English Capen, Fall Exam: Term --> Example

Allegory

"Young Goodman Brown" - Faith, the wife, represents his faith, symbolizing moral and spiritual struggle.

Allusion

"Greasy Lake" - references The Naked and the Dead by Norman Mailer.

Antagonist

"Girl" - the girl contradicts her Mom, creating central conflict.

Antihero

"Greasy Lake" - main character is violent, mischievous, and self-centered.

Characterization

"The Third and Final Continent" - main character shown as caring and sympathetic through interactions with the grandmother and daughter.

Climax

"Sonny's Blues" - Sonny and the brother in the Jazz bar; brother sees Sonny's life from a new perspective.

Closed Denouement

"Paul's Case" - ends definitively when Paul commits suicide.

Open Denouement

"Saboteur" - story ends with unresolved questions about the epidemic and characters' fates.

Complication

"Cathedral" - main character realizes the old man is just a normal person.

Conclusion

"A Pair of Tickets" - sisters reunite, providing closure.

Conflict

"This Blessed House" - husband does not want Twinkle to keep the religious statues.

Connotation

"The Third and Final Continent" - "splendid" about the USA putting a flag on the moon suggests admiration beyond the literal meaning.

Denotation

"Battle Royal" - literally a fiercely contested fight or dispute.

Deus ex machina

"A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings" - injured man recovers and flies away, resolving conflict improbably.

Diction

"Sweat" - Southern speech and dialogue reflects regional culture.

Didactic fiction

"A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings" - teaches respect for outsiders and new ideas.

Dramatic point of view

"The Lottery" - narrator reports dialogue and actions without explaining thoughts.

Dynamic character

"Cathedral" - husband changes, learning to appreciate the old man.

Editorial omniscience

"Young Goodman Brown" evaluates Brown's moral and thoughts. Directly judges his life at the end"

Epigraph

"Greasy Lake" - "It's about a mile down on the dark side of route 88," creating an eerie atmosphere.

Epiphany

"When Mr. Pirzada Came to Dine" - daughter realizes she can form a relationship with Mr. Pirzada.

Falling action

"The Rocking Horse Winner" - between the boy collapsing and the gardener reporting his winnings.

First-person narrator

"The Yellow Wallpaper" - story told from "I" perspective through a journal.

Flashback

"Sonny's Blues" - mother recounts her husband's brother's death.

Flat character

"A Clean Well-Lighted Place" - young waiter stays rude and ignorant throughout.

Foreshadowing

"A Good Man is Hard to Find" - grandmother warns misfit is loose.

Hero

"Sexy" - Marinda is the story's central character.

Impartial omniscience

"Sweat" - shows thoughts of both Sykes and Delia without judgment.

Innocent (or naïve) narrator

"Sonny's Blues" - narrator initially fails to understand Sonny's life.

Interior monologue

"The Yellow Wallpaper" - narrator writes thoughts in journal, revealing inner feelings.

Ironic point of view

"The Lottery" - town seems normal and lively at first, contrasting with later events.

Verbal irony

"A Good Man is Hard to Find" when the Grandma says "She would have been a good woman if it had been somebody there to shoot her every minute of her life.".

Situational irony

"Sexy" - Dev expects affair to continue, but Marinda ends it after Rohin's comment.

Cosmic irony (Irony of Fate)

"The Rocking Horse Winner" - boy's obsession with horse leads to death.

Dramatic Irony

"Sonny's Blues" - readers know Sonny's struggles; brother does not at first.

Socratic Irony

Pretending to act ignorant to reveal flaws in another's argument.

Limited omniscience (Third-person limited POV)

"A Temporary Matter" - narrator sees events through Shukumar's perspective.

Magical realism

"The Rocking-Horse Winner" - boy predicts horse race winnings while engaging in real family life.

Monologue

"Girl" - Mom chastises daughter in extended speech.

Moral

"Greasy Lake" - warns against choosing a dark lifestyle.

Motivation

"The Chrysanthemums" - main character longs for a more fulfilling life.

Nonparticipant narrator

"The Lottery" - narrator does not appear in the story.

Omniscient narrator (All-knowing narrator)

"A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings" - moves through thoughts of all characters.

Paradox

"Harrison Bergeron" - equality leads to absolute control.

Persona

"The Rich Brother" - narrator created to comment on relationship between brothers.

Plot

"Girl" - girl chastised by mother about proper behavior.

Point of view

"Everyday Use" - told from mother's perspective.

Protagonist

"The Third and Final Continent" - man who stays with old woman and adapts to new life.

Resolution

"Sonny's Blues" - brother understands the beauty of Sonny's life.

Rising action

"The Lottery" - townspeople begin picking names, building tension.

Round character

"The Yellow Wallpaper" - main character develops and changes.

Sarcasm

"Harrison Bergeron" - opening line "everybody was finally equal" conveys bitter irony.

Satiric comedy

"Saboteur" - humor criticizes political power and Communist party.

Selective omniscience

"When Mr. Pirzada Came to Dine" - story seen only through Lilia's perspective.

Static character (Flat character)

"The Third and Final Continent" - grandmother appears only briefly and has no inner thoughts.

Stream of consciousness

"The Yellow Wallpaper" - journal entries show immediate thoughts.

Style

"Sweat" - Southern vernacular reflects story's cultural context.

Symbol

"The Chrysanthemums" - fence represents constraint in main character's life.

Theme

"Cathedral" - empathy allows understanding of another's perspective.

Third-person narrator

"The Rich Brother" - narrator uses "he," "she," or "they."

Tone

"The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas" - dreamy at start, turns sad toward end.

Total omniscience

"The Rocking Horse Winner" - narrator moves through all characters' perspectives.

Understatement

"The Lottery" - town described as normal, masking the dark events.

Unreliable narrator

"The Yellow Wallpaper" - narrator is insane and on rest cure, making her account untrustworthy.