ALIT Final Best SG

8/6/2019 ALIT Final Best SG

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American Literature Final Exam Study Guide 2011Modern Short Stories

A Rose for Emily by William Faulkner

Writing about the SouthStylistic Devices

1) Jumbled Chronological Order2) Narrator made a twist on Voice (collective memory of the townspeople)Tone in 1st paragraph-Fallen Monument: Emily was not a full part of the community (look at and appreciatebut dont interact with), like a Stone (with hardness/impenetrability), Fallen from grace ora point of respectabilityTheme: Things arent what they seem ( Emily turns out to be a crazy woman who hides adead body in her house, yet she comes from a gentle and respected family [fallenmonument idea])-Curiosity: The condition of a community-Respectful Affection: They can serve independently as well

-Man-Servant: suggests WealthThe untold story of Tobe (and his extreme loyalty to his masters [keeps secrets])Hills Like White Elephants by Ernest Hemingway

Stylistic Devices:1) Voice (Short and quick Dialogue)2) Use of Subtext

- Subtext: Talking about Jig having an AbortionImagery: dry, hot, barren,wet

country-side is brown and dry

dry side of the valley

table in the shade

fields of grain and a river

water in their drinksMood: Negative (anti-abortion)Title: Rounded pregnant bellied mountains catch her eye; The White Elephant Game(bring something in that you want to get rid of)Shallowness of Relationship (All they do is look and drink)

- Dont have anything in common except for traveling (male and female inconflict, want different things, they are afraid to say it),Part of Lost Generation (traveling in Spain with no place to go, wanderers)Once they take it away, you never get it back

1- referring to the Baby [abortion]

2- Loss of their innocenceThe Train Station: They are at a crossroads, a decision point

- Things arent what they seem (subtext and railroad decision)Vagaries of human communication (and its complexity)Theme: Confronting the Future

ineffectiveness of communicating

similar to secret life of Walter Mitty

Subtext


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pregnancy is elephant in their livesThe Lottery by Shirley Jackson

Theme: Things are not what they seem-Seems like an ordinary day with ordinary circumstances

-Bringing up questions about community (Just go on with life when one day each

year they kill one person in their community)Use of Foreshadowing:

1) Boys collecting stones early in story2) Happy when one of the boys isnt chosen2) Tesse freaks out when her family is chosen

-Use of a Twist (Stoning) [uses foreshadowing and Hints]- Biblical Imagery: stoning to death

-the Scapegoat (Goat would take in all the sins of the townspeople)-Metaphors:

1) Harvest rituals (Sacrifice the human for a good harvest)2) Military Draft (Lottery) (one person sacrifices for the community)

The Use of Force by William Carlos WilliamsDivided Mind1) Doctor is divided in his will

- Wants to save lives (Diphtheria is a mortal illness)- Wants to Hurt the Child (Anger)

- Both are driving forces in his characterDoctor is charmed by the precious little kid- He is saving the childs life, but in doing so he gets annoyed and frustrated,

becomes angry and cruel to the child (wants to hurt it)2) Young Girl

-) Throat has been sore for three days and wants her pain to get better, but

she could also let it get worse/ be stubborn in fear of what the Doctor might do to her3) Parents- They want to help the daughter but they dont like to see her suffer

- Father cant even hold her down well, he backs off at the view ofhis daughters discomfort (makes this whole process more

difficult)-For the Reader

1) Very Relatable story (Angry at annoying brats)2) Parents are always saying placates that are used to calm people down- Themes: Divided Minds/Wills, Relatable story/situation

The Man I Killed by Tim Obrien

- Stream of Consciousness (Guilt going through Tims mind)- All humans dont react the same way to the event (all 3 have their ownunderstanding of this individual reality)-Anti-War with regards to the Humanity of all people (more in common than we doconflicting)

- 3 guys (Tim, Kiowa and Azar)1) Tim: Deeply impacted by killing (reflective)2) Kiowa: understanding and supportive of Tim (voice of reason)


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3) Azar: thinks killing is commendableNarrative of a Fallen Soldier

-Tim tells us about his childhood and how he is not a soldier at heart-Flowers grow out next to dead (vietnamese) body- Realism: nature and man dont see eye to eye (opposes Transcendentalism)

- Naturalism: Nature is out to get you (man is struggling to exist in this world, andis sometimes losing the battle) (more radical version of realism)-showing downsides of war

Impressionism: Speculates about his feelings during death, makes up an entire story ofthe man and his lifeSimilarities to Walter Mitty:

1) Members of Military are involved in both stories2) Traumatic effects of War (Anti-War ideals)3) Descriptive and Slang language- both unhappy

making up what kids life could be, fantasizing/making up own worlds

walter- war is glorious

negative in man I killedTone: Weary, guilty, and remorsefulTheme: Meaning of life, Morality of WarThe Secret Life of Walter Mitty by James Thurber

- Daydreams while doing things, wife orders him aroundThemes:-Battle of the Sexes (like Unicorn and the Garden-wife dictates husband)-Coping with reality by creating a fantasy

Ex:- Living for Dreams (Like miniver cheevy)

Short Stories Comparisons and Similarities The use of force + The secret life of walter Mitty- (divided mind)

