom for young people

dancing: "jazz nourished generation", riding around in cars, language of adolescent slang

woods at "deep dusk"- meaning

darkness and doubt

plot

daughter of a family comes home to visit after remaking herself and giving herself a new name, wants to take the quilts and be hung up but the mom says no and gives them to the little sister

theme

death is inevitable, you can't escape/cheat death

theme

death reveals a beauty in life

grotesque

deformed

pestilence

epidemic

plot

events presented as if they were snapshots: Virginia setting, the conversation between Druse and father at home, the return to the regiment in the valley

young goodman brown-meaning

everyman

plot

exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, resolution

dauntless

fearless

tranquil

free from disturbance, calm

perilous

full of danger or risk

faith brown-meaning

goodman brown's faith in humanity and society

theme

harmony and conflicts within the African American culture

simile

he had come like a thief in the night

hale

healthy

Hemingway's "iceberg" theory

his syntax is sparse omitting explanations and interpretations

contagion

infection

pink ribbons- meaning

innocence/sexuality

formidable

inspiring fear or respect through being impressively large, powerful, intense, or capable

sagacious

intelligent, clever, wise

movement of the plot

is guided by the words of Druse's father presented in the flashback "...do what you conceive to be your duty."

bizare

outlandish, peculiar

journey- meaning

philosophical search

2nd person point of view used for

preaching and teaching (uses the word "one")

prince prospero-meaning

prosperous

commemorate

recall and show respect for (someone or something) in a ceremony

short stories were a vehicle for

reflecting or criticizing social values

diction

repeats the words "cold", "wind", and "death" uses "boys" to describe the soldiers emphasizing their youth

setting

rural Georgia in the early 1970s

setting

rural southern America during the Depression of the 1930s

orgin

short stories became popular because American's were a working culture and didn't have time to read books, short stories could be read in one sitting so they were perfect

short story definition

short, prose, fiction, narrative

themes

social competition, freedom for young people, new image for women

theme

struggle, confusion, conflict, acceptance and separation

diction x2

subtle diction in the description of setting emphasizes height

theme

that everyman has this fight with good and bad, original sin

theme

that there is a divide between cultures, based on money

the old man with the staff- meaning

the Devil (snake-like staff)

personification

the Red Death as a person

submission

the action or fact of accepting or yielding to a superior force or to the will of authority of another person

in modern time people are often presented with false hopes and promises

the broken lives of the young soldiers are obvious because of their injuries and inability to go back...to the war or a normal life. The "machines" become symbols of the false promises of the modern age

setting x2

the characters are part of the generation the Gertrude Stein characterized as "lost"

characterization

the concept of creating characters for a narrative. It is a literary element and may be employed in dramatic works of art or everyday conversation. Characters may be presented by means of description, through their actions, speech, thoughts and interactions with other characters.

silhouette

the dark shape and outline of someone or something visible against a lighter background, especially in dim light

setting

the environment in which a story or event takes place. Setting can include specific information about time and place (e.g. Boston, Massachusetts, in 1809) or can simply be descriptive (eg. a lonely farmhouse on a dark night).

tone

the general character or attitude of a place, piece of writing, situation, etc.

protagonist

the leading character or one of the major characters in a drama, movie, novel, or other fictional text

setting

the men are in a hospital in Italy during WW1, the details of setting reflect a somber and melancholy modd

plot

the parents of the Maples family figuring out when to tell their kids that they are getting a divorce

conflict

the red death and the people, man vs supernatural

masked figure- meaning

the red death, TB

seven rooms- meaning

the stages of life

structure

the story lacks an exposition or resolution; this reflects the perception that life is uncertain, unpredictable and confusing

theme

the subject of a talk, a piece of writing, a person's thoughts, or an exhibition; a topic.

structure x2

there are no direct statements, but only impressions so that the reader makes his own conclusions about war

ebony clock- meaning

time running out, ebony-black wood

short story Poe's definition

under 100 pages, can read in one sitting

short stories dealt with

universal experiences such as love, war, death, jealousy, revenge

setting

unknown plot of land

modernism example

use of direct statement and straightforward passages with little elaboration, using rhythmic and precise language creates and new and recognizable in prose writing

allegory

uses symbolic elements to represent various human characteristics and situations

casement

window