Fiction

Invisible Man - Ralph Ellison (1952 Existentialism - should have freedom in what they do, rather than conform to society and Harlem Renaissance)

A bildungsroman/existentialism (during the 1930s in a black college in the South and NYC -especially Harlem) of a young black man from the South who does not fully understand racism in the world. Filled with hope about his future, he goes to college, but gets expelled for showing one of the white benefactors the real and seamy side of black existence. - The Narrator (pro, says he is "invisible" by hiding underground so no one can see him and to write his life story, a gifted public speaker asked to give a speech to important white men - but he was humiliated but given scholarship to a black college, gets hired in Harlem at a paint factory where he is knocked unconscious and given electric shock therapy, taken in by Mary - does a speech and is attracted by the interracial political organization Brotherhood - Brother Jack, they force him to underground where he focuses on his individuality) - Dr. Bledsoe (ant, college president, expels the narrator for not showing Mr. Norton (a white trustee of the college) an idealized version of black life when they went to the bar, he sends the narrator to find a job in NYC w/ poor letters of recommendation) - Brother Jack (white ant, sends the narrator to a white member of the group - Brother Hambro to learn white rhetoric, does not care for the black community/socially oppressed, racist) - Ras the Exhorter (ant, black man who represents the black violent nationalist movement, opposes the Brotherhood and the narrator with riots, dislikes the narrator for not generating more momentum on Clifton's death - even though he gave a speech) Themes - Racism as an Obstacle to Individual Identity (The narrator finds himself passing through a series of communities, from the Liberty Paints plant to the Brotherhood, with each microcosm endorsing a different idea of how blacks should behave in society. As the narrator attempts to define himself through the values and expectations imposed on him, he finds that, in each case, the prescribed role limits his complexity as an individual and forces him to play an inauthentic part.) - Limitations of Ideology (The narrator realizes that the complexity of his inner self is limited not only by people's racism but also by their more general ideologies.) - Fighting Stereotype with Stereotype (While he tries to escape the grip of prejudice on an individual level, he encounters other blacks who attempt to prescribe a defense strategy for all African Americans. Each presents a theory of the supposed right way to be black in America and tries to outline how blacks should act in accordance with this theory.)

The Metamorphosis - Franz Kafka (1915 Realism and Modernism, he uses the fantastic - the protagonist is usually faced by a bizarre predicament)

A modernist, magical realism, absurdist novella that tells the story of salesman Gregor Samsa who wakes one morning to find himself inexplicably transformed into a huge insect (German ungeheures Ungeziefer, literally "monstrous vermin"), subsequently struggling to adjust to this new condition. It is around the late 19th century in the Samsa family's apartment in an unspecified city. - Gregor Samsa (pro, traveling salesman who wakes up as a bug - hates being a salesman but has to provide for his parents and sister, he goes back to sleep and is late for work, his voice changed, his office manager berates him outside his door and runs away when he sees his appearance, his dad chases him up to his room and Gregor injures himself, he listens through the way to hear the family conversations which fixate on their poor financial situation, eventually becomes depressed and stops eating, the 3 boarders see him and leave since the place is "disgusting", he dies when he deciding to leave his family) - Grete (Gregor's sister who feeds him rotten food scraps, she cleans his room as well but he is always hiding so she does not see him and get scared, she and the mom move furniture to give him more room to roam, she eventually resents Gregor, tells her parents to get rid of Gregor or else they will be ruined) Gregor's dad (ant, has to get a new job, will not allow Gregor's mom to visit him, one day she does see him and passes out - misunderstanding, Gregor's dad thought he was attacking her so he throws an apple at him and severely injures Gregor, agrees that Gregor needs to leave, at the end the family seems to excel - move to a new apartment and look for a husband for Grete) - Cheap Cleaning Lady (she will talk/listen to Gregor, fired by Mr. Samsa once Gregor dies, she disposes of Gregor's body) Themes - The Absurdity of Life (There is no indication that Gregor deserves his fate. Rather, the story and all the members of the Samsa family treat the event as a random occurrence, like catching an illness. All these elements together give the story a distinct overtone of absurdity and suggest a universe that functions without any governing system of order and justice.) - Alienation (Gregor's metamorphosis is the psychological distance it creates between Gregor and those around him. Gregor's change makes him literally and emotionally separate from his family members—indeed, from humanity in general. The alienation caused by Gregor's metamorphosis can be viewed as an extension of the alienation he already felt as a person.) - Identity (is Gregor still Gregor if he has no way of communicating his thoughts to others? And why is it that the cleaning woman, and not the family, is so willing to ascribe to Gregor human qualities such as intelligence and intention? Who has the right to say whether Gregor is Gregor or not?)

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn - Mark Twain (1885 Realism)

An American bildungsroman, satire, and picaresque (adventures of a "low-class" hero in a corrupt society) novel before the Civil War (1835) in the American South - Missouri. A young boy, Huck, in search of freedom and adventure. The shores of the Mississippi River provide the backdrop for the entire book - Huck and Jim's adventures. - Huckleberry Finn (pro, sequel to Tom Sawyer - Tom and him found gold and got a lot of money from it, adopted by the Widow Douglas, Huck's drunk dad appears and wants his money - he kidnaps Huck but Huck escapes and fakes his own death by smearing blood from a dead pig all over the cabin, meets Jim on his escape, doesn't know how moral/legal it is to help a runaway slave but does it anyway, hears there is a reward for turning in Jim, lies when a group of men are looking for an escaped slave - says its his dad w/ smallpox, at the end he is tired of trying to be "civilized" and plans to head West) - Jim (Miss Watson's escaped slave and joins Huck on his escape, they capture a raft and loot house where a man was shot and killed - it was Pap and Jim doesn't tell Huck, they encounter a gang of robbers and escape w/ their loot, they are separated when a steamboat crashes into them, saves Huck from a shootout between aristocrats, have the "duke" and the "dauphin" (con-artists) join them since they don't want to say no to 2 white people - Huck exposes them to the town but the con-artists make it back to the raft before they can, the con-artists sell Jim but Huck saves Jim since it is Tom Sawyer's aunt/uncle - Tom stated he "planned all of this" and Jim was actually willed to be free anyways) - Tom Sawyer (Huck's friend, imaginative, tries to act civilized and follow society's conventions) - Antagonist = an adventure of problems: Pap, the duke and the dauphin, and the institution of slavery Themes - Racism and Slavery (The author's depiction of slavery as an allegorical representation of the condition of blacks in the United States even after the abolition of slavery.) - Intellectual and Moral Education (On the raft, away from civilization, Huck is especially free from society's rules, able to make his own decisions without restriction. Through deep introspection, he comes to his own conclusions, unaffected by the accepted—and often hypocritical—rules and values of Southern culture. By the novel's end, Huck has learned to "read" the world around him, to distinguish good, bad, right, wrong, menace, friend, and so on.) - Empathy (Huck's feelings of empathy help his moral development by enabling him to imagine what it's like to be in someone else's shoes.)

