313 Vocab

Mimesis
Definition: Limitation or imitation in art and literature, often serving to reflect reality and explore the relationship between representation and authenticity. It can be seen in various artistic movements and philosophies, inviting reflection on how art interprets and mirrors the world.

Dialect
Definition: A specific form of language or speech pattern unique to a particular region or social group, reflecting cultural heritage, historical background, and social identity. Dialects can vary significantly from the standard language, incorporating unique vocabulary and grammar.

Angel in the House by Coventry Patmore
Overview: Explores marriage to an idealized woman characterized as submissive and domestic, embodying the Victorian ideals of femininity. The poem critiques societal expectations placed on women and romanticizes a woman's role within the confines of marriage.

Bootstrap Philosophy
Concept: Individuals can succeed through hard work, perseverance, and a strong moral compass, despite starting from humble beginnings. This philosophy emphasizes personal responsibility and the belief that anyone can achieve success through dedication and effort.

Naturalism (American Literature)
Definition: Depicts characters in situations they cannot control (e.g., environmental conditions) illustrating that nature shapes human experience. This literary movement often emphasizes the influence of heredity, chance, and social circumstances on individual lives, leading to a deterministic view of human behavior.

Color Lines
Reference: Highlights modern racial discrimination and legalized segregation post-abolition and during the Civil Rights Movement in the United States. Addressing the socio-political realities of race, it encapsulates the struggle against systemic inequality and the fight for civil rights.

Cult of True Womanhood
Overview: Set of social constructs defining a woman’s life according to four virtues: piety, purity, submissiveness, and domesticity. This ideology established rigid gender roles in the 19th century, emphasizing the importance of femininity as the moral center of the home and society.

Matthew Arnold's Perspective
Quotation: "To use all branches of knowledge (theology, philosophy, history, art, science, etc.) to explain things." Arnold believed in the interconnectivity of knowledge and advocated for a holistic understanding of cultural and societal issues.

Enlightenment Feminism
Concept: Women began demanding that rhetoric about liberty, equality, and natural rights be applied to both sexes. This movement raised awareness of women's rights and advocated for social reforms, challenging the patriarchal structure of society.

Orientalism
Definition: Concept developed by Edward Said, describing Western misconceptions and depictions of colonial subjects and cultures. It critiques the way the West has constructed and stereotyped Eastern societies, shaping cultural perceptions and power dynamics.

Struggle for Existence
Concept: The social and economic challenges individuals face in a rapidly changing society, highlighting competition for resources and survival. It reflects themes of social Darwinism and the pressures that individuals encounter within economic systems.

Eurocentrism
Definition: The dominance of European (especially English) cultural patterns in a global context, often leading to the marginalization of non-European cultures and perspectives. This concept critiques the Eurocentric viewpoint that has shaped historical narratives and cultural evaluations.

Evolution
Definition: Gradual change in a species over time, a fundamental biological principle explaining the development of diversity in life through mechanisms like natural selection and genetic drift. This concept has significant implications in various fields including biology and social sciences.

Talented Tenth
Concept: Coined by W.E.B. Du Bois, referring to the top 10% of educated African American men who can lead the black community. Du Bois believed in the necessity of an educated elite to guide and uplift the broader community through advocacy and leadership.

Feudal Economy
Definition: An economic system where peasants work land owned by nobles, characterized by a hierarchical structure of land ownership and the obligation of peasants to provide labor in exchange for protection and sustenance.

Proverbs
Definition: Short, concrete, and repeated aphorisms expressing abstract truths or lessons, reflecting societal attitudes and binding communities. Proverbs convey wisdom and moral lessons, often passed down through generations.

The Woman Question
Overview: The debate surrounding the role of unmarried women in society, addressing issues of autonomy, rights, and social expectations. It examines the challenges women face in asserting their identities beyond traditional roles.

First Wave Feminism
Timeframe: Began in the mid-1800s focusing on women's suffrage and legal rights, laying the groundwork for later movements. This wave sought to secure basic rights for women, including the right to vote and property ownership.

Progeny
Definition: Offspring; the descendants or young produced by organisms, often highlighting themes of legacy and continuity in literary and social contexts.

