Literature Section 4 Flashcards
Why did Nathaniel Hawthorne change his last name?
To distance himself from an ancestor who took part in the Salem witch trials
What was Hawthorne’s first novel?
Fanshawe
Through what political party did Hawthorne receive a job at the Boston Custom House?
The Democratic Party
Sophia Peabody was ____
The wife of Hawthorne
In what magazine was “Rappaccinis’s Daughter” first published?
United States Magazine
In 1845, the Hawthorne family moved back to ____
Salem
Herman Melville dedicated which famous novel to Hawthorne?
Moby Dick
In what country was Hawthorne named the American consul?
England
In what city was Hawthorne named the American consul? (Hint: It shares a name with a famous futbol team)
Liverpool
On which President did Hawthorne famously write an essay about?
President Abraham Lincoln
Which college did Hawthorne attend is his younger years?
Bowdoin College
With what future President would Hawthorne become friends with in his younger years?
President Franklin Pierce
How did Hawthorne publish his first public sketches?
Anonymously
Who was friends with Nathaniel Hawthorne at Bowdoin College?
Franklin Pierce (future president) and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (soon to be a well-loved American poet)
Hathorne was the editor for what magazine that went bankrupt before he got his first check in 1836?
American Magazine of Useful and Entertaining Knowledge
This book was published in 1837 under Hawthorne’s own name?
Twice Told Tales
Hawthorne is best known for his?
stories for children
What is Brook Farm?
a communitarian effort to rethink a balance between physical and mental labor
Hawthorne resigned his position at the Boston Custom House to be a member and investor of what?
Brook Farm
Who rented the Old Manse home in Concord, Massachusetts to Hawthorne and his wife?
Ralph Waldo Emerson
Following the election of _______, the Whig candidate for Preseident in 1848, Hawthorne lost his political appointment at the ______________
Zachary Taylor, Salem Custom House
Why did Nathaniel Hawthorne write The Scarlett Letter?
to compensate for the bitter loss of salary and his job after he lost his political position at the Salem Custom House
What is the new edition to Twice Told Tales both written by Hawthorne?
The House of Seven Gables
Hawthorne wrote a campaign biography of what former friend and the 14th President of America?
Franklin Pierce
Hawthorne published what as war loomed in the 1860s’?
The Marble Faun
What event started the Civil War?
Confederate attack on Fort Sumpter, South Carolina on April 1, 1861
True or False? Hawthorne was an abolitionist
False, he was neutral
In what magazine was “Chiefly about War-Matters” published?
The Atlantic Monthly
What was “Chiefly about War-Matters” about?
the conflict [American Civil War] and President Abraham Lincoln
Who did Hawthorne take a trip with to Plymouth, New Hampshire despite being sick?
Franklin Pierce
How does Hawthorne introduce himself at the beginning of “Rappaccini’s Daughter”?
as M. del I’Aubepine (French for Hawthorne)
“Rappaccini’s Daughter” is originally titled what before it is translated to English by M. del I’Aubepine?
“Beatrice: ou la Belle Empoisonneuse”
The sly opening at the beginning of “Rapacinni’s Daughter” with the biography appeals to what?
Ethos because it allows him to establish reliability
The beginning of “Rappacinni’s Daughter” and what other story by Hawthorne are similar because they both use the same technique?
The Scarlett Letter
The Italian doctor named Giacomo Rappacinni uses what as a technology? What is his lab?
botany as a technology/tool to transform nature into poison and medical potions. his garden is his lab
Beatrice in ‘Rappacinni’s Daughter” refers to one of the plants as her?
sister
What characteristic of Rappacinni that Giovanni takes to be a sign of illness foreshadows Rappacinni’s degenerate soul?
his shaky voice
What does the descriptive details of Beatrice’s beauty point to?
the fact she will turn out to be more than human and her vitality is kept under her father’s control
Hawthorne references what literary works in “Rappacinni’s Daughter”? What is their purpose?
Dante’s Divine Comedy and the Bible; they signal that his story is going to test the reader’s gullibility
Four characteristics used to describe the plants that grow in Rappacinni’s garden
Gem-like, serpentine, beautiful, and deadly
The purple flower in Rappacinni’s garden symbolizes?
how humanity’s interventions in nature can have unintended consequences
Who is Signor Pietro Baglioni?
a professor of medicine at the university
Who is the first woman to achieve the rank and salary of a full professor in the United States?
