Literary Heratige Midterm Study Guide

2201 English - Literary Heritage Midterm Exam Study Guide

Creative Narratives

Creative Narratives

Symbolic narratives of the origin of the world as understood in a particular culture, tries to explain human existence

Features of the Creation Narrative

1. A supreme creator deity (ies). 

2. Describe various stages of creation and development. 

3. Recount the creation and purpose of mankind. 

4. Relate the purpose of and reinforce the structure of the society. 

5. Explain natural phenomenon 

Ideological State Apparatus

• The Family

• The Church 

• The media

• The Education System

• The Political System

• The Legal System

The Enuma Elish

Babylonian Creation Epic c. 1500 BCE

Yahweh

Judo-Christian Story c. 950 BCE

The Four Creations

Hopi c. 1150 CE

Poem

A concise verbal snapshot of a poet’s thoughts and/or feelings. They work through the images they paint the sounds they create and the ideas they communicate

• Consider the Title 

• What is the Subject of the poem? 

• Determine the Setting 

• Consider the Characters 

• Determine the Point of View 

• Determine the Tone 

• Determine the Images 

• Determine the Symbols 

• Determine the Theme 

How to read poetry:

The Music of Poetry: Its Sounds

Poetry needs to be read aloud. Listen for words that rhyme and for a rhythm you can tap your fingers to

The Images of Poetry: Its Images

Let the poet’s words paint pictures in your mind. Use sensory images

The Structure of Poetry: Its Shape

Pay attention how the poet placed the words on the page. A new stanza or verse may signal a change of focus or tone

Simile

Use “like” or “as” to compare i.e. “The snowflakes were like lace”

Metaphors

State a comparison without using “like” or “as” i.e. “The sun is a flaming torch in the desert sky”

Allusions

Refer to a person or place, or a literary text or character that exists outside the text itself i.e. “His strengths were herculean” (a reference to Hercules in Roman mythology ; a man of great strength)

Personification

Description of an object as if it had human qualities or abilities i.e. “The wind whispered in the trees”

Alliteration

Repetition of a sound made by a consonant i.e. “sweetly singing softly”

Onomatopoeia

Use of a word to imitate the sound it names i.e. “buzz,” “plink,” “sizzle”

Building Mood

Right from the beginning a poet can build mood.  Word choice, placement on the page, and incorporating suspense can all build the mood of a poem

Vivid Language

Exciting verbs (action words), descriptive adjectives (words that illustrate nouns), and expressive phrases all contribute to a poet’s vivid use of language

• Listen for sounds (alliteration, onomatopoeia, rhyme, rhythm)

• Look for images/pictures, and sensory details

• Examine the structure, shape, and punctuation

• Search for figures of speech (similes, metaphors, personification)

• Connect the ideas in the poem to your own personal thoughts and impressions

SUMMARY

Exposition

Introductory material that creates the tone, gives the setting, introduces the characters, and supplies other facts necessary to understanding the events that follow

Complication/Conflict

the struggle that grows out of the interplay of opposing forces. It provides interest, suspense, and tension

• Man vs Nature

• Man vs Self

• Man vs Man

• Man vs Society

• Man vs Fate

Types of Conflict

Rising Action

Part of the plot in which the entanglement caused by the conflict of opposing forces is developed

Climax

Highest point of dramatic action where the reader makes the greatest emotional response

Resolution/Conclution

Final unraveling of a plot; the solution or outcome

Character

Any personage in a literary work who acts, appears or is referred to as playing a part

Protagonist

Major character at the center of the story

Antihero

Protagonist who works against our expectations of a traditional hero

Antagonist

Character or force that opposes or conflicts with the protagonist

Foil Characters

Characters who serve as contrast to another perhaps more primary character, so as to point out specific traits of the primary character

Round Character

Character who portrays psychological complexity

Flat Character

Stock character who is simplistic and lacks complexity

Archetypes

Characters that recur in myths and literature many ages. Examples: the hero, the outcast, the scapegoat, the crone

Static Character

Character who remains the same

Dynamic Character

Character who changes in some important way

Characterization

The means by which writers reveal character to the reader

Explicit Judgment

Narrator gives facts and interpretive comments about characters

Implied Judgment

Narrator gives description but allows the reader to make judgments

Sophocles c. 428 BCE

Who and when was Oedipus Rex by/written?

Aristotle’s Poetics

• The imitation of highly serious action

• The language must be ornate

• It must be presented in dramatic, not narrative form

• The hero must be noble of character who falls from grace through hamartia

• Characters will face great suffering and must make decisions of “ultimate” human consequence

Tragedy

“Goat-song”, reflecting the religious origins of the art form

Characteristics of the Tragic Hero

• The tragic hero is a character of noble stature and greatness. The character must occupy a "high" status but must also embody nobility and virtue as part of his innate character

• However, the tragic hero is not perfect. Otherwise, we would be unable to identify with him

• The hero's downfall, therefore, is partially his own fault, the result of free choice, not of accident or some malignant fate. This error of judgment or is known as hamartia and is usually translated as "tragic error."  Often the character's hamartia involves hubris, the arrogance of godly pride

• The hero's misfortune is not wholly deserved, thus the punishment exceeds the crime. 

• The fall is not pure loss. There is some increase in awareness, some gain in self-knowledge, some discovery on the part of the tragic hero.

• Though it arouses solemn emotion, tragedy does not leave its audience in a state of depression. Aristotle argues that one function of tragedy is to arouse the "unhealthy" emotions of pity and fear and through a catharsis, which comes from watching the tragic hero's terrible fate, cleanse us of those emotions.

• Dramatic irony occurs when the audience members know things that the characters do not know. For example: The audience knows that that Oedipus has murdered his father and married his mother—fulfilling the prophecy of the Oracle at Delphi

Hamartia

Tragic error

Hubris

Arrogance of godly pride

Catharsis

Cleanses the audience of pity and fear from watching the tragic hero’s terrible fate, purgation or cleansing of the tragic emotions of pity and fear

Dramatic irony

When the audience members know things that the characters do not know

Greek Axioms

• “Know Thyself”

• “Fated to be Free, Free to be Fated”

• A classic story of the quest for identity, Oedipus also debates fate and freewill

• Ancient people may have been impressed, or wanted to be impressed, by the fulfillment of prophecies, as this often alleviated fear and responsibility

• Believing in predestination frees people from worry

• Our identities often help shape the events of our lives in ways that may appear “predestined”

Purpose of Tragedy

• The City is a political partnership that exists in order to allow citizens to live well

• Correct regimes are those that look to the common good

• A citizen is one who shares in making decisions and holding office

• Citizens and leaders must not profit from holding office

• The virtue of the citizens must preserve the regime

• Education should be a public service and duty

Aristotle’s Politics - the definition of democracy

Stoic Philosophy

Nature is controlled by reason, which is identified with the gods

Coming of Age Genre

A type of narrative in which the protagonist is initiated into adulthood through knowledge, experience, or both, often by a process of disillusionment

• ignorance to knowledge

• innocence to experience

• false view of world to correct view

• idealism to realism

• immature responses to mature responses

Parts of Coming of Age:

Bildungsroman

a novel in which an adolescent matures into adulthood

• The Industrial Revolution 

• The Protestant Reformation 

• Democracy

Impetus for Coming of Age Genre

• Rising middle class

• Greater literacy rates

• Increased education and demand for literature

What happened during these three social revolutions?

• Leaves home to get an education – both intellectual and sexual

• Rebels against his culture

• Falls in love and rededicates himself to learning

• Returns home, marries, and settles into a career

Coming of Age Characteristics: