AP Lit: Unit 5 Test

Fleeson 1st Block

What is hamartia? How does it show up in Antigone and As I Lay Dying?

• Flaw that leads to hero’s downfall

• Antigone: Creon’s pride + prioritization of state law over divine law

• As I Lay Dying: Addie’s favoritism towards Jewel

• Mnemonic: Hammering the nail in coffin

What is anagnorisis? How does it show up in Antigone?

• Moment of realization when the character gains knowledge; comes too late to prevent tragedy

• Antigone: Creon only realizes the error of his stubbornness after his family is destroyed (his son and son’s wife kill themselves)

• Mnemonic: Analyzing the mistake

What is peripeteia? How does it show up in Oedipus Rex?

• Sudden change in circumstances

• Oedipus Rex: Discovery of Oedipus’s identity shifts him from king to outcast and completing the prophecy, reflecting unpredictability of life

• Mnemonic: Period of change

What is miasma? How does it show up in Antigone and As I Lay Dying?

• Lingering pollution as a result of hamartia (Consequences of the mistake affecting a group)

• Antigone: Bad things happen when they refuse to follow the gods orders to burry bodies

• As I Lay Dying: Addie’s decaying body becomes a symbol of pollution and the vultures before the barn caught fire

• Mnemonic: Miasma smells, spreads everywhere

What is a greek chorus? How does it show up in Antigone?

• Group representing society’s voice to provide commentary / background

• Antigone: Shows how citizens are conflicted under authority

• Mnemonic: Choirs sing the truth

Whats the connection between drama and democracy? How does it show up in Antigone?

• Drama functioned as a space for public debate / reflection

• Since Athens was a democracy, plays explored political questions

• Antigone: Individual conscience vs. state authority

  • Greek chorus: citizens who are afraid to speak openly

What was Aristotle’s view on the family? How does this show up in Antigone and As I Lay Dying?

• Viewed family as a foundation of society / moral order (if family is unstable, so will entire city)

• Antigone:

• As I Lay Dying: Dysfunctionality of the Bundren family and how it affects their community’s feelings towards them

• Antigone: Challenged idea that men have to rule to prioritize family wellbeing in a different way

What was the Oedipus story?

• Prophecy: Oedipus will kill his father and marry his mother

• Ignores prohet by trying to ignore fate but fufills it

• Kils his father unknowingly then marries his mother

• Realizes truth and blinds himself

What is arete? How does it show up in Antigone?

• Gained after agon; virtue, highest honor; masculine trait

• Antigone: Antigone gains arete after she goes through the fight to honor her dead family

What is agon? How does it show up in Antigone?

• Struggle you have to go through to gain arete

• Antigone: Antigone clashing with state rule and going against societal norms to fight for what she believed was difficult and gained her arete

What is natural law and the impact today? How is this shown in Antigone?

• Universal moral principles

• Antigone: Natural law is challenged by Creon’s rule which places importance on man-made laws over natural/divine while Antigone places more importance on honor which shows clash between state and natural laws in democracy

Who are the 3 greek prophets and what was their role?

• Traits: Blind, perceived as mad, represent fate, speak truth

• Darl, As I Lay Dying: He knows Addie is dead before anyone, sees things others can’t, knows exactly whats happening (like Cash’s injury)

• Cassandra: Foresaw downfall of Troy but warnings ignored

• Teiresias: Insight despite blindness, sees present and future

What’s the titular allusion of As I Lay Dying? What does it mean for the plot of the book?

• From The Odyssey

• Symbolizes betrayal and unrespectful death

• Meaning for As I Lay Dying: Addie is not given a peaceful farewell, mirroring Agamemnon’s disrespectful death

  • Darl and Cassandra: Warnings about family dysfunction are ignored

  • Chaotic journey to burry Addie foreshadows consequences of not respecting the dead

What is stream of consciousness? How is it used in As I Lay Dying? How does it reflect modernist ideas?

• Narrative style of character’s raw thoughts

• As I Lay Dying: Mental instability (Darl), emotional confusion

• Modernity: Reflects ideas of disillusionment and challenges traditional grammar structure + breaking reader expectations

What is the trouble to put grief into words? How does this relate to As I Lay Dying?

• Grief is abstract and not objective

• Language is limited and can’t exactly describe feelings

• As I Lay Dying: Addie believes words can’t convey the experience and people have no credibility to use words about things they haven’t experienced (like “salvation” and “motherhood”) AND Vardaman’s struggle to communicate loss (“fish”)

What’s the significance of both “Funeral blues” and In Memoriam?

• “Funeral Blues”: Satirical take on people’s tendency to act like death is such a big deal instead of way of life, acts like the world should stop for death

• In Memoriam: Reflective grief and explores healing over time; grief is useless / mourning is not important even though it’s a natural response

What’s the context of modernity? What are critiques of abstraction? How does this show up in As I Lay Dying?

• Literary movement responding to WW1 and loss of traditional values

  • questions religion, family, meaning

• Family is dysfunctional, language is useless, death is meaningless and confusing

• As I Lay Dying: Characters struggle with identity and meaning

What is cacophony, euphony, and other sound devices?

• Used to reflect emotion and tne

• Cacophony: harsh, jarring sounds to show chaos or tension

• Euphony: Smooth, pleasant sounds to show calmness and beauty

What is the Hero’s Journey? Does As I Lay Dying follow it?

• Call to adventure, Supernatural Helper, crossing threshold, test, helpers, climax, flight, return, elixir

  • Climax = further atonement

• As I Lay Dying switches things around in Hero’s Journey to emphasize breaking the norm

What do the maps show? What is the value of imaginary settings?

• Maps show structure and direction

• Places come from authors imagination and names of places tend to have a underlying meaning tying back to the story to add complexity

What is the importance of Addies voice?

• Addie rejects language to convey experiences, especially for those who haven’t had the experiences that the words are supposed to be describing