ELA midterm

Content	To Review
The Allegory of the Den	What is an allegory? 2 level story, a story with 2 meanings [literal and symbolic] What were the components of this “den” that Socrates describes to Glaucon? Very dark, there is a light above and a fire behind them There are prisoners in the den, chained, looking at the shadows → Created by the fire and the puppeteers holding puppets in front of the fire The shadows become their whole world One prisoner is released and is blinded by the fire.(painful, he doesn’t believe) He goes outside and painfully but slowly discovers the truth about the sun He brings back the truth to the prisoners and no one believed him Thought he was insane What point about real life did Socrates mean to illustrate through this depiction of “strange prisoners”? Hard to see the truth Must leave your comfort zone / expectations of society
The Last Spin	Characters? Tigo and danny Members of rival gangs (eventually escaped prisoners) Plot? In a basement playing russian roulette Their gangs decided they would play russian roulette instead of having a massive fight They don’t get shot right away They chat and learn about each other They realize they are alike They like guns, they want to be in the army, both afraid of letting their gangs down, don’t really like their gangs. Joining is just what you do, both are in a relationship They decide not to play anymore after one last shot and not be in their gangs anymore They plan a double date together Danny dies How does it relate to the AOD? Shadows (lie) → they hate each other, they are enemies Chains → gang expectations (colors, territories, violence) Prisoners: both gangs (and at first danny and tigo) They become the escaped prisoners sun (big truth) → they dont hate each other, they could be friends Fire = smaller truths → dont have to play this game, they have things in common
By the Waters of Babylon	Characters? John, son of a priest Plot? On a mission to find the place of the gods He sees a white fawn (a sign to go east) He is sailing on the river and singing his death song When he gets to the place of the gods he finds confusing artifacts from the human world Ovens, showers, mirrors, lamp, sink He sees the dead god → the gods are really just human Sees a flashback to what happened Was a nuclear war The city used to be new york How does it relate to the AOD? Sun → gods are just human Shadows → the people are killed by a nuclear war were gods Chains/puppeteers → forbidden to go east, must be purified to touch metal Escaped prisoner → john, was a priest and went to see the place of the gods Prisoners → the people in the town that can’t touch the metals or don’t go to see the place of the gods
The Homecoming	Characters? Willie jackson Colonel bob Martha Uncle ben Plot? Willie jackson coming back from WWII He had been viewed as an equal to white soldiers in the army Takes place in the south Goes to the statue As he walks by the confederate soldier statue, white men yell at him for ‘being rude”. They call him “boy” He doesn’t answer because they call him boy. Willie is a man and he knows he deserves respect Then he goes to the store The girl working at the store ignores him and helps the white woman after him. He stands up for himself “my money is the same color as hers.” Goes back to colonel bob’s house (where he grew / who he worked for) Martha, uncle ben, and colonel listen to him talk about the war and tell him they are proud of him Colonel finds out that willie wants to go north because he wants to be a free man there No jim crow laws, more opportunity and everyone is shocked about it Colonel bob finds out that willie has been standing up for himself in town Martha (also black) thinks he has gone crazy Willie leaves the house and starts walking back to the train A mob (very angry and racist) is waiting for him there Colonel bob “saves” willie by telling the police that willie has PTSD Willie is taken away to go to a psychiatric hospital How does it relate to the AOD? Shadows (lies) → everyone believes that white people are better than black people, racism Chains → history and racism (slavery, confederate statues in town) societal expectations, laws (jim crow) Escaped prisoner → willie When willie comes back to the cave he almost gets killed and then gets put in a mental hospital by colonel bob Sun → everyone is equal
The Lottery	Characters? Tessie Hutchinson (stoned to death) Mr Summers (runs everything) Old Man Warner (keeps the tradition - we always had a lottery) Plot? Kids are playing, the sun is shining, it is june (beautiful summer day) Gather in square and the men pulls a piece of paper out of a black box Everyone looks at their papers (mood shifts to nervous or anxious/antsy, ominous) Hutchinsons pull the slip of paper with a dot Each family member picks a slip and tessie (the mom) gets the bad slip The whole village throws stones at her until she dies How does it relate to the AOD? Sun = not needed, violent, outdated tradition. Barbaric Shadows = “it’s a tradition” we have “always done it”, kind of a saying about the crops Chains = tradition Prisoners = towns people(tessie almost escapes, but only when it is her turn) Return to the caves →