CATCHER IN THE RYE REVIEW

examples of foreshadowing

"I went to your father and had him psychoanalyze me and all? What would he do to me?"—foreshadowing to show that Holden is lost in adult society and will need to hospitalized and psychoanalyzed later on in novel

example of stream-of-consciousness

"Up real close to, so I could smell her breath. She didn't smell bad or anything. Don't get me wrong, she just didn't smell quite right. I mean girls should smell a certain way-like baby powder, new clothes and perfume. Something that was girlish, y'know. Jean, I swear, smelled like a fruit salad or Old Spice. I hate Old Spice. I mean I like Jean fine, y'know. She's great, but I just couldn't smell her."

Faith Cavendish

- a "friend" of Eddie Birdsell; she likes to have a good time, if you know what we mean, Holden calls her when he gets to NY in the middle of the night; he asks her if she wants to go and get a drink, but she eventually agrees asking if she would want to go out with him tomorrow night, and Holden responds NO, he is too busy (THIS IS A LIE)

examples of similes

1. "He said, in this one part, that a woman's body is like a violin and all, and that it takes a terrific musician to play it right." 2. "He put my goddam paper down then looked at me like he'd just beaten hell out of me in ping-pong or something." (12) 3. "That guy Morrow was about as sensitive as a goddam toilet seat." (55) 4. "She was about as kindhearted as a goddam wolf. You take somebody that cries their goddam eyes out over phony stuff in the movies, and nine times out of ten they're mean bastards at heart. I'm not kidding." (140)

examples of metaphors

1. "People coming and putting a bunch of flowers on your stomach on Sunday, and all that crap. Who wants flowers when you're dead? Nobody." 2. "It rained all over the place. All the visitors that were visiting the cemetery started running like hell over to their cars. That's what nearly drove me crazy. All the visitors could get in their cars and turn on their radios and all and then go someplace nice for dinner - everybody except Allie." 3. "I keep picturing all these little kids playing some game in this big field of rye and all. Thousands of little kids, and nobody's around--nobody big, I mean--except me. And I'm standing on the edge of some crazy cliff. What I have to do, I have to catch everybody if they start to go over the cliff--I mean if they're running and they don't look where they're going I have to come out from somewhere and catch them. That's all I'd do all day. I'd just be the catcher in the rye and all."—poem is a metaphor for Holden's dream of fear of growing up, as well as his desire to help other children through the process

examples of connotation

1. Cold as a witch's teat 2. Strictly for the birds 3. I got the ax—figuratively he was let go from Pencey (because literal interpretation of this does not make sense in context)

examples of denotation

1. Dictionary definition 2. Holden is worried that someone gave the direct meaning for the words written in the halls/on the walls of the school

examples of hyperboles

1. How many phonies there are 2. "It's really ironical, because I'm six foot two and a half and I have gray hair. I really do. The one side of my head-the right side-is full of millions of gray hairs. I've had them ever since I was a kid. And yet I still act sometimes like I was only about twelve." (9) 3. "It's really ironical, because I'm six foot two and a half and I have gray hair." (Ch. 2) 4. "It's no fun to be yellow. Maybe I'm not all yellow. I don't know. I think maybe I'm just partly yellow and partly the type that doesn't give much of a damn if they lose their gloves" (Ch. 13) 5. "It was playing "Oh, Marie!" It played that same song about fifty years ago when I was a little kid." (210) 6. "She [Phoebe] has bout five thousand notebooks. You never saw a kid with so many notebooks." (160) 7. People's personalities 8. Helps us to know he is unreliable

