Intro to Literature Exam 1 - Cedarville

Allusion

A reference to another work of literature, person, or event

Antagonist

A character or force in conflict with the main character

Characters

1. Stock

2. Round

3. Static

4. Dynamic

Definitions

1. Role/attributes are stereotypical

2. Well thought-out, developed

3. Same at the end of the story as they were at the beginning. Not developed through the story

4.Characters who change over the course of the story

Christ-figure

A character who's life or actions reflect that of Christ Jesus. They are often sacrificed for the good of others.

Conflict

A struggle between opposing forces

Connotation

an idea or feeling that a word invokes in addition to its literal or primary meaning.

Denotation

The dictionary definition of a word

Forshadowing

the use of clues to hint at events that will occur later in the plot

Irony

A contrast between expectation and reality

Plot

Sequence of events in a story

Protagonist

Main character in a story

Point of View

the perspective from which a story is told

Participant (First person)

Innocent/naive

Unreliable

Non-participant (Third person)

Omniscient

Limited Omniscient

Objective

Setting

The time and place of a story

Symbol

A thing that represents or stands for something else, especially a material object representing something abstract.

Theme

Central idea of a work of literature

The Appointment in Samarra

W. Somerset MAugham

Godfather Death

Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm

A&P

John Updike

A Rose for Emily

William Faulkner

A Gilting of Granny Weatherall

Katherine Ann Porter

The Story of an Hour

Kate Chopin

A Clean, Well-lighted Place

Ernest Hemingway

The Open Boat

Stephen Crane

The Lottery

Shirley Jackson

The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas

Ursula K. Le Guin

The Tell-Tale Heart

Edgar Allan Poe

A Good Man is Hard to Find

Flannery O'Connor

Revelation

Flannery O'Connor

Dead Man's Path

Chinua Achebe

An Occurance at Owl Creek Bridge

Ambrose Bierce

The Gospel According to Mark

Jorge Louis Borges

Sweat

Zora Neale Hurston

The Leader and Reading

J. Oswald Sanders

The Fox and the Grapes

Aesop

To Build a Fire

Jack London

The Gift of the Magi

O. Henry

A Sound of Thunder

Ray Bradbury

Parable

A simple story used to illustrate a moral or spiritual lesson

short story

A brief work of fiction

tale

a fictitious or true narrative or story, especially one that is imaginatively recounted.

fable

A brief story that leads to a moral, often using animals as characters

dramatic irony

when a reader is aware of something that a character isn't

verbal irony

A figure of speech in which what is said is the opposite of what is meant

situational irony

An outcome that turns out to be very different from what was expected

tone

A writer's attitude toward his or her subject matter revealed through diction, figurative language, and organization on the sentence and global levels.

diction

A writer's or speaker's choice of words

The Appointment in Samarra protagonist

The protagonist is a servant who becomes frightened after encountering Death in a market and decides to flee to Samarra to avoid his fate.

Godfather Death (poor man)

The main character is a poor man who chooses Death as his godfather, believing that this unique relationship will provide him with wisdom and power.

Sammy

Sammy, the young grocery store clerk, is impulsive and idealistic, struggling with his desires and the constraints of his mundane life as he navigates a moment of moral conviction.

Emily Grierson

Emily Grierson is a reclusive Southern woman who clings to the past and refuses to let go of her memories and lost love, embodying the decay of both her family and her town.

Granny Weatherall

An 80-year-old woman, who being at her deathbed is ruminating about her life. She is somehow disoriented and weak because of the illness. Memories from past haunts her and make her pain. She has four children she has raised by herself, because her husband had died long time ago. As to her personality we may say she is rather harsh and direct, which must be a mark of the hardships she had experienced.

Louis Mallard

Mrs. Mallard is described as "young with a fair, calm face whose lines bespoke repression and even some strength" (Chopin 201). Through out the story, we discover that Ms. Mallard is a dynamic character. For example, when Louise discovered her husband was dead, she feels grief. However it becomes clear that a stronger emotion is taking over, and this emotion is happiness. Though this kind of reaction may seem strange, it actually shows tremendous strength and bravery. This is because all women at this time were supposed to be obedient towards their husbands. Mrs. Mallard is a complex character whose gone through years of repression and as a result died an untimely death.

older waiter

The older waiter in "A Clean Well Lighted Place" symbolizes the middle aged person which is shown by the older waiter relating to the old man. The older waiter due to his belief in nada is seeming to be coming to terms with this depressing mindset of death and living for nothing

correspondant (open boat)

The correspondent is a philosophical and introspective character who reflects on human vulnerability and the struggle against nature as he faces the uncertainty of survival at sea.

Townspeople (The Lottery)

The main characters are the townspeople of a seemingly ordinary village who blindly adhere to an annual tradition, revealing their conformity and complicity in the ritual's violence.

omelas citizens

The citizens of Omelas are characterized by their happiness and moral complexities, particularly those who ultimately choose to walk away, rejecting the happiness built on the suffering of one child.

narrator

The unnamed narrator is obsessed and unstable, insisting on their sanity while detailing the meticulous planning and execution of a murder, showcasing deep guilt and paranoia.

grandmother

The grandmother is manipulative and self-centered, clinging to her notions of propriety and morality while failing to recognize the reality of her family's situation until it's too late.

Ruby Turpin

The wife of Claude. She is 47, 180 pounds, and always had good skin, but only has wrinkles by her eyes because she laughs so much. She wore black leather pumps in the waiting room. everything. She was overly satisfied with herself, which arose the issue with the sin of pride. After the incident in the hospital, she became troubled and angry at almost everything, before she had a vision (revelation of the story) of all types of people marching on a bridge to Heaven.

Michael Obi

progressive, enthusiastic young man. Becomes Headmaster of Ndume Central School. Excited about promotion and making the school modern. He is outspoken against the villagers' traditional ways of life.

Peyton Farquhar

Peyton Farquhar is a Southern planter and Confederate sympathizer who is naive and idealistic, caught in a moment of desperation as he faces his imminent execution.

The Gospel of Mark Protagonist

The protagonist is a character who reads the biblical narrative of Jesus's life, grappling with his own understanding of faith and identity in light of the text's profound implications.

Delia Jones

Delia Jones is a hardworking African American woman who endures her husband's abuse with resilience and determination, ultimately finding empowerment through her suffering.

Fox

tries to eat grapes and then gives up

Traveler

The unnamed traveler is overconfident and inexperienced, underestimating the dangers of the Yukon wilderness and illustrating the struggle between man and nature.

Jim and Della

Jim and Della are a loving couple who, despite their poverty, demonstrate deep affection and sacrifice for one another, embodying the true spirit of love and generosity.

Eckels

The main character is Eckels, an inexperienced time traveler whose arrogance and lack of caution lead to dire consequences, highlighting the fragility of time and the impact of individual actions.

The Appointment in Samarra (plot)

"The Appointment in Samarra" is a fable about a man who tries to escape his fate by fleeing from Death, only to unknowingly run straight into it.

Godfather Death (plot)

"Godfather Death" is a Grimm fairy tale about a man who chooses Death as the godfather for his son, leading to a dangerous bargain that ultimately proves fatal.

A&P (plot)

"A&P" by John Updike tells the story of a young grocery store clerk who impulsively quits his job after witnessing his manager chastise a group of girls, believing it to be a stand for principle, but quickly realizing the real-world consequences of his actions.

A Rose for Emily (plot)

"A Rose for Emily" by William Faulkner is a Southern Gothic tale about a reclusive woman who clings to the past, with a shocking revelation about her secret life and her refusal to let go of a lost love.

A Gilting of Granny Weatherall (plot)

"The Jilting of Granny Weatherall" by Katherine Anne Porter follows an elderly woman reflecting on her life, grappling with feelings of abandonment and betrayal from a past jilting as she faces her final moments.