Lord of the Flies - William Golding (1954 Postmodernism)

A British allegorical, dystopian fiction that tells the story of a group of young boys who find themselves alone on a deserted island (unknown in the 1950s). They develop rules and a system of organization, but without any adults to serve as a 'civilizing' impulse, the children eventually become violent and brutal. - Ralph (pro, boys elect him as the leader, Ralph appoints Jack to be in charge of the hunters, wants to maintain signal fire and making shelter - Jack just wants to hunt/play, younger boys start to believe their is a monster - older boys try to calm them, tries to restrain order, tries to escape Jack's group at the end, destroys the pig head, and gets rescued by naval British officers - they are all crying over what they have done) - Jack (ant, gets boys to let him lead rather than Ralph - a "coward," declares himself the leader of the new tribe of hunters and puts a pig's head on a stake for an offering to the monster - Piggy (Ralph's lieutenant, Jack hit him when arguing about the signal fire - Jack let it go out, tries to reason w/ Ralph after Simon being killed but Jack and the Jack's lieutenant, Roger, kills him w/ a boulder) - Simon (voice of reason, says the pig's head was speaking to him- saying he will never escape, he figures out the "beast" is within each of the boys, figures out the "beast" was a dead parachutist and tells the boys, the boys kills him w/ their bare hands/teeth - even Ralph and Piggy Themes - Civilization VS Savagery (the conflict between two competing impulses that exist within all human beings: the instinct to live by rules, act peacefully, follow moral commands, and value the good of the group against the instinct to gratify one's immediate desires, act violently to obtain supremacy over others, and enforce one's will. - Only Simon represents innate goodness.) - Struggle to Build Civilization (Ralph and Piggy believe that structure, rules, and maintaining a signal fire are the greatest priorities, while Jack believes hunting, violence, and fun should be prioritized over safety, protection, and planning for the future.) - Man's Inherent Evil (The fact that the main characters are young boys suggests the potential for evil is inherent even in small children.)

Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte (1847 Romanticism - Bronte sisters were the "Romantic Rebels")

A Gothic novel about a multigenerational story of love and revenge that revolves around the inhabitants of a desolate farmhouse called Wuthering Heights and its owner Heathcliff. A housekeeper (Nelly) relates the sad history of Wuthering Heights to Mr. Lockwood, a visitor to the area. - Heathcliff (pro, orphan brought to Wuthering Heights by Mr. Earnshaw, he falls in love with Earnshaw's daughter - Catherine, wants to seek revenge on Hindley Earnshaw for treating him like a slave and on Catherine for marrying Edgar Linton for social prominence, he inherits the land) - Catherine Earnshaw (loves Heathcliff, but marries Edgar for social advancement, dies while giving birth to her daughter - Young Catherine) - Hindley Earnshaw (ant, hates Heathcliff because his dad loved Heathcliff more than him, after he drinks himself to death, Heathcliff takes in his son, Haerton and treats him like shit) - Nelly Dean (narrates the events to Lockwood, she has strong feelings for the characters in her story) Themes - Revenge (When Heathcliff can't have the woman he loves, he turns his attention to getting revenge on his childhood tormenter, Hindley.) - Society and Class (The Lintons and the Earnshaws are both members of the middle class. But marriage to Edgar Linton is still the means through which Catherine becomes the "greatest woman of the neighbourhood" Being an orphan with no family ties and no land, Heathcliff is the lowest on the totem pole.) - Love as Destruction (Catherine and Heathcliff spend so much time making each other miserable. Yet, Heathcliff and Catherine's fanatical, impassioned affection connects to the nostalgia of their childhood and reaches beyond the grave into the afterlife, so there's definitely a love connection going on.)

Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoevsky (1866 Realism)

A Russian psychological drama focuses on the mental anguish and moral dilemmas of Rodion Raskolnikov, an impoverished ex-student in Saint Petersburg who formulates a plan to kill an unscrupulous pawnbroker for her money. - Raskolnikov (pro/ant, kills the pawnbroker Alyona Ivanovna and her sister who walks in - Lizaveta, gave Marmeladov's family money when he died, dislikes Dunya's fiancee - Luzhin, confesses to Sofya Marmeladov of the murders, eventually confesses to Petrovich - detective) - Sofya Marmeladov (Rask. loves her, she visits him at prison at end, tries to tell him to confess to the murders) - Syidrigailoy (ant, obsessed w/ Raskolnikov's sister - Dunya, wants Dunya to break off her engagment for $10,000 + $3,000 from his late wife, Petrovna - Rask. refuses, later knows Rask. is the murderer, tries to rape Dunya - she tries to shoot him so he leaves and kills himself) - Razumikhin (Rask.'s friend - he knows that he murdered later, Rask's foil, marries Dunya at end) - Luzhin (ant, Dunya's fiancee - later she breaks it off, he tries to blackmail Sofya by stealing money, he is rude at the dinner so Dunya breaks it off) Themes - Alienation from Society (Within Raskolnikov personal philosophy, he sees other people as tools and uses them for his own ends. After committing the murders, his isolation grows because of his intense guilt and the half-delirium into which his guilt throws him. Over and over again, he pushes away the people who are trying to help him.) - The Psychology of Crime and Punishment (The author concerns himself not with the actual repercussions of the murder but with the way the murder forces Raskolnikov to deal with tormenting guilt. Indeed, by focusing so little on Raskolnikov's imprisonment, it seems to suggest that actual punishment is much less terrible than the stress and anxiety of trying to avoid punishment.) - Love (Most of the novel's "romantic" relationships are loaded with cruelty, power plays, confusion, and miscommunications. Even the worst characters are capable of loving acts and moments of kindness.)

"Everything that Rises Must Converge" - Flannery O' Connor (1965 Southern Gothic/Realism)

A Southern Gothic short story during the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s - the South was recently integrated. Julian, a recent college graduate, has returned home to the South to live with his mother while he attempts to launch a career as a writer. At the behest of her doctor, Julian's Mother attends a weekly exercise class to manage her blood pressure. They are on their way to the weekly weight-loss class at the YMCA on an integrated bus. - Julian (pro, imagines moving to a house in the country but knows he we will never make enough money, sits next to a black man in reparation for his mom's prejudices, dislikes his mom but knows she is why he obtained a good education, tells his mom not to judge one by how they look, tries to strike a conversation w/ a well-dressed black man to make his mom uncomfortable but he is really the uncomfortable one, wishes to bring a black woman home to piss off his mom, berates her after they get off of the bus - he says she should learn from the encounter - the black woman represents all blacks and their distaste for condescending handouts) - Julian's mom (ant, refuses to take the bus alone since integration, talks aloud about her grandpa's plantation - Julian embarrassed, talks to other white passengers on the bus and talks about Julian wanting to be a writer, a black woman is wearing the same hat as her, she is knocked down by this woman when Julian's mom tries to give the woman's son a penny, she has a stroke at the end) Themes - Social Conflict as a General Conflict (Julian's mom is still stuck with her Southern ancestors/beliefs. Even though these norms no longer apply, she still adheres to the old customs to resist the startling changes that the new desegregation and antidiscrimination laws have brought.. Julian wants to embrace the new, but has trouble acting on his convictions by fully treating blacks as equal. It highlights the general societal conflict.) - Unreliability of Appearances (Both Julian and his mother rely heavily on appearances to separate and elevate themselves from the rest of society. She is constantly judging blacks on the bus, and Julian is judging his rundown town. Their delusions illustrate the unreliability of appearances) - Lineage/Ancestry as Safety (Julian's and his mother's longing for the grandeur of the past suggests that neither character has fully come to terms with their lives as poor whites in an integrated South. For both characters, the past serves as safety net—a place filled with prosperity and sunshine, untroubled by poverty and social upheaval, and recalling the past allows them to continue living in a changing world they don't understand.)