Pencey Prep

1. Pencey Prep-prep school that Holden attends (Pennsylvania); gets expelled for failing all of his classes except English; represent the phony, cruel world of those who run the school; advertisements for PPrep are misleading and feature "some hot shot guy on a horse" performing equestrian feats; Holden says he has never seen a horse there; motto "since 1888 we have been molding boys into splendid, clear-thinking young men"—only two men fit that—Stradlater; his teacher; part of the fencing team; sits on the hill to watch the football game, instead of watching it from the stadium; serve steak at the dining halls on Saturday nights—so when parents come they known it follows stereotypically wealthy families lives; old Spencer teachers there

examples of symbols

1. The "Catcher in the Rye"—merits close inspection; first comes about when he watches kid singing song "Coming Thro' the Rye"—wants to protect children from falling off the edge of cliff by "catching them if they were on the verge of tumbling over. 2. Holden's Red Hunting Hat- uniqueness and individuality; hat is outlandish and it shows that Holden is different from everyone; he always mentions when he is wearing it, and he doesn't wear if it he is going to be around people he knows; when he puts it on forward he is searching for a friend, if he takes it off then doesn't want a friend, 3. Museum of Natural History- symbolic meaning of museum's display and frozen and unchanging 4. Ducks in Central Park Lagoon—ducks represent the curiosity of youth and a joyful willingness to encounter the mysteries of world 5. Pencey Prep 6. Greying hair—in a transitional state; not like the others -he's unconventional; appearance does not match emotional age 7. Fish in the pond 8. The Carousel 9. Allie's left-handed fielder's mitt

Holden Caulfied

16 year old; junior; expelled from Pencey Prep; narrator of story; unreliable narrator and uses cynical/jaded voice; protagonist; he tries to protect himself from pain and disappointment of adult world; uncomfortable with his own weaknesses; stands on cliff separating childhood from adulthood; his inability to successfully negotiate the chasm leaves him on the verge of emotional collapse

picaresque novel

A term for a form of narrative that recounts the adventures of a pícaro (Spanish for "rogue"). Usually exhibiting an episodic structure, in which the pícaro moves from one situation to another, the form generally satirizes the characters or societies it depicts; A style of fiction in which the main character is an outsider or rogue, but likeable and appealing to the reader.

examples of static characters

Ackley, Stradlater, The girls at the Lavender Club, Old Spencer, Sally Hayes, Phoebe-she's on the verge of becoming a dynamic character

examples of allusions

David Copperfield, Radio City Music Hall Christmas Show, "Just One of Those Things" (song), The Great Gatsby; Title of The Catcher in the Rye

Rockettes and Radio City Music Hall

Holden goes to Radio City Music Hall to kill time before date and sees the dancers with the kick line and the sentimental war movie, which represents much of what Holden despises about inauthentic art that panders to the audience; sees nothing religious or beautiful about the stage show—he thinks "old Jesus probably would've puked if He could see it."; the precision of the Rockette's chorus line leaves Holden cold; the movie is worse, because it manipulates the audience into a sentimental glorification of war and the military, which Holden despises; lady next to him—ironic as she was crying during the movie and wasn't paying any attention to the kid next to hear that had to use the rest room

"rest home"

Holden writes his story from a rest home to which he has been sent for therapy. He begins the book in the rest home and finishes up in a rest home—bookend structure

Hollywood

Holden's brother D.B. lives in Hollywood being a writer and drives a Jaguar; "No he's out in Hollywood, D.B. being a prostitute"

old Spencer

Holden's history teacher at Pencey Prep; gets the grippe; unsuccessfully tries to shave Holden out of his academic apathy; Holden comes to visit him at his home before he leaves Pencey prep; reads Holden's paper to him and yells at him; not the wealthiest as he does not have maids that open the door at his home

Ackley

Holden's next door neighbor at Pencey Prep; pimply, insecure boy with terrible dental hygiene; often barges into Holden's room and acts completely oblivious to Holden's hints that he should leave; touches everything and asks so MANY QUESTIONS; Holden believes that Ackley makes up elaborate lies about his sexual experience; Holden is his only friend

D.B.

