World Lit 2

ennui

(n.) weariness and dissatisfaction from lack of occupation or interest, boredom

Calvinism

A body of religious teachings based on the ideas of the reformer John Calvin.

Modernism

A cultural movement embracing human empowerment and rejecting traditionalism as outdated. Rationality, industry, and technology were cornerstones of progress and human achievement.

Fisher King

A fallen hero who suffers from a physical injury (often a wound in the groin or in the leg) and who has lost the power to lead. As a result of his poor leadership, darkness has crept back into his domain and threatens his people. "last gauridain of the holy grail- injured in the groin"

Magical Realism

A genre of fiction in which elements of fantasy, myth, or the supernatural are included in a narrative that is otherwise objective and realistic.

refrain

A line or set of lines repeated several times over the course of a poem.

Epiphany

A moment of sudden revelation or insight

Fuedalism

A political system in which nobles are granted the use of lands that legally belong to a king in return for loyalty and military service

Paradox

A statement or proposition that seems self-contradictory or absurd but in reality expresses a possible truth.

poetic conceit

A type of metaphor that makes a comparison between two startlingly different things. It may be brief or extended throughout the poem

T.S. Eliot, The Waste Land

American poet in England; described postwar world as a barren wasteland drained of hope and faith The Waste Land Character List The Narrator The most difficult to describe of the poem's characters, he assumes many different shapes and guises. At times the Narrator seems to be Eliot himself; at other times he stands in for all humanity. In "The Fire Sermon" he is at one point the Fisher King of the Grail legend, at another the blind prophet Tiresias. When he seems to reflect Eliot, the extent to which his ruminations are autobiographical is ambiguous. Madame Sosostris A famous clairvoyant referred to in Aldous Huxley's novel Crome Yellow and borrowed by Eliot for the Tarot card episode. She suffers from a bad cold, but is nonetheless "known to be the wisest woman in Europe, / With a wicked pack of cards." Stetson A friend of the Narrator's, who fought in the war with him. Which war? It is unclear. Perhaps the Punic War or World War I, or both, or neither. The Rich Lady Never referred to by name, she sits in the resplendent drawing room of "A Game of Chess." She seems to be surrounded by luxury, but unable to appreciate or enjoy it. She might allude to Eliot's wife Vivienne. Philomela A character from Ovid's Metamorphoses. She was raped by Tereus, then, after taking her vengeance with her sister, morphed into a nightingale. A Typist Lonely, a creature of the modern world. She is visited by a "young man carbuncular," who sleeps with her. She is left alone again, accompanied by just her mirror and a gramophone. Mr. Eugenides A merchant from Smyrna (now Izmir, in Turkey). Probably the one-eyed merchant to whom Madame Sosostris refers. Phlebas A Phoenician merchant who is described lying dead in the water in "Death by Water." Perhaps the same drowned Phoenician sailor to whom Madame Sosostris refers.

Surrealism

An artistic movement that displayed vivid dream worlds and fantastic unreal images

Allende "And Clay Are We Created"

