English Final Study Guide
Explain how the following statement is true: "The image of the men bobbing up and down on an angry sea is a perfect symbol of Naturalist philosophies regarding humanity's control of its own destiny."
It shows that men, humans, are just objects like anything else in the world. We cannot control our fates and we are just apart of nature.
To Build a Fire
Jack London (Naturalism)
Modernism Characteristics
Often abstract, even absurd
The Outcasts of Poker Flat
Realism, Bret Harte
Miniver Cheevy Edwin Arlington Robinson
TONE: sarcastic, speaker is poking fun at Cheevy b/c of his interests, but it eventually turns dark -he was bad his whole life, & wanted to escape by using the fact that he was supposed to be born in a different time period VERBAL IRONY: "he had reasons"-- poking fun, he didn't really have a valid reason for acting the way he does, he just wants to go to a time period he knows really nothing about -would have still been a peasant or lower-class member even if he went back in time
Themes of The Great Gatsby
The divide between the new and old rich (classism), that certain classes believe themselves superior (elitism) and that the old rich believe themselves above reproach (morality), regardless of the sin.
The Things They Carried
Tim O'Brien
Realism
artistic representation that aims for visual accuracy
Miniver Cheevy
believes that he wants to go back in time, hates the present, kills himself.
realism
extremely detailed
Realism
extremely focused on analyzing and describing the personality of a character
naturalism
frequently focuses on lower class income characters
Regionalism
frequently the setting is in nature
Regionalism
loyalty to a local area
Regionalism
loyalty to the interests of a particular region
Richard Cory
main point is no matter how much money you have, you dont know if someone is really happy or not, kills himself due to not being happy, verbal irony as he says he is happy.
To Build a Fire themes
man vs nature, and foolishness
Modernism Characteristics
melodies were instrumentally conceived, changing meter
Modernism
practices typical of contemporary life or thought
the jumping frog of calaveras county
realism
Realism
the attribute of accepting the facts of life and favoring practicality and literal truth
Why Does Rat Kiley torture the buffalo ?
to ease the pain of Curt Lemons death.
naturalism
usually in a urban setting
The Open Boat characters
-Oiler: Also known as Billie--the only one to be given a name (that's important!) Also the only one to die. Very strong and willing to work--never gave up. Probably died due to exhaustion. -Captain: kind, speaks in low tones, will sacrifice for the others. Even though he cannot physically help, he keeps everyone on track and keeps calm. -Correspondent: A reported. Seems to be young and healthy. Due to his profession, he is cynical of other men but strongly bonded with the men on the boat. Curses nature and the gods through the journey. -Cook: The most optimistic of the group. He is not one to row, but he is good at his job of ridding the boat of water.
The Open Boat" is based on Crane's own real-life experience when he was sailing to Cuba on the Commodore and the boat began to sink off the coast of Florida. He - along with a few others - were stranded for about 30 hours before being rescued. At the time, he was a reporter for a newspaper, and he was on his way to write about problems that led up to the Spanish-American War of 1898. What similarities does this event have to the Crane's story?
-The four men on the boat were also stranded for a long time before rescue -The men on the boat were also on the water off of Florida -There was also a "corresponder" on board
The Jumping Frog of Calaveras County Summary
1) Why did the Narrator's friend from the East want him to visit Simon Wheeler? He wanted to go find his friends, Reverend Smiley. 2) What is "Local Color Writing," and why is the use of dialect and slang so important to the humor of this story? Regionalism, because they talk like southerners, overused and adds humor. 3) How do you know there are cultural differences between the Eastern and Western regions in this story? They talk very different, the easterners are projected as educated while the western people are not, urban vs rural way of life. 4) Why did Jim Smiley give his pets famous political names? Characterizes what he wanted them to be, wants them to embody these characteristics. 5) Who are the protagonist and antagonist in the story? Protagonist: Narrator Antagonist: Simon Wheeler 6) Why is it ironic when Smiley loses? He doesn't even realize that he got cheated, he always cheats to win. 7) What is the significance of the frog race? It shows that gambling is evil because someone is always going to cheat. 8) Twain also uses Satire in this story. What specific things/ideas/characters are satirized? The personality of the pets, fact that he never found his friend, whole thing about Jim Smiley is irrlevant. 9) Is Jim Smiley's gambling method fair or unfair to his opponents? Unfair, he shouldn't have to cheat to win.
Modernism Settings
1890s
Realism
A 19th century artistic movement in which writers and painters sought to show life as it is rather than life as it should be
Modernism
A cultural movement embracing human empowerment and rejecting traditionalism as outdated. Rationality, industry, and technology were cornerstones of progress and human achievement.
To Build a Fire by Jack London
A gripping story of a man's battle for his life in the frozen North
to build a fire
A man goes into the Yukon trail in the mid of winter with a dog and falls into a spring. He can't build a fire, so he dies, ignores advice gave to him and dies as a result.
Naturalism
A nineteenth-century literary movement that was an extension of realism and that claimed to portray life exactly as it was.
