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American Lit Exam Flashcards

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1
Q

Native Son Central Themes

A

-Intergenerational Trauma and the Father-Son Relationship
-The Impact of Racism
-The Nature of Hatred
-Identity and Belonging

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2
Q

Toni Morrison Significant Place in American Literature

A

-Elevating Black Voices and Experiences
-Exploring Themes of Race, Identity, and History
-Revolutionizing Literary Language
-Award-Winning and Influential
-Expanding the American Literary Canon

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3
Q

Recitatif

A

Look at Quiz

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4
Q

Plath

A

Look at Biography

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5
Q

Morning Song

A

-About the birth of her first child.
-New beginnings or Mourning.
-Cold, distant, and detached feeling
-Conflicting emotions
-Constant worry
-Lacking maternal instinct

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6
Q

Daddy

A

-Confessional poetry: focused on personal experience, brutally honest, taboo subjects.
-Apostrophe: addressing something that can’t speak back.
-Suffocated by her dad.
- Never got the chance to say her piece.
-Built him up to a god like status in her head, gods are judgmental.
-Calling him a Nazi.
-Claiming persecution at his hands.
-Compared him to Hitler.
-His domineering nature.

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7
Q

Bell Jar Literary value

A

-Exploration of Mental Illness
-Feminist Themes
-Autobiographical Significance
-Literary Style
-Cultural Impact
-A young woman’s Catcher in the Rye

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8
Q

Bell Jar Targets of Satire

A

-Attitudes towards and treatment of the mentally ill
-Hypocrisy
-Unfair assignment of gender roles
-Double standards for men and women, especially regarding being channeled into becoming a wife and mother.
-Futility of being a hardworking woman only to become a wife and mother.
-Dysfunctional sexuality
-Misogyny
-Lack of support provided to the arts
-Income inequality
-Romance novels targeted towards women
-Vapid movies with predictable plots and stereotypical characters.
-Tipping culture

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9
Q

Bell Jar Central Themes

A

-Mental Illness
-Social Expectations of Women
-Identity and Self-Discovery
-Isolation and Alienation
-The Conflict Between Mind and Body
-Purity vs. Impurity
-Suicide

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10
Q

Bell Jar Roman a Clef

A

The story of the novel is almost identical to that of Sylvia Plath’s life.

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11
Q

The Things They Carried Literary Significance

A

-As a work of historical fiction
-As a work of metafiction
*Self-conscious narrator
*Breaking conventions
*Blurring the Lines Between Fact and
Fiction
*Exploring the nature of truth

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12
Q

The Things They Carried Themes

A

-The psychological burdens of war
-Subversion of the novel form
-Subversion of warfare as a legitimate governmental policy
-Examining the nature of storytelling
-Providing a raw and honest depiction of the Vietnam War

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13
Q

The Trial of the Chicago 7 Defendants

A

-Abbie Hoffman: Yippies, theatrical
-Jerry Rubin: Yippies, radical and provocative actions
-Tom Hayden: SDS, a major new left organization
-Rennie Davis: SDS
-David Dellinger: Pacifist
-John Froines: Chemist
-Lee Weiner: Activist

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14
Q

The Trial of the Chicago 7 Themes

A

-Political Dissent and Protest
-Government Overreach and Abuse of Power
-Social and Cultural Division
-Justice and Fairness
-Free Speech and Civil Liberties

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15
Q

Bob Dylan Biography

A

Handout

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16
Q

Blowin in the Wind

A

-When will enough be enough
-Indifference is a sin like any other
-Freedom for: Black, Women, Youth

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17
Q

The Times They Are A-Changin

A

Change has arrived

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18
Q

Masters of War

A

-Sense of urgency
-Anger towards those responsible for the atrocities of war

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19
Q

Wallace Writing Style

A

-Extreme length
-Complex plot structure
-Digressive
-Wordy
-Wide range of subject matter
-Introspective
-Employment of literary devices
-Diegesis
-Post modernist

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20
Q

New Sincerity

A

Handout

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21
Q

Postmodernism Negative Effects

A

-Solipsism
-Moral relativism
-Cynicism
-Irreverence
-Rejection of emotions

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22
Q

Traits of Creative Nonfiction

A

-Emphasis on building a narrative
-Avoidance of overly technical terms
-Firsthand accounts from real-world characters who are emotionally invested in the story’s outcome
-Often explains the author’s personal connection to the subject matter
-Must be based on fact with no falsities that would lessen its veracity

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23
Q

Consider The Lobster

A

-Understands ethics but isn’t going to give up meat
-Gives you what you want, then what you need
-Written in Gourmet magazine
-Capture the local color
-Puff piece

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24
Q

The Underground Railroad Controversial

A

-Violent
-Confusion regarding the railroad
-Thin-skinned whites are offended
-Some deny the continued stain of slavery
-The portrayal of African Americans as victims
-Over simplification of States attitudes towards slavery