The man I killed + secret life of Walter Mitty

both unhappy

making up what man's life could be, both fantasizing

walter- war is glorious

negative in man I killed

The lottery + rose for emily

foreshadowing

Walter Mitty + unicorn in garden

battle of sexes two male protagonists have vivid imaginations

in mitty and unicorn

creative side being stifled by women

The man I killed + hills like white elephants

opposing views on topic

Azar likes war and everyone else is shameful of it

he wants an abortion she doesnt


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he thinks things will return to normal, she doesnt

Rose for emily + unicorn in the garden

betrayal

Unicorn in the garden + lottery

ironic

think lottery is good but turns out bad

hills like white elephants + unicorn

ambiguity

not knowing where they are heading (suggestive of their mindset)

dont know the man is really telling truth and if there is unicorn

The Modern Novel

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

The Roaring Twenties- Lost Generation and the Jazz Age- September 24, 1896 December 21, 1940-St Paul, Minnesota (a Midwesterner, has a different prospective)- Zelda (name of his wife [model for daisy])-The Observer and the Observed (lived the life of the time)-List words and ideas associated with the roaring twenties

1) A Young Persons Era [20-40] (they were taking on the newthings that were happening)

2) Prohibition (religious)(except at pharmacies and speak-easies)3) Three Piece suits, Fedoras, Flappers4) Jazz/Ragtime, The Charleston and Black Bottom Dancing5) The Roadster (electrification, telephone, indoor plumbing,

Modernity, Technology, womens suffrage)-Stock Market Crash of 1929 and Great Depression

Nick is an observer

Cars play a large part in story

Wilson is car repair man

Gatsby's library is just for show

The characters are drunk and stubborn

labels Jordan incurably dishonest

observing but not criticizing

The Great Gatsby

- Nick Carraway is wealthy enough to go to Yale, live in NY (financed byfather), own a hardware store

-Notes on the Study Sheets-Wealthy vs. Struggling Working Class (he uses symbols)

- Gray (Ash) vs. Whitesymbols

1) Eyes- all knowing and seeing omnipotent (Gods eyes), but alsosociety and conscience


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2) Cars {movement: go fast, leave this life behind}- Tom and Gatsby have cars-Mr. Wilson repairs cars and sells gasoline

-A Stylist: good at prose and description/tightnessPg 45: The Observer has wandered into the library and made an extraordinary

discovery, that Gatsby has a library full of real books (he thought they were fake)a) Costs a lot more to put real books on shelf (he spent a lot of money)b) The guy knew when to stop too. He didnt cut the pages

-Doesnt read them, doesnt plan to ever read them-Shows how Gatsby will go to any expense to appear to be learnd,

wealthy of a certain classGatsbys Late Appearance (creates mystery)

- Why does he give big parties if hes a bad host? (in hope of seeing Daisy)Ch 5

-Shift in Nick, becomes the connector/middle man-Gatsby is his neighbor, Daisy is second cousin once removed

Frytagz Pyramid-Starts with Exposition (Nick tells us he rarely makes judgments), To theplot of Gatsby to lure Daisy, The Climax [Gatsby puts all his cards down](didntwork), Things unravel (the murder, Wilson kills Gatsby, they runaway), The endresolveUse in class study sheets and novel itself for further detail

Modern PoetryRichard Cory by Edwin Arlington Robinson- A Vignette (about one persons life)- Outsider in the community (they all look at him in admiration)

- Wealthy and educated- He doesnt think his life is worth living, shoots himselfSimilarities to Miniver Cheevy:

Cory is imperially slim

Cheevy is lean

doesnt look good in clothes

both characters are dissatisfied w/ their lives

both bring around their own death

life Cheevy wants Cory has

opposites on wealth spectrum

both dont like their situation

Mr. Floods Party by Edwin Arlington RobinsonTheme:

1) Loneliness

he is alone no family or friends (used to have them)2) Desperation (talks to himself, desperate for company)

immediate condition

drunk


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talking to himself

Eben flood

eb and flow

tides

measure time

concept of plenty and dearth had many friends but now has none

drinking during Prohibition

allusion to bird of time

his youth has flown away

Decides to Carpe Diem (seize the day)

allusion to Roland's ghost

has no friends to comeMiniver Cheevy by Edwin Arlington Robinson

Born in the wrong century and place (doesnt like the workaday world)

Themes:- Escaping burdens of life by daydreaming- Dwells on the past (constantly wishing he was in another time)

Daydreams: (a false reality) Not actively engaged in real life (not working)Hes not wealthy, scorned the goldHe loathed the khaki suit but preferred the medieval armor (doesnt want to be aworking man)Allusion to the Medicis (and how he would be so similar to them [wealthy andcorrupt bankers from italy])- He only thinks, never takes action, an alcoholic dying of tuberculosis- He has missed and wasted lots of opportunities in life (sulking in thought)

Tone: - Reminiscing

pessimistic

use of irony

sarcastic

entitled

Structure:

rhyme schemeMending Wall by Robert Frost

- He is a modern poet who particularly likes the conventional forms (Blank Verse)-Mending Wall

Neighbors are brought together once a year to make a wall that separates them-Irony: Speaker is questioning the purpose and usefuleness of wallThematic idea:

- Traditiona) Establishes order and cultural traditions, keeps society united

- They unite around traditions making fences orthe Lotteryb) Some traditions cause more harm than good (Lottery: Kill people,

Walls: Divides people from each other)


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- Create boundaries (Walls)-Must kill someone each year (the Lottery)

- One person against anotherReferences to the Supernatural (spells and elves)

- He is anti-wall, like paranormal creatures (humans like walls/boundaries)

- Elves: The mischief in me (and Ironic)Neighbor wants the wall out of blind tradition, cant come up with a real reason exceptthat good fences make good neighborsTitle: Ironic (mending the wall itself but aggravating/further separating the humans onboth sides and worsening/removing their connection to each other)

-much like the lottery which is also considered goodThe Road not Taken by Robert Frost

-A poem about the road he did not takeThe Existential Question: Every decision we make determines the rest of our lives.

a) Commonly taught as a reflection of the decisions we make in life an how theyimpact the rest of our lives

-He is also Mischievous and Ironic-The poems title refers to the road he did NOT takea) If you dont do something, you wont know what happened there

I could not travel both and be one Travelera) Cant be two places at the same timeb) If he walks down one road, when he comes back he will not be the

same person-Contradictions (they are equally beautiful and fair, but one is the better claimand is grassy and needs wear [isnt equal])Stopping by the Woods on a Snowy Evening by Robert Frost

Political- Marxist

reference to government(his, him) everything communal

has been working

isnt a man of leisure

Cultural-feminine

all his, never hers

male horse

feminine energy

associated with nature

wondering why he is there (nagging)

a woman is missing

Psychological- freudian

the woods are attracting him

thinking of death as lovely

theological- Judeo- Christian

winter solstice

promises to God

he is Santa Claus


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his house- the church

God has been confined in church

not in nature anymoreFog by Carl SandburgInfluenced by Imagist Movement (1910-1918)

a) Absolute precision in representation of a single imageb) wrote in Free Verse

- Sensory Imagery-sight, movement, sound, smell

a) Stillness and Quietb) Fog comes, stays awhile, then goes (like problems in life)

-Personification of the Fog as a cat-A Metaphor (Cat and Fog)- Images (senses)

Anecdote of the Jar by Wallace StevensTheme:

1) Complex relationship between human and nature-Man organizes (like industrialization), or Man destroys2) Transformative power of an active imagination

Poem is about the creative enterprise-Speaker puts the jar there (in Tennessee)- Jar has an effect on nature (not the other way around)

- Verbs- all action verbs- Final stanza is an Anomaly-Heavily speaks of what happens when you bring other things into a stable

environment (will either integrate or take dominion)-Jar takes dominion in this case

The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock by T.S. Eliot-Similar to Walter Mitty and Miniver Cheevy- Prufrock is a boring dweeb (thats his problem)- He wrote about a middle aged man in crisis- Something to say about the Human Condition

- We are all able to relate because we all have our Prufrock moments-Highly Image driven (motifs of illness, death [emotional suicide], and ocean[drown because of siren song])

An Overview-A dramatic Monologue (Epigraph to Montefeltro who is consigned to hell forgiving evil advice)

- Use of Allusions (Buonarroti)- Compares the yellow fog to a dog- Compare to Sandburgs metaphor in tone and style?

c)Line 27: How or why does one prepare a face to meet the faces that you meet?

a) Act differently towards different people (meeting dads boss vs anopposing team member)Motif: repetition of the word time


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speaker dares to do descend the stair and face his past mistakes/decisionsb) He has his whole life in front of him to talk to these women and break

out of his shell-Worrying about lost opportunities and deterioration of body (middle aged)His Life has been measured in Coffee Spoons

a) Hes never been very adventurous (small and repetitive)-Overly analytical and precise-Isnt engaged in the party, probably in a library somewhere in the estate-A solitary man (like a crab) who has had wasted/unpleasant parts in his life, buttonight before and during the party is trying to live and seeing a real/normal lifeMalinger means pretends to be sickLine 82: What is the Allusion?

- St John the Baptist (prophet gets his head cut off)- Come out the loser for his sacrifice

Line 85: Who is the Eternal Footman?- Death/The Grim Reaper

- (Because I could not stop for death Emily Dickinson)- He is afraid of death and dying without making his marka) Death is laughing at him because he hasnt done

anything, he has wasted his shot/lifeWhat does this line suggest about Prufrocks self-confidence?

a) He doesnt have any, doesnt think hes worth anything-Scared its never safe to tell a girl his true feelings for fear of getting

rejected-Takes one last grasp at reclaiming his youth (by wearing cuffs as part of hispants style, parting his hair over to cover bald spot)

- Nervous about eating a peach, he may lose a tooth

-He pulls backSiren has been calling him to change his ways (snap out of it!)- Fear it might cause Emotional suicide (he will drown) (allusion to

Homers the Odyssey)-Storm in the ocean (white and black)

Connections

Walter Mitty (thinks too much)

Miniver Cheevy (acts too much but isnt an actor)

The Negro Speaks of Rivers by Langston Hughes- Soul is related to rivers

- speaker comes to represent a community of individuals, and the rivers becomea metaphor for the history, spirit, and wisdom of Africans and African-Americans.Through this metaphor, our speaker documents a history and a heritage.Archy and Mehitabel by Don Marquis-Lesson of the moth

a) No punctuationsb) Archie the cockroach telling about his conversation with the moth-Archy has met his match in the moth as a philosopher who also has a