"A Good Man is Hard to Find" - Flannery O' Connor (1953 Southern Gothic /Realism)

A Southern Gothic short story that depicts a family road trip that ends tragically around Atlanta in about the 1950's. The grandmother convinces her family to take a detour to go sightseeing. The rest of the family is led into the woods to be murdered while the Misfit discusses religion with the grandmother. - The Grandmother (pro, convinces Bailey and the family to go to TN since the misfit is going to FL and since the kids have already been to FL, portrays herself as a "lady" - a Southern racist, hides her cat in the car (PItty Sing), reminisces on old racist times in the car, stops at Red Sammy Butts where she talks to to Red Sammy about how "A good man is hard to find" - a racist Southern one, mistakes a plantation house to be elsewhere then scares Pitty Sing - it startles Bailey who wrecks the car in a ditch, tells the Misfit that he's a good man, before is shot - tells the Misfit "you are one of my own children") - Bailey (the grandma's son, tries to quiet her as she talks to the criminals, gets annoyed by her and the children) - Misfit (ant, wanted criminal, he has opted for "meanness" to give his life meaning, has his partners kill the family, tells the g-ma he never prays and that he is fine on his own, says he is like Jesus because his punishment doesn't seem to fit the crime people said he committed, shoots the g-ma 3 times, says life has no pleasure) Themes - Unlikely Recipients of Grace (The grandmother and the Misfit are both "bad people" unlike to gain the grace of God from their actions. At the end, the grandma realizes they are both humans - "one of my babies" and the misfit kills her and it brings him happiness - suggesting he may change and find pleasure elsewhere) - "Old South" Morals (For the grandmother, a man is a "good man" if his values are aligned with her own and "Old Southern" values (e.g., having good manners, dressing like a "lady," coming from a family of the "right people") - Southern Society/Class (The grandmother uses the n-word and longs for the good old days when kids were polite, people were trustworthy, and there were pretty plantations to visit. All of this leads her to associate being "good" with coming from a respectable family and behaving like a member of her social class; those who don't are outsiders.)

Their Eyes Were Watching God - Zora Neale Hurstron (1937 Harlem Renaissance)

A bildungsroman of Janie Crawford and her search for true love in FL in the early 1900s. Through three marriages, Janie discovers not only what true love looks like, but she discovers herself, too. - Janie Crawford (pro, returns to Eatonville and everyone gossips about her and what happened to her husband Tea Cake - the story revolves around the convo w/ her friend Pheoby, she is found not guilty for Tea Cake by an all white jury) - Nanny (ant, was a slave, Janie's g-ma who wants to marry Janie to a man who can provide social status/security for her - Logan Killicks (ant) - Janie is miserable w/ him - treats her like a mule, she runs off w/ Joe Starks "Jody" and marries him) - Joe Starks "Jody (ant, move to Eatonville w/ Janie, wants to become mayor, he doesn't want Janie to interact w/ "common" people, wealthy - wants her to be like a mayor's wife, 10 years after marriage - Janie rips him publicly after he insults her and he beats her, he becomes ill and dies as she berates him) - Tea Cake (marries Janie 9 months after Jody's death and they go to Jacksonville, 2 years later a hurricane hits and Tea is bit by a rabid dog and becomes ill and thinks Janie is cheating on him and shoots at her - she kills him to save herself) Themes - Language as Empowerment/Growth (The author places emphasis on the control of the language as a source of identity and empowerment - Southern black dialect, and how Janie learns that controlling her silence can give her empowerment as well) - Love/Relationships VS Independence (Janie views fulfilling relationships as reciprocal and based on mutual respect, as demonstrated in her relationship with Tea Cake, which elevates Janie into an equality noticeably absent from her marriages to Logan and Jody. (She finds herself after finding true love with Tea Cake when she is alone at the end of the novel). - Race (The novel highlights positive aspects of the Southern black culture, but it doesn't hold back from examining the trauma of the history of black persecution and the effect that has on black communities at the turn of the 20th century.) - Gender Inequality (Marriage is a big deal in this novel: women can only gain power through marriage to powerful or ambitious men. Men have to be dominant.)

Canterbury Tales in Middle English: Wife of Bath's Prologue and Tale - Geoffrey Chaucer (1400 "The first founder of our language" Renaissance/Medieval)

A breton lai - short romance with knights/quest , and Medieval Antifeminism - satire that characterized women as greedy parasites on men). The Wife of Bath feels she is an expert on relations between men and women because of her experience with five husbands. Her main point in her prologue and in her tale is to explain the thing women most desire - complete control - which she describes as sovereignty over their husbands. - The Knight (pro, rapes a maiden, sent by Queen Guinevere to learn about what women truly desire, allows his hag to make a decision) - The Old Woman (marries the knight, gives him the answer in exchange for whatever he wants, she rewards him w/ becoming beautiful/faithful) - Queen Guinevere (King Arthur allows her to control his knights when a knight rapes a maiden) - The Wife of Bath (ant, a seamstress and professional wife who has been married five times. She is a strong woman who has found that she can use her body to control her husband, whom she likens to slaves. - contradicts what men do) Themes - Women and Femininity (The knight's punishment for rape is a quest in which he must discover what women most desire. According to the loathly lady's assertion that what women most desire is sovereignty over their husbands and lovers. Yet, the man's wish for a beautiful woman says otherwise.) - Power (The Wife of Bath's concluding prayer requesting easy-to-dominate husbands can't quite contain our feeling that, by the end of the tale, power has again reverted to the hands of men, the place where it was abused at the tale's beginning. Is it hinting that men will never give power to women?) - Old Age and Wisdom (In the end, the old lady is the one who saves the knight's neck and reforms him suggests that old age makes one wise and useful. It does not, however, make one a suitable marriage partner for a young bachelor, which is why at tale's end, the old lady becomes a young damsel.)

Sister Carrie - Theodore Dreiser (1900 Naturalism - realism to suggest that social conditions shape human behavior)

A drama, realism, tragedy novel (during the American Industrial Revolution - 1890s) about a young country girl who moves to the big city where she starts realizing her own American Dream, first as a mistress to men that she perceives as superior, and later becoming a famous actress. - Carrie Meeber (pro, moves to Chicago w/ her sister Minnie and husband Sven and baby, first works at shoe factory - has to quit because she gets ill from conditions, at end she becomes successful actress but is never happy) - Charlie Drouet (wealthy salesman, meets Carrie in Chicago and has her move in w/ him, he "educates" her on the ways of society, insensitive) - George Hurstwood (ant, friends w/ Drouet, manager of a "swell saloon," secretly gets Carrie into acting, leaves his wife to be w/ Carrie and stole money from safe - Carrie hesitantly believes him and they go to Canada, get married w/ Carrie and they go to NY, later loses his job and Carrie leaves him - he commits suicide) - Social conditions "upper society" were an antagonist as well Themes - Women and Femininity (In late nineteenth-century America, women held way less economic, social, and political power than men. Carrie's rise from small-town nobody to big star seems to have a lot to do with her ability to master certain codes of femininity and make herself look super girly.) - Isolation/Loneliness (By the end of the novel, despite becoming a big success and attracting tons of admirers, Carrie feels profoundly disconnected from virtually everyone around her.) - Impact of Society/Classes (Carrie becomes impacted by the social classes she is surrounded by. She is attracted to Chicago and NY because of the "riches" that surround her. When she is with her Minnie, she wants to get out (same when Hurstwood does not have "riches" anymore). The environment is impacting her actions (which ties in with the naturalistic genre).