The Story of an Hour (plot)

"The Story of an Hour" by Kate Chopin tells of a woman who briefly experiences a profound sense of freedom and independence upon hearing of her husband's death, only for her newfound liberation to be cut short by a shocking twist.

A Clean, Well Lighted Place (plot)

"A Clean, Well-Lighted Place" by Ernest Hemingway portrays two waiters in a café, one young and one old, as they contemplate the loneliness and existential despair that lead an elderly customer to seek solace in a quiet, well-lit space late at night.

The Open Boat (plot)

"The Open Boat" by Stephen Crane is a harrowing story of four shipwreck survivors adrift in a small lifeboat, battling the indifferent forces of nature as they struggle to survive.

The Lottery (plot)

"The Lottery" by Shirley Jackson depicts a small town where residents participate in a brutal annual ritual, revealing the dark side of tradition and conformity.

The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas (plot)

"The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas" by Ursula K. Le Guin presents a seemingly utopian city where the happiness of the many hinges on the suffering of a single child, prompting some citizens to choose to leave rather than accept this moral compromise.

The Tell-Tale Heart (plot)

"The Tell-Tale Heart" by Edgar Allan Poe is a chilling narrative of an unnamed narrator who insists on their sanity while describing the meticulous murder of an old man, driven by an obsession with his vulture-like eye, only to be haunted by the sound of the victim's still-beating heart.

A Good Man is Hard to Find (plot)

"A Good Man is Hard to Find" by Flannery O'Connor follows a family's road trip that takes a tragic turn when they encounter an escaped convict, leading to a profound exploration of morality and redemption amidst violence and despair.

Revelation (plot)

"Revelation" by Flannery O'Connor tells the story of a woman named Ruby Turpin who has a transformative encounter at a doctor's office, leading her to confront her prejudices and ultimately receive a shocking insight about her place in the world.

Dead Man's Path (plot)

"Dead Man's Path" by Chinua Achebe follows a young headmaster who, in his efforts to modernize a Nigerian school, clashes with local traditions by blocking an ancestral path, ultimately leading to tragic consequences that highlight the tension between progress and cultural heritage.

An Occurance at Owl Creek Bridge (plot)

"An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge" by Ambrose Bierce tells the story of a Confederate sympathizer who is about to be executed, and through a series of vivid, hallucinatory experiences during his imagined escape, the narrative reveals the stark realities of war and death.

The Gospel According to Mark (plot)

"The Gospel According to Mark" by Jorge Luis Borges is a short story that retells the biblical account of Jesus's crucifixion through the perspective of a character who finds deeper meaning in the text, ultimately leading to a profound and unsettling revelation about faith and identity.

Sweat (plot)

"Sweat" by Zora Neale Hurston tells the story of Delia, an abused African American woman who endures a tumultuous marriage to her unfaithful husband, Sykes, ultimately finding strength and liberation through her resilience and a shocking confrontation involving a snake.

The Fox and the Grapes (plot)

"The Fox and the Grapes," a fable attributed to Aesop, tells the story of a hungry fox who, unable to reach a bunch of grapes hanging high on a vine, dismisses them as sour and unworthy, illustrating the concept of rationalizing unattainable desires.

To Build a Fire (plot)

"To Build a Fire" by Jack London follows an inexperienced traveler in the Yukon who, underestimating the harshness of the environment, struggles to survive in extreme cold after his fire fails, ultimately facing the dire consequences of his decisions.

The Gift of the Magi (plot)

"The Gift of the Magi" by O. Henry is a touching story about a young couple, Jim and Della, who each sacrifice their most prized possessions to buy gifts for one another, highlighting the themes of love, sacrifice, and the true spirit of giving during the holiday season.

A Sound of Thunder (plot)

"A Sound of Thunder" by Ray Bradbury is a science fiction story in which a time traveler goes back to the age of dinosaurs for a hunt, but a seemingly small action in the past drastically alters the future, illustrating the concept of the butterfly effect and the consequences of tampering with time.