And of Clay Are We Created" is a short story by Chilean-American author, Isabel Allende, which appears in her 1989 collection The Stories of Eva Luna. It is based on the true story of Omayra Sanchez, who was a young victim of an earthquake in Colombia in 1985. The story is told from the perspective of Eva Luna, who was a character in one of Allende's novels. The author did not write short stories until many readers of her work expressed an interest in hearing the tales referred to by Eva Luna in Allende's eponymous novel, Eva Luna. As the story begins, thirteen-year-old Azucena is neck deep in a mud pit. She is one of thousands of residents living in a village on a mountain slope in Latin America. A volcanic eruption is melting the ice on the mountain, causing mudslides that have decimated entire villages and towns and killed thousands of people. The narrator is watching the news of the events on television as it is delivered by her lover Rolf Carle, who is the first reporter to arrive at the scene. Carle and his assistant film the rescue attempts and he ends up assisting too, going waist deep into the mud and approaching the girl with a rope to tie under her arms. He reassures her that she will be safe soon. Azucena is in pain as the mud has too strong a hold on her for her to be pulled free. She feels something holding her legs and when told it is probably debris from her house, she fears that it is actually the bodies of her now dead brothers and sisters. The narrator has seen Carle deliver the news many, many times and no matter how important the event, he has always in her mind been totally objective. She is aware, however, this time that he is losing this objectivity and becoming emotionally connected to Azucena. Carle does in fact move from his position as a reporter and tries everything he can to free the girl from the mud, but is unsuccessful. He puts a tire under her shoulders to prevent her from sinking more deeply into the mud. He calls for a pump to be used to try to drain the water around her but finds that none will be available until the next day. Carle does not leave the girl, remaining with her through the night. He tells her stories of things he has experienced to help keep her calm. In the city the narrator continues to watch what is going on. She goes to the television station so that she can see the satellite transmissions being sent by Carle, rather than just what goes over the air. She gets involved in the rescue attempt as well. She calls government officials and businesses in an attempt to locate a pump, and even puts out calls for one on radio and television. These attempts fail to bring results. She too becomes emotionally involved with the young girl, crying as she watches what is transpiring. She realizes that Carle has become unaware of the presence of a television camera and is showing a level of exhaustion that she has never seen him reach before. Other news organizations have now become involved and a crowd of reporters has gathered. Pictures of Azucena and Carle are seen around the world. A doctor examines the girl and a priest offers a blessing. In spite of the presence of so much equipment and technology utilized by the media, still no pump can be located. It is nearing the end of the second day of the situation and Azucena and Carle are talking and praying together. He has depleted his collection of personal stories to share with her so begins to tell her stories of the narrator, as well as sharing folk songs he learned when he was a child. As he continues to calm the girl, he recalls times from his own youth that he had not remembered for years, including burying bodies at a concentration camp, his abusive father, the fears of his disabled sister, and feelings of humiliation experienced by his mother. He does not tell these things to Azucena but becomes more introspective than he has ever been. He feels just as trapped as the young girl and feels more connected to her than he has ever felt to another person. By the dawning of the third day both Carle and Azucena are physically drained. The president of the Republic arrives and is filmed with the girl. He calls her an example for all others and promises to provide a pump. Unfortunately, this promise comes too late. The narrator is watching the events on television and can sense that the time has arrived when both Azucena and Carle have given up all hope and believe that death is imminent; they have both stopped struggling. The narrator has arranged for a pump to be sent but the girl dies on the third night. Carle removes the tire from her shoulders and she sinks into the mud. Carle returns home but does not return to work, instead he watches footage of his time with Azucena over and over, trying to figure out what more he could have done to help her. The narrator promises him that the wounds the situation opened up in him will eventually heal. Publishers Weekly said of Allende's story collection, "Allende's inventiveness justifies her own comparisons of her literary creation to Scheherazade, and throughout all these short works whispers the mysticism of Eva Luna herself-her well-placed faith in a world of spirits and in the immortality of human love"

Lu Xun "a Mad Man's Diary"

Diary of a man who has lived in confusion for 30 years and suddenly gains spiritual insight from the moon. Leads him into paranoia, he reads Chinese History "eat people", he discovers his brother and mothers plan to eat him and his involvement in his the eating of his sisters flesh. Desperate cry "save the children", story exposes cannibalism and how everyone is an accomplice in the game of eating and being eaten.

Jamacia Kincaid

Girl "Girl" consists of a single sentence of advice a mother imparts to her daughter, only twice interrupted by the girl to ask a question or defend herself. She intends the advice to both help her daughter and scold her at the same time. Kincaid uses semicolons to separate the admonishments and words of wisdom but often repeats herself, especially to warn her daughter against becoming a "slut." Besides these repetitions, "Girl" doesn't move forward chronologically: there is no beginning, middle, or end to the stream. The mother dispenses much practical and helpful advice that will help her daughter keep a house of her own some day. She tells her daughter how to do such household chores as laundry, sewing, ironing, cooking, setting the table, sweeping, and washing. The mother also tells the girl how to do other things she'll need to know about, including how to make herbal medicines and catch a fish. These words of wisdom suggest that the women live in a poor, rural setting, where passing on such advice is essential for daily living.

Christina Rossetti, "Goblin Market"

Golden head by golden head, Like two pigeons in one nest Folded in each other's wings, They lay down in their curtain'd bed: Like two blossoms on one stem, Like two flakes of new-fall'n snow, Like two wands of ivory Tipp'd with gold for awful kings. Moon and stars gaz'd in at them, Wind sang to them lullaby, Lumbering owls forbore to fly, Not a bat flapp'd to and fro Round their rest: Cheek to cheek and breast to breast Lock'd together in one nest.

Ibsen- Hedda Gabler

Hedda Gabler - Hedda is the daughter of the famous General Gabler; as a child she was used to luxury and high-class living. As the play begins, she is returning from her honeymoon with Jürgen Tesman, a scholar with good prospects but not as much money as Hedda is accustomed to. Her married name is Hedda Tesman. Hedda is an intelligent, unpredictable, and somewhat dishonest young woman who is not afraid to manipulate her husband and friends. Jürgen Tesman - Tesman is an amiable, intelligent young scholar. He tries very hard to please his young wife, Hedda, and often does not realize that she is manipulating him. In fact, he often seems foolish for his age, and when he annoys Hedda, the audience has reason to sympathize with her. Tesman is hoping for a professorship in history, and at the beginning of the play it seems that his one great rival, Ejlert Lövborg, a notorious alcoholic, no longer stands in Tesman's way. Tesman was raised by his Aunt Julle. Juliane Tesman - Juliane Tesman, or Aunt Julle, is the aunt of Jürgen Tesman. After Tesman's parents died, Aunt Julle raised him. She is well-meaning, and she is constantly hinting that Tesman and Hedda should have a baby. Aunt Julle tries to get along with Hedda, but the difference in their class backgrounds is painfully apparent. Aunt Julle lives with the ailing Aunt Rina, another aunt of Tesman's. Judge Brack - Brack is a judge of relatively inferior rank. He is a friend of both Tesman* and Hedda, and he visits their house regularly. He has connections around the city, and is often the first to give Tesman information about alterations in the possibility of his professorship. He seems to enjoy meddling in other people's affairs. He is a worldly and cynical man. Ejlert Lövborg - A genius, Ejlert Lövoborg is Tesman* biggest competitor in the academic world. After a series of scandals related to drinking, he was once a public outcast but has now returned to the city and has published a book to rave reviews. He also has another manuscript that is even more promising. Mrs. Elvsted helped him with both manuscripts. He once shared a close relationship with Hedda. Mrs. Elvsted - Mrs. Elvsted is a meek but passionate woman. She and her husband hired Ejlert Lövborg as a tutor to their children, and Mrs. Elvsted grew attached to Ejlert, acting as his personal secretary and aiding him in his research and writing. When Ejlert leaves her estate to return to the city, Mrs. Elvsted comes to town and goes to Tesman* for help, fearing Ejlert will revert to his alcoholism. Mrs. Elvsted went to school with Hedda and remembers being tormented by her. Aunt Rina- Aunt Rina is dying at the start of the play. She never appears onstage. She helped Aunt Julle raise Tesman* Berte - Berte is George* and Hedda Tesman's servant. Formerly, she was the servant in Juliane Tesman's household. She tries very hard to please Hedda, her new mistress, but Hedda is quite dissatisfied with her.

Achebe, Things Fall Apart

Okonkwo - An influential clan leader in Umuofia. Since early childhood, Okonkwo's embarrassment about his lazy, squandering, and effeminate father, Unoka, has driven him to succeed. Okonkwo's hard work and prowess in war have earned him a position of high status in his clan, and he attains wealth sufficient to support three wives and their children. Okonkwo's tragic flaw is that he is terrified of looking weak like his father. As a result, he behaves rashly, bringing a great deal of trouble and sorrow upon himself and his family. Read an in-depth analysis of Okonkwo. Nwoye - Okonkwo's oldest son, whom Okonkwo believes is weak and lazy. Okonkwo continually beats Nwoye, hoping to correct the faults that he perceives in him. Influenced by Ikemefuna, Nwoye begins to exhibit more masculine behavior, which pleases Okonkwo. However, he maintains doubts about some of the laws and rules of his tribe and eventually converts to Christianity, an act that Okonkwo criticizes as "effeminate." Okonkwo believes that Nwoye is afflicted with the same weaknesses that his father, Unoka, possessed in abundance. Ezinma - The only child of Okonkwo's second wife, Ekwefi. As the only one of Ekwefi's ten children to survive past infancy, Ezinma is the center of her mother's world. Their relationship is atypical—Ezinma calls Ekwefi by her name and is treated by her as an equal. Ezinma is also Okonkwo's favorite child, for she understands him better than any of his other children and reminds him of Ekwefi when Ekwefi was the village beauty. Okonkwo rarely demonstrates his affection, however, because he fears that doing so would make him look weak. Furthermore, he wishes that Ezinma were a boy because she would have been the perfect son. Ikemefuna - A boy given to Okonkwo by a neighboring village. Ikemefuna lives in the hut of Okonkwo's first wife and quickly becomes popular with Okonkwo's children. He develops an especially close relationship with Nwoye, Okonkwo's oldest son, who looks up to him. Okonkwo too becomes very fond of Ikemefuna, who calls him "father" and is a perfect clansman, but Okonkwo does not demonstrate his affection because he fears that doing so would make him look weak Mr. Brown - The first white missionary to travel to Umuofia. Mr. Brown institutes a policy of compromise, understanding, and non-aggression between his flock and the clan. He even becomes friends with prominent clansmen and builds a school and a hospital in Umuofia. Unlike Reverend Smith, he attempts to appeal respectfully to the tribe's value system rather than harshly impose his religion on it. Read an in-depth analysis of Mr. Brown. Reverend James Smith - The missionary who replaces Mr. Brown. Unlike Mr. Brown, Reverend Smith is uncompromising and strict. He demands that his converts reject all of their indigenous beliefs, and he shows no respect for indigenous customs or culture. He is the stereotypical white colonialist, and his behavior epitomizes the problems of colonialism. He intentionally provokes his congregation, inciting it to anger and even indirectly, through Enoch, encouraging some fairly serious transgressions. Uchendu - The younger brother of Okonkwo's mother. Uchendu receives Okonkwo and his family warmly when they travel to Mbanta, and he advises Okonkwo to be grateful for the comfort that his motherland offers him lest he anger the dead—especially his mother, who is buried there. Uchendu himself has suffered—all but one of his six wives are dead and he has buried twenty-two children. He is a peaceful, compromising man and functions as a foil (a character whose emotions or actions highlight, by means of contrast, the emotions or actions of another character) to Okonkwo, who acts impetuously and without thinking. The District Commissioner - An authority figure in the white colonial government in Nigeria. The prototypical racist colonialist, the District Commissioner thinks that he understands everything about native African customs and cultures and he has no respect for them. He plans to work his experiences into an ethnographic study on local African tribes, the idea of which embodies his dehumanizing and reductive attitude toward race relations. Unoka - Okonkwo's father, of whom Okonkwo has been ashamed since childhood. By the standards of the clan, Unoka was a coward and a spendthrift. He never took a title in his life, he borrowed money from his clansmen, and he rarely repaid his debts. He never became a warrior because he feared the sight of blood. Moreover, he died of an abominable illness. On the positive side, Unoka appears to have been a talented musician and gentle, if idle. He may well have been a dreamer, ill-suited to the chauvinistic culture into which he was born. The novel opens ten years after his death. Obierika - Okonkwo's close friend, whose daughter's wedding provides cause for festivity early in the novel. Obierika looks out for his friend, selling Okonkwo's yams to ensure that Okonkwo won't suffer financial ruin while in exile and comforting Okonkwo when he is depressed. Like Nwoye, Obierika questions some of the tribe's traditional strictures. Ekwefi - Okonkwo's second wife, once the village beauty. Ekwefi ran away from her first husband to live with Okonkwo. Ezinma is her only surviving child, her other nine having died in infancy, and Ekwefi constantly fears that she will lose Ezinma as well. Ekwefi is good friends with Chielo, the priestess of the goddess Agbala. Enoch - A fanatical convert to the Christian church in Umuofia. Enoch's disrespectful act of ripping the mask off an egwugwu during an annual ceremony to honor the earth deity leads to the climactic clash between the indigenous and colonial justice systems. While Mr. Brown, early on, keeps Enoch in check in the interest of community harmony, Reverend Smith approves of his zealotry. Ogbuefi Ezeudu - The oldest man in the village and one of the most important clan elders and leaders. Ogbuefi Ezeudu was a great warrior in his youth and now delivers messages from the Oracle. Chielo - A priestess in Umuofia who is dedicated to the Oracle of the goddess Agbala. Chielo is a widow with two children. She is good friends with Ekwefi and is fond of Ezinma, whom she calls "my daughter." At one point, she carries Ezinma on her back for miles in order to help purify her and appease the gods. Akunna - A clan leader of Umuofia. Akunna and Mr. Brown discuss their religious beliefs peacefully, and Akunna's influence on the missionary advances Mr. Brown's strategy for converting the largest number of clansmen by working with, rather than against, their belief system. In so doing, however, Akunna formulates an articulate and rational defense of his religious system and draws some striking parallels between his style of worship and that of the Christian missionaries. Nwakibie - A wealthy clansmen who takes a chance on Okonkwo by lending him 800 seed yams—twice the number for which Okonkwo asks. Nwakibie thereby helps Okonkwo build up the beginnings of his personal wealth, status, and independence. Mr. Kiaga - The native-turned-Christian missionary who arrives in Mbanta and converts Nwoye and many others. Okagbue Uyanwa - A famous medicine man whom Okonkwo summons for help in dealing with Ezinma's health problems. Click to find out more about a new promotion Maduka - Obierika's son. Maduka wins a wrestling contest in his mid-teens. Okonkwo wishes he had promising, manly sons like Maduka. Obiageli - The daughter of Okonkwo's first wife. Although Obiageli is close to Ezinma in age, Ezinma has a great deal of influence over her. Ojiugo - Okonkwo's third and youngest wife, and the mother of Nkechi. Okonkwo beats Ojiugo during the Week of Peace

vine leaves

Quantifiers are used to indicate the amount or quantity of something referred to by a noun.

Consonance

Repetition of a consonant sound within two or more words in close proximity.

Joyce

The Dead "The Sisters" narrator - The reserved and contemplative boy who deals with the death of his friend, Father Flynn. The narrator avoids showing outward emotions to his family members, but he devotes his thoughts to the priest's memory. Others in the story see the narrator's relationship with the priest as inappropriate and exploitative, and the narrator himself seems unsure of what the priest meant to him. Father Flynn - The priest who dies in "The Sisters." Father Flynn's ambiguous presence in the story as a potential child molester initiates a book-long critique of religious leaders, consistently portraying them as incompetent. Old Cotter - The family friend in "The Sisters" who informs the narrator of Father Flynn's death. Old Cotter voices concern about the priest's intentions with the narrator, but he avoids making any direct statements. "An Encounter" narrator - The young boy who endures an awkward conversation with a perverted old man while skipping school. Bored with the drudgery of lessons, the narrator dreams of escape. When imaginary games fail to fulfill his yearning for adventure, he embarks on a real one with his friend Mahony by skipping school and spending the day in Dublin, only to encounter fear. Mahony - The narrator's companion in "An Encounter." When Mahony and the narrator rest in a field, a strange old man approaches them. At one point Mahony runs aw ay after a cat, leaving the narrator and the old man alone. "Araby" "Araby" narrator - The amorous boy who devotes himself to his neighbor Mangan's sister. Images and thoughts of the girl subsume the narrator's days, but when he finally speaks to her it is brief and awkward. When Mangan's sister tells the narrator about a bazaar called Araby, the narrator decides to go there and buy something for her. However, he arrives at the bazaar too late and buys nothing. The narrator illustrates the joys and frustrations of young love. His inability to pursue his desires angers him. Mangan's sister - The love interest in "Araby." Mangan's sister mentions the Araby bazaar to the narrator, prompting him to travel there. She suggests the familiarity of Dublin, as well as the hope of love and the exotic appeal of new places. "Eveline" Eveline - The protagonist of the story that shares her name. Eveline makes a bold and exciting decision to elope to Argentina with her lover, Frank, but ultimately shrinks away from it, excluding herself from love. Her constant review of the pros and cons of her decision demonstrates her willingness to please everyone but herself, and her final resolve to stay in Dublin with her family casts her as a woman trapped in domestic and familiar duties and afraid to embrace the unpredictable. "After the Race" Jimmy Doyle - The upwardly mobile protagonist of "After the Race." Infatuated with the prestige of his friends and giddy about his inclusion in such high-society circles, Jimmy conducts a life of facile whims and excessive expenditure. "Two Gallants" Lenehan - One half of the pair of swindlers in "Two Gallants." Lenehan exudes energy and exhaustion at once. He excitedly partakes in the exploits of his friend Corley but also laments the aimlessness of his hard living and lack of stability. Though he yearns to settle down, he remains fixed to Corley's side as the stereotypical sidekick. Corley - The scheming friend of Lenehan in "Two Gallants." Corley's bulky, assertive physical presence matches his grandiose bragging and incessant self-promotion. A police informant and skilled in taking advantage of women, Corley provides one of the most critical and unsympathetic portraits of betrayal in Dubliners when he dupes the housemaid into giving him a gold coin. "The Boarding House" Mrs. Mooney - The proprietor and mother from "The Boarding House." Separated from her husband and the owner of a business, Mrs. Mooney firmly governs her own life, as well as her daughter Polly's. Her apparently successful plan to secure her daughter in a comfortable marriage makes her a morally ambiguous character. She demands equal treatment for men and women but also manipulates relationships to rid herself of her daughter. Mr. Doran - The lover of Mrs. Mooney's daughter Polly in "The Boarding House." A successful clerk, Mr. Doran fears his affair with the unpolished daughter will tarnish his reputation and bemoans the restraints of marriage, but he resolves to marry her out of social necessity and fear. "A Little Cloud" Gallaher - Little Chandler's old friend who visits Dublin in "A Little Cloud." For Little Chandler, Gallaher represents all that is enticing and desirable: success in England, a writing career, foreign travel, and laid-back ease with women. His gruff manners and forthright behavior contrast with Little Chandler's delicacy. Little Chandler - The unhappy and fastidious clerk who reunites with his friend Gallaher in "A Little Cloud." Little Chandler's physical attributes match his name—he is small, fragile, and delicately groomed. His tendency to suppress his poetic desires suggests that he also earns his title by living quietly and without passion. He fleetingly rebels against his domestic life after hearing about Gallaher's exciting life, then shamefully re-embraces it. "Counterparts" Farrington - The burly and aggressive copy clerk and protagonist in "Counterparts." With his wine-red face and fuming temper, Farrington moves through Dublin as a time bomb of rage. Farrington's job dooms him to unthinkingly repeat his actions, and he transfers his frustrations from one experience to the next without discernment. His outlets in life are drinking and fighting, a physical engagement with the world that typifies his lack of care and thought. Farrington's son is one victim of his rage. Mr. Alleyne - Farrington's boss in "Counterparts." Exasperated by Farrington's poor work, Mr. Alleyne yells at and insults Farrington until Farrington embarrasses him in front of the office staff. He serves mainly to exacerbate Farrington's frustrations and fuel his anger. "Clay" Maria - The quiet and prim maid and protagonist from "Clay" who goes to visit Joe Donnelly, the man she nursed when he was a boy. Maria is precise and dedicated to detail. She moves through most of the narrative with content satisfaction and laughter. Her happiness, however, faces challenges in the smallest of events, and her disproportionate reactions to small troubles suggest a remote detachment from life. Joe Donnelly - The man Maria visits in "Clay." Joe's brief appearance in the story provides a backdrop for Maria's own concerns. Like her, he worries about mundane details, but he also hides a deeper wound that the story does not articulate. He therefore serves as a sad figure of unhappiness. "A Painful Case" Mr. Duffy - A solitary and obsessive man who eschews intimacy with Mrs. Sinico in "A Painful Case." Disdainful of excess and tightly self-regulated, Mr. Duffy lives according to mundane routine, and when a relationship evolves beyond his comfort level, he squelches it. His remorse over Mrs. Sinico's death makes him realize that his pursuit of order and control has led only to loneliness. He is one of the most tragic protagonists of Dubliners. Mrs. Sinico - Mr. Duffy's companion in "A Painful Case." After being shunned by him, Mrs. Sinico becomes an alcoholic and dies when she is hit by a train. She once grasped Mr. Duffy's hand and held it to her cheek, and this small, affectionate gesture led to the end of their relationship. "Ivy Day in the Committee Room" Mat O'Connor - One of the political workers from "Ivy Day in the Committee Room." Quiet and reserved, O'Connor paces the men's conversation by tempering conflict and praise about the dead politician Parnell, but he shows little interest in his own political work. Joe Hynes - Reads the poem about Parnell in "Ivy Day in the Committee Room." Some of the men are hesitant about his presence in the room because Hynes is critical of the candidate for whom they work, but Hynes never wavers in his statements or views. John Henchy - The equivocating political promoter from "Ivy Day in the Committee Room." Henchy suspects everyone of betrayal. He suspects his boss of shirking the men out of beer and paychecks, and he suspects Hynes of informing the opposing candidate. However, he is the most equivocal figure in the story and constantly changes his own views to suit the context. "A Mother" Mrs. Kearney - The commanding protagonist of "A Mother." One of the four female protagonists in Dubliners, Mrs. Kearney is ambitious but also haughty. She orchestrates her daughter's upbringing as an exemplary proponent of Irish culture and poise, but she has trouble dealing with Dubliners of different backgrounds and any challenges to her authority. Mr. Holohan - The befuddled secretary who organizes the musical concerts in "A Mother." Mr. Holohan is the subject of Mrs. Kearney's abuse, and though he remains quiet throughout the story, he is the only character who resists and counters her critiques. "Grace" Tom Kernan - The out-of-luck businessman of "Grace." After a nasty, drunken fall, Kernan joins his friends in an attempt to reform his life. He remains silent about his accident, never questioning the men who were his companions that night. His accepting attitude leads him to go along with his friends' plan to attend a Catholic retreat, but he never makes an active decision. Jack Power - Kernan's friend in "Grace." Power rescues Kernan after his accident and suggests the Catholic retreat. Mr. Power's dedication to Kernan appears shallow despite his efforts to reform the man, as he is acutely aware of Kernan's dwindling social status in comparison to his own burgeoning career. "The Dead" Gabriel Conroy - The protagonist from "The Dead." A university-educated teacher and writer, Gabriel struggles with simple social situations and conversations, and straightforward questions catch him off guard. He feels out of place due to his highbrow literary endeavors. His aunts, Julia and Kate Morkan, turn to him to perform the traditionally male activities of carving the goose and delivering a speech at their annual celebration. Gabriel represents a force of control in the story, but his wife Gretta's fond and sad recollections of a former devoted lover make him realize he has little grasp on his life and that his marriage lacks true love. Gretta Conroy - Gabriel's wife in "The Dead." Gretta plays a relatively minor role for most of the story, until the conclusion where she is the focus of Gabriel's thoughts and actions. She appears mournful and distant when a special song is sung at the party, and she later plunges into despair when she tells Gabriel the story of her childhood love, Michael Furey. Her pure intentions and loyalty to this boy unnerve Gabriel and generate his despairing thoughts about life and death. Lily - The housemaid to the Morkan sisters who rebukes Gabriel in "The Dead." Molly Ivors - The nationalist woman who teases Gabriel during a dance in "The Dead." Julia Morkan - One of the aging sisters who throw an annual dance party in "The Dead." Julia has a grey and sullen appearance that combines with her remote, wandering behavior to make her a figure sapped of life. Kate Morkan - One of the aging sisters who throw an annual dance party in "The Dead." Kate is vivacious but constantly worries about her sister, Julia, and the happiness of the guests. Michael Furey - Gretta Conroy's childhood love in "The Dead" who died for her long ago.

