Midterm Flashcards

Question

“As he smoked, his legs stretched out in front of him, he noticed a grasshopper walk along the ground and up onto his woolen sock. The grasshopper was black. As he had walked along the road, climbing, he had started many grasshoppers from the dust. They were all black.”

Answer 1

Ernest Hemingway The grasshoppers were affected by the aftermath of the war as well; they were covered in soot from the fires and destruction. Correlates with Nick's PTSD and his emotional turmoil after the war ends.

Answer 2

Hart Crane Trying to capture the fast life speeding by Can allude to 21st century social media We’re cut off from other people because of it

Answer 3

Hart Crane He enjoys the view of New York City when he suddenly sees, in the distance, the silhouette of a man getting ready to jump off the bridge

Answer 4

Ernest Hemingway Not ready to start his life Writing would only bring back memories, which he is trying to escape from

Answer 5

Ernest Hemingway He has finally found his home being in that little tent, out in nature, connecting with his life the way he has wanted to this whole time. He finally finds peace.

Answer 6

Hart Crane

Answer 7

Hart Crane

Answer 8

Langston Hughes Slavery and oppression is still going on in America. Shows that only colored people go through these experiences, not white people, and points out the wrongness of it all

Answer 9

Langston Hughes

Answer 10

Langston Hughes This line breaks up the rhythm of the poem, going from a musical rhythm to a traditional poem.

Answer 11

Langston Hughes

Answer 12

Langston Hughes

Answer 13

Langston Hughes

Answer 14

Langston Hughes

Answer 15

Langston Hughes

Answer 16

Langston Hughes

Answer 17

Muriel Rukeyser

Answer 18

Muriel Rukeyser

Answer 19

Muriel Rukeyser

Answer 20

Muriel Rukeyser

Answer 21

Muriel Rukeyser

Answer 22

T.S. Eliot

Answer 23

T.S. Eliot

Answer 24

T.S. Eliot

Answer 25

T.S. Eliot

Answer 26

T.S. Eliot

Answer 27

William Faulkner Benjy has an objective perspective and gives the narration through unfiltered views. He has a mental disability, which makes his family embarrassed of him, and they try to shun him for it as well. Faulkner appears to be trying to show his mental disability without being too straightforward and unrealistic.

Answer 28

William Faulkner Benjy and T.P., his caretaker, have been left outside of Caddy's wedding.

Answer 29

This is a term coined by T.S. Eliot. He defines it in his essay “Ulysses, Order, and Myth,” explaining that the mythical method looks back to the past to find meaning for what we lack in the present. By using the mythical method, readers interpret the meaning of his poetry by looking at both elements of the past that are intermingled with elements of the present: i.e., “The Burial of the Dead.”

Answer 30

This term was coined by Hart Crane in a letter he wrote to Harriet Monroe. He states that he is more interested in connotations of poetic words than literal significations that could potentially limit the subject matter within the poem.

Answer 31

This literary element appears in William Faulkner’s The Sound and the Fury. It is the unbroken flow of thoughts and perceptions in the conscious mind. In fiction, it is a mode of narration that attempts to represent the complete and continuous flow of a character’s mental processes, including memories, perceptions, half-conscious thoughts, and feelings. We see this in both Benjy’s and Quentin’s chapters.

Answer 32

This is a line taken from Muriel Rukeyser’s "Poem out of Childhood". Michael Davidson, another writer, states that this line explains “the salon culture of the 1920’s and 1930’s activism inaugurated by the Sacco-Vanzetti trial.”

Answer 33

This term is associated with William Faulkner and his novel The Sound and the Fury. Michael Bibler defines southern exceptionalism as “the fantasy that the South is historically and culturally unique in the nation,” in which “paternalistic honor, good food, storytelling, and musical talent” lies.

Answer 34

This is a character in William Faulkner’s The Sound and the Fury. Faulkner describes her as “doomed and knew it; accepted the doom without either seeking it or feeling it.” She is the most important character of the story, as each chapter revolves around her specifically; her family had abandoned her for losing her virginity at a young age and rebelling against the lifestyle they tried to enforce upon her.

Answer 35

Associated with Ernest Hemingway. It contained rules that Hemingway once credited as “best rules I ever learned for the business of writing.” Among these rules were 1. Use short sentences, 2. Use short first paragraphs, 3. Use vigorous English, 4. Be positive, not negative, and 5. Never use slang.

Answer 36

The poet associated with this term is T.S. Eliot. It explains the correlation between poem/work of art and references that create a particular emotion or illusion. In T.S. Eliot’s poetry, the objects, references, etc. depicted give off the sense of nostalgia. For example, in his poem “The Burial of the Dead,” the narrator, Marie, thinks back to her early childhood days where she had more freedom.