1984 - George Orwell (1919 Modernism)

A dystopian and science fiction novel in the 1980s about Winston Smith wrestling with oppression in Oceania (London), a place where the Party scrutinizes human actions with ever-watchful Big Brother. Defying a ban on individuality, Winston dares to express his thoughts in a diary and pursues a relationship with Julia. 3 social groups = Inner Party (luxurious w/ servants), Outer Party (have little control over their property - Winston), Proles (slums where the Party doesn't exert much control/support) - Winston Smith (pro, tired of feeling oppressed - the Party watches through telescreens, controls history and language, thinking rebellious thoughts is illegal, illegally buys a diary to write his criminal thoughts, fixates on a Party member - O'Brien - he thinks O'Brien is trying to overthrow the Party and is apart of the Brotherhood, Mr. Charrington - the proprietor of the store catches Winston and Julia - he was a member of the Thought Police all along, - Julia (falls in love w/ Winston and they sneak into the proles to be together, in the end they both follow the Party rules) -O'Brien (invites Winston over to his luxurious apartment - Julia comes too, he tell them he does hate the Party and works for the Brotherhood, he invites them to be apart of the Brotherhood, reveals to Winston that he was apart of the Party all along and tortures/brainwashes Winston but won't crack until O'Brien uses Winston's deepest fear -rats to eat his face - this breaks Winston and rats out Julia) - Big Brother (ant, the perceived ruler of Oceania - never appears, his image is everywhere on posters, coins, broadcasts, telescreens - "Big Brother is watching you.") Themes - Dangers of Totalitarianism (The title of the novel was meant to indicate to its readers in 1949 that the story represented a real possibility for the near future: if totalitarianism were not opposed, the title suggested, some variation of the world described in the novel could become a reality. The author portrays a state in which government monitors and controls every aspect of human life to the extent that even having a disloyal thought is against the law.) - Language as Mind Control (language is of central importance to human thought because it structures and limits the ideas that individuals are capable of formulating and expressing. Yet, the Party has introduced to replace English, which will cause no one to question the Party's absolute power.) - Psychological Manipulation (The Party barrages its subjects with psychological stimuli designed to overwhelm the mind's capacity for independent thought - giant telescreens with constant propaganda, brainwashing children)

Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll (1865 Victorian and Literary Nonsense - a type of fiction that often defies common sense and creates an entirely new world through the manipulation of language)

A fairy tale, children's fiction, and satire. Alice is sitting with her sister outdoors when she spies a White Rabbit with a pocket watch. Fascinated by the sight, she follows the rabbit down the hole. She falls for a long time, and finds herself in a long hallway full of doors. - Alice (pro, curious, believes the world is orderly and stable - changes as she excels through the novel) - The Queen of Hearts (ant, constantly wanting beheadings, controls the Wonderland) - The King of Hearts (co-ruler, not as harsh as the Queen) - The White Rabbit (leads Alice into Wonderland, timid, manic) - The Cheshire Cat (explains to Alice the madness of Wonderland) Themes - The Inevitable Loss of Childhood Innocence (Throughout the course of the novel, Alice goes through a variety of absurd physical changes. The discomfort she feels at never being the right size acts as a symbol for the changes that occur during puberty.) - Death (Alice continually finds herself in situations in which she risks death. Later, Alice starts to understand that the risks she faces may not be ridiculous and absurd after all.) - Life as a Meaningless Puzzle (The riddles and challenges presented to Alice have no purpose or answer. Could this indicate the usage of satire since there were so many moral rules during the Victorian Era?)

A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man - James Joyce (1916 Modernism, Stream of Consciousness)

A modernist bildungsroman that tells the story of Stephen Dedalus, a boy growing up in Ireland at the end of the nineteenth century, as he gradually decides to cast off all his social, familial, and religious constraints to live a life devoted to the art of writing. *The majority of Ireland were Catholics, but the Protestant minority wished to remain under British rule.* - Stephen Dedalus (pro/ant, grew up as strict Irish Catholic, family moves and he goes to a different school where he excels as a writer/actor, loses virginity to a Dublin prostitute, he ignores his religious upbringing - sins but later he goes back to the Catholic piety, family in debt again and need to move - he then realizes he doesn't want to be tied down by religious constraints and wants to enjoy love and beauty when he sees a woman on a beach, when at the university - he chooses to create an independent existence and leave Ireland to be an artist) - Simon Dedalus (Stephen's dad, impoverished former med student, strong sense of Irish patriotism) - Uncle Charles Dedalus (Stephen's great uncle who lives with them, takes walks with him and his dad to discuss the history of Ireland and the family) Themes - The Pitfalls of Religious Extremism (Stephen realizes that both of these lifestyles—the completely sinful and the completely devout—are extremes that have been false and harmful. He feels that it does not permit him the full experience of being human. Stephen ultimately reaches a decision to embrace life and celebrate humanity.) - The Need for Irish Autonomy (Stephen concludes that the Irish have always been a subservient people, allowing outsiders to control them - England. He feels a need to emerge from his Irish heritage as his own person, free from confined traditions) - Identity (Stephen's consistent feeling of difference and increasing alienation show that he sees himself as someone marked by fate to stand outside society. The novel also questions the value of Irish national identity in a country on the brink of revolution.)

Don Quixote - Miguel de Cervantes (1605 a Spanish writer during the Renaissance)

A parody, comedy, romance, and morality novel. The plot revolves around the adventures of a noble from La Mancha, Spain named Alonso Quixano, who reads so many chivalric romances that he loses his mind and decides to become a knight to revive chivalry and serve his nation, under the name Don Quixote de la Mancha. - Don Quixote (pro, main quest is to revive knight chivalry, believes what he wants to, is absurd/isolated - becomes pathetic/lovable old man whose strength/wisdom failed him, he dies from a fever at end) - Sancho Panza (ant, greedy but faithful to Don, foil to Don, self-sacrificing Christian behavior) - Dulcinea Del Toboso (never appears just mentioned, Don's peasant woman whom he envisions as his lady love) - The Duke and Duchess (play pranks on Don/Sancho, bored/snobby, seem as mad as Don) Themes - Distinction between Class and Worth (He attacks the conventional notion that aristocrats are automatically respectable and noble. Whereas, low social status people - peasants, Shepard, goatherds appear as philosophers, and the duke and duchess are rude and unkind.) - Loyalty (Sancho's loyalty is always tied to his self-interest. He follows Don Quixote around with the hopes of gaining a lot of money or even a kingdom to rule over. On the other hand, there are several tender moments when Sancho claims he'd rather die than leave his master's side. When it comes to loyalty, Sancho is a paradox) - Mortality (Death represents the great equalizer, the thing that eventually happens to everyone, whether they're rich and powerful or humble and powerless. For him, death helps give people a good perspective on how fame, wealth, and power really don't mean as much as we think they do. We all end up in the same place.)

Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert (1856 Romanticism and Realism)

A realistic fiction in France that tells the bleak story of a marriage that ends in tragedy in the mid 1800s. Charles Bovary, a good-hearted but dull and unambitious doctor with an inadequate practice, marries Emma, a beautiful farm girl raised in a convent. - Emma Bovary (pro, wants a sophisticated life - depressed, when pregnant, Charles moves them to a different town to make her better, falls in love w/ Leon (a law clerk) but he moves to Paris when he doesn't believe they will be together, has affair w/ Rodolphe - he gets bored and she becomes ill again, she sees Leon at an Opera and begins the love affair w/ him, secretly becomes in debt from borrowing money from Lheureux (moneylender) - she attempts to prostitute herself, gets bored w/ Leon, and kills herself w/ arsenic) - Charles Bovary (ant, incompetent/ country doctor, marries the daughter of a patient - Emma, in financial trouble, oblivious to the affairs, after Emma's death he finds letters from her lovers and dies alone - their daughter Berthe is sent to work in a cotton mill) - Monsieur Homais (ant, pretentious pharmacist in Yonville, he just uses people to get what he wants, he embodies the bourgeoisie) Themes - The Powerlessness of Women (Emma Bovary's hope that her baby will be a man because "a woman is always hampered" is just one of the many instances in the novel in which Flaubert demonstrates an intimate understanding of the plight of women in his time. Once she has married Charles, the choice to commit adultery is Emma's only means of exercising power over her own destiny.) - The Failures of the Bourgeoisie (Madame Bovary shows how ridiculous, stifling, and potentially harmful the attitudes and trappings of the bourgeoisie can be. Emma is disgusted with this class, and wants to be more sophisticated than them - they relied on materialistic things.) - Dissatisfaction (Life always seems unfair to her, and she spends a good deal of her time thinking about how it really ought to be better. She's not the only one; most of the book's exciting characters aren't content with simply going with the flow and accepting life as it is.)

Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen (1813 - Neoclassicism, Romanticism, Georgian Era - satire)

A romantic comedy novel is set in rural England in the early 19th century, and it follows the Bennet family, which includes five very different sisters. Mrs. Bennet is anxious to see all her daughters married, especially as the modest family estate is to be inherited by William Collins when Mr. Bennet dies. - Elizabeth Bennet (pro, intelligent/sensible of her 5 sisters, initially prejudice towards Darcy, rejected Mr. Collins's proposal) - Fitzwilliam Darcy (ant - for a short period, then Wickman, master of Pemberley - country estate, honest, smart, his pride causes him to look down on social inferiors, learns to admire Elizabeth's strength/courage, becomes engaged to Elizabeth at end) - Mr. Bennet (Elizabeth's dad, prefers to withdraw from the never-ending marriage concerns of the daughters, loves Elizabeth in particular) - Charles Bingley (Darcy's best friend who bought Netherfield - estate near the Bennets, uncaring of class differences, becomes engaged to Jane Bennet) Themes - Love (Most marriages are based either on economic necessity or on lust. Romantic love is a privilege that most people never near. Yet, Elizabeth and Darcy seem to symbolize this. They don't fall for each other immediately. There love has to grow.) - Women and Femininity (The women are too high class to get jobs, but not high class enough to inherit wealth. It leaves them with the choices of marrying rich or being a maid. This is a realistic look on what it meant to be a woman.) - Society and Class (Her main characters are landowners, meaning they get their money primarily from rents. To keep their class status, they have to hang on to their land (or marry men with land).

"The Secret Life of Walter Mitty" - James Thurber (1939 Modernist/Cartoonist)

An American adventurous and comedic short story in the 1930s in CT that tells the story of the aging Walter Mitty on a trip into town with his overbearing wife, Mrs. Mitty. Walter is inept at many things; he is an absent-minded driver, he can't handle simple mechanical tasks, and he forgets things easily. What makes Walter exceptional is his imagination. - Walter Mitty (pro, inept man but heroic daydreamer, constantly frustrated and embarrassed in real life so his imagination causes him to be in colorful roles - earns him respect and adoration of others: hydroplane commander, star surgeon, crack shot on trial, WWI captain, and condemned man on the firing line.) - Mrs. Mitty (ant, demanding/demeaning/controlling wife who is annoyed by Walter's absentmindedness, has Walter run errands while she gets her hair done, thinks something is wrong w/ Walter) - Antagonist = Reality - anyone who belittles Walter Themes - Imagination/Versions of Reality (Walter retreats into fantasy as an escape from his mundane reality. In the real world, he is ordinary, passive, and sometimes inept. In his fantasies, Mitty is strong and decisive, and possesses every good quality he lacks in reality.) - Men and Masculinity (Walter Mitty is an ordinary man who dreams of being extraordinary. Part of the explanation for his dissatisfaction with his everyday life is that he fails to live up to what he holds as masculine ideals. Mitty is mechanically inept, a poor driver, a passive husband, and a forgetful man. His wife is also demeaning. ) - Dissatisfaction (Mitty finds himself dissatisfied with his mundane, everyday life, and the role of passive husband to which he is relegated. Mitty dislikes the way people treat him - as a bumbling, aging man - when he in fact imagines himself to be something much greater.)

"The Tell-Tale Heart" - Edgar Allan Poe (1843 Dark Romanticism/Gothic)

An American horror and Gothic short story about an unnamed narrator who insists on his sanity after murdering an old man with a "vulture eye". The murder is carefully calculated, and the murderer hides the body by cutting it into pieces and hiding it under the floorboards. The narrator is unreliable, but we do know it must take place in a house. - Narrator (pro/ant, murderer of the old man, tries to argue his sanity) - Old Man (has a vulture-eye - the narrator obsesses over this to prove his insanity that the narrator wants to deny) Themes - Guilt (Critics have interpreted the sound of the beating heart as the narrator's guilty conscious reminding him of his deed. In this reading, the narrator finally confesses his crime because his guilt grows so great that he can no longer hold it in.) - Fear of Mortality (The way in which he describes the "vulture-eye" and the old man suggests his fixation on the man's age and frailty.· This heartbeat can be interpreted not as guilt, but as the narrator's heightened awareness of his mortality and terror that he will eventually die just as the old man did.) - Time (The narrator seems fixated on time. He catalogs exactly how much time he spends watching the old man before the murder.· He hears "death beetles," a type of beetle that sounds like a clock ticking, in the walls; he hears a watch ticking; he hears the old man's heartbeat. (To emphasize a mental disorder or his fear of death?)