Harriet Cooke at the University of Cornell
What is another caution in “Rappacinni’s Daughter” besides “man’s untoward interference in nature”?
how true goodness is not corruptible
How is Beatrice an example of true goodness is not corruptible?
her physical form is poisonous but her essential purity is without blemish
Whose point of view is “Rappacinni’s Daughter” told from?
Giovanni’s
How did each of three men in “Rappacinni’s Daughter” use Beatrice?
Baglioni as a means to show up his rival, Giovanni emotionally, and Rappacinni experimentally
In what state was Bierce born?
Ohio
When the Civil War began, Bierce enlisted in the ______
Union Army
What condition did Bierce have that affected him throughout his life?
Asthma
To which city did Bierce go after the Civil War ended?
San Francisco
On what holiday did Bierce marry his wife?
Christmas
When Bierce moved countries, which one did he go to?
United Kingdom
What aspect of England worsened Bierce’s asthma?
The weather
Name one of Bierce’s famous friends
Mark Twain(real name is Samual Clemens)/Bret Hart/Joaquin Miller
What is Bierce’s most acclaimed work?
The Devil’s Dictionary
Which famous Mexican general did Bierce join?
Pancho Villa
What are the circumstances of Bierce’s death?
They are unknown
For what reason did Bierce divorce his wife?
Concerns of unfaithfullness/illicit love letters
In what year was “Moxon’s Master” first released?
1899
What battles did Ambrose Bierce take part in during the Civil War?
battles of Shilo and Chickamauga and Sherman’s March to the Sea
What regiments of the Union Army did Ambrose serve in during the Civil War?
Ninth Indiana Infantry Regiment and Buell’s Army of the Ohio
Who did Ambrose marry?
Mary Ellen “Molly” Day
When Bierce moved to England in 1872, he wrote for what?
Fun and Figaro magazines
What was Amrose’s nickname when he wrote for Fun and Figaro magazines?
“Bitter Bierce” because of his biting satire “
What are Bierce’s first three books published in England?
Nuggets and Dust Panned Out (1872), The Fiend’s Delight (1873), Cobwebs from an Empty Skull (1874)
Why did Bierce move back to San Francisco from England? What did he now write for when he was back in San Francisco?
the weather of New England worsened his asthma, he then wrote for William Randolph Hearst’s San Francisco Examiner
What were the fourth and fifth volumes of poetry in Collected Works?
Black Beetles in Amber (1892) and Shapes of Clay (1903)
What is Bierce’s best-known short story?
the Civil War tale “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge”
From what point of view is “Moxon’s Master” written in?
first person
How is the character Moxon presented in Bierce’s story?
a brilliant inventor
The character Moxon can be compared what two other characters from other science fiction novels?
Signor Rappaccini from Hawthorne’s “Rappaccini’s Daughter” and Shelly’s Dr. Frankenstein
Who is the narrator?
he remains unnamed
What is the conversation in “Moxon’s Daughter” about?
whether machines can think and are sentient
What is the narrator’s and Moxon’s side in the debate if machines can think?
Moxon believes they can while the narrator disagrees
Describe the example with the plant in which Moxon uses as evidence to support that machines do have a mind
Moxon planted a climbing vine and a stake a bit away; the vine began to grow in the direction of the stake before and after the stake was moved farther away in which the vine would move its angle and direction of growth to reach the stake. Eventually the vine “gives up” on reaching the stake as Mxon continues to move it so it attaches itself to a tree
Who is Haley in “Moxon’s Master”?
a skilled metalworker that helps Moxon; allowed to go in Moxon’s machine shop
Moxon and Haley’s relationship is an echo of what other Hathorne’s characters?
The scientist Alymer nad his servant in “The Birthmark”
How does Moxon return after going into his machine shop to check out the thumping noise?
cuts on his face as if someone used nails to claw at home
What does Bierce imply that Moxon might be keeping in his machine shop after Moxon returns with cuts on his face?
an agitated woman as his prisoner
What does the narrator say to counter Moxon using Herbert Spencer’s definition of life as evidence?
it does not give an explanation of the cause of life
According to Moxon, how are consciousness and rhythm related?
Consciousness is the creature of Rhythm
What does Moxon admit to building?
a thinking machine that can get bored if not properly occupied
Why does the narrator leave Moxon’s house?
he thinks Moxon is a liar
What does the narrator do as he walks home?
reflects on what Moxon said and begins to understand his philosophy
After the narrator finally understands Moxon’s philosophy, he views Moxon as?