Naturalism
A term often used as a synonym for realism; also a view of experience that is generally characterized as bleak and pessimistic.
Modernism Characteristics
Alienation of modern man Rebellion Disintegration of civilization Moral looseness, shallowness Fear, chaos, violence
"The Story of an Hour" summary
Because of Mrs. Mallard's heart condition, everyone basically tiptoes around her and treats her carefully. When her sister and family friend discover Mr. Mallard got killed in an accident, they take time to gently tell Mrs. Mallard that her husband has died. Mrs. Mallard cries her eyes out, then goes to her room to be by herself and locks the door. Inside, she seems terrified of some knowledge that's coming to her and finally realizes that it's her freedom. Even though she and her husband loved each other, and she's truly saddened by his death, she feels liberated and free for the first time. She looks forward to the days ahead instead of dreading them. While Mrs. Mallard is having this epiphany, her sister keeps trying to check on her. Finally, Mrs. Mallard comes out of her room, newly resolved, and she and her sister start to go downstairs. Suddenly, the very not-dead Mr. Mallard comes in. When Mrs. Mallard sees him, she has a tremendous shock and dies.
Main Characters in The Great Gatsby
Gatsby Nick Daisy All rich, divided between west and east egg through social classes, gatsby loves daisy, nick is married, love triangle feud, gatsby tries to get her back after finding her again after 5 years.
The Outcasts of Poker Flat Summary
List each of the 4 outcasted characters in the story and give a brief description of them. Mr O'Kearst- calm, doesn't drink, gambler Dutches- hostile, zoobrant, organized Uncle Billy Mother Shipton- oldest, very sick and gives up her food so the young girl can live, very kind person. Banished from poker flat, they think they're involved in the robbery. 3) How do each of the outcasts (minus Uncle Billy) change during the course of the story? Give reasons why they change. Mr. Okerst- went from a effective leader, to a bad leader in gambling, loses his skill in gambling Dutchest- also sacrificial and giving. Mother shipton- health declines badly, later on dies. Sacrificial and giving 4) Using your definition and characteristics from question 1, explain how this story fits into the genre of regionalism. The story fits in regionalism because it focuses on the character's lives and explains the difference and the reason they were all exiled. The story isn't focused on a true plot, but the characters and their lives. There is also different dialect throughout the characters. 5) How do each of the four outcasted characters display regionalism? What can readers learn about this time period? They all speak in a different dialect, or accent and the story is solely focused on their lives. They can learn about how the people who lived during this time talked and lived. 6) How and why does Bret Harte use satire and hyperbole in the story? He uses it to try to get the reader's attention. He wants the readers to realize the important things in the story, so he uses hyperboles especially to get his message across. 7) Describe the tone and mood used in the story. Why does the author choose to use this for such a bleak, troublesome story? Ironic, fatalistic, desolate. These moods are used because it fits in perfectly with the westward setting and the topic of gambling and the consequences of it. 8) Explain the final lines of the poem, "And pulseless and cold, with a Derringer by his side and a bullet in his heart, though still calm as in life, beneath the snow lay he who was at once the strongest and yet the weakest of the outcasts of Poker Flat." In addition, explain why you think the author chose to kill off the protagonist of the story in the end? I believe the finals lines show how hopeless and weak the character now feels and realizing his power is going to all vanish after he passes away. It's a shift in the story and it wasn't expected. The author chose to kill off the character because he had too much power compared to the others, and doing this balanced it out.
regionalism
Local color stories tend to be concerned with the character of the district or region rather than with the individual: characters may become character types, sometimes quaint or stereotypical. The characters are marked by their adherence to the old ways, by dialect, and by particular personality traits central to the region. In women's local color fiction, the heroines are often unmarried women or young girls.
Story of an Hour Characters
Louise Mallard, Brently Mallard, Josephine, Richards
Edwin Arlington Robinson
Luke , Miniver Cheevy, Richard Cory
The Jumping Frog of Calaveras County
Mark Twain
The Great Gatsby - F. Scott Fitzgerald
Modernism
Richard Cory by Edwin Arlington Robinson
Whenever Richard Cory went down town, We people on the pavement looked at him: He was a gentleman from sole to crown, Clean favored, and imperially slim. And he was always quietly arrayed, And he was always human when he talked; But still he fluttered pulses when he said, "Good-morning," and he glittered when he walked. And he was rich—yes, richer than a king— And admirably schooled in every grace: In fine, we thought that he was everything To make us wish that we were in his place. So on we worked, and waited for the light, And went without the meat, and cursed the bread; And Richard Cory, one calm summer night, Went home and put a bullet through his head.
theme
While every character carries a heavy physical load, they also all carry tremendous emotional baggage; grief, love, terror, longing, etc.
Naturalism
a style and theory of representation based on the accurate depiction of detail.
Regionalism
an element in literature that conveys a realistic portrayal of a specific geographical locale, using the locale and its influences as a major part of the plot