"Hills Like White Elephants" - Ernest Hemingway (1927 Modernism, Iceberg Theory - technique coined by Hemingway, the deeper meaning of a story should shine only through implicitly rather than the surface)

An American modernist short story that tells the story of a traveling couple avoiding a very big conversation. While stopped at a railway junction in northeastern Spain, these two - known as the American and the girl - are the only people who directly speak except for 'the woman' who brings them drinks. - The American (pro/ant, says he never seen a white elephant, wants Jig to have an operation - abortion, he thinks it is best to have it done but won't make her do it) - The Girlfriend "Jig" (pro, says the hills look like white elephants, doesn't want the abortion but just dispassionately agrees w/ him, she says she doesn't care about herself and continue to argue and wants the American to stop talking towards the end, she is not being honest - she does not want the abortion but can't tell him) - The Bartender (Speaks Spanish to them - only the American understands her) Themes - Lack of Understanding/Communication (primarily a conversation between the American man and his girlfriend, neither of the speakers truly communicates with the other, highlighting the rift between the two.· The girl's inability to speak Spanish with the bartender, moreover, not only illustrates her dependence on the American but also the difficulty she has expressing herself to others.) - The Feeling of "Foreignness" (The fact that this story is set in Spain forces us (and the characters) into an unfamiliar atmosphere. The question of foreignness is woven into the bigger issue the characters face - what to do about an unplanned pregnancy when one character wants to keep the baby, and the other does not.) - Choices (Written in 1927 when sex education and discussion of birth control were federal crimes in the U.S., the story also comments on what little was known about reproductive issues in those days, and how this lack of information impacts the options the characters consider available to them.)

"Gift of the Magi" - O. Henry (1906 Local Color - it depicted the character of a particular region, concentrating especially upon the dialect, manners, folklore, and landscape that distinguished the area)

An American parable and dramatic ironic short story. It takes place at Christmas time in NYC during the 1900s and tells the story of Jim and Della Dillingham, a poor, young married couple who don't have enough money to buy each other Christmas gifts. As it unfolds, both sell their most prized possession to pay for a gift for the other. - Della Dillingham (pro, homemaker, poor, loving, selfless, cuts off her hair to get $20 - to buy Jim a watch chain for his gold watch) - Jim Dillingham (pro, loving husband, realizes the greatest gift they have is each other, sold his gold watch to buy her fancy combs for her used to be long hair, he says they should put their presents away and just have dinner) - Antagonist = poverty/money Themes - Love (It is the story of a poor, young couple whose love for each other is the most important thing in their lives. Such is their love that they're led to sacrifice their most valuable possessions to find Christmas gifts for each other.) - Sacrifice (The story's narrator assures us that in their willingness to give up all they have; they have proven themselves the wisest of all gift-givers. They give up their most precious possessions.) - Poverty (The main characters are very poor - this is repeatedly emphasized - and yet the story suggests that their love for each other makes them very rich.)

Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck (1937 Modernism, Naturalism/Realism)

An American realism/naturalist, tragic novella during the Great Depression (1930s) on a ranch in CA that focuses on the lives of George Milton and Lennie Small, two friends who are working towards a shared dream of owning their own piece of land during the Great Depression. - George (pro, migrant worker loves Lennie but is tired of taking care of him constantly, Lennie and George want to buy land to build a farm, warns Lennie to stay away from Curly's wife, Slim wants to help them buy land - don't want to tell anyone else, has to shoot Lennie in the head for killing Curly's wife out of mercy, George tells everyone that he took the gun away from Lennie and shot him - only Slim knows why he killed his friend) -Lennie (pro, migrant worker mental disability and depends on George for guidance, likes petting soft things, accidentally kills his puppy - Curly's wife talks to Lennie about how she hates her life and wanted to be a movie star, Lennie accidentally breaks her neck when he was petting her soft hair so he flees) - Curly (ant, boss's son, married to flirtatious wife, full of jealous suspicion, his hand is crushed by Lennie when Curly is in a jealous rage trying to find his wife) - Antagonist - the oppressive society in which migrant workers are kept in fear/isolation - Curly embodies this Themes -The Impossibility of the American Dream (What makes all of these dreams typically American is that the dreamers wish for untarnished happiness, for the freedom to follow their own desires.) - The Predatory Nature of Human Existence (Nearly all of the characters admit, at one time or another, to having a profound sense of loneliness and isolation. The most visible kind of strength—that used to oppress others—is itself born of weakness. Crooks (black) attempts to reduce Lennie) - Idealized Male Friendship (The men desire to come together in a way that would allow them to be like brothers to one another. That is, they want to live with one another's best interests in mind, to protect each other, and to know that there is someone in the world dedicated to protecting them - the farm - American dream)

Billy Budd - Herman Melville (1924 Romanticism - it was not found/published until then - written in 1800s)

An American sea story, Christian allegory, and philosophical novel. A story of loss of innocence on an English warship - Bellipotent in 1797 - after the Great Mutiny at Nore and during the Napoleonic Wars between England/France. It is the tale of a noble young man who falls victim to petty jealousy and pays the price with his life. Even as he is martyred, however, he retains his integrity. - Billy Budd (pro, stationed to a new ship - Bellipotent, proves to be eager, hardworking, and the other sailors like him, woken up one night by an unidentifiable sailor who tries to bribe him in exchange for a promise of cooperation - Billy is sketched out and explains this to a couple of sailors, he refuses to the mutiny charges during trial, he is hanged in the mainyard of the ship - the sailors seem to honor him, but everyone sees him as a traitor) - John Claggart (ant, master of arms, holds a grudge against Billy Budd, fixates on Billy accidentally spilling soup and this increases his wanted persecutions towards Billy, tells Captain Vere that he believes Billy is the ringleader of a rumored rebellious mutiny group) - Captain Vere (captain of Bellipotent, philosophical/intellectual, wants Billy to defend himself of the rumored mutiny - Billy is speechless and punches Claggart in the face leaving him unconscious and dies, he calls trial on Billy and gives a testimony as a main witness, he seems to press the jury on finding him guilty, he dies fighting against a French warship and his last words are "Billy Budd") Themes - Philosophical Viewpoints VS Mutiny (for all the philosophical sophistication of the book, the most interesting relationship to explore is that between philosophy and practical action. Despite Vere's learning, he makes poor decisions, and one is left examining one of the most difficult philosophical questions of all: what good is philosophy? (They all want to stick with "law" to avoid another mutiny.) - Duty (Since it is set in the wake of the Nore Mutiny, a sense of military duty is not just a formality; it is a safeguard against massive uprisings in the British fleet. Duty often allows one to act thoughtlessly and simply follow orders, but one's sense of duty becomes a true burden to carry when moral questions arise) - Morality and Ethics (Captain Vere's dilemma: The main problem is an apparent disconnect between military law and moral sensibility. Billy's execution feels unjust, and one cannot help but ask whether, in this case, right and wrong are aligned with good and evil.