Answer 37

This is derived from Langston Hughes’ “The Negro Artist and the Racial Mountain.” In his essay, he describes a black gentleman who tells him he wants to be a poet, but not a “Negro poet.” Hughes urges us to embrace our race and be unafraid of pursuing our dreams, and argues that it is important for us to not think about artistic production in terms of race. The mountain is described as “this urge within the race toward whiteness” and “the desire to pour racial individuality into the mold of American standardization.”

Answer 38

Jim Trueblood is a character from Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man. We learn that Trueblood impregnated his own daughter. He represents a bad stereotype of black people, which fascinates Mr. Norton, who later gives him money for telling his story about how he raped his daughter. It is suggested that his representation makes Mr. Norton feel superior over him and other black people, simply because of the stereotype he exhibits.

Answer 39

Her underwear gets dirty, a symbol for her losing her virginity a few years later. Her family shuns her for her sexuality, afraid of how her image would make them appear. She is also being rebellious, not caring about what her parents would say to her for climbing that tree; perhaps she was starting to realize that she doesn't want to abide by her family's rules. While the boys want to climb that tree as well but are afraid to, Caddy takes the leap anyway.

Answer 40

Quentin Compson (The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner). The watch's ticking seems to be counting closer to his eventual death (he commits suicide). Quentin is upset that Caddy has lost her virginity, mainly because HE hasn't lost his own. The ironic part is that his father's advice about victory and hopelessness drives him to suicide.

Answer 41

Quentin Compson (The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner). Galahad is the man who married Caddy, but is not the same person who impregnated her (Dalton Ames is the guy who impregnated her). Herbert picks up on the fact that Quentin thinks of himself as Caddy's knight.

Answer 42

William Faulkner Quentin tries to save a little Italian girl who has been lost. At one point, he remembers slapping Caddy after finding out she has had sex, and then he tries to outrun the little girl, only to find her there waiting for him. Could be symbolic for his not being able to escape his virginity.

Answer 43

Mud represents sexuality. Caddy's underwear gets muddy, and Quentin smears mud on her out of jealousy, rolling in it to get some mud on himself so it could symbolize that he's had sex as well.

Answer 44

William Faulkner Quentin warns Caddy he'll tell their family they committed incest. In his eyes, that is his way of "protecting and saving her."

Answer 45

William Faulkner

Answer 46

Jason forces Caddy to give him money, forces his mother to burning the checks that Caddy sends her, and tricks Quentin (Caddy's daughter) into signing a money order by making her believe it only has ten dollars, so he can keep the money for himself.

Answer 47

William Faulkner “Kings or presidents”: Jason is saying that if his family were of higher power (or came from kings and presidents), they would be even crazier Goes back and forth between class: while he resents not having a better job, he also prides himself in being from a lower class He feels the world never gave him what he “deserves” (which makes him vindictive) He wants to strike out on his own, but he isn’t capable of doing that

Answer 48

William Faulkner He convinces himself he just wants to “preserve” his family’s reputation While he says he cannot do anything about Miss Quentin because her promiscuity is in her blood, he doesn’t let her go Wants to put her in a box, have her be the ideal person that his family wants, like they tried to do with Caddy Uses his family name as an excuse to exercise control and power over Miss Quentin

Answer 49

In his last paragraph, Jason continues being vindictive and vows to get his money back Jason asserts that he is on his own even while evidencing his need for tradition. His reference to “his n****rs,” to his mother as a lady of quality, his treatment of his Bascomb uncle and everyone with whom he comes in contact… all suggest Jason’s conception of himself as an aristocrat…. Moreover, what Jason vocally repudiates is any personal need for traditional ties, but not the ties themselves. Ironically even his repudiation of the need is self-deceptive… He hates the South, his family, and tradition a good deal less than he thinks… Unlike his older brother Quentin, who searches for meaning in the tradition, Jason reveals a desperate struggle for a place in the tradition.

Answer 50

There is a definite contrast between the way the preacher is described and his sermon. He is described as frail and funny-looking, while his sermon is described as strong and passionate. He talks about seeing the blood of the Lamb and also talks about Jesus and his resurrection.

Answer 51

Dilsey (William Faulkner's The Sound and the Fury). She seems to suggest that there is hope for the Compson family to start over anew, much like Jesus and his resurrection

Answer 52

She is described as looking more frail and aged, but wears striking clothing (purple) that suggests power and royalty. While she has become older, she has definitely become wiser, and is also the leading character in the Compson family (she knows many of the family's secrets).