Epiphora

The repetition of a word or phrase at the end of several clauses. (Also known as epistrophe.)

Emily Dickinson's - "Safe in their Alabaster Chambers"

Untouched by morning and untouched by noon- sleep the meek members of the resurrection- rather of satin, and roof of stone.

Emily Dickinson's - "I heard a fly buzz"

When I died the stillness in the room was like the Stillness in the air between the heaves of storm

Emily Dickinson's - "There's a certain Slant of light"

Winter afternoons- that oppresses, like the heft of Cathedral tunes-

Borges, The Garden of Forking Paths

Yu Tsun Character Analysis Our protagonist is bitter and conflicted. A descendent of a wealthy and powerful Chinese family, he used to teach English in China. Now, however, he finds himself working for the Germans as a spy - a job that he finds degrading. He hates the Germans and thinks they're "barbarous" (8). On the other hand, he has known a British man who seemed to him the very picture of modesty, graciousness, and wisdom. (That would be Stephen Albert.) So he spies for the nation he thinks of as barbarous and shoots his British friend in the back. You can understand why Yu Tsun might be full of self-loathing. Why on earth does Yu Tsun act this way? What is the force that drives him to aid his enemies and betray his friends? Well, it all hinges on the fact that his German boss, The Chief, is really xenophobic - he fears and hates foreigners, Tsun tells us, especially Asians. Yu Tsun wants to prove to The Chief that a Chinese man can "save his armies" by discovering and passing along secret British information (9). Tsun succeeds but doesn't have much to show for it: condemned to hang, he winds up full of remorse. Bummer. We can only hope that in some alternate reality, Yu Tsun has made better choices. Dr. Stephen Albert Character Analysis Doc Albert gets involved in this twisted spy plot for one reason only - his name. And yet, as in all Borgesian tales, this coincidence comes to seem like a twist of fate. After all, what are the chances that the man Yu Tsun looked up at random in a phone book would happen be a scholar of Chinese culture whose subject of study is the obscure work of Yu Tsun's great-grandfather? (Crazy, right?) As the narrative progresses, it becomes harder to believe in coincidence. We get the feeling that, at least in this universe, Yu Tsun is destined to meet Dr. Albert. Dr. Stephen Albert embodies the figure of the scholar: patient, erudite, and solitary. In fact, his lifestyle sort of eerily resembles that of Ts'ui Pen himself, stirring in us a sense of foreboding that he might meet his end in the same way his idol did, assassinated by a stranger. And then he does. Coincidence? Nah - there's no such thing as coincidence in a Borges story. There are a few clues that Albert's passion for Ts'ui Pen's work is more than purely academic. He is convinced that Ts'ui Pen was "more than a mere novelist" - he was a philosopher whose understanding of the universe contained an element of truth. It's obvious that Albert emulates Ts'ui Pen in his "leanings toward the metaphysical and the mystical," and that he's been completely convinced by the older scholar's philosophy (53). As Yu Tsun observes, there's something ancient, unyielding, even immortal about Dr.Albert - he has "something of the priest" about him (34). Albert's mystical fervor goes a long way toward establishing the magical realist qualities of this story. (Magical realism is a genre in which magical or supernatural elements appear in the text alongside perfectly ordinary ones.) He's the guy who bridges the gap between an obscure theory and the world of the characters, and under his instruction the universe starts to look and behave a lot like the one imagined by Ts'ui Pen. Ts'ui Pen Character Analysis Ts'ui Pen is the great-grandfather of our protagonist, Yu Tsun. He is also, coincidentally, the subject of obsessive study of renowned Sinologist Dr. Stephen Albert. It stands to reason that when the two men get together (apparently by chance), Ts'ui Pen would be the subject of their involved conversation. Ts'ui Pen was the governor of the Chinese province of Yunnan, a powerful man who gave up his position and all of the prestige that went with it in order to pursue a more scholarly life. As Dr. Albert tells us, he secluded himself in the Pavilion of the Limpid Sun, a kind of summer home surrounded by gardens, in order to build a labyrinth and write a novel. After thirteen years he was assassinated by a stranger. His descendents' confusion upon