"War of all against all" (Thomas Hobbes)
Concept: Each person is fighting for survival, implying no morality in a state of nature. This concept illustrates Hobbes's view of human nature as inherently self-interested, leading to chaos without a governing authority.

Progress
Definition: Movement towards a positive direction or improvement, often viewed through historical and cultural lenses as society evolves and addresses injustices. It reflects the ideal of gradual betterment in human lives and societal norms.

"World of Ideas" (Edmund Burke)
Concept: Living in a realm of ideas, relating to the intellectual world where concepts influence political and social realities. Burke emphasized the importance of tradition and the collective wisdom of society in shaping thought.

French Revolution
Overview: The 1789 rebellion against French monarchy due to economic hardships and social inequality. This pivotal event marked the rise of republicanism and spurred movements for democracy and human rights globally.

Aesthetic
Definition: Concerned with the appreciation of beauty, art, and sensory experiences, often challenging societal norms and beliefs about art and its purposes.

Race as a Social Construct
Definition: Racial classifications are not biological but are defined by social perceptions and context, highlighting how societal beliefs shape our understanding of race and identity.

Anarchy
Definition: A state of disorder resulting from the absence of authority or government. Anarchist theories critique imposed structures of power, advocating for self-governance and communal organization.

Realism (American & British)
Definition: A literary style emphasizing the depiction of real-life events and characters, often focused on everyday struggles and social issues. This movement sought to portray life accurately and often critically.

Artifice
Definition: Clever tricks or methods often used in literature to create effects, challenging norms of realism and prompting readers to engage with the text on multiple levels.

Hegemony
Definition: Originating from Greek, referring to dominance of certain states over others, particularly in European contexts concerning power struggles. It examines how ideologies maintain authority through cultural and social means.

Barbarians
Definition: Often used to denote uncivilized or non-Western cultures, reflecting Eurocentric views that judge societies through a biased lens.

Hellenism
Definition: Principles associated with classical Greek civilization, valuing reason, art, knowledge, moderation, and responsibility; it has influenced Western thought and culture significantly.

Regionalism (American Literature)
Definition: A subset of realism focusing on specific local features and characteristics, also called local color. This movement emphasizes the distinctiveness of regional cultures and identities within literature.

Black Vernacular English (BVE)
Definition: A language spoken and established within black communities, recognized for its unique grammatical structures, vocabulary, and phonetics as a form of cultural expression.

Hybrid Identity
Definition: An identity that consciously blends multiple cultural identities and traditions, often arising from globalization and migration, reflecting personal and societal changes.

Romanticism
Overview: An artistic movement from the 19th century emphasizing emotion over reason, valuing individual expression and the beauty of nature as a reaction against industrialization and rationalism.

Ideology
Definition: A system of ideas and ideals, usually relating to political or economic theory, that shapes perceptions and policies within societies.

Bourgeoisie
Definition: The middle to upper class, particularly in capitalist societies; often characterized by materialism and economic privilege. This class plays a crucial role in shaping societal structures and cultural norms.

Calvinism
Overview: Religious doctrine stemming from John Calvin, expressing predestination in salvation and emphasizing the sovereignty of God in the lives of individuals, impacting Protestant thought significantly.

Stream of Consciousness
Definition: A literary technique depicting a character's inner thoughts and feelings in a fluid narrative, often reflecting the complexities of human psychology and perceptions of time.

Child Labor
Overview: A common practice in the 19th century where children worked in various industries and farms under poor conditions, highlighting the socio-economic challenges and ethical issues surrounding labor rights.

Indian Boarding School (Carlisle School)
Overview: Institutions aimed at assimilating Native American children into Euro-American culture, erasing indigenous identities and languages through education systems that promoted Western ideals.

City Planning
Concept: The organization and design of urban space and infrastructure, involving zoning, transportation, and community development to create functional and livable environments.

Individualism
Definition: The emphasis on the unique importance of each individual, promoting personal autonomy and self-expression within societal contexts, often contrasted with collectivist ideals.

Utilitarianism
Concept: The belief that society should promote the greatest happiness for the greatest number of people, influencing ethical and political theories regarding decision-making and social policies.