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25
Similarities Underground RR vs UTC
-Moral incitements of slavery -Subversive -Controversial -Mirror Characters -Cruelty -Best sellers -Family separation -Shifting stories -Underground as hope and freedom -Influential to movements -Themes -Revelatory
26
Differences Underground RR vs UTC
-Religion -Pathos absence -Less preachy -Little to no authorial intervention -Less stereotypical -Use of Magical Realism -African American author -Literary quality
27
Why Read Underground RR
-Critical acclaim of Whitehead -Fresh perspective on slavery -A reminder of historical reality that many deny -It encourages empathy and understanding -Heroic nature of those who refused to go along with evil. -Reshapes the slave narrative genre -His use of magical realism
28
Underground RR Places as Allegory
-Georgia: subjugation -South Carolina: Elevation -North Carolina: Extermination -Tennessee: Desolation -Indiana: Liberation -North: Resilience
29
Underground RR Characters as Allegory
-Cora: Defiance and Resilience -Terrance Randall: Sadism -Jockey: Subtle Subversion -The Women of Hob: Society's "others" and outcasts -Caesar: Determination -Carpenter, Dr. Stevens, Fiona: Poor, dispossessed whites -Ridgeway: Survivalism, obsession -Homer, Moses: Complete surrender and service to authority -Ajarry, Chester, et al: Innocent victimhood -Big Anthony, Lovey, Mabel, Louisa: Desperation -Fletcher, Lumbley, Sam, Martin: Sympathetic and subversive whites -Caesar, Rumsey Brooks, Lander: Sophistication through art, learning, and intellectuality -Valentine: Communism -Mingo: Patient assimilation into mainstream society -Lander: Need to aggressively confront racism for change to occur -Jamison, Patrollers, Vigilantes: The injustice and brutality that results in African Americans' legitimate distrust of the justice system, whites, govt, etc. -Ollie: Good Samaritan
30
historical fiction
in the past with fictional characters and plots
31
creative nonfiction
subgenre of nonfiction that incorporates writing techniques more closely associated with literary fiction, story centric format
32
confessional Poetry
focused on personal experiences, brutally honest, taboo subjects
33
Roman a clef
novel about real-life events that is overlaid with a façade of fiction
34
magnum opus
a large and important work of art especially one regarded as the best work of an artist, composer, or writer
35
postmodernism
characterized by skepticism regarding grand narratives (Christianity, Marxism, capitalism, democracy)
36
nihilism
the rejection of all religious and moral principles, in the belief that life is meaningless
37
existentialism
the existence of the individual person as a free and responsible agent determining their own development through acts of the will
38
allegory
a symbol
39
Juvenalian satire
targets serious social ills, biting tone
40
magic realism
depicts a realistic view of the world while also adding magical elements
41
mimesis
imitate/reproduce reality
42
diegesis
a narrative or plot, typically in a movie
43
bildungsroman
focus on the moral growth of the protagonist form childhood to adulthood
44
metafiction
self-consciously addresses the devices of fiction
45
the new sincerity
emphasizes genuineness, earnestness, authenticity, and a direct expression of feeling and belief
46
ambiguation
Doubtfulness or uncertainty as regards interpretation
47
satire
the use of humor, irony, exaggeration, or ridicule to expose and criticize people's stupidity or vices
48
grand narrative
overarching sense making story
49
Horatian satire
Through light-hearted (and often self-deprecating) humor, Horatian satirists address issues that they view more as follies, rather than evil
50
Demands of post-postmodern readers
-Specificity -Value Statements -Authenticity
51
3 Greatest American short stories
-Bartleby the Scrivener by Herman Melville -The Lottery by Shirley Jackson -Recitatif by Toni Morrison
52
The 5 seminal postmodern novels
-Gravity's Rainbow by Thomas Pynchon -Slaughterhouse-five by Kurt Vonnegut -Catch-22 by Joseph Heller -White Noise by Don DeLillo -Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace
53
Notes of the Native Son Subversive
Instead of portraying the U.S. as a land of equal opportunity, Baldwin shows how the American Dream is often inaccessible for Black people, making readers question foundational national myths.
54
Recitatif Subversive
It refuses to tell you who is Black and who is white. Morrison gives you two characters (Twyla and Roberta), but never tells you their races. That completely messes with the reader’s assumptions and biases — you think you can figure it out based on stereotypes, but you can’t be sure. That forces you to confront your own prejudices.
55
The Bell Jar subversive
It challenges the ideal of 1950s womanhood. Esther Greenwood, the main character, doesn't want the traditional path laid out for her (marriage, kids, housewife life). Instead of being grateful for opportunities or chasing a husband, she feels trapped and disgusted by those expectations.
56
The Things They Carried subversive
It challenges traditional war stories. Instead of glorifying heroism, it shows war as confusing, terrifying, meaningless, and full of guilt and grief. O’Brien even says traditional war stories — the ones about courage and victory — are lies.
57
Consider the Lobster subversive
It challenges readers' comfort with everyday cruelty. Wallace takes something normal and fun — a lobster festival — and turns it into an intense moral interrogation about animal suffering. He forces readers to confront the ethical horror hidden inside a "fun" tradition.
58
The Underground RR subversive
It portrays America itself as the villain. Each state Cora travels through represents a different, horrifying version of American racism — from violent slave-catching to medical experimentation to forced sterilization. Whitehead suggests racism isn't a Southern problem; it's a national one.
59
-1930 -It Can't Happen Here -graphic art of description and the ability to create new types of characters
Sinclair Lewis
60
-1936 -Long Day's Journey Into Night -power, honesty, and deep-felt emotions, embody an original concept of tragedy
Eugene O'Neill
61
-1938 -The Good Earth -Rich, epic descriptions of peasant life in China
Pearl Buck
62
-1949 -The Sound and The Fury -from Mississippi, powerful and artistically unique contribution to modern american novel
William Faulkner
63
-1954 -The Old Man and the Sea -Contemporary style
Ernest Hemingway
64
-1962 -The Grapes of Wrath -Realistic and imaginative writings, keen social perception
John Steinbeck
65
-1976 -Herzog -human understanding and subtle analysis
Saul Bellow
66
-1978 -The Family Mosket -Born in Poland, Polish-Jewish cultural tradition
Isaac Bashevis Singer
67
-1987 -A Part of Speech -Born in Soviet Russia, all-embracing authorship
Joseph Brodsky
68
-1993 -Beloved -visionary force and poetic import
Toni Morrison
69
-2016 -Highway 61 Revisited -musician, poetic expression in American song tradition
Bob Dylan
70
-2020 -Faithful and virtuous night
Louise Gouck

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