Intro to Literature Tai Houser Final Exam

True or False: The key aesthetic in Latin American New Historicism is the impossibility of depicting what is real

True

Which of the following is NOT true of racial, ethnic, and post colonial studies?

- literature is not politically neutral

- literature has historically been an accurate reflection of the time period and peoples represented within a text

- literature both reflects and shapes the values of the cultures that produce it

- literature critics have a duty to analyze and often critique the cultural values embedded in the texts we study

literature has historically been an accurate reflection of the time period and peoples represent within a text

Which of the following is NOT a key principle in New Historical criticism?

Texts are connected in complex ways to time periods and systems of power

What is the primary career associated with authors from the Latin American Literary boom?

Political activist

The "new" figurehead on Don Benito Cereno's ship is

a defleshed human body

In the Borges poem "One Morning in 1649," what is happening to Charles?

He's on his way to his own execution

When he was young, how did Borges distribute his writing?

He would sneak it into his friends' bags

At the end of the story, Don Benito remains a prisoner

of his own mind

True or False: In Don Benito, Cereno escapes by jumping overboard.

True

Which of the following is a key aspect of New Historical fiction from Latin America?

The fiction critiques and pays homage to the subject

In "A Very Old Man With Enormous Wings," what did the old man have in his wings?

parasites

In the Borges poem "That One," what is the likely subject of the poem?

the death of the poet

T/F The link between literature and politics is a new idea first identified during the Latin American literary boom?

False

In Don Benito, what words are written below the "new" figurehead?

Follow your leader

The author Jorge Luis Borges is from which country?

Argentina

In Don Benito, the leader of the slave revolt is

Babo

In "A Very Old Man With Enormous Wings," which animal was a pest

crabs

In the Borges poem "To the One Who is Reading Me," to whom is the poem addressed?

the reader

True or False: Melville was influenced by Hawthorn

True

In "A Very Old Man With Enormous Wings," where was the old man kept

In a chicken coop

The story of Don Benito begins near an island off the coast of

Chile

True or False: Borges created Magical Realism out of a desire to oppose realism

True

Which of the following is NOT true of Magical Realism

it can only be found in Latin American novels

True or False: Today, most literary scholars think of history as a dynamic interplay of cultural, economic, artistic, religious, political, and social forces.

True

In the Borges poem "One Morning in 1649," who is Charles?

The King

True or False: In Don Benito, Babo is beheaded.

True

When he was young, how did Borges distribute his writing?

He would sneak it into his friends' bags

Which of the following is a key aspect of New Historical fiction from Latin America?

All of the above

When you want to read with an eye toward racial, ethnic, or postcolonial issues, you should consider the following questions (choose all that apply):

Can you discern any particular political agendas at work in the text? That is, does the novel, story, poem, play, or essay seem to make an argument about racial relations, ethnic identity, or political oppression?

What is the historical or cultural context of the work? Is the story set during a time of conflict or peace? Is the story set in a location where one culture colonized another? Does the story unfold before the colonial period, during the colonial period, or after the colonial period?

How does this work present political power and/or domination? Are there clear lines drawn between conquerors and conquered people in the work? Does the work seem to argue that these lines are appropriate, or does it challenge the divisions between colonizer and colonized?

How does this work represent different groups of people? Does it valorize one particular culture at the expense of another? Are characters from particular groups portrayed positively or negatively? Does the work employ stereotypes or broad generalizations?

True or False: Zitkala-Sa is also know by the name Gertrude Simmons Bonnin

True

In the play, "Intimate Apparel," where is George working when he first writes to Esther?

Panama Canal

What does the name "Zitkala-Sa" translate to in English?

Red Bird

In "Lorry Raja," what does Siju do to get money for the narrator's school fees?

Sucks diesel out of lorries and sells it back to the drivers

In "The School Days of an Indian Girl," who convinces the narrator to go to school?

Missionaries

In "The School Days of an Indian Girl," after arriving at the school, the narrator begins to cry. How do the school officials deal with her crying?

They give her food

In "The School Days of an Indian Girl," what does the narrator do after finishing school?

She goes to college

In "Patriotism," when sitting on the mat in front of his wife, the Lieutenant places his sword before himself. What does his wife do?

Places her dagger before herself

In "The School Days of an Indian Girl," for what does the narrator win first prize?

a speaking contest

T/F The setting for "Intimate Apparel" is 1905 Chicago

False, in NYC

True or False: In "Patriotism," the narrator wraps his sword in a red cloth before killing himself.

False

True or False: For the author, Yukio Mishima, creating a beautiful work of art and becoming beautiful oneself are identical

True

In "Lorry Raja," why was China building a stadium?

For the Olympics

In "Lorry Raja," who is Mr. Subbu?

The mine owner/manager

In the short story "Patriotism," after Lieutenant Shinji Takeyama dies, his wife, Reiko, puts on makeup before killing herself.

True

In "Lorry Raja," parents worked at the mine. The children simply lived with them and played around the mine.

