English: Civil War Era Test Review

Autobiography

-a person's account of his or her own life

-Most autobiographers feel their lives are noteworthy and can somehow help others

Author's purpose and reason why

-is an author's reason for writing

-Every author has both a general and specific purpose for writing

-Author's general purpose may be to inform, to persuade, to entertain, or to describe

-Authors also have a specific purpose for writing any literary work

Tone

-the attitude the writer assumes toward the subject and audience

-May be formal or informal, personal or distant, modest or pretentious

-An author's purpose affects all elements of a literary work

Spirituals

are folk songs that were often sung by enslaved African Americans

Allusions

-references to people, places, and events from the Bible

-Allusions often have allegorical meaning

Refrain

-is a word, phrase, line, or group of lines repeated at regular intervals

-A refrain emphasizes key ideas, sets a rhythm, and makes a song easier to remember

-Allowed spirituals to have a call-and-response format in which a leader sang the verses and the rest of the group acted like a chorus and sang the refrain

Allegory

is a story in which all literal elements are also symbols

Stream of consciousness

a technique in which a character's thoughts are presented as the mind experiences them-in short bursts without obvious logic

Point of View

the perspective or vantage point, from which a story is told

Omniscient Point of View (Bird's eye perspective)

the narrator is an observer who can relate everything that happens, as well as the private thoughts and feelings of all the characters

Limited Third Person Point of View (Knowing the thoughts and feelings of one person)

readers' information is limited to what a single character feels, thinks, and observes

What was Frederick Douglass's purpose?

Douglass's purpose was to show through his own life that African Americans are as intelligent, capable, and feeling as whites

To inform about slavery and how wrong slavery is and to persuade

What does Douglass's writing style contribute to?

Douglass's formal and dignified writing style, or specific way of using language, contributes to his purpose.

It also helps to express his tone, which is both passionate and compassionate.

Who or what does Douglass blame for the changes that take place in the household?

Mr. Auld- Mrs. Auld was teaching Douglass to read. Mr. Auld tells her to stop, and then Mrs. Auld becomes mean and cold to him.

Blames the institution of slavery and thinks it is responsible because it goes against human nature. Slavery corrupted Mr. and Mrs. Auld.

How would you describe Douglass's tone in his discussion of Mrs. Auld? Why do you think he uses this tone?

Respectful and endearing because he doesn't blame her for slavery. He has fonder memories of before she was mean and seems to be grateful to her. When Douglass first encountered Mrs. Auld, she was compassionate and tender-hearted and he admired her Christian values.

Also uses a regretful tone which shows he is human and reflects how slavery transformed Mrs. Auld, stripping her of her warmth and turning her into a harsher figure.

This tone helps him because it shows how he is trying to appeal to humanity by being relatable. Douglass highlights the tragic impact of slavery, not only on the enslaved but also on the enslavers. His tone underscores the idea that Mrs. Auld's initial goodness was eroded by the institution of slavery, which dehumanizes everyone involved.

What is Mr. and Mrs. Auld's concern regarding education?

Problem with education → afraid of Douglass wanting to be free if he learned about the evils of slavery

Didn't want him to have knowledge and organize rebellions

Fear of loss of labor and rebellion; fear of economic status and situation changing.

"Conscience cannot stand much violence. Once thoroughly broken down, who is he that can repair the damage"

Talking about Mrs. Auld hurting/ending her conscience

Slavery has slowly been eroding her conscience to the point where she doesn't know whether something is wrong because slavery has been so normalized and practiced for so long that people no longer understand that slavery is wrong.

What type of story is My Bondage and My Freedom by Frederick Douglass?

Autobiography

What is the tone of "Go Down Moses"

Demanding → "Let my people go" + insinuates consequences if the slaves are not free

What is "Go Down Moses?"

It is a spiritual

What feelings does "Go Down Moses" evoke?

Evokes feelings of hope that the slaves will eventually be free, or deliverance in the end

What are the allusions that serve as allegories in "Go Down Moses?"

Moses - Harriet Tubman, Abolitionist movement

Pharoah - Government officials, the general population who supports slavery, plantation owners

Israelites - the slaves → "Let my people go"

Egypt - the South in the United States

What is the metaphor in "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot?"

Jordan river of the Middle East; Many spirituals use the phrase "crossing over Jordan" as a metaphor for crossing the Ohio River to freedom or going to heaven

What is the tone of "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot?"

Sad, melancholy → death is home

Desperate → they knew they were going to die, but desperate to be with God

What is the chariot?

biblical image, chariot is used to take you home

How does this spiritual express African American faith?

This spiritual expresses African American faith and hope as it conveys how African Americans hope for death to come and "carry me home." In this spiritual, there is also a mention of angels coming down to take the African Americans home. Home in this spiritual represents heaven and dying because the African Americans will be reunited with God and their friends and family. While I think that home stands for heaven, it could also mean being back home in Africa, where these people were free. The enslaved people were also hoping desperately to be freed from the physical labor they had to endure.

How does this Spiritual express the physical conditions of slavery?

This spiritual is expressing escaping the physical conditions of slavery because in this song they are singing about how enslaved Africans want to be free of this pain and are hoping to go "home." The enslaved Africans want to escape the labor and physical conditions by crossing the Jordan River to leave slavery.

