Midterm Review

1. Midterm Review What you need to know for your Midterm: American Literary History through 1914 Terminology used in discussing literature How to find rhyme, rhythm and meter How to do basic literary analysis

2. Section 1: Major Themes in American Literate to 1914 Review your reading and make sure you are comfortable with the major themes in American Literature through 1865. You can review all of our PowerPoints on e-companion This section will be multiple choice.

3. Major Themes in American Literature to 1700 Native American Oral Traditions Discovery Literature Pilgrims and Puritans American Literature in 1700

4. Major Themes in American Literature 1700 -1820 Vast Expansion in Land and Population Enlightenment Ideals The Great Awakening British Imperialism Rights and the Pursuit of Happiness Conflict with Native Americans Slavery and division

5. Major Themes in American Literature 1820-1865 The American Renaissance American Literary Nationalism Economics of American Writing Continued Conflict with Native Americans Slavery and Division Strengthen

6. Major Themes in American Literature: The American Renaissance 1825-1865 Transcendentalist like Emerson and Thoreau -- individual relationship to universe and duty to disobey unjust laws Transcendentalism grew out of European romanticism with an American focus on the individual rights Great Novelists like Hawthorne and Melville -- The Scarlett Letter and Moby Dick Great poets like Emily Dickinson, though few works published in her lifetime Edgar Allan Poe the father of the modern short story and mystery Also the period where Modern Journalism really takes off and helps create the next set of authors

7. Major Themes and Trends in American Literature 1865-1914 U.S. Transformation into a modern nation with improved communication and industrial revolution The Literary Marketplace now able to support many regional journals and authors Realism and Naturalism – stress the impact of social and environmental forces on the individual live

8. Section 2: Literature Terminology Use your note guide and the class discussion. You may review the PowerPoints on E-companion This section will be matching.

9. Plot: The unified structure of incidents in a literary work Conflict: A struggle between opposing forces in a story or play, usually resolved by the end of the work. The conflict may occur within a character as well as between characters. Protagonist: The main character of a literary work--Hamlet and Othello in the plays named after them ; not the same as a hero Antagonist: A character or force against which another character struggles.

10. Freytag’s Pyramid

11. Climax: The turning point of the action in the plot of a play or story. The climax represents the point of greatest tension in the work. • Complication: An intensification of the conflict in a story or play. Complication builds up, accumulates, and develops the primary or central conflict in a literary work. • Denouement: The resolution of the plot of a literary work. • Exposition: The first stage of a fictional or dramatic plot, in which necessary background information is provided. • Falling action: In the plot of a story or play, the action following the climax of the work that moves it towards its denouement or resolution. • Rising action: A set of conflicts and crises that constitute the part of a play's or story's plot leading up to the climax. • Reversal: The point at which the action of the plot turns in an unexpected direction for the protagonist. • Inciting Incident: Where the action begins; the part that grabs the reader’s attention

12. Types of Characters and Characterization: Characterization: the narrator or a character in the story tells us what we need to know about a character or we find out about characters indirectly through thoughts, comments, or actions of the characters  Flat: character with few personality traits (few details given) Round: character with many personality traits (many details given) Static: a character that does not change personality, beliefs, ideas, etc. throughout  the work Dynamic: a character that experiences some type of change during the course of the  story due to events Stock: a a fictional character based on a common literary or social stereotype.

13. Types of Narrators and Points of View: Point of view: the angle from which we see things (through whose eyes) First-person: the narrator is a character in the story and refers to himself using first-person pronouns ( I, me, my, mine, we, our, ours, us) Second-person: uses the word "you" Third-person: (two kinds)     1. Limited-third: narrator relates the innermost thoughts and feelings of only one character and tells the story as seen through the eyes of that character (who may be biased)     2. Omniscient:   (all knowing) the narrator tells the thoughts, feelings, and actions of all the characters 

14. Setting: where, when, and in what circumstances the text takes place. Time/temporal setting Historical fiction Science fiction Location/spatial setting Fantasy Magical Realism Traditional expectations of time and place Archetypal setting Situation

15. Types of Symbols Conventional symbol: a symbol that has an understood or widely accepted interpretation Literary: a symbol that has a specific interpretation in a fictional work Allegory: a figurative mode of representation conveying meaning other than the literal through symbolism Myth : a traditional or legendary story, usually concerning some being or hero or event often through the use of symbolism

16. Common Types of Figurative Language alliteration: Series of words that begin with the same consonant or sound alike: "on scrolls of silver snowy sentences" assonance: Repetition of vowel sounds, most commonly within a short passage of verse: “the silken sad uncertain rustling of each purple curtain” consonance: Repetition of consonant sounds, most commonly within a short passage of verse: “few flocked to the fight"

17. Figurative Language Cont. pun: When a word or phrase is used in two different senses: "I think so, Brain, but if we give peas a chance, won't the lima beans feel left out?" internalrhyme: Using two or more rhyming words in the same sentence: “While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping,As of some one gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door."'Tis some visitor," I muttered, "tapping at my chamber door —” cacophony: Juxtaposition of words producing a harsh sound: a cacophony of hoots, cackles, and wails.

18. Figurative Language Cont. • metaphor: Stating one entity is another for the purpose of comparing them in quality: “A mighty fortress is our god.” • simile: Comparison between two things using like or as: “Suzie is as quiet as a mouse and as tall as a giraffe” • imagery: appeals to one or more of your five senses (hearing, taste, touch, smell, sight). • irony: Use of word in a way that conveys a meaning opposite to its usual meaning

19. Figurative Language Cont. oxymoron: Using two terms together, that normally contradict each other: “Organized chaos” personification: Attributing or applying human qualities to inanimate objects, animals, or natural phenomena: “The sun opened its sleepy eyes and smiled down on the Earth as a new day began.” metonymy: Substitution of a word to suggest what is really meant: "lend me your ear" synecdoche: Form of metonymy, in which a part stands for the whole: (Calling workers "hands", e.g. Many hands make light work; All hands on deck!)

20. Theme • According to the Norton Anthology of Literature, theme is “a general idea or insight conveyed by a work in its entirety.” • Theme reflects an idea larger than the text itself; it should be in some way universal – reflecting on the human condition • Theme is not the same as purpose or a moral

21. Common Literary Themes Poetry -- Ideas about Love, Mortality, Nature, and Spirituality are common. Fiction – themes can vary widely, though certain time periods tend to often have repeated themes. You may be tested on these in the American Literary History section.

22. Writing Section You will also have a choice of writing prompts to respond to based upon our readings. This section will be open book. Please see the PowerPoint on literary analysis for further information about writing about literature.

23. Good Luck on your Midterm Please let me know if you have any questions! Remember the midterm does not cover any material from 1914 on. Modernism and the associated authors will be on the final.