ap lang allusions 31-45

in medias res origin

latin, "into the middle of things," used in writings of epics who start with action in the middle then learn about character, used in odysseus

in medias res meaning

starting in the middle

loaves and fishes origin

biblical, from gospels, Jesus preaching to crowds of thousands, crowd becomes hungry, only have 5 loaves and 2 fishes, Jesus blesses food and now enough for all to share

loaves and fishes meaning

miraculous abundance in the face of seeming scarcity

Magnus opus origin

latin, "great work"

Magnus opus meaning

the greatest work of a composer, writer, artist, etc.

janus origin

mythology, the roman god of gates and doorways, entrances, beginnings, ability to see both ways, duel face, In January able to see in past and future

Janus meaning

duality of meaning, someone that sees everything and bigger picture, has sense of wisdom. Negative= too faced or hypocritical

A Chip on One's shoulder origin

language/idioms, boys used to put blocks of wood on shoulder, challenge someone to knock them off. Instigate a fight, demonstrate strength

a chip on one's shoulder meaning

inclined to be resentful, someone always looking for a fight

noble savage origin

history, western philosophy, French philosopher Rousseau believed all people are born good and innocent, influence from civilization are what changes that

noble savage meaning

person who is not corrupted by society's negative influence

burning bush origin

biblical, Book of Exodus, God is speaking to Moses through bush and telling him to speak to Pharaoh and free Israelites to Promised Land, burning but never consumed

burning bush meaning

medium through which the voice of absolute authority speaks

narcissus/ narcissism origin

greek mythology, beautiful young man who rejects admirers including Nymph Echo. Looking in pool of water, fell in love with reflection, fell in and drowned, another story is that he was so obsessed with himself that he wasted away, own obsession lead to death

narcissus/ narcissism meaning

obsessive focus on one's self, particularly one's physical self

schezerazade origin

middle eastern folk tale, comes from literature, narrator of the Arabian nights or thousand and one nights, king is unfaithful and queen is upset so the king says he will marry a new person every day and execute them on the wedding night, Schezerazade tells story to the king and leaves him on cliff hanger for next night, carries on for 1,001 nights and at that point the king fell in love and cancels the vow

schezerazade meaning

excellent story teller, especially one who is able to keep the audience in suspense

skeleton in the closet origin

think of language, skeletons unpleasant and frightening

skeleton in the closet meaning

unpleasant or embarrassing things about a person that he or she would rather keep hidden from others

fifty minutes of fame origin

history and pop culture, Andy Warhol, American artist, commented on explosion of media culture, in future, everyone will be famous for 15 minutes

fifty minutes of fame meaning

someone receives great deal of media attention for something fairly trivial

let the cat out of the bag/ buy a pig in a poke origin

farmers in medieval time would take pig in a bag to the market, unscrupulous farmers would put cat in the bag because they would not check, if cat managed to escape, farmers secret would be revealed

let the cat out of the bag/ buy a pig in a poke meaning

is a secret being revealed,

lot's wife or a pillar of salt origin

biblical, book of genesis, god destroyed cities of sodorn and Gomorrah but Lot who was nephew of Abraham was given time to flea, god told him none of his family could look back, Lott's wife looked back, turned into pillar of salt

lot's wife or a pillar of salt meaning

someone who unwisely chooses to look back when they have chose a path or someone who has disobeyed an explicit rule or command

cassandra origin

greek mythology, daughter of trojan king who was loved by Apollo, given the gift of prophecy but when she angered Apollo, altered so prophecies were true but no one would believe her

cassandra meaning

someone who predicts disasters or negative results but predictions are disregarded

catch 22 origin

comes from Joseph Heller's novel, set on navy place during war, airman request to be relieved from flying duty only if they are insane, notion that anyone does not want to fly dangerous missions is sane, thus can not escape missions

catch 22 meaning

obscure no-win position