“my master and guide”
What does the narrator see when he returns to Moxon’s house and finds the machine shop door open?
Moxon playing chess with a strange man in the room with only one candle as light
Who is the stranger that is playing chess with Moxon?
a machine that is an automaton chessplayer
How does the machine react to Moxon beating it in chess?
it seizes Moxon by the neck causing them both to struggle and the light to go out in the process, Moxon ends up dead
What prevents the narrator from helping Moxon as he is attacked?
a blinding light that illuminates the scene
What is the machine’s expression after he killed Moxon?
one of satisfaction as if he just resolved a difficult problem
What is the implication of the scene of Moxon’s death?
that the machine had become conscious of and angered by Moxon’s manipulation of its circumstances— it wanted out from Moxon’s domination
Based on the ending, how can we describe the narrator and why?
unreliable because he doubts his own story leaving the reader to wonder (what if Haley set the fire or he is the machine?)
Why is Moxon punished?
for his lack of foresight as he does not recognize the power he’s constructed
What did the fragrance from the shrub beside the fountain smelled like?
Beatrice’s breath
What argument did Beatrice give Giovanni for catching his hand and drawing it back before he could touch the shrub?
“Touch it not!” exclaimed she, in a voice of agony. “Not for thy life! It is fatal!”
How does the story “Rappaccini’s Daughter begin?
How does the story “Rappaccini’s Daughter begin?
In what language is M. de I’Aubepine written in (translation for Hawthorn)?
French
What is the French translation of “Rappaccini’s Daughter”?
“Beatrice: ou la Belle Empoisonneuse”
Where is the story located?
Padua
What is the “technology” in “Rappaccini’s Daughter”?
Botany
What can be seen from Giovanni’s window?
Rappaccinis garden
How does Beatrice call the shrub?
Sister
True or false. Rappaccini’s means are revealed.
False
Who was the first women to achieve the rank and salary of a full professor in the United States?
Harriet Cooke at Cornell University
In what year did the first women in the United States achieve the rank and salary of a full professor?
In 1871
Who does Giovanni bribe to reveal him a hidden path into Rappaccini’s garden?
The housekeeper
What was the vase containing the “cure” made of?
Silver
Who gave the silver vase to Giovanni?
Baglioni
When was Ray Bradbury born?
August 22, 1920
Where was Ray Bradbury born?
Waukegan, Illinois
Who were Ray Bradbury parents?
Leonard Spaulding Bradbury and Esther Bradbury
Who was Ray Bradbury descendant of?
Mary Bradbury
True or False. Mary Bradbury was exonerated a while after her witch trial.
True
During what years did the Bradbury family moved back and forth between Illinois and Tucson, Arizona?
1920s and 1930s
In what year did the Bradbury family finally settled in Los Angeles?
In 1934
How old was Bradbury when he joined the Los Angeles Science Fiction Society?
He was 16
Who became a mentor to Bradbury?
Bob Olsen
What did Bradbury sell after graduating high school?
Newspaper
Who did Bradbury married in 1947?
Marguerite McClure
When was Susan (Bradbury’s daughter) born?
1949
When was Ramona (Bradbury’s daughter) born?
1951
When was Bettina (Bradbury’s daughter) born?
1955
When was Alexandra (Bradbury’s daughter) born?
1958
In what year was the dystopian novel Fahrenheit 451 came out?
In 1953
What did Bradbury’s animated film Icarus Montgolfier Wright received?
An Academy Award nomination
Who was the director of the black and white film version of Herman Melville’s novel Moby Dick (1956)?
John Huston
When was Ray Bradbury given a star on the Hollywood Walk of fame?
In 2002
What was the first episode of Twilight Zone?
“I Sing the Body Electric”(1959)
Where was Octavia E. Butler born?
Pasadena, California
Who are Octavia Butler’s parents?
Laurice and Octavia M. Butler
As a child what disability did Octavia E. Butler suffer from?
Dyslexia
What college did Octavia E. Butler attend?
Pasadena City College graduating in 1968
After she graduating college what other universities did Octavia continue to take classes at to improve her craft?
California State University and UCLA
What science fiction writer did Octavia E. Butler take classes with at the Screen Writers’ Guild Open Door Program?
