Author Themes/Style Flashcards
Updike
Themes: people responding to problems, middle class problems, American, murder, religion, sex, parenting Style: light verse, elegant prose, lot of details
Plato
Themes: truth, justice, wisdom, courage, moderation, father-son
Style: philosophical
Orwell
Themes: political satire, violence, leadership/corruption, lies and deceit
Style: dry, direct, unpoetic, pessimistic, dark humor
Shapiro
Themes: love, war, religion, modern sensibility
Style: formal verse, critical, open form in later life
Yevtushenko
Themes: communism, independence, backlash and criticism
Style: artistic freedom, brash, slang, no rhythm
Cervantes
Themes: freedom, captivity, victory
Arnold
Themes: loneliness, confusion, disintegration of those who stay away from nature, faith, and God
Style: critical writing
Hughes
Themes: black life, urban working class, race, music, America, love and dreams
Style: humorous, serious tone, direct, blues, repetition and rhyme scheme
Nash
Style: humorous, witty puns, misspelled words on purpose
Thurber
Themes: anti feminism
Style: humorist, satire, lighthearted, disrespectful
Housman
Themes: pastoral beauty, unrequited love, youth, grief and death, patriotism, loss
Style: jokes hiding pain, autobiographical bitterness, emotional
Pirandello
Themes: naturalism, madness, isolation, illusion
Style: funny, irony, critical, undertone of sensitivity
Robinson
Themes: lone hardships, romance, drama, failure, sadness
Style: blank verse, sonnet, monologue, rondeau
Cortazar
Style: surrealism (surprise), macabre, juxtaposition
Sophocles
Themes: religion, mortality, decisions, fate, wisdom, arrogance, pride, moderation
Style: iambic pentameter, couplets, didn’t always use punctuation