The Last of the Mochicans - James Fenimore Cooper (1826 Romanticism)

An American sentimental, adventure, frontier romance, and historical fiction novel. The last members of a dying Native American tribe, the Mohicans -- Uncas, his father Chingachgook, and his adopted half-white brother Hawkeye -- live in peace alongside British colonists. But when the daughters of a British colonel are kidnapped by a traitorous scout, Hawkeye and Uncas must rescue them in the crossfire of a gruesome military conflict of which they wanted no part: the French and Indian War (1750s). - Hawkeye "Natty Bumppo" (pro, white/Indian, scout/hunter, guides them through the woods, kills Magua) - Magua (ant, Huron tribe who kidnaps Alice, Cora, Heyward, Gamut - Calvinist attempts to teach Christianity, captures Cora because Uncas wants to be w/ her, stabs Uncas in the back and kills him, says Hawkeye and his group are their racist enemies) - Major Duncan Heyward (a major in the English army, noble, his unfamiliarity w/ the woods sometimes creates problems w/ Hawkeye, likes Alice because she's blonde) - Uncas (Chingachgook's son - last son of the Mohican tribe, falls in love w/ Cora - interracial relationship, killed by Magua) Themes - Interracial Love and Friendship (It is a novel about race and the difficulty of overcoming racial divides. Cooper suggests that interracial mingling is both desirable and dangerous.) - Man VS Nature (It's made abundantly clear that the Native American characters possess the skills necessary to hack it in the wilderness, and most of the white guys (with the exception of Hawkeye) don't.) - Race/Stereotypes (The narrator treats race as deterministic within the world of the novel: white characters exhibit certain character traits (simply because they're white) and Native Americans exhibit certain character traits (simply because they're Native American).

"The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" - Washington Irving (1820 Romanticism)

An American short story of Gothic romance and satire in the 1700s around the Dutch settlement of Tarry Town - in NY. It tells the story of Ichabod Crane and his hapless attempt to win the heart and hand of Katrina Van Tassel in the context of a comical ghost story. Ichabod comes to Sleepy Hollow, New York, from his home state of Connecticut, to be the schoolmaster of the village. - Ichabod Crane (pro, prone to believe in supernatural, materialistic, strict teacher, makes little money so teaches singing lessons, he wants Baltus's inheritance, Ichabod flees Sleepy Hollow after seeing the "Headless Horseman" - Katrina Van Tassel (Ichabod's student, daughter of a wealthy farmer - Baltus - this makes Ichabod interested in her even more) - Brom Van Brunt (ant, wants Katrina as well, loves pranks, good at horseback riding, he has scared off Katrina's past suitors, he pranks Ichabod quite often, he scares Ichabod by being the "Headless Horseman", he marries Katrina) Themes - Supernatural - the power of local folklore (was it Brom or the Headless Horseman? We know that's a lot of questions, but "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" seems like an investigative report about all things supernatural.) - Love VS Wealth (Ichabod views Katrina Van Tassel as an entry into a realm of agricultural riches; the Van Tassel lands are vast and fruitful. Brom, on the other hand, seems to desire Katrina for her own character. In the end, authenticity wins out.) - Old VS New Order (As a yankee, Ichabod wants to bring new ideas and attitudes into the fold - as a teacher; the Dutch farmers strive to preserve their Old-World traditions - represent physical might/brawn - during the American Revolution)

Brave New World - Aldous Huxley (1932 Modernism/Science Fiction)

An English dystopian and science fiction novel that examines a futuristic society, called the World State, that revolves around science and efficiency. In this society, emotions and individuality are conditioned out of children at a young age, and there are no lasting relationships because "every one belongs to every one else" - John (pro, son of the Director and Linda, grew up on the New Mexico Savage Reservation, worldview is based on Shakespeare, has a sexual attraction towards Lenina but does not want to just sleep w/ her, causes a riot when his mom dies because of the soma drug, denies being exiled and goes to a lighthouse where he whips himself - everyone comes to watch and he ends up having an orgy w/ Lenina and hangs himself) - Bernard Marx (Alpha male but has an inferior physical stature, his discontent w/ the World State stems from his desire to fit in, he learns the Director is weary of him going to the Reservation and plans to exile him to Iceland when he gets back, invites John and Linda to visit the World State- this causes the Director to resign and Bernard to stay, begins to go up the social ladder and sleep w/ many women but this plummets when he refuses to meet w/ someone, exiled at end) - Helmholtz (Alpha lecturer who thinks his work is meaningless, has discontent w/ World State like Benard, exiled at end - embraces this to be able to write) Themes - The Use of Technology to Control Society (warns of the dangers of giving the state control over new and powerful technologies.) - Individuality (The World State sees individuality as incompatible with happiness and social stability because it interferes with the smooth functioning of the community. The Controllers do everything they can to prevent people developing individual identities.) - Sex (sex and violence are portrayed as the two extremes of passion. In this futuristic world, promiscuity is the law and emotional attachment is straight-up illegal. Does this express how they are dehumanizing themselves even more? There are no emotional ties - it seems animalistic)

"A Modest Proposal" - Jonathan Swift (1729 Neoclassicism - skepticism/satire)

An Irish political satirical essay that is presented in the guise of an economic treatise, the essay proposes that the country ameliorate poverty in Ireland by butchering the children of the Irish poor and selling them as food to wealthy English landlords. This proposal is a savage comment on England's legal and economic exploitation of Ireland. - The Proposer/Narrator (pro, impersonal, his money-grubbing philosophy draws attention to the callousness of the English rulers) - The Landlords (ant, anyone who looked the other way during this crisis - hoping the rich would recognizes themselves) - The Kids (the narrator uses language to dehumanize the kids completely) - The Parents (the breeders - like cattle, raising kids for food would impact a marriage, should say bye to their toddlers so they won't have to suffer from getting kicked out by greedy landlords or starve) - The English government is also an antagonist. Themes - Suffering (The author is calling out the fat-cat landlords who stuff themselves silly as their tenants starve to death in the streets. Here's the problem: those same wealthy jerks were also the ones reading his work.) - Visions of Ireland (British restrictions on agriculture prevent the land from being developed, while landlords routinely neglect responsibilities. In other words, Ireland under English rule is not the greatest place to live. He focuses on the Irish people rather than the landscape) - Politics (The author added in some legitimate suggestions for improving Ireland alongside his satire. He even addresses the agenda of his political enemies, the Whigs. His political satire was misinterpreted by the Queen of England.)

Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad (1902 Realism, Modernism)

An adventure, psychological thriller novella that centers around Marlow, an introspective sailor, and his journey up the Congo River to meet Kurtz, reputed to be an idealistic man of great abilities. Marlow takes a job as a riverboat captain with the Company, a Belgian concern organized to trade in the Congo. - Marlow (pro/narrator, skeptical of imperialism, philosophical, lies to Kurtz wife at end saying his last words were her name) - Kurtz (chief of the Inner Station/object of Marlow's quest, leader, the white men hate him because he wanted to initially lead the natives civically, but the jungle changed him and he wants to kill them now) - General Manager (ant, chief agent of the Company in Africa, wants to kill Kurtz, only wants to move up in the Company) - Brickmaker (ant, favored by the General Manager, will do anything to move up the corporate ladder) - The Jungle is also an antagonist - almost kills Marlow - it delays him and scares him) Themes - Hypocrisy of Imperialism (The men who work for the Company describe what they do as "trade," and their treatment of native Africans is part of a caring project of "civilization." Kurtz, on the other hand, is open about the fact that he does not trade but rather takes ivory by force, and he describes his own treatment of the natives with the words "suppression" and "extermination") - Madness (Kurtz has gone mad. Is madness just another name for imperialism—the idea that white men can swoop into Africa and claim it for themselves? Or is madness what happens when civilization tries to conquer the wilderness?) - Good VS Evil (Characters are unable to distinguish between good and evil. Marlow's desire to be good and do good becomes increasingly futile as he's plunged into a world where no absolute goodness exists and the best he can do is choose between a selection of nightmares.)