Holden's older brother; dated Lillian, whom Holden sees in the bar; lives in Hollywood; drives a Jaguar; wrote a volume of short stories that Holden admires, but Holden feels that D.B. prostitutes his talents by writing Hollywood movies

Stradlater

Holden's roommate at Pencey Prep; athletic jock who stole the basketball coach's car; handsome, self-satisfied; popular, but Holden calls him a "secret slob," because he appears well groomed, but his toiletries, such as his razor, as disgustingly unclean, sexually active and quite experienced for a prep school student, which is why Holden calls him a "sexy bastard"; uses Holden for his stuff and beats him up after his date with Jane; asks Holden to borrow his jacket and write a paper for him

Mr. Antolini

Holden's teacher at Elkton Hills; the adult that Holden trusts the most; Holden turns to him in his time of need because Mr. Antolini cared for a fellow outcast—Holden identifies with caring for outcasts and he himself is an outcast who needs saving/protection; homosexual—pats Holden while he sleeps

Phoebe

Holden's ten-year-old sister, whom he loves dearly; although she is six years younger than Holden, she listens to what he says and understands him more than most other people do; intelligent, neat, wonderful dancer, and a childish innocence is one of Holden's only consistent sources of happiness throughout the novel; she exhibits great maturity and even chastises Holden for his immaturity; Phoebe seems to recognize that Holden is his own worst enemy

Allie

Holden's younger brother; dies of leukemia three years before the start of the novel; brilliant, friendly, red-headed boy; smartest of the Caulfields; Holden is tormented by Allie's death and carries around a baseball glove on which Allie used to write poems in green ink

example of dynamic character

Holden--carousel scene where he has revelation about innocence

Central Park

Phoebe's favorite place to hang out—goes skating a lot; Holden is curious about where the ducks and the fish go in the winter in the Central Park Lagoon; goes to Central Park to look for Phoebe and meets her friend who is polite and skating; goes to Central Park in middle of night with the record—shatters into two hundred pieces; thinks he is going to get pneumonia and die

Sunny

Prostitute with home Holden hires through Maurice; one of the number of whom in the book with whom Holden clumsily attempts to connect; walks in his room with a Polo coat; creeps Holden out; too young to be a prostitute; her name is ironic—her personality doesn't match her name

examples of apostrophes

Talks to Allie--"Please don't let me disappear"; holden interrupts his narration to directly address Allie

Deux es Machina

a character or thing that enters the story and helps to solve a problem that had previously seemed impossible to solve—PHOEBE

Jane Gallagher

a girl with whom Holden spent a lot one summer, when their families stayed in the neighboring summer houses in Maine; keeps her kings in the back row—symbolizing innocence; Jane never actually appears in CITR, but she is extremely important to Holden, because she is one of the few girls whom he both respects and finds attractive

sadist

a person who derives pleasure from inflicting pain on another, a person who enjoys being cruel; punishing yourself for no good reason

examples of ambiguity

a. "They made me cut it out. Another thing, I grew six and a half inches last year. That's also how I practically got t.b. and came out here for all these goddam checkups and stuff. I'm pretty healthy though."—room for reader's interpretation of what "they" and "here" could mean (ex. Rehab center) b. Ending—can go either way: Will Holden actually get better? Can he fulfill his promise of making this new commitment?

symbol

an object that stands for itself and something else greater--an idea, process, physical entity

qualms

an uneasy feeling

Charles Dickens

author of David Copperfield; this novel is an allusion in CITR; "all that David Copperfield kind of crap"—describes his painful past; also author of Oliver Twist—allusion

The fact that the story starts AND ends in a rest home supports the idea of _______________.

bookend structure

dynamic character

character makes a major change over the course of the story

static character

character that does NOT change through the course of the story

suave

charming, confident, and elegant

bildungsroman

coming of age novel

examples of bildungsroman

coming of age novel 1. Why does Holden get drunk: - Appear mature - Escape problems - Gain confidence 2. Finally does mature when Phoebe—realizes he himself has not and cannot be protected from childhood

connotation

commonly understood association with a word or phrase

metaphor

comparison NOT using like or as

simile

comparison USING like or as

stereotypical

describe a person or trait which adheres to a stereotype.

Maurice

elevator operator at the Edmont Hotel, who procures a prostitute for Holden; comes into room with Sunny to beat Holden up after he won't pay Sunny the extra 5 dollars for her "service"

ostracized

exclusion from a society or group (his teammates ostracized him when he left the fencing equipment on the subway)

figurative

expressing one thing in terms normally denoting another with which it may be regarded as analogous (like a metaphor)--multiple meanings

affected

fake, phony, artificial, pretentious

flitty

flippant; arrogant; someone that is not really sincere

nonchalant

flippant; arrogant; someone that is not really sincere

unreliable narrator

going back and forth about how he feels about his brother—he's a prostitute but has a jaguar which is pretty cool; he's telling us his story from a "rest home;" admits that he lies a lot—even though he is telling us the truth about his lies we can assume that we are no different

incognito

having one's true identity concealed

unscrupulous

having or showing no moral principles; not honest or fair

foreshadowing

hints or clues left by the author about future events in the story

New York City

his family lives in a nice apartment in New York City; goes there when he leaves Pencey Prep early to "kill some" time, before going home, because his parents didn't know that he got expelled; asks the cab driver where the ducks go in the winter; Holden experiences alienation—unable to relate to people he meets and alone in the busiest city in world; he HATES BROADWAY when he sees 'millions of people...waiting with terrific patience for seats and all'; not the safest place for troubled Holden to be—confused feelings; stays at Edmont Hotel

syntax

how a sentence goes together

ambiguity

idea that information (words, pictures) can have more than one/meaning interpretation

Museum of Natural History

in New York City; one of the places that make him happy and remind him of the innocence of childhood; symbolic meaning of museum's displays are frozen and unchanging; troubled by the fact that he has changed every time he returns to them; museum represents a world Holden wishes to live in: it's the world of his "catcher in the rye" fantasy, a world where nothing ever changes, where everything is simple, understandable, and infinite; Holden is terrified by the unpredictable challenges of the world—conflict; Allie's death; and interaction with people

inferiority complex

intense feeling of inferiority, producing a personality characterized either by extreme reticence or, as a result of overcompensation, but extreme agressiveness

ratty

irritable or angry; bad-tempered; nasty; unkempt

example of unreliable narrator

lies to Faith Cavendish about his availability; b. Mrs. Morrow: lies about his name (Rudolf Schmidt—the janitor); lies about the can get drinks because he looks older; lies about his brain tumor; lies about why he can't got to their vacation home; lies about what kind of person Ernest it to place his mother and keep her talking to him

bunk

lying, fake, and bull crap

allusion

making reference to a certain group of people, places, events, literary words, myths, works of art, etc.

bourgeois

member of middle class

stream-of-consciouness

narrative device; unedited and spontaneous thought process; writing right as thoughts and feelings pas through the mind--CONVERSATIONAL

hyperbole

obvious and intentional exaggeration

Whooton School

one of the other prep schools Holden attended; Holden got drunk with Raymond Goldfard with in the chapel; Carl Luce—Holden's student adviser who gave "sex talks" (3 years older than Holden)—told him he needed to see his father to get help—Holden was emotionally messed up

falsies

padding for your bra to make your breasts bigger; pads worn inside a brassier to give the breasts a larger or more shapely appearance

example of syntax

passive voice: when a verb is done to something/someone (the cat is chased by the dog); active voice: the dog chased the cat.

examples of diction

repeats things--like "it really was" or "and all" or "phony"; profanity--god dam

diction

style of writing--dependent on word choice

apostrophe

the addressing of a usually absent person or usually personified thing rhetorically

denotation

the explicit or direct meaning of a word or expression; the literal meaning

literal

the primary or strict meaning of a word/phrase/idea

point of view

the vantage point from which the author tells the story; HOLDEN CAULFIELD—teenage boy; he is very unreliable—lies to Faith and Mrs. Morrow; Holden's voice is snarky, judgmental, sarcastic, pessimistic, and self-sabotage

colloquial

used in ordinary or familiar conversation; not formal or literary

Sally Hayes

very attractive girl whom Holden has known and dated for a long time; thought Sally is well read, Holden claims that she is "stupid," although it is difficult to tell whether this judgment is based in reality or merely in Holden's ambivalence about being sexually attracted to her; she is certainly more conventional than Holden in her tastes and manners

rye

widely cultivated cereal grass, used for making flour and whiskey

fan fiction

works written by fans utilizing characters or settings of another, more popular piece of literature

bookend structure

writers bookend a story by starting a story with a story/anecdote/setting and then wrapping up the story by referencing back to it at the end