False, the children worked

Which of the following is NOT true of racial, ethnic, and post colonial studies?

literature has historically been an accurate reflection of the time period and peoples represented within a text

True or False: The terms "first world," "second world," "third world" and "fourth world" nations are critiqued by post-colonial critics because they reinforce the dominant positions of western cultures populating first world status.

True

In "Lorry Raja," what color did things become as they got closer to the mine?

black

In "The School Days of an Indian Girl," what term does the narrator use when referring to school officials?

paleface

In "The School Days of an Indian Girl," what word to the girls learn before receiving their punishment for playing in the snow?

No

In "Lorry Raja," how old is Siju, the youngest driver at the mine?

14

In "The Other Wife," what color is Marc's ex-wife wearing?

White

In "Brokeback Mountain," Ennis initially stayed at base camp while Jack slept where?

with the sheep

Modern Feminism is an outgrowth of the civil rights movement and the Vietnam War

True

If "sex is a set of biological markers that define whether someone is female, male, or intersexed," what is gender?

The attitudes a society has toward each sex--how we view each other and our behavior

In the poem "My Lover is a Woman," the narrator identifies as being both a lesbian and

Black

T/F Gender criticism is an extension of feminist criticism

True

T/F In "The Quilt," the narrator believed she is sent to spend time with Begum Jaan as a reward for good behavior

False

When we talk about gender studies, what do we NOT place under that umbrella?

Animal studies

T/F Language has nothing to do with identity

False

T/F Only women can be feminist or gender critics

False

When doing feminist criticism, we want to focus on

Questioning the tension between male and female characters and symbols

When Shakespeare writes that "His beauty shall in these black lines be seen." Where should the reader look to experience his lover's beauty?

the poem

In "The Quilt" what was Rabbu's only job?

Massage Begum Jaan

What word does Walt Whitman use to identify the men in his poem?

comrades

T/FIn the poem "A History of Sexual Preference" Philadelphia is male and Boston is female

False

In the poem "Men as Friends" what does Marine James leave in the narrator's refrigerator?

Fish

In the poem "When I Grow Up I Want to be a List of Future Possibiltiies," the narrator wants to be "America for my uncle." What does his uncle want to be for the narrator?

China

In "Brokeback Mountain" who is Alma Beers?

Ennis' wife

After leaving Brokeback Mountain, Jack does what for work?

Rodeo

In "Brokeback Mountain," where does Jack want to take Ennis?

Mexico

Who wrote "Pioneers! O pioneers!"

Walt Whitman

In "The Quilt" what was the husband's (Nawab Saheb) hobby?

taking care of boys

In "The Other Woman," what word does Alice use to describe Marc's ex-wife?

superior

T/F In "The Other Wife," Marc claims he and his ex-wife separated because he didn't know to know how to make her happy

True

In the story, "The Man Who was Almost a man" who is 'Ol man Hawkins?

Dave's employer

In "intimate Apparel" what is Esther's job?

She sews lingerie

Eurocentrism, which is a worldview that considers European societies (and those closely related to them, such as white American society) as the model to which other societies should aspire (T/F)

True

Parallel reading (in New Historicism)

examining the literary text in light of other contemporary texts: newspaper articles, religious pamphlets, economic reports, political documents, and so on. These different types of texts, considered equally, help scholars construct a richer understanding of history. Scholars learn not only what happened but also how people understood what happened. By reading historical and literary texts in parallel, scholars create a phrase from anthropology, a thick description that centers the literary text as both a product and a contributor to its historical moment.

cultural materialism

aka New Historicism: a text—whether it's a piece of literature, a religious tract, a political polemic, or a scientific discovery—is seen as an artifact of history, a material entity that reflects larger cultural issues.

collective ideas

the ideology of the society at the time that guide the way a culture views and talks about itself, reflects the power structures that control the discourse of society, and often control the way literature is published, read, and interpreted.

Steps to write like a New Historicist

1. Situate the author and his or her work in its specific historical time period. What were some of the key concerns of the day

2. Focus on the author's intentions: what the writer was hoping to accomplish

3. Examine the work's reception. How did the critics receive the work?

4. Connect to other major literature written during this time. Do these works suggest some larger concerns that your writer is exploring?

5. Consider the implications the work might have on the future. Why is it important?

3 stages of feminist criticism

Patriarchal criticism examines the prejudices against women by male writers. Such criticism analyzes the way that canonical authors—mostly men—create images of women.

Gynocriticism is concerned with women writers, particularly in how women writers have become included within the canon.

Feminine writing explores the notion that women may write differently than men, suggesting that there may be a "women's writing" alternative to male writing.

Gender critcism focuses on

the construction of gender and sexuality, suggests that power is multifaceted and never just in one direction.

essentialism

the belief that women are naturally and fundamentally different than men based on their biological sex, that non-heterosexual identities are deviant from the biological heteronormative distinction between male and female

constructionism

the belief that gender is not essentialist or based on biological nature but is constructed through culture.

"man box"

the very narrow box that defines what a "real man" is

Orientalism/refers to a set of false assumptions and stereotypes that Western cultures maintain about societies other than themselves. These Others are sometimes portrayed as excessively bad (demonic others) and sometimes as wonderful (exotic others)