LET Board Exam Review Notes: English Major Mastery Guide

Romanticism: Characteristics and Philosophical Foundations

  • Core Emphasis of Romanticism:
    • Feelings, emotions, and imagination are prioritized over logic, reason, and empirical facts.
    • Heroic Individualism: The movement celebrates the individual as separate from the masses; an individual is defined as someone who assumes responsibility for their own destiny.
    • The Sublime: Nature is viewed as beauty and truth, characterized by a sense of "god-like awesomeness." This involves ecstatic pleasure mixed with pain, and beauty mixed with terror.
    • View of Youth: Children are believed to possess superior innocence, wisdom, and insight. Youth is regarded as a "golden age," while adulthood is equated with corruption and betrayal.
    • Representations of Value: "Outsiders" are often seen as representatives of special worth who have been excluded by rigid societies or irrational norms.
    • Common People: Idealized as a dependable source of true common sense and sentiment.
    • Nostalgia: A deep longing or nostalgia for the past is a recurring theme.
    • Gothic Elements: The gothic is explored as a nightmare world of intense emotions and complex psychology.
    • Stylistic Traits: Use of idealized or abstract settings, characters as symbolic types, and an emphasis on intensification, excess, and extremes.
  • Historical Context: Romanticism began in the late $18^{th}$ century.

Literary Mastery of William Wordsworth

  • Overview: William Wordsworth is one of the most famous poets of Romanticism, known for the line "I wandered lonely as a cloud."
  • Analysis of "My Heart Leaps Up":
    • Text Highlights: "My heart leaps up when I behold / A Rainbow in the sky: / So was it when my life began; / So is it now I am a man; / So be it when I shall grow old, / Or let me die! / The Child is father of the man; / And I wish my days to be / Bound each to each by natural piety."
    • Emotions Featured: The poem expresses profound joy, wonder, and happiness.
    • The Paradox of "The Child is Father of the Man": This implies that a person’s childhood experiences, values, and sense of wonder shape the adult they eventually become.
    • Main Theme: A deep love and appreciation for nature that should persist throughout an entire life.
    • Life Lesson: It serves as a reminder for people to maintain their connection to nature and sense of wonder as they grow older.

Modern Short Stories and Playwriting: Anton Chekhov

  • Biographical Details: Anton Chekhov ($1860$-$1904$) was a master of the modern short story and a leading Russian playwright of the late $19^{th}$ and early $20^{th}$ centuries.
  • Literary Achievements:
    • Recognized for his deep attention to the inner lives and psychological depth of his characters.
    • In his plays, he concentrated on mood and characterization, demonstrating that these elements could be more important than the plot itself.
  • Chekhov’s Gun: A literary principle stating that every element introduced in a story must be necessary and important to the narrative. It is primarily connected to plot structure and the technique of foreshadowing.

Classical Epics and Greek Mythology

  • The Iliad (Homer):
    • Patroclus: The death of Patroclus brought Achilles immense sorrow and grief. He was Achilles' dearest companion and closest friend (interpreted by some as his lover).
    • Nestor: The wise and elderly King of Pylos who advised younger Greek warriors like Achilles and Agamemnon.
    • Menelaus: King of Sparta and husband of Helen; his brother was Agamemnon, and his wife's abduction sparked the Trojan War.
    • Thestor: A minor figure, the father of the prophet Calchas.
  • Zeus’ Plan and Suffering: The concept of "Pathei Mathos" (learning through suffering) comes from Aeschylus' tragedy Agamemnon. In Zeus’ plan, understanding and progress are the outcomes of suffering.
  • First Heroic Narrative: The Epic of Gilgamesh is considered the first heroic narrative in world literature.

Religious History and the Roman Empire

  • Christian Persecution:
    • Nero: Blamed Christians for the Great Fire of Rome in 64 CE64\,CE and ordered severe executions.
    • Diocletian: Launched the "Great Persecution" from 303 CE303\,CE to 311 CE311\,CE, the harshest in Roman history.
    • Marcus Aurelius: A Stoic philosopher king who allowed persecution because Christians were seen as threats to Roman unity.
    • Constantine I (The Great): The first Roman emperor to convert to Christianity; the church was NOT persecuted during his reign. He bridged ancient history and the Middle Ages.
  • Historical figures:
    • Augustus: The Roman Emperor during whose reign Jesus was born (ordered the census mentioned in Luke 2:12:1-$7).\n - **Hadrian:** Consolidated borders and built a famous wall.\n - **Claudius:** Conquered southern Britain.\n\n# Victorian Poetry: Lord Alfred Tennyson and Robert Browning\n\n- **Lord Alfred Tennyson:**\n - **Arthur Hallam:** Tennyson’s work, particularly *In Memoriam*, embodies his ideas on immortality and death following the loss of his friend Arthur Henry Hallam.\n - *Break, Break, Break* (1834): A short poem reflecting immediate emotional loss.\n - *Crossing the Bar*: An elegy where a sailor represent a human passing from life to the existence beyond death. The speaker is a dying man wishing for "no moaning of the bar" and hoping to see his "Pilot" (God) face to face.\n- **Robert Browning:**\n - **Master of the Dramatic Monologue:** A poetic form where a single fictional speaker reveals their psychology to a silent listener at a critical moment.\n - **Famous Work:** *My Last Duchess*.\n - **Personal connection:** Husband of the poet Elizabeth Barrett Browning.\n\n# Political Philosophy and Foundational Texts\n\n- **The Social Contract (Jean-Jacques Rousseau):** Discusses the agreement by which people band together for mutual preservation.\n- **The Republic (Plato):** A Socratic dialogue (380\,BCE)concerningjustice() concerning justice (\text{dikaios\bar{u}n\bar{e}}) and the order of the just city-state.\n- **The Prince (Niccol"o Machiavelli):** A handbook on obtaining and maintaining political power; one of the first works of modern political philosophy.\n- **Freedom of the Will:** Written by Jonathan Edwards.\n- **Dialectics (Hegel):** A philosophical argument method involving contradictory processes between opposing sides.\n\n# Philippine Literature and Colonial History\n\n- **Spanish Colonial Period:** Poetry was the most popular vehicle for literary expression.\n- **Doctrina Christiana (1593):** The first printed book in the Philippines, written in Spanish and Tagalog.\n- **Pasyon:** A Philippine epic narrative of the life, passion, and death of Jesus Christ, traditionally sung during Holy Week.\n- **Cenaculo:** A dramatic stage performance reenacting the Passion of Christ.\n- **Ulod:** A traditional oral epic from the Visayas region.\n- **Significant Authors and Works:**\n - **Manuel Arguilla:** Famous for using "Local Color"; wrote "How My Brother Leon Brought Home a Wife."\n - **Paz Marquez Benitez:** Wrote *Dead Stars*, a love triangle involving Alfredo, Esperanza, and Julia; an allegory for disillusioned Filipino intellectuals.\n - **Loreto Paras Sulit:** Wrote *The Harvest*, exploring themes that beauty can be dangerous (envy between brothers Fabian and Vidal).\n - **Paz Latorena:** Wrote *Desire*, about a woman with a beautiful body but a "homely" face.\n - **Nick Joaquin:** Wrote *Summer Solstice* (basis for the film *Tatarin*), *May Day Eve*, *Three Generations*, and *The Woman Who Had Two Navels*.\n - **Estrella Alfon:** Wrote *Magnificence*, a story about maternal power protecting a child from an abuser (Vicente).\n - **Ophelia Alcantara Dimalanta:** Known as the "Goddess of Philippine Poetry" and the "High Priestess of Philippine Poetry in English."\n - **Edith Tiempo:** National Artist for Literature; wrote *Bonsai*.\n\n# The Elizabethan Age and Dramatists\n\n- **William Shakespeare:** Widely regarded as the greatest writer in English; produced *Hamlet*, *Macbeth*, and *Romeo and Juliet*.\n- **Christopher Marlowe:** Influential playwright; wrote *Doctor Faustus*.\n- **Edmund Spenser:** Famous for the epic poem *The Faerie Queene*.\n- **Sir Walter Raleigh:** Explorer and writer of court life.\n- **Dante Alighieri:** *Not* an Elizabethan dramatist; he was an Italian writer famous for the *Divine Comedy* describing Hell (*Inferno*), Purgatory (*Purgatorio*), and Heaven (*Paradiso*).\n\n# Literary Genres and Definitions\n\n- **Epic:** A long, serious narrative poem about a hero whose actions determine the fate of a nation (e.g., *Mahabharata*, *Aeneid*).\n- **Ballad:** A short narrative poem intended to be sung, often focusing on folk tales or tragedy.\n- **Lyric Poetry:** A short poem expressing personal feelings or thoughts of the speaker.\n- **Romance:** Focuses on adventure, love, and chivalry.\n- **Legend:** Traditional story based on historical events/figures, often exaggerated.\n- **Creation Myth:** Stories like "Malakas and Maganda" explaining the origins of the world.\n- **Haiku:** Short poems, usually about nature, creating a dominant impression via the five senses.\n\n# Russian Literature Masterpieces\n\n- **Fyodor Dostoevsky:** Explored conflicts between good/evil and faith/atheism; known for psychological penetration into the "darkest recesses of the human heart."\n- **Leo Tolstoy:**\n - *War and Peace*: Set during the Napoleonic invasion of Russia (1812).\n - *Anna Karenina*: Tragic story of social expectations and love.\n - *God Sees the Truth, but Waits*: A story of injustice and forgiveness.\n- **Ivan Turgenev:** Wrote *Fathers and Sons*, exploring generational conflict.\n\n# Indian and Eastern Literature\n\n- **Mahabharata:** The greatest epic of India (100,000 verses); contains the *Bhagavad Gita* and mythology/religion of the Hindu.\n- **Ramayana:** Epic of Prince Rama and his wife Sita.\n- **Panchatantra:** Collection of ancient Indian animal fables teaching moral lessons.\n- **Dhammapada:** Buddhist scripture containing sayings of the Buddha.\n- **Rabindranath Tagore:** First Indian Nobel Laureate (1913); wrote *Gitanjali* ("Song of the Offerings").\n- **Confucianism:** Most directly linked to the **Social** and familial sphere of life (Filial Piety).\n- **Japan:** Often characterized as homogenous and spiritual; the "heterogeneous" description is least likely to be associated with it.\n\n# Linguistics and Language Acquisition\n\n- **Second Language Acquisition (SLA) Factors:**\n - Influenced by age, aptitude, intelligence, cognitive style, attitudes, motivation (2^{nd} most important), and personality/emotions (anxiety/confidence).\n - **Physical state** is generally NOT listed among these specific linguistic factors.\n - **Cross-cultural issues** are often cited as a major hindrance to learning.\n- **Word Categories:**\n - **Content Words:** Nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs (lexical meaning).\n - **Function Words:** Pronouns, prepositions, articles, conjunctions (grammatical "glue").\n- **Language Families:** The language of the Hellenes (Greeks) is Indo-European. This family includes Italic, Celtic, and Sanskrit, but does NOT include **Semitic** (which is Afro-Asiatic).\n\n# Phonetics and Speech Mechanics\n\n- **Vocal Mechanics:** The **Voice Box (Larynx)** determines if a sound is voiced or voiceless based on vocal cord vibration.\n- **Place and Manner of Articulation:**\n - **Plosive:** Air is held back and released abruptly (mini-explosion).\n - **Voiced Bilabial Stop:** /b/\n - **Voiceless Bilabial Stop:** /p/\n - **Voiced Alveolar Stop:** /d/\n - **Consonant Sounds:**\n - /z/ end sound: "Buys"\n - [th] voiced sound: "Breathe"\n - [zh] sound: "Leisure"\n - [id] end sound: "Needed"\n- **Prosody:** An **accented syllable** is the stressed part of a word pronounced with greater emphasis.\n - First syllable stress: **Hea**-ven, **Cou**-rage.\n - Second syllable stress: Ad-**ven**-ture, Be-**long**.\n\n# Language Teaching Methodologies\n\n- **Audiolingualism:** Focuses on **pronunciation**, intensive oral drilling, and habit formation; avoids the native language in the classroom.\n- **Grammar-Translation:** Emphasizes reading and translation.\n- **Transformational Grammar:** Focuses on the study of syntax.\n- **Structuralism:** Gives importance to the structure of the language.\n- **Assessment:** A **Rubric** is the best measuring instrument for assessing complex performances like Oral Recitation.\n\n# Key Masterpieces and Authors Summary\n\n- **Victor Hugo:** *Les Mis"erables* (June Rebellion in Paris) and *Hunchback of Notre Dame*.\n- **Rudyard Kipling:** *The Jungle Book*; first English-language writer to win the Nobel Prize (1907).\n- **Edgar Allan Poe:** Father of the **Detective Story** and master of Gothic horror.\n- **F. Scott Fitzgerald:** *The Curious Case of Benjamin Button* and *The Great Gatsby*.\n- **Samuel Taylor Coleridge:** *Kubla Khan* was composed after an opium-influenced dream about Xanadu.\n- **Antoine de Saint-Exup"ery:** *The Little Prince* (lessons on love/friendship).\n- **Michel de Montaigne:** Known as the **Father of the Essay**.\n- **Robert Frost:** Famous for poems about decision making and nature (*The Road Not Taken*, *Mending Wall*, *Fire and Ice*).\n- **Geoffrey Chaucer:** *The Canterbury Tales*.\n - *Pardoner's Tale*: Three friends kill each other for treasure.\n - *Nun's Priest's Tale*: Features Chaunticleer the rooster.\n- **Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky:** Composer of the ballet *Swan Lake* (featuring the Black Swan).\n\n# Grammar and Usage Rules\n\n- **Punctuation:** A comma indicates a **slight pause**.\n- **Verb Tenses:**\n - **Present Perfect:** Uses has/have + past participle. Used for actions starting in the past continuing to the present (I\,have\,writtenisincorrectwithis incorrect withyesterday$$; simple past should be used).
    • Simple Present: Habitual actions.
    • Simple Past: Completed actions in the past.
  • Common Error Drill: "She did not went to school yesterday" is wrong; should be "did not go."
  • Homophones: "They're" (they are) vs. "Their" (possessive).
  • Object Pronouns: "This seatwork is difficult for Paul and me" (Preposition "for" requires object pronoun).