Harlan Ellison
Harlan Ellison encouraged Octavia E. Butler to apply for what?
the Clarion Science Fiction Writer’s Workshop
True or False? Octavia E. Butler found immediate success when it came to publishing
False
What was Octavia E. Butler’s first novel?
Patternmaster (1976)
Patternmaster became the first book of what trilogy?
Patternist
What book by Octavia E. Butler was made into a TV miniseries in 2022 and is a major publication often taught in high school and college?
Kindred (1979)
What three novels were first published as the Xenogenesis trilogy that later had its name changed to Lilith’s Brood (2000)?
Dawn (1987), Adulthood Rites (1988), and Imago (1989)
Octavia E. Butler remains the only science fiction writer to receive what grant?
a MacArthur Genius Grant
Name the awards Octavia E. Butler has won
Nebula and Hugo Awards, a PEN Lifetime Achievement Award, and the City College of New York’s Langston Hughes Medal
How did Octavia E. Butler die?
from a fall caused by a stroke
In “Childfinder” what is the psi?
telepathy
The houses in the setting of “Childfinder” are in a straggly road that’s called?
a court
What does Octavia E. Butler suggest at the beginning of “Childfinder”?
“Psi could have put the human race on the road to Utopia”
Who is the protagonist of ‘Childfinder”?
Barbara
Who is the antagonist of “Childfinder”?
Eve/the organization
How is Valerie described?
as a pretelepath, neighbor to Barbara, and a smart individual who is also African American
What is Barbara’s gift?
she is an adult telepath who can discover and then mentor children
with such psionic or telepathic powers.
What could happen to the children if they are not mentored?
Without being mentored, these children will either perish or lose their extraordinary ability to communicate mentally.
What is the “technology? in Childfinder?
telepathy as a means of communication is in and of itself a technology.
What is language the key to?
As a technology, language is the key to all other types of technologies.
How does the story Childfinder begin?
With a history text
What does the history text in Childfinder called?
Psi: The history of a Vanished People
Why did Barbara left the organization?
The childfinder, Barbara, had been working for an institution simply called the organization, but she has left it because of practices of discrimination inside the group that made it impossible for her to mentor children of color.
True or false. The organization is racist.
True
What did Barbara do to pre-psionic white telepaths?
She has been deliberately crippling the psionic abilities of the pre-psionic white telepaths who could, in time, become what she is, a psionic childfinder.
Why does Eve come to see Barbara?
The organization comes after Barbara, sending to her home a white woman whom Barbara evidently knows well, a woman named Eve.
What does Eve suspect Barbara of doing?
Eve challenges Barbara by saying, “so the others are right. You’re forming an opposing organization.”
How old is Jordan from Childfinder?
17 years old
How old is Jessie Mae from Childfinder?
15 years old
Who saves Barbara from the organization thugs?
Just as Barbara is about to capitulate and go along quietly with her captors, one of her mentored children, Jordan, disables the organization squad, knocking
all four of them unconscious.
What do Jordan and Jessie fear is going to happen to Barbara?
Fearful that Barbara is going to be killed by the organization, the children argue back, telling her they need her to survive.
When did Ambrose Berce move her family to England?
1872
where were Ambrose’s first three books published
In England
What were the titles of Ambrose’s first three books?
Nuggets and Dust Panned Out in California, The Friend’s Delight, Cobwebs from an Empty Skull
Who did Ambrose write for in San Francisco
San Francisco Examiner
what is the Rappaccini’s Daughters message
humankind must be careful when dealing with nature
How does Baglioni exlpain at the end of the story?
mixture of horror and triumph
How did Giovanni use Beatrice?
emotionally
How does Beatrice’s father use her?
experimentally
How does Baglioni use Beatrice?
a means to show up his rival
How does Giovanni meet Beatrice?
by bribing Baglioni’s housekeeper to show him a hidden passage
True or False Baglioni believes Beatrice can be saved?
True
What does Baglioni believe Beatrice can be?
A professor
Why does Baglioni believe Beatrice can be a professor?
because Rappaccini educated her so well
Who wrote Giovanni’s letter of recommendation?
his father
What description takes the story from scientific into symbolic realms
Hawthorne’s description of the garden
who narrates the story I sing the Body Electric
Tom
What does the story recount?
the advent of the first android robot grandmother
What is grandmas name?
Nefertiti
Who makes Grandma?
Fantocinni Ltd
Who wrote the poem that the story I sing the Body Electric takes its name from?
Walt Whitman