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view on the world, Moth has taken a considered decision-Archy is into playing it safe (cautious, boring)

a) he is motivated by his dedication, passion, and purpose-Similarities to Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock

a) Neither Archy nor Prufrock are driven by passion (looking for a missing

element) (they dont have that moment of excitement like the moth)-Archy wishes that he had something as much as the Moth wanted that flamea) They are too worried, they analyze life but cant seem to change it

Archy is like Prufrock

just passing thru life , not wanting anything special

realizes that he is missing something

wants to have a goal in life

missing passion, purposeThe Red Wheelbarrow by William Carlos Williams-What Depends?

a) The poem (the observation lets him write this poem) [artistic creation]

b) The Farmer (life itself depends on this water/work/nature)c) The quality of your life depends on noticing

-Snap out of it, Look at the Reed Wheelbarrow (contrasts Use ofForce)

-No punctuation for flow, and so theres no meter (long and short lines, fourstanzas [breaking the rules of poetry])-Get in touch with the real world (not filtered thru emotions and heavydescriptions) (deceptively simple)TP-CASTTTitle (w/o poem), Paraphrase, Connotation (deeper meaning), Attitude (tone),Shift, Title (with poem),Theme (how does it relate/ what is it saying about life?)

Modern Non-FictionBarbie and her Playmates- An Expository Essay, Cause and Effect structure (if this than this)

- Author: Professor Don Richard Cox- Title: Barbie and her Playmates (written 1977)

a) Double entendre: Playmates are Ken/Kelly or the children- Playmates gives the suggestion of playboy playmates ;)

- Subject: The influence of Barbie dolls on the generation that plays withthem

a) Looking at cultural and societal shiftsb) Informative essay not persuasive (informs them of what may

come as a result in the future because of these dolls)- Audience: Parents whos children play[ed] with Barbies; Students of

American culture (anthropologists)-Thesis: Last sentence, or two possibilities on 188

- POV: He is anti-Barbie, A generalized Observer (like Nick Carraway)a) He allies with traditionalist view (baby dolls)

-Technique/Style/Voice: deliberately using humor/sarcasm/doubleentendre etc., (not presented as a highly researched essay but instead to stir up


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the public readers)b) Writing about the consumer driven culture (entertainment

equates with purchasing things)-Life is determined by the goodies you have, this society is going to

grow up with no responsibilities and not work for their material goods

-We will become materialistic, girls will see their goal to be independent and self-assertive and not being good mothersThe Case for Torture- A Persuasive Essay

-Titlea) The Case for shows which side hes onb) Using examples as precedent (like in a court of law)c) in which cases it is appropriated) Torture is a harsh and in your face word

-Subject: The justification of torture in certain cases- Purpose: Persuasive

a) Call to Action (wants us to do something [think differently])- Last sentence of storyb) He brings up opponents arguments

- Organizational Pattern: Thesis/Antithesis./Synthesisa) Thesis: Torture is morally mandatoryb) Anti-Thesis: Unconstitutional, Barbaricc) Synthesis (more in his favor): Balancing innocent lives against

means needed to save them- POV: Should happen, You should choose to Torture

a) Becomes a moral/pragmatic argumentb) He is pro torture, the voice of common sense

- Techniquesa) raises opponents arguments, and then deals with themb) Uses rhetorical questions (paragraph 4)-Voice:

The Amateur Scientist- The AnecdoteTell a story from your own life that makes a point

- Writer and speaker as an outgrowth of scientific career-Ant and Paramecium experimentsTitle: Ironic-He worked on the Manhattan Project (hes a pro)

Its about before he was a pro scientists (when he was a kid)Anyone who does these things for interest/curiosity is an amateur scientist

Subject: These tools of experimenting and learning are very powerful tools(make life interesting/exciting, give you pleasurable discover)Audience: The lay person (not other scientists)Purpose: Informing (how to be an amateur scientist) and Entertaining (tellingstories)Definition:


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A Reflective and Personal VoiceAnecdotal Form: Makes a point almost entirely through use of storiesScience gave him a greater understanding of things and thereby more ability to

have an impact (Science rocks!)F4GLearning is self-activated (not only inside school walls)

A lot pleases him, he is a very brave person (self-motivated; doing what interestshim not what other people define as being normal/interesting)First Sentence: Starts with a simple declarative first person sentence.

a) Kid, Lab (not Laboratory)Sounds like a conversation (not a written text)

Untying the Knot- An Analogy (Something is like something else by way of comparison)- Using what they see/learn in nature to apply to humanity

- Snakeskin (particular), from it she draws a bigger insightTitle: 1) Snakeskin knot is not a knot and cant be untied

2) The Seasons dont really have beginnings and ends (a kind ofknot)- Power and Time are continuous loops

-Knotted Snakeskin is a metaphor for existence-Oneness and at the same time variousness of nature is exploredSubject: Snakes and contemplation of seasons and time in NatureAudience: The Educated Lay Person (General Audience)Purpose: Informing us about an insight she has had (Informative)Organizational Pattern: Comparisons, Specific (snakeskin) to General(extrapolates to a general observation), SpatialTheme: Time is a continuous Loop

