ENG 2310 Midterm Review
John Winthrop
"A Modell of Christian Charity"
Herman Melville
"Bartleby, the Scrivener"
Edmund Nequatewa
"How the Spaniards Came to Shung-Opovi, How They Built a Mission, and How the Hopi Destroyed the Mission"
Walt Whitman
"Mannahatta" & "As I Walk These Broad Majestic Days"
Edgar Allen Poe
"The Fall of the House of Usher" & "The Cask of Amontillado"
Nathaniel Hawthorne
"The House of the Seven Gables" & "The Birth-Mark"
Henry James
"The Turn of the Screw"
Charlotte Perkins Gilman
"The Yellow Wallpaper"
Henry David Thoreau
"Where I Lived, and What I Lived For"
Mary Rowlandson
A Narrative of the Captivity and Restoration of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson
Hysteria
A common medical diagnosis for women for many centuries and comes from the concept of a "wandering womb" Associated with: "The Yellow Wallpaper" by Charlotte Perkins Gilman In "The Yellow Wallpaper", the narrator has been ordered to stay in bed as a "rest-cure" to alleviate her "hysteria", which wasn't real in the first place.
Unreliable narrator
A first-person narrator whose viewpoint isn't credible, either through his or her own fallibility or through deception Associated with: "The Turn of the Screw" (Henry James) The reader is uncertain of whether the governess actually sees the ghosts of Peter Quint and Miss Jessel. The ghosts could be visible to anyone, visible to only the governess, or the ghosts may not even be real. While reading, one finds the governess to be a very unreliable narrator.
Gothic
A genre of literature characterized by having an ancient, eerie setting (which serves as its own character), suspense, the supernatural, and gloom. It is fascinated with fear and why we fear. Associated with: "The Fall of the House of Usher" (Edgar Allen Poe) Edgar Allen Poe and his works are heavily associated with Gothic literature. In "The Fall of the House of Usher", the setting is a spooky old mansion, there's lots of suspense (the reader and the narrator are unsure about what's wrong with the house, Roderick, and Madeline), and there's an overarching sense of a "crack in the veneer" - a sense of normalcy with a tweak that makes everything feel slightly "off", creating uneasiness in the reader.
Dark Romaticism
A genre of literature combining the Gothic and Romantic traditions; transcendentalism focuses on human goodness while dark romanticism focuses on human fallibility and self-destruction. Some well-known examples include The Scarlet Letter and Moby Dick. Associated with: "The Birth-Mark" (Nathaniel Hawthorne) In "The Birth-Mark", Aylmer has good intentions in wanting to remove his wife, Georgiana's, birthmark. However, he becomes so obsessed with transcending mortality that he ends up killing his wife. Hawthorne explores the human capacity to go down the wrong path despite good intentions.
Transcendentalism
A movement lasting from about 1830-1850 that promoted the ideas that all beings are connected with everything in the universe and that the universe has 2 main components: matter and spirit Associated with: "Mannahatta" (Walt Whitman) In "Mannahatta", Walt Whitman describes the island of Manhattan, rapidly switching his focus from nature to people back and forth. As a major player in the transcendentalist movement, this emphasizes Whitman's belief that nature and people are interconnected.
City on a hill
A place that essentially serves as a beacon of hope for others, it serves as a shining example for other nations Associated with: "A Modell of Christian Charity" (John Winthrop) Winthrop mentions this phrase in his sermon (referring to the Massachusetts Bay Colony) and promotes a sense of American exceptionalism. He says that as Christians, they should be a light for the rest of the world.
Salem Witch Trials
A series of prosecutions of people accused of witchcraft that took place in Salem, Massachusetts from 1692-1693 and was largely fuelled by mass hysteria Associated with: "The House of the Seven Gables" (Nathaniel Hawthorne) Hawthorne's great-great grandfather was John Hathorne, one of the judges during the Salem Witch Trials. Hawthorne may have added the "w" to his last name in order to disassociate himself from his relative's actions. Also, in "The House of the Seven Gables", Matthew Maule is hanged in the Salem Witch Trials after being accused by Colonel Pyncheon.
Frame narrative
A story within a story, one of the characters is usually a storyteller Associated with: "The Turn of the Screw" (Henry James) "The Turn of the Screw" is a frame narrative and has many layers of perspective. There's the reality of the governess' experience and the governess' own account of what happened to her. The reader learns this from Douglas, who is reading the governess' manuscript to his own captive audience on Christmas Eve around the fire. The way we are getting all of this is through Henry James, the creator of these layers.
Unity of effect
A term coined by Edgar Allen Poe regarding the importance of an author allowing a reader to be so immersed in a work that it's read in one sitting; every element of the story is should contribute to the overarching effect that the author is attempting to create. Associated with: "The Cask of Amontillado" (Edgar Allen Poe) In "The Cask of Amontillado", every word of the story is intended to contribute to the overall effect Poe wants to create. Almost each line of dialogue between Montresor and Fortunato displays foreshadowing, characterization, irony, or another literary element.
Who wrote "The Yellow Wallpaper"?
Charlotte Perkins Gilman
Who wrote "The Fall of the House of Usher"?
Edgar Allan Poe
Who wrote "The Cask of Amontillado"?
Edgar Allen Poe
Who retold the myth "How the Spaniards Came to Shung-Opovi, How They Built a Mission, and How the Hopi Destroyed the Mission"?
Edmund Nequatewa
Who wrote "Where I Lived, and What I Lived For"?
Henry David Thoreau
Who wrote "The Turn of the Screw"?
Henry James
Who wrote "Bartleby, the Scrivener"?
Herman Melville
Who preached the sermon "A Modell of Christian Charity"?
John Winthrop
Who wrote "Captivity and Restoration"?
Mary Rowlandson
Who wrote "The Birth-Mark"?
Nathaniel Hawthorne
Who wrote "The House of the Seven Gables"?
Nathaniel Hawthorne
First contact
The first encounter between 2 groups of people with different cultures that were unaware of the other's existence until that moment Associated with: "How the Spaniards Came to Shung-Opovi" (Edmund Nequatewa) The Hopi people first came into contact with the Spanish in 1540. In this retold story, the Hopi and Spaniards' first contact is filled with curiosity (the Hopi initially believed the Spaniards to be their saviors). However, their relationship turns sour when the Spanish attempt to take over the Hopi people.
Who wrote "As I Walk These Broad Majestic Days"?
Walt Whitman
Who wrote "Mannahatta"?
Walt Whitman