Great Expectations - Charles Dickens (1861 Victorian Era)

During the mid 19th century in England. A bildungsroman that follows the childhood and young adult years of Pip a blacksmith's apprentice in a country village. He suddenly comes into a large fortune (his great expectations) from a mysterious benefactor and moves to London where he enters high society. - Pip (pro/ant/narrator, orphan, loves Estella (higher social class), becomes successful by the convict, Magwitch, but loses most of his old relationships because of this - wanted to marry Biddy, but his brother-in-law Joe already did) - Estella (Miss Havisham's young ward (later known to be Magwitch's daughter), cruel to Pip, marries Drummle - treats her badly and dies at end) - Miss Havisham (ant, hates men since Magwitch didn't attend the wedding, deliberately raises Estella to break men's hearts, dies at end) - Magwitch/Convict (escaped prison where Pip helped him at the cemetery, Pip's secret benefactor - funds his schooling/lifestyle in London, tries to escape London w/ Pip but is caught and sentenced to death - Pip loses his fortune) Themes - Ambition VS Self-Improvement (Affection, loyalty, and conscience are more important than social advancement, wealth, and class. Pip is an idealist; whenever he can conceive of something that is better than what he already has, he immediately desires to obtain the improvement.) - Sophistication (Upper Class) - Pip becomes obsessed with a desire to be sophisticated and takes damaging risks in order to do so. · In the end, sophistication is revealed as a shallow and superficial value because it does not lead to Pip achieving anything, and only makes him lonely and miserable.) - Friendships (Pip patronizes, rejects, and disowns his friends, and yet they still keep coming back for more. Why? Do they see and sympathize with the scared little boy that Pip used to be, or does he have awesome character traits that we don't see?)

The Great Gatsby - F. Scott Fitzgerald (1925 Realism and Modernism)

In the summer of 1922 in NYC - West Egg, East Egg, the valley of ashes). A tragedy, modernism, and realism novel that follows Jay Gatsby, a man who orders his life around one desire: to be reunited with Daisy Buchanan, the love he lost five years earlier. Gatsby's quest leads him from poverty to wealth, into the arms of his beloved, and eventually to death. - Nick Carraway (narrator, lives by Gatsby in West Egg, Daisy's cousin, gets Daisy and Gatsby together) - Jay Gatsby (pro, throws parties at his mansion in West Egg, "new money" - learned how to be wealthy, willing to do anything - criminal activity- to gain higher social position, George Wilson kills him) - Tom Buchanan (ant, one of Nick's friends at Yale, racist/sexist, has an affair w/ Myrtle, becomes outraged when he finds out about Daisy and Gatsby) - Daisy Buchanan (ant, promised Gatsby she would wait on him after the war - but marries into wealth Tom, knows about Tom's infidelity) Themes - The Fall of the American Dream (The American Dream is supposed to stand for independence and the ability to make something of one's self with hard work, but it ends up being more about materialism and selfish pursuit of pleasure. No amount of hard work can change where Gatsby came from (the social class he was born in), and old money knows it.) - Society and Class (There's no such thing as the American Dream - Old money - born into wealth, was the only way to go. New money - Gatsby tried to work from rags to riches, but was never able to succeed and leads to a tragedy) - Love (Only fools fall in love. It's Gatsby who falls in love, but is he in love with Daisy, or with a dream of Daisy (dwelling on a memory), or with the idea of being in love? And does true love always come with destruction and violence?)

Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte (1847 Romanticism)

The novel is Gothic, romance, and bildungsroman. It follows the story of Jane, a seemingly plain and simple girl as she battles through life's struggles. Jane has many obstacles in her life - her cruel and abusive Aunt Reed (ant), the grim conditions at Lowood school, her love for Rochester and Rochester's marriage to Bertha. - Jane Eyre (pro/narrator, loves Rochester and marries him, orphan, strong belief in gender/social equality the Victorian prejudices had against women/poor) - Edward Rochester (has second "secret" wife - Bertha, who burns his house down, Jane's employer at Thornfield, wealthy) - St. John Rivers (ant, Jane's cousin, he wants to marry her, foil to Rochester) - Mr. Brocklehurst (ant, cruel master at Lowood School, steals from the school to benefit his family, after typhus epidemic - he is caught for his cruelity at the school - Jane was there for about 8 years, 2 of teaching) Themes - Love VS Autonomy (Jane searches, not just for romantic love, but also for a sense of being valued, of belonging. Yet, over the course of the book, Jane must learn how to gain love without sacrificing and harming herself in the process.) - Education (Education - teaching, provides the only route for someone who isn't independently wealthy to improve their character and prospects—it allows social mobility.) - Society and Class (Instead of the normal class structures, Jane implies that poverty can be thoroughly respectable, as long as it's accompanied by an earnest desire to better oneself—or at least to earn one's keep.)

The Scarlet Letter - Nathaniel Hawthorne (1850 - American Renaissance - Romanticism)

The romantic and historical fiction novel is set in a village in Puritan New England in the 1600s. The main character is Hester Prynne, a young woman who has borne a child out of wedlock. Hester believes herself a widow, but her husband, Roger Chillingworth, arrives in New England very much alive and conceals his identity. - Hester Prynne (pro, punished for adultery by wearing an "A" on her breast - her husband sent her to America but never arrived back, gave birth to Pearl - evidence she had an affair, refuses to identify the child's father, shunned by the community and lives in a small cottage w/ Pearl, tries to leave to Europe w/ Pearl and Dimmesdale but Chillingworth finds out, Hester embraces her lifestyle, Pearl marries an European aristocrat) - Roger Chillingworth (ant, Hester's missing husband disguised himself to get revenge, only tells Hester his real identity, lives w/ Dimmesdale to try to get info - he suspects, adds to Dimmesdale's self-torment/guilt - Arthur Dimmesdale (a minister who is the reason Hester can stay w/ Pearl, the father of Pearl, has a mark on his chest, has psychological distress - heart problems, tries to punish himself for his sins, publicly shows the "A" on his chest and dies) Themes - Female Independence (Hester boldly makes her own decisions and is able to take care of herself. She also has practical responsibilities that force her to be independent. She has to earn a living so that she and her daughter can survive, and she also has to raise a headstrong child as a single parent.) - Identity and Society (Her past sin is a part of who she is; to pretend that it never happened would mean denying a part of herself. Thus, Hester very determinedly integrates her sin into her life. She is not letting society tell her who she is - she keeps the "A" on when they consider having her take it off.) - Hypocrisy (hypocrisy is one of the worst sins that a man can commit. Just as adultery produces a physical mark on Hester's body, hypocrisy produces a physical mark on Dimmesdale's body.)