Answer 53

Represents racism. It's a caricature of a black man with crude lines and depicts bigotry. It also represents the Brotherhood, because they are the ones "controlling the doll," pulling the strings and controlling everything.

Answer 54

Because they didn't approve of the way he portrayed them in his poetry.

Answer 55

The structure is rhythmic, like a song. The overall theme of it focuses on people as a collective, talks about broke people buying clothes from others. It gives the chronological facts about what's happening.

Answer 56

Talks about the low-down jobs. The narrator talks about maintaining a job to support his family, while also having some fun/entertaining of his own. He collects as many spittoons as he can to offer them up to the Lord. The speaker is not necessarily saying he’s depressed; he’s actually happy. Hughes doesn’t seem to want to portray African Americans in a negative light, in poor conditions, like the middle classes and high classes thought he was; he wanted to shed some positivity on them

Answer 57

There's a mystery surrounding the poem: who is that woman? Why is she in the church at midnight? Hughes seems to be showing a hope for African Americans to be freed from slavery and oppression. "De-dawn's a-coming" means that freedom is coming their way.

Answer 58

The speaker prays for guidance, for he doesn't know where to go. Suggests that the speaker is actually Jesus Christ; he may be praying to God his Father and is about to die for everyone's sins.

Answer 59

The speaker says she doesn't want to be left alone when she is old, just like the deceased she is visiting at the graveyard. She has a fear of loneliness and mortality.

Answer 60

The overall theme of the poem talks about the history of slavery. Irony: - Statement of pride of this river is contrasting the slavery and oppression that ran rampant during that year - Lincoln traveled down the Mississippi river and was horrified to see hundreds of bodies floating along the water

Answer 61

In this poem, which differs greatly from "The Negro Speaks of Rivers" by actually giving us the facts straightforwardly without beating around the bush, shows that slavery is still going on in America. But despite the turmoil African Americans have gone through, it also shows that they still have strength and character.

Answer 62

``` She’s leaving New York City and heading towards West Virginia, pointing out the elite spas and other locations Class distinction (high class) ``` ``` Trying to raise questions that is hidden underneath the surface There is a sense of eliteness and high class in the town, but also suspects something dark lurking there and wants her readers to investigate (“You should want to know what is happening in your country”) Encourages her readers to get out of the city and figure out what is occurring around them ``` Uses pathos to persuade readers to place themselves in her shoes as well (empathy)

Answer 63

Acknowledges the harsh history that has occurred there in West Virginia She says that we are the ones who are alive now, so are we going to listen to what the dead is trying to tell us? Argues that they want justice Encourages her readers to get involved “Just because all of this happened in the past, doesn’t mean we’re not connected to it,” she argues Trying to make us aware of that history

Answer 64

Focusing on a weird blend of the town, between static and movement Mix of activity in the town and stillness Negro standing there, watching, still Photograph of boy running Town looks nice and peaceful on the outside, but is actually suffering on the inside Coughing man: disease/illness in progress Inhaling particles of glass is killing the townspeople Includes subtle effects that show that the town is suffering Poet wants to point out the seriousness of the situation Argues that we shouldn’t pretend that nothing is going on Wants us to be more aware of everything that is happening

Answer 65

Mother gives a testament in the trial to talk about the silica situation that killed her three sons “Born a second time” Starting over “He shall not be diminished, never / I shall give my mouth to my son” The mother says she is speaking for him Theme: Loss, grief, testimony, trial

Answer 66

A lot of the miners who were killed were African American Poet wanted to point out the African American voices that were a part of this disaster Wants us to be aware of them as well “… With a white man, nobody could have told which man was white / The dust had covered us both, and the dust was white.” Everyone is equal in death The silica disease does not distinguish between black and white; it kills everybody

Answer 67

“Stand alone” If you’ve been with me throughout the whole poem, here is what we need to do to prevent this from occurring again in the future Take political action; gives us advice Keep extending your voice and that’s how we’ll help those who are affected by these things If we keep silent, we’re just as bad as those who hurt people

Answer 68

Describes a contrast between the higher class and the dark occurrences happening within their household. There is sexual violence between the married couple, and a lack of communication. When the setting switches to the bar, the narrator and her friends are talking, and one of her friends tells her that if she doesn't fix up her appearance, her husband will leave her. It is suggested that the narrator had an abortion.

Answer 69

The poem is told through the narration of a man who has sex with a woman. However, the woman appears bored or disinterested in the sex, suggesting that he had raped her.

Answer 70

The person that is being focused on in this poem is drowning, and is also terrified of the water. Message of mortality: speaker tells us to think about our own mortality and about our own values.