What did Sojourner Truth work to do?

Sojourner Truth worked to free the slaves and fought for women's suffrage

What does this account tell us about?

This account tells about when a driver of a streetcar refused her passage, she brought a local street to a standstill. With the support of a crowd behind her, the driver was forced to allow her on board

In this account, Truth seeks to inform readers about a distressing experience. She also has an implicit, or unstated, persuasive purpose: by describing her experiences, she may move readers to put an end to prejudice and injustice

What was her tone and what did this help her achieve?

For an account of a distressing experience, Truth chooses a surprisingly factual, unemotional tone

This tone helps to achieve Truth's purpose for writing

What does the streetcar conductor say to Laura Haviland about Sojourner Truth? What does his question reveal about the "old slaveholding spirit"?

Says "Does she belong to you?"

Reveals that even though slavery was abolished, the slaveholding spirit still remains and is strong

"Old slaveholding spirit" → not erased from peoples' minds and is still present in everyday life

What action does Truth take following each incident of discrimination described in her account? Do you think this is the best course of action in each situation?

Reports the conductor and the conductor was dismissed

Right course of action → was the most she could do at the time, didn't act aggressive or cause commotion

What happens to the conductor who refuses service to Truth? What do details of these events of 1865 have in common with the civil rights movement of the 1950s?

Conductor was reported and got dismissed and arrested for assault

Similar to Rosa Parks being refused service and other similar experiences of African Americans being discriminated against

Truth's general purposes for writing this account were to inform and persuade. How would you describe her specific purpose for writing? Do you think she achieved that purpose?

The specific purpose for writing → show how unfair slavery was and how discrimination still existed and she wanted to turn people against slavery

Achieved purpose because → used a tone that was factual and serious to maintain her purpose and inform; direct and forwardness made this persuasive because she was just flat out saying what happened without emotion

How would you describe the Truth's tone in this account?

Factual and serious because she does not add strong diction or have emotion in her words

Truth plainly states what happened

What does an author's choice of point of view affect?

An author's choice of point of view affects every aspect of a story

For example, different points of view convey different types of information for the reader

Point of View in "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge"

The point of view in this story shifts from omniscient to limited third-person. As the point of view shifts, so do the emotional tone and sense of time. To emphasize this change, Bierce introduces yet another narrative approach. He uses stream of consciousness, a technique in which a character's thoughts are presented as the mind experiences them-in short bursts without obvious logic.

Choose a line that shows the omniscient point of view, and choose the limited third person of view. How can you tell the difference?

"The captain stood with folded arms, silent, observing the work of his subordinates, but making no sign"

→ omniscient pov; knows all povs

"He unclosed his eyes and saw again the water below him."

→ limited pov; knows only Farquhar thoughts

What information do we learn about Peyton Farquhar in section II? Why do you think this section was left out of the movie that we watched?

He is a southern, plantation owner

→ would do anything to help the South in the Civil War

Implied in his conversation with the solider (who he thinks is Confederate) that he wanted to burn the bridge

Left out because it changes your feelings, and purpose of the story

What point of view is the majority of part III written in? Why is it necessary to SWITCH POVS at the end of the story?

Limited 3rd person pov → uses "he" ; talking about his thoughts/actions

Necessary to switch for reader to know that Farquhar died

Cause the escaping part was all in his head

CREATES EMOTION AND SURPRISE ELEMENT (PSYCHOLOGICAL REALISM) IN THE ABRUPT SWITCH

Would just get to the point that he died

Examples of Farquhar's distored perceptions. What causes this distortion?

Ticking of his watch being really loud

More intense, amplified because he is nearing his death and getting nervous

When he "appreciates" life in a new way

Perception of stream is changing (sluggish stream)

Soldiers have distorted forms

Grey eyed shooter

This is because he is dying

What details from the story suggest Farquhar's escape occurs in his mind?

When he is "dreaming" about what would happen if he could escape → predicts the escape in his mind

When he thinks he walks home while sleeping; saying he recovered from a delirium

Saying eyes felt congested; neck aches, etc. (physical pains)

What point of view does Bierce use in Section III of the story, and why is it important to the story's overall impact?

Limited 3rd person pov of Farquhar

Readers know what Farquhar is thinking; if it wasn't Farquhar's pov we would know that he died, immediately

Lack of surprise /psychological realism/impact of the message of the story

Why does the story need to have a change in the point of view in the last paragraph of the story?

To know that Peyton Farquhar died by getting hanged

Second Paragraph of Section III. What details are revealed through the stream of consciousness?

Shows how he believes he is living by miraculous events

Shows panic + quick thoughts when escaping

→ what is going through his brain

Showing pain, physical sensations he is experiencing which are giving him his thoughts

Analyze the story's pattern of organization. Explain how the story shifts from Section I to section II and from section II to section III. How does the style of writing shift from section to section?

Pov changes in each section

I → omniscient

II → omniscient

III → Limited

REAL ORDER

I = 2

II = 1

III = 3

Pov change is important because:

Bierce wants us to question what the point of war is; Last thoughts of wife, children

Shows humanity