encountering the mess of papers that were supposed to be his novel, and upon failing to find a physical labyrinth, led them to feel shame at the wasted life of their once-powerful ancestor. Once again, we're amazed at Borges' skill in packing so much significance into a character who appears in the story as no more than a legacy and a memory. The guy is dead, after all. And yet his persona lingers on not only in the mind of his descendent, Yu Tsun, but also in the body of work that Dr. Stephen Albert takes up as his field of study. Ts'ui Pen's character really does a lot for a dead guy. He's ultimately the source of the theory of time outlined in the story. He also serves to comment on the relevance of ancestry and family honor, the function of literature and scholarship, and the workings of translation and cross-cultural communication. Pretty impressive, huh? Captain Richard Madden Character Analysis We'd like to make fun of Captain Richard Madden's "long horseface," but we're too scared (4). The man is ruthless, unstoppable, and in Yu Tsun's words, "implacable" (2). That makes him terrifying. Yet Captain Madden is not really a bad guy. Sure, he hunts his enemies down like a well-oiled machine, but it's nothing personal. As Yu Tsun points out, he's obliged to be implacable. See, the thing is, he's an Irishman in the service of the English armed forces, at a time when relations between the two nations were particularly frosty. Which means that - like our protagonist - Madden has something to prove to his superiors. Since the English don't really trust the Irish, his nationality means that he's "suspected of equivocal feelings if not of actual treachery." That's why Yu Tsun doesn't blame Madden for making it his personal mission to hunt him down. After all, "how could he fail to welcome and seize upon this extraordinary piece of luck: the discovery, capture and perhaps the deaths of two agents of Imperial germany The Cheif Yu Tsun's boss is like a cross between Darth Vader - the figurehead of an evil empire - and Inspector Gadget's arch-nemesis, Dr. Claw - constantly hidden from view (except for that one arm that he uses to stroke his evil, evil cat). Well, there's no evil cat in this story, but we can easily imagine The Chief visible only as a set of arms extending from behind a high-back chair. In this case, instead of petting a cat, these arms are paging through a stack of global newspapers, as the Berlin-based boss searches for news of his legion of spies. A "sick and hateful man" that Yu Tsun resents for being the embodiment of that "barbarous country" that degraded him by making him a spy, The Chief nevertheless serves as the driving force for our protagonist (5, 8). For some deep-seated psychological reason that probably merits a few years of therapy, Yu Tsun feels the need to prove to The Chief that people of his race - that is to say, Chinese - are worth something to the Western world.

Synecdoche

a figure of speech in which a part is made to represent the whole or vice versa

ballad meter

a four-line stanza rhymed abcd with four feet in lines one and three and three feet in lines two and four.

Sonnet

a poem of fourteen lines using any of a number of formal rhyme schemes, in English typically having ten syllables per line.

hysteria

a temporary loss of cognitive or motor functions, usually as a result of emotionally upsetting experiences

in medias res

in or into the middle of a plot; into the middle of things

Martyr

one who suffers or sacrifices for a cause

sisterhood

psychological and political bonding among women based on the recognition of common experiences and goals

slant rhyme

rhyme in which the vowel sounds are nearly, but not exactly the same (i.e. the words "stress" and "kiss"); sometimes called half-rhyme, near rhyme, or partial rhyme

Fascicle

single sections of a book chapter that gets published sepreately as a stand alone

Post-colonialism

term used to describe conditions shared by nations that were once colonies

Enjambment

the continuation of a sentence without a pause beyond the end of a line, couplet, or stanza.

persecution complex

the exaggerated belief that "everyone is out to get me"

Intertextuality

the relationship between texts, especially literary ones.

Anaphora

the repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of successive clauses

solipsism

the theory that the self is the only reality

blank verse

unrhymed iambic pentameter

Fate vs. Free Will

when the hero blames fate for their downfall, instead of the real aspect (free will)