Final Exam AL

Free Verse

Poetry with no regular rhyme or meter.

Anaphora

Repetition of words at the beginning of lines or sentences.

Apostrophe

When a speaker directly addresses someone absent, dead, or nonhuman.

Personification

Giving human traits to nonhuman things.

Paradox

A statement that seems contradictory but reveals truth.

Whitman’s “Adhesiveness”

Whitman’s idea of deep emotional connection and brotherhood between people in democracy.

“Civil Disobedience”

Henry David Thoreau’s belief that people should resist unjust laws and governments peacefully.

Gothic

Dark literature focused on fear, madness, decay, death, mystery, or the supernatural.

Motif

A repeated image, symbol, or idea that supports a theme.

Slant Rhyme

Words almost rhyme but not perfectly.

“The Fall of the House of Usher” author

Edgar Allan Poe

• Often focused on fear, madness, or suspense

“The Fall of the House of Usher”

characters

• Roderick Usher → sick, anxious, mentally unstable

• Madeline Usher → Roderick’s twin sister

• Narrator → unnamed friend visiting Usher

Character Relationships

• Roderick and Madeline are twins with a strange, intense bond

• Their connection reflects decay and madness

• The house mirrors the family’s condition

“The Fall of the House of Usher” Plot

1. Narrator visits the Usher mansion

2. .Roderick acts fearful and unstable

3. Madeline supposedly dies

4. She is buried alive

5. Madeline returns

6. Roderick dies from terror

7. The house collapses

“The Fall of the House of Usher” theme

• Madness

• Isolation

• Fear

• Death and decay

• Connection between humans and environment

“The Fall of the House of Usher” images/symbols

• Cracked mansion → broken family line

• Dark weather → doom

• Decaying house → mental decline

“The Cask of Amontillado” author

Edgar Allan Poe

“The Cask of Amontillado” characters

• Montresor → narrator seeking revenge

• Fortunato → victim

Character Relationship

• Montresor pretends to be Fortunato’s friend

• Secret hatred underneath friendship

“The Cask of Amontillado” Important Plot Points

• Montresor wants revenge

• Carnival celebration is happening

• He tricks Fortunato with promise of rare wine

• Leads him underground into catacombs

• Chains Fortunato to wall

• Buries him alive

“The Cask of Amontillado” Themes

• Revenge

• Pride

• Deception

• Death

“The Cask of Amontillado” Carnival/Masking

Carnival/Masking

Very important symbol.

• Carnival represents chaos, disguise, hidden identity

• People wear masks physically and emotionally

• Montresor hides true intentions behind friendliness

“The Cask of Amontillado” Important symbols

• Catacombs → death

• Wine → manipulation

• Bells on costume → mockery and irony

“The Cask of Amontillado” Irony

Fortunato’s name means “fortunate,” but he dies.

“Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass” Plot

• Douglass learns alphabet secretly

• Reading opens his mind

• Slave owners fear educated slaves

• He resists physical abuse

• Eventually escapes slavery

“Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass” emotional appeal

Douglass makes readers feel horror and injustice.

“Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass”

• Freedom

• Knowledge as power

• Resistance

• Human dignity

“Bartleby, the Scrivener” Author

Herman Melville

“Bartleby, the Scrivener” Setting

• Wall Street in New York

• Office environment connected to capitalism and business culture

“Bartleby, the Scrivener” capitalism ideas

• Workers treated like machines

• Isolation in modern business

• Lack of humanity in capitalism

Bartleby

• Repeated phrase: “I would prefer not to.”

• Represents resistance and withdrawal from society

“Bartleby, the Scrivener” themes

• Alienation

• Isolation

• Capitalism

• Mental health

• Human disconnection

“Poet of the Streets” author

• Ordinary people

• Workers

• Democracy

• Everyday American life