English test 2

it was certain that there were no plot short stories ever lived in any life I had known anything about

Sherwood Anderson

Anderson was a…

short story writer, novelist, essayist

who worked as a business owner, the writer and newspaper editor 

anderson 

-uses of direct authorial address to the reader

-uses a circular, not linear, narrative structure: “ends where it begins”

-characterization more important than style

-simply style and vocabulary: common words of daily speech

-images drawn from nature

-episodic plot

Characteristics of Anderson’s work

episodic plot

a series of episodes/events that are loosely connected to one another by a common them or character,

-loneliness

-psychological fragmentation

-search for beauty and wholeness

-misunderstood, outsider individuals and the anger/violence they are subjected to in society

-failure of absolute truth

-the degeneration of communal bonds between people

-importance of dreams, idealism and fantasy

common Anderson topics

I’m not tragically colored. There is no great sorrow dammed up in my soul, nor lurking behind my eyes. I do not mind at all…no, I do not weep at the world—I am to busy sharpening my oyster knife

Hurston

who began publishing their stories in the 1920’s

Hurston

who gained financial support from several white New York patrons; one key writes of the Harlem renaissance; one of the shapes of the black literary and cultural movements of the 1920’s

Hurtson

-narrative often combines vernacular/southern dialect of everyday African Americans through their dialogue

-concerned with issues of racial and gender identity

- encourages women to rise above the burdens placed upon them by men and realize their potential

-records the female growth possible in relationships with supportive black men

-depicts the dangers to black women’s identity in relationship with oppressive black men; and the self-sacrifices required in order for women to break free

characteristics of Hurston’s work

The past is never dead. It’s not even past”

Faulkner

-non-linear storytelling

-intense regionalism

-complex, ornate language

-great range in variety of characters

-accurate dictation of southern speech

-southern gothic

Key elements in Faulkner’s style

-The burden of history

-race and class

moral conflict

Faulkner’s thematic preoccupations

who was a memoirist and short story writer 

Shirely Jackson 

themes of evil and chaos in ordinary life

-illuminated the moral decay and hypocrisy lurking behind suburban facade

-used the gothic genre to explore the dark side of American society and the terrible things that ordinary people are capable of 

-stories often critical of social norms that limited opportunities for women

-critized passivity of individuals in the face of state sponsored violence

Jackson’s themes 

-foreshadowing

-use of realistic detail

-irony

-point of view of narrator is often limited giving no insight into characters or events

-use of ordinary setting and straightforward, objective tone often used to juxtapose horrific subject matter

common Jackson literary elements

who’s early work was influenced by personal difficulties?

Raymond Carver

-simple and clear language

-repetition of scenes and images

-preciseness of physical description

-often focuses on the working poor and the depressing reality of their lives

-characters often near-inarticulate, unable to explain themselves, the world around them

-seemingly bland conversations of characters are typically give unspoken intensity and meaning

characteristics of Craver’s work

-communication breakdown

-breakdown of marriages and other intimate relationships

-the disillusionment and despair experienced as a result of alcoholism or isolation or poverty

-disillusionment with the American dream and the emptiness that comes with prioritizing material possessions

-the capacity for understanding, personal growth, and connection with others that may be only temporary, but are redemptive or healing in come capacity

-despair, loss that receives comfort in unexpected places

common topics in Craver’s work

setting for sweat

Eatonville and Delia’s house

symbols for sweat

Delia’s house, chewed up sugar cane and snake

style for sweat

allusions to Christian bible

setting for A Rose for Miss Emily

postcivil war, in small town, Jefferson, Mississippi: story spans 50 years multiple generations

plot if a rise for miss Emily

Emily’s father dies, Emily meets homer, buys arsenic, homer disappears, smell appears, Emily dies 

symbols of the house in a rose for miss Emily

Emily’s house: the old South and its traditions; the decay associated with values of the old south

the symbol or rose

-recognition of what Emily stood for in terms of the town’s past; tribute to Emily obstinate refusal to change

-recognition of Emily’s suffering at the hands of her father, Homer and the town

POV of a rose for miss 

told from 1st person plural perspective: narrator is a member of the town