Classic Slave Narrative
Definition: A personal autobiography that serves as propaganda against slavery, detailing personal hardships and hope for freedom, and often seeking to humanize enslaved individuals.

Industrial Revolution (British & American)
Overview: Characterized by rapid industrial growth and the exploitation of child labor, this period marked a significant transformation in economic practices, social structures, and technological advancements.

Classical Literature
Definition: Comprises works regarded as great masterpieces from ancient civilizations, still regarded as models today, influencing modern literature, philosophy, and cultural studies.

Liberty
Definition: Freedom; often associated with civil rights, individual autonomy, and the capacity to act according to one’s own will without oppression.

Literary Impressionism
Overview: An aesthetic movement where literature adopts principles from Impressionist paintings, emphasizing fleeting moments and subjective experiences, capturing the essence of emotion over detailed representation.

Criticism
Definition: Literature that critiques different societal aspects and norms, offering analysis and evaluation of cultural phenomena and moral dilemmas.

Manifesto
Definition: A public declaration of policies or intentions, often outlining beliefs and objectives of political or social movements, serving as a rallying point for collective action.

Culture
Definition: Collective beliefs, customs, and traditions of specific groups, shaping identities and social interactions across time and space.

Second Wave Feminism
Overview: Focused on achieving broader social, cultural, and economic equality for women, addressing issues like workplace discrimination, reproductive rights, and sexual liberation, leading to significant social reforms.

Metafiction
Definition: Fiction that self-consciously emphasizes its own fictional status, often blurring the boundaries between reality and narrative, prompting readers to question the nature of storytelling.

Middle-Class Confessional Poets
Overview: Poets like Sylvia Plath and Anne Sexton explored personal issues stemming from their middle-class backgrounds, delving into themes of mental illness, gender roles, and societal expectations through intimate and vulnerable expressions.

Confessional Poetry
Overview: A personal form of poetry that reveals the poet's inner self and often explores themes of trauma and identity, breaking away from traditional poetic conventions by focusing on personal experiences.

Machine Age
Definition: A period marked by industrial growth and changes due to technological advancements, leading to transformations in labor practices, urbanization, and societal structures.

Universalism
Concept: The idea that certain themes in stories can resonate universally, connecting shared human experiences across cultural and temporal boundaries, often promoting empathy and understanding.

Veil Metaphor
Definition: A metaphor used in literature to signify obfuscation or partial revelation, often representing barriers between perception and reality, frequently explored in discussions of identity and awareness.

Language of White Supremacism
Overview: Terms such as "mulatto" and "quadroon" reflect the use of language to promote racist ideologies of racial purity and justify discrimination, highlighting the role of language in shaping societal views on race.

Vorticism
Definition: An early 20th-century movement emphasizing abstract art and literature, focusing on energy and modern life, often opposing traditional aesthetic norms and celebrating the dynamism of contemporary experience.

Imagism
Overview: A literary movement advocating for precision and clarity in imagery and direct language, rejecting traditional forms in favor of a more stripped-down, concise approach that emphasizes clarity and emotional depth.

Imperialism
Definition: Utilizing military power to impose dominance over others, often accompanied by economic exploitation and cultural assimilation, shaping international political relations and colonial histories.

Fragmentation
Concept: In literature, refers to non-linear narrative styles that evoke chaos or alienation, common in modernist works that reflect the disorientation of contemporary life and the complexities of human experience.

Postmodernism
Overview: An intellectual movement characterized by skepticism towards grand narratives and objective truths, blending styles and questioning reality; it promotes plurality in interpretations and embraces contradictions.

Abolitionist Movement
Overview: A literary movement aimed at exposing slavery's horrors, featuring works by Frederick Douglass and Harriet Beecher Stowe, advocating for the end of slavery and highlighting moral and human rights issues.

Futurism
Overview: An artistic movement proposing a renewal of human sensibility and freedom in expression, rejecting traditional constraints and celebrating technology, modernity, and dynamism as catalysts for cultural evolution.

Harlem Renaissance
Overview: A cultural and artistic movement during the 1920s celebrating African American identity and heritage while challenging stereotypes, fostering a vibrant community of writers, artists, and musicians that profoundly influenced American culture