American Lit Semester Final

native american fiction

explaining nature & the world as they know it (creation & fables)

native american nonfiction

establishes rules for existing

rationalism

18th century; age of reason in human affairs, each human plays a role in the whle, believed reason led to scientific avantages

romanticism

19th century; reaction to rationalism, limitation to rationalism (puritan ideas), inspired by splendor of nature than fear of God, all humans are a part of natures whole

fireside poets (who, sytle, themes)

first american writers recognized popularly; writing style- conventional form, meter, rhyme, memorizable; themes- domestic life, mythology, legends, history, & politics; poems are sentimental & preachy to modern audiences but pleasant

transcendentalism

an idealistic and social movement in reaction to rationalism and influenced by romanticism that tought that divinity prevails human nature; progressive views

dark romanticism

still part of romanticism but is considerably darker; heavy symbolism; shows greed & satire; frailties of human nature & the psychological effects of sin & guilt

2 dark romanticism authors

Washington Irving- folk tale& legends as basis for some stories to show unchanging nature of humanity

Edgar Allen Poe- Gothic Fiction- medieval settings, mystery, violence, gor

american gothic tradition

american settings, mental illnesses, mysterious phenomena, big question of “are humans born evil”; Poe originated the genere & wroe from his personal struggles

realism

a literary movement that represents reality by portraying mundane, everyday experiences as they are in real life. It depicts familiar people, places, and stories, primarily about the middle and lower classes of society.

oral tradition

the tradition in written civilizations in which certain genres are transmitted by word of mouth or are confined to the so-called folk

archetype

trickster- plankton from spongebob

allusion

a reference within a piece of literature to another work

emotional appeal

language designed to appeal to the reader’s feelings & emotions

repitition

deliberate repeating of words & phrases

imagery

vivid & descriptive language that appeals to senses

rhetorical question

questions not to be answered even though they are asked

logical appeal

the logic to situations

lyric poetry

a short poem with musical rhythm

naturalism

realism that portrays human lives as being shaped NOT by free will

flashback

interrupts chronological sequence to present something that occured earlier

psychological fiction

emphasizes interior experiences of character (emmotional distress)

free verse

Nonmetrical, nonrhyming lines that closely follow the natural rhythms of speech

alliteration

the occurrence of the same letter or sound at the beginning of adjacent or closely connected words

analogy

saying something is like something else to make some sort of explanatory point.

assonance

the repetition of vowel sounds across a line of text or poetry. The words have to be near enough to each other that the similar vowel sounds are noticeable

connotation

the emotion associated with a word; the emotion a word invokes

denotation

the literal meaning of a word

dialect

a form of a language spoken by a smaller group.

diction

choice of words, especially with regard to correctness, clearness, or effectiveness

figurative language

a way of expressing oneself that does not use a word's strict or realistic meaning. Common in comparisons and exaggerations; usually used to add creative flourish to written or spoken language or explain a complicated idea.

hyperbole

a figure of speech that is an intentional exaggeration for emphasis or comic effect.

imagery

encompasses the use of literal or figurative language to add symbolism and enable the reader to imagine the world of the piece of literature

metaphor

a comparison between two things that are otherwise unrelated

mood

a literary element that evokes certain feelings or vibes in readers through words and descriptions

personification

attribution of personal qualities. especially : representation of a thing or abstraction as a person or by the human form

satire

**Writing designed to reveal human failings, usually through humor**

simile

a figure of speech that compares two unlike things using the words “like” or “as.”

symbolism

an object, a person, a situation, or an action that has a literal meaning in a story but suggests or represents other meanings.

theme

a central, unifying idea. It's the bigger issue that emerges as the characters pursue their goals

tone

a literary device that reflects the writer's attitude toward the subject matter or audience of a literary work

voice

the rhetorical mixture of vocabulary, tone, point of view, and syntax that makes phrases, sentences, and paragraphs flow in a particular manner. Novels can represent multiple voices

owl creek main ideas

Peyton Farquhar, a civilian who is also a wealthy planter and slave owner, is being prepared for execution by hanging from an Alabama railroad bridge during the American Civil War. Six military men and a company of infantrymen are present, guarding the bridge and carrying out the sentence. Farquhar is shown to have escaped and almost made it to his love but then reality snaps back showing he had not escaped at all and actually had been hung.

house of usher main ideas

medieval romance story; the narrator goes into an old friends house to find Madeline is sick & dies, she is then burried and the narrator supports his friend Roderick in his grief; Roderick ends up going crazy from isolation & claims to see his not so dead sister and the narrator runs from the house in fear leaving behind the mental illness only to turn around and see the house is gone

THEME- People cope with mental illness in different ways causing different results

devil & tom main ideas

analyzes satire with a Puritan attitude that is very judgemental & they believe they are so great; the Puritans who have a lot of money & wealth have done bad things to get it & ty hide behind their wealth as thei souls are rotten; Tom thinks that a few good actions will compensate for doing bad things an making a deal with the devil, he pretends to care in hopes to save himself from the devil unlike his wife who had died in the tree.