POV: 1

st

Person, Her thoughts about it (Personal)Quotes: These snakes are magic. The Knot had no beginningAllusion: From Genesis, idea of the Wheel or the loopTechniques: Metaphors, Allusion, ImageryCollege Essay by Hugh Gallagher- Humorous Essay-Massive layered on hyperbole

- Parodying what happens when a 17 year old tells someone about themselvesTypes of Humor

- Satire= ridicules and exposes the follies and foibles of mankind- Lampoon: an often-scathing personal satire

- Parody= ridicules a serious work by imitating and exaggerating in style-Tall Tale= twist ending (shaggy dog story)-Black Humor= juxtaposes morbid or absurd elements with comical or farcical

onesTechniques

- Repetition- to repeat for effect- Hyperbole- exaggeration- Litotes- understatement


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-Quip (retort, jest, witticism, bon mot) a humorous turn of phrase- Pun- a play on words- Humorous anecdote- illustrate a point

Goldilocks theory of humor- too much, too little, just right

The Modern DramaThe Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams- A ground breaking play (multimedia incorporation and setup)

- AllusionsImportance ofStaging:- Use of multi-media=screen backdrop (slides music color gels)- Use of narrator/character= Tom is both the narrator telling the story (memory

play) and a character in the present- Single Setting= Wingfield ApartmentAmanda Wingfield and Jay Gatsby

- Both have a problem with time and being in the correct time a) Gatsby wants to go back to his time with daisyb) Amanda wants her daughter to have her experience that she remembers

she had as a courted young woman (caught up in memories trying to make them anactuality for Laura)

- Both have issues/involvement with money (as a solution to their problem)a) Gatsby has gone from poor to rich in order to buy love and the pastb) Amanda has slipped from the gentile to the impoverished

- Both live in their distorted memories or unrealistic dreams. Both confuse

dream and reality and live in a dream world

a) Gatsby dreams of being Daisys only love (that Tom B and daughterjust evaporates)

b) Amanda dreams of her dysfunctional daughter being a belle (marry andhave a house of her own)

- This shyness is Lauras most affecting problem (she also has alimp, but that isnt her major problem, the reaction to being intensely self-consumed andshyness is the main problem)

- Williams thoughts on the power of feelings/emotionsa) Strong emotions destroy (Tom and Amanda hold strong emotions and

arent successful people; Laura has strong emotions but keeps them buried inside [just asdestructive] )

b) Strong emotions make it hard to live comfortably in the mundane world- Frequently creates fragile female characters

- Had a sister who was unstable, she was given harsh electroshocktreatments, never recovered (carried it as a memory, if he would have been there for herto protect her)

a) Amanda (on surface seems bold, but she isnt what she appears)b) Laura (appears to be as fragile as glass, shy without skills and

romantically fragile, seems she could easily break)-Frequently created trapped or cornered men


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a) Tom is a poet, Williams often shows creative/sensitive men who aretrapped/deadened by traditional society (dont understand poetic sensibility [misread orcondemn it])

b) Tom is oppressed by- His mother (treats him like a child)

- His job (mind-deadening job)His sense of duty to his sister (his own awareness/conscience [butat what price])

-Use of Symbolisma) Fire Escape (come in and out, we are to understand that inside there is

an emotional/familial fire bubbling; Tom often goes out there to escape what is going onin the apartment) An escape from the family arguments (go out here to simmer)

b) The Glass Menagerie (Laura collects little glass animals [they arefragile and breakable(like her)]

c) The Unicorn (particularly fond of mystical beast [doesnt fit in], A realsymbol for Laura)

d) The Gentleman caller (southern euphemism for a date/bf, [all that isgood about southern gentility and Amandas childhood, getting one will sort everythingout [not true]))

- Williams deals with the dysfunctional Family-Amanda (living in a world that no longer is [ the past])-Laura

-fragile-Tom (he is rash)

- just wants to leave problems behind, let his family sort it out, likehis father

- Amanda-Tom- she constantly nags him

-Amanda- Laura-wants Laura to be just like her, dillusional

-Tom-Laura- he knows he shouldnt leave her but wants to escape from family

Allusions

Shorthand

-Proscenium: arch divides real (audience) world from the world of the stagea) Narrator breaks off and talks to us

Flower of the Jonquil: Youth is one of beauty with flowers and bows and dresses,fun times she had

The Jewel Box: Looks at the tropical plants there instead of going to typingschool

Magazines: Had serials in them (story that came out in parts)Scarlett OHara: A southern belle, beautiful and alluring southern woman, has a

hard life yet perseveresEl Diablo:The Jolly Roger: Tom wants to be a merchant marineEagles Nest: Reference to Hitlers mountaintop retreatLost Generation: Personal


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love and Jim washers so she was wiling to make that change (when he pulls out, she is nolonger ok with it)

a) Unicorns are innocence (broken innocence), they are mythicalbeasts that cannot be attained-We find out that Jim has a fianc betty

a) Didnt know the purpose of the invite, feels bad- He had kissed her, broken the horn off of the unicorn-Use of Color and Lighting (quiz)

About the Author-

A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine HansberryWord AssociationTheme, connection

- Life: Ruth (abortion question), Walter Lee (Life=money) Mama (life=familyand freedom), Beneatha (life=free will [own life, who am I, experiment, become what she

wants to become [focused on herself]])- Energy:- Search: Mama (searching for a house in order to unite family) Walter-Lee

( searching for opportunity to provide) Beneatha( searching for a suitor who understandsher dreams)

- Movement:- Release: Walter Lee is looking for a release- Stability: Mama and Ruth (want the house for stability)- Mobility: George (do whatever you please; an assimilationist [merged into a

dominant culture, taken on form of white culture]) Walter-Lee (wants to move up insocial standing)

- Heritage: Beneatha, Asagai (Nigerian)- Walter Lee:- Mama (Lena):- Ruth:- Beneatha:- George:- Asagai:

Poem Harlem by Hughes-Thematically: All the characters have dreams that arent being realized, but you neverknow whats going to happen (at the end there is a positive resolution in GM)

- Hughes or does it explode? (people take dreams and turn them into violentreactions, suggesting that people will explode as a culture if they are kept from realizingtheir American dream (their desire and rights to do what they want to do)

- Hansberry magically wraps it up and it will all solve itselfTheme RITS: Dreams Deffered (I have a dream) (people were born into thiscondition/situation

- Amanda chose poorly in GM by marrying the wrong man, she cant supportfamily because she has limited job prospects [women in the 30s], but in Raisin [theyreblack, opportunities arent there for them]


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- Walter Lee sees there are opportunities for white guys (making deals at thecaf), but he thinks it is open to him (just fid the right way [liquor store]; GeorgeMerchenson is black and is rich [buying the hotel downtown], makes us wonder whywalter lee isnt [george has sold part of his culture to make it {assimilations}])

Tension

-Mama and Ruth dont have tensions (have a certain solidarity between themselves)-Beneatha to Ruth (B realizes they can barely take care of their present family, doesntwant Ruth to lower everyones standards of living by choosing to have another child[irritates beneatha])

- Between Walter Lee, Mama, Ruth, and Beneathaa) Walter Lee and Ruth have conflicts

- Not much money-He talks with this friends that Ruth doesnt like them- Ruth wont give kid 50 cents because she says they dont have it,Walter gives him a whole dollar- Walter Lee is trying to change his life because he hates what he

does, and Ruth tells her to eat and go to worka) Hates how he is 35, unsuccessful, boy sleeps on couchb) The women/family do not understand him (creative side

being stifled by women? Walter Mitty, Unicorn, Tom in GM)- Walter Lee tells Beneatha she is weird for being a doctor, needs

to be like all other women (get married and stay in the home)- Mama spoils her child

a) She lost her husband, she loved him, says Walter lee isjust like him

- When you tell them youre sick, say the flu because white peopleget it so they dont think youre just making up an excuse

- Mama doesnt go to supermarket, frightened by them, goes to thetraditional market

- Mamas plant dosnt get a single speck of sunlight the first daya) But it has spirit, just like Bennie and Walter and HER!

- Mama and Big Walter lost a baby (Big Walter was so sad and depressed)a) Loved his children, wanted them to have and be something

- Mama yells at Beneatha for trying to learn guitar (she experiments all thetime and never sticks with anything)

a) They laugh at her because she wants to express herselfb) They think its funny that they say she might not marry

- Beneatha says she is tired of hearing about God getting credit for thingshumans do, Mama slaps her hard, Makes her say there is still God in mothers house

a) Mama strongly enforces Christian values- Asagai gives her robe, calls her alaiyo , Mama makes stereotypical

comments about Africa that are obviously inaccurate, Asagai is too polite to react- The Check ($10,000)

a) Mama could take a trip and forget about the familyb) WILL Help pay for Beneathas medical school (no matter where)c) Get a home where Travis could play in the yard


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d) Walter wants to open a liquor store- Mama wont have any part of it- disgracing fathers name since he is now basically the check

e) Mama gives him 3k for Beneathas medical school, 3k for him and tells him tobe the head of the family the way hes supposed to be (she trusts and loves him!) Giving

him same opportunity she had when she left South for North- Asks Ruth to put the check away as soon as she gets ita) Tells Walter lee that she will never invest in a liquor store

- Walter Lee says there is no peace in his housea) He dont got nothing, he aint gonna be nothing (doesnt even think he

has an actual job, he is like a servant) (sees his future as empty nothingness)- Walter Lee says money is life (not freedom): the newer generation of blacks has

changed (children so different from mama)- Ruth is pregnant, Mama wants him to stand up and be like his daddy (tell Ruth

to not abort the baby), he walks out a disgrace to his fathers memorya) He goes out and drinks his pains away

- Beneatha- Walter Lee yells at George and makes fun of him and the education he hasa) Probably jealous of his opportunities (Faggoty white shoes)- George calls him Prometheus, they have never heard it before

b) Shows their immense lack of education- Mama buys a house in a place where only whites live (MOBILITY)

a) Ruth is very happy to say good bye to misery and move into a newhome

- Theres a whole lot of sunlight at the house (light imagery)- Walter Lee tells mama shes the head and she can run the family however she

wants because its her money- Ruth gets a call from her husbands employer saying that he will get fired

tomorrow if he doesnt show up because he hasnt gone the last 3 daysa) Mama goes to the bar to get him, tells him how his dad died with

dignity even through enduring more hardshipb) he compares his opportunity to mamas opportunity to leave the south,

and how now that he didnt do it he thinks that one opportunity will never come again- She gives him a third of the money to do whatever he wants with

in a checking account and be the head of the family- Family gives Mama a gardening tool kit to be their Mrs. Miniver

a) Travis gives grandma a gardening hat- She is very excited they are happy to be in new house

- Ruth and Walter are seen in happy embrace, unlike the fighting theywere doing back in the old place

- A man comes to their household to tell them how they want to change the notionthat colored people are what cause problems and crime when they moved places

a) a hard-working honest people community- He tells them its not race prejudice, but a matter of cultural background

a) Tells them negro families are happier when they live in theirown communities


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- Makes them an offer to buy the house from them at a financial gain tothe family

a) Walter Lee tells him to leave without letting him tell him thefinancial details, The man straight up says how they are not wanted in that community

- They tells mama that they want a fine family of colored people out in

Clyborne Park a) Lie to her, but she knows when she sees the card (?)- They mock and the way he tries to sugar coat situation

- Mama is taking the ratty looking old plant to the new house because IT EXPRESSESHER

a) Gets upset when he almost makes her ruin her plant- Bobo tells Walter Lee that Willie never showed up to the train station to go toSpringfield (he is nowhere to be found, Willie took the money and is gone)

a) Walter Lee says how he put his whole life in his hands, money made from hisfathers flesh

b) He lost all the money! (including beneathas; $6,500)

- Mama talks about how hard his dad worked and now Walter has given itall away in one day (asks God for strength numerous times)-Beneatha tells Asagai how he gave away the money in a bad investment

a) Says Mama is the crazy one that gave away her future (the end for Beneatha)- All the dreams in this house cant depend on what happened when and

whether or not a man died (all about those insurance money)- You need to understand that Mama still believes she can change things

- Asagai invites her back to Nigeria (home)a) B says too many things have happened, shes all mixed up, she will sit

and think- B makes fun of him like an entrepreneur, mocks him for his mistake by creating falsethings he could be going out and doing like a meeting at US Steel- Mama wants to stay in the house, but Ruth says she will work like no other to get theheck out of there

a) Mama offers to maybe just fix the house,Learn to give up some things andhold on to what you got

- Walter Lee: He who gets and he who doesnt get (mixed up and alwaysworrying trying to figure out whats right and wrong, and that makes us be takenadvantage of) (This world is all about taking, He who takes the most is the smartest, andit dont make a difference how)

a) Walter Lee invites the Clybourne Park guy back to try to get moneyfrom his initial offer

- Talk of dreams and sunlight are all dead now, we are dead says Beneathab) Walter Says hes fine with degrading himself and accepting the offer,

that he will even get on his knees and beg for that money and acknowledge that theywould be dirtying up the neighborhood

- Beneatha said that Walter Lee is no brother of mine, that he wasnt a mana) Mama says who gave you the privilege to think youre better than him

- I taught you to love him (theres always something left to love)- You need to love people the most when they are at their


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lowest and cant believe in themselves, take into account what hes gone thru to get towhere he is child

- Mama forces Travis to stay, and says Walter needs to teach him good like WillieHarris taught him

- Walter Lee tells the man about his family and its situations, how they come from

a long line of proud people, Tells him that his father earned the house brick by brick sothey will move in and cause no trouble- As he leaves he says, I sure hope you people know what youre

doing-They all start moving, they are all happy and show affection to each other

a) B tells her family about how Asagai asked her to marry him- Mama tells ruth how Walter Lee became a man today, like a rainbow after the rain- Mama is very sad to leave her house, but then she turns and grabs her plant as is veryhappy againComparisonsMama v. Amanda

- both want what is best for their children- trying to save familyBeneatha v. Laura

- both being courted by suitors- Beneatha is strong willed and outgoing (has a future)- Laura is fragile and weak

Tom v. Walter Lee- Heads of family- Want to get ahead- Women dont understand them

George v. Jim (gentleman callers)

outsiders all suitors

offer change to move awayAsagai v. Jim (gentleman callers)ReviewThe House, the check, the liquor store (opportunity for W.L. to make himself a betterman and better for his family , sin in Mamas eyes), the plantThe Plant a symbol

a) Mamas plantb) Shabby but doesnt get enough sunlight

- Struggling, environmental issues

- She is nurturing this plant, nothing in its environment induces it to growa) What else is Mama trying to nurture but is really in a badenvironment? (Children/Travis)Takes place in the 1950s , Tenement area of Chicago

a) Limited number of more advanced jobs for blacksMama tells Walter Lee that he is shaming his race/family/ancestors by taking a slap atwho he is in order to make money (like selling himself back into slavery)- Accuse Mrs. Hansburry that she turns the people every which way, bipolar shifting


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W.L. is playing the music of Jazz (comes from the black culture in America)a) B Says we are not going to listen to this assimilationist junk anymore, puts on

African music (lose white culture into black cultural norm)

