Unit 3 Review

1. Unit 3 Review Terms and Applications

2. Terminology of Literary Criticism • Magic Realism—literature containing a magical element neither explained nor questioned. It includes rich sensory description, distortion of linear time, and mythical or folkloric elements • Verisimilitude—the appearance of being real or true; the elements of a story that make it seem real • Willing Suspension of Disbelief—Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s theory that readers willingly “believe” stories are real for aesthetic pleasure • Doppelgangers—parallel, identical characters, often used to represent a divided consciousness • Foils—characters placed in similar situations in order to enlighten readers about one of them

3. Terminology of Literary Criticism • Metafiction—fiction about writing fiction, calling attention to its own “fictionality” • Transcendentalism—a branch of American Romanticism. Major tenets: • Spiritual, individual intuition is the only way to understand the truth of the world; • In order to “transcend” reality, individuals must rely on their abilities to look inside themselves to understand what is right and true for themselves; • All knowledge begins with self-knowledge; • Reason alone results in an incomplete understanding of the universe.

4. General Terms • Progressive Era—a period in American history (~1890s – 1920) when reformers moved by outrage about present conditions optimistically tried to improve society through political, economic, and social reform • The Prodigal Son—a religious parable in which a son, given wealth, leaves home, wastes his wealth, and returns humbly only to be welcomed with open arms. Used figuratively in literature. • Rapture—generally extreme happiness; specifically, the direct ascension to heaven of true believers

5. I was my parents’ third child, which proves that __________ makes perfect! Which term above represents the following? • A woman crying at the end of a sad movie • Teddy Roosevelt’s prosecution of monopolies under the Sherman Anti-Trust Act • The direct promotion of a student who truly believes in the value of literature to English 11 without English 9 or 10 • Belief in intuition over reason • Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde • Both Romeo and Paris love Juliet

6. Practice • The reason Arthur Miller has the women in his play addressed as “Goody” • One indication of this genre is Ray’s detailed description of digging Annie’s garden • Fiction focusing metaphorically on writing fiction • Richard was metaphorically this • J.D. Salinger perhaps experienced this in fiction • Belief in “the force” resembles this belief • Intuition is this belief’s answer to the basic question of epistemology

7. Practice • What Ethan Frome might be if the sled had miraculously flown Mattie and Ethan to Florida • What readers really would need to have if the above had happened • What the above lacks, therefore, if the readers don’t accept it • Upton Sinclair’s novel The Jungle is set in this era • The Outsiders turns out to be Ponyboy’s English theme

8. Practice • What I must do is all that concerns me, not what the people think. This rule, equally arduous in actual and in intellectual life, may serve for the whole distinction between greatness and meanness. It is the harder because you will always find those who think they know what is your duty better than you know it. It is easy in the world to live after the world's opinion; it is easy in solitude to live after our own; but the great man is he who in the midst of the crowd keeps with perfect sweetness the independence of solitude.—Ralph Waldo Emerson

9. Shoeless Joe • Why is Ray obsessed with baseball and Shoeless Joe Jackson? • In what ways is this novel typical of magic realism? • How are Annie and Karin fitting family for Ray? • How is Annie’s family not so fitting? • Why does Mark want Ray’s farm? • Explain the rules and dynamics of Ray’s ballpark.

10. Shoeless Joe • Why does Ray want his father to play on the field? • What happens on Ray’s trip to Boston? What does this show us about the modern world he lives in? • Who is J.D. Salinger? • How is Moonlight Graham different from the other dead ballplayers who appear on the field? • What does Eddie Scissons do to betray Ray?

11. Shoeless Joe • What does Eddie do to betray baseball? • How is he “punished” for this? • In what ways is religion used as a motif throughout the novel? • How is the farm saved? • What does Salinger do at the end of the novel? • What does this have to do with the novel? • How are Richard and Ray similar and different? • Who created the world of the book? • What term does this question address?

12. “The Hollow Men” • In what way are the men “hollow”? • What literary movement does this poem belong to? • What technique is used in the last four lines—”This is the way the world ends”? • How does this poem relate to “The Snow Man”? • How does this poem relate to Shoeless Joe?

13. “The Snow Man” • What major poetic techniques are used in the poem? • Who is the “Snow Man”? • What does nothing have to do with the poem? • In what ways is the “Snow Man” blind? • What does this poem have to do with “The Hollow Men”? • What does the poem have to do with Shoeless Joe?