Contemporary Poetry

Traveling Through the Dark by William Stafford (pg 434)-1) About Road Kill; Pushing a deer off of narrow a mountain road cliff2) Something to say about how Wilderness is impacted by mankind- Morality/Heroic vs. Practicality (human responisibility to preserve life [but

human life is more important than deers life])- Life vs. Death (definition [human v. animals, etc.] )- Technology vs. nature (car killed the deer, man pushes deer off cliff and kills the

baby inside/causes both their deaths)c) us= man, doe, fawn, philosophically mankind, the car, other drivers

who come around that hill-Man and his machinery impact things, and mankind has to deal with consequences

a) Car has its own lights (personification) own POV [survival of fittest]- Man is in the dark morally and physical (and in decision making)- The road is narrow narrow paths to your choices

- To swerve: to go against what is the regular decision (try to be a hero)could make more dead (people and the fawn can die)

- Action to save the lives of the people will also sacrificially killthe fawn

-Stanza 4: Car has the energy, deer doesnt (technologies throbbing dominanceagainst the underdog [dead-deer]

- For a moment he considered going to go great lengths for life, trying to do theimpractical

I Only Am Escaped Alone to Tell Thee by Howard Nemerov-This poem is about: It is about Whaling- Dont dismiss the elephant in the room

Some of the significant words [repeated]: Harbor, Sail, Whales, Whalebone-Whales were killed to make a fashion statements (a frivolous use of life)-Condemning whaling, they were calm until we intervened-Allusion to Bible story of Jobe (epilogue of Moby Dick)-Dark vs. Light, Water like glass (troubled and inaccurate)-comparison of woman to a ship

What were they Like by Denise Levertov-Critical of War in Vietnam-6 questions followd by 6 answers

-Talks about how there was peace before the war, but now the bombs havedestroyed the lives and cultures of the Vietnamese-It has changed forever, questions are in past tense, the old Vietnam ofundisturbed tradition isnt around anymoreTheme: Negative impacts of War (anti-war like the Man I Killed)


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Cinderella by Anne SextonIn Anne Sexton's Cinderella, Sexton utilizes an ironic tone to exhibit her feministtendencies

Form: mocking happily ever after stories through the fairy tale form

women are greater than that

she doesn't believe that women are helpless

princessball is a meat market

problems dont end with marriage

that they shouldnt be limited to the kitchen-Feminist sensibilities

-A parody of the form of the fairytale of Cinderella- White dove replaces her mother when she dies, grants her her every wish(golden dress and slippers, pecks sisters eyes out)Aunt Jennifers Tigers by Adrienne Rich (pg 508)- Author is sowing a needle-point of an image (male hunters have run tigers up

into a tree)-She is identifying with the tigers (alter ego that she desires)

- Has a domineering husband (weight of the wedding band, ringed withordeals she was mastered by)Theme: Marriage is a restriction on the modern Woman (abusive and oppressive)-Creating a world thru her knitting where she is like a tiger, free from oppressionshowing no fearAt Tower Peak by Gary Snyder (handout)Theme: Humans dominance over nature (and the means of its exploitation)through use of nature imagery

- bird-entangled swamps, urchin coasts, almost Mexican-hills, granite

peaks (their names forgotten)He is sitting at a peak looking down upon a civilization- Talks about rush of humans to manipulate and exploit

- Freeways clogged all day, academies packed with scholars- Dont even know the names of swamps, rivers, coasts, and hills; implies that thehumans pay little attention to nature (inferior)- Nature goes at a slow pace, we can just take overIn the Inner City by Lucille Clifton- Not really a sculptured poem but turned on its side it looks like a skyline-An African American poet (inner city she presents as a form of isolated ghetto)

- Inner city v. uptown (not suburbs) : disparity of wealth

- Uptown has silent nights, inner cities are full of gunfire, sirens-Pastel lights (not neon or street lights but garden lights)

-Houses straight as dead men (like people in a cemetery, imagery)In the inner city thinking about what life is like in uptownThere is something uniquely human about home (wherever it is), draws us

Theme: Be thankful for life (happy to be alive)-Connects: Death of Marilyn Monroe etc.

Geometry by Rita Dove


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-African American poet (NOT ON THE TEST)The Death of Marilyn Monroe by Sharon Olds (pg 555)- Talking about the idolization of celebrities (everything is abnormal without her)-You don't truly know death until you experience it-Her death changes these paramedics lives forever (strong impact on them)

- One had nightmares and depression, one felt different about his familyand about death [where she would be waiting], one realizes that his ordinaryliving wife is better than a dead Marilyn Monroe- They see her in a different light (just a dead body now)-One guy falls apart (nightmares, pains, depression)(shocked to see this perfectwoman die, thinks we are all doomed)Theme: Life and Women are ImportantThe Mountain by Louis Gluck (pg 558)Speaker: A Teacher, an Artist of some sort, (poet)- Speaking to her class (students)

-She is talking about the creative process

Scenarios1) Compares Art/teaching to myth of Sisyphus (endless and nonproductive labor)2) Not true of teaching and art (you do accomplish something each time) Occurs in Hell- looking at Artists as narcissistic (they do it for ego)-Successful as a teacher this time (rock has added height to the mountain), but she willhave to do it all again next year

Review notes on writing, reading comprehension, and interpretation of literature

Documents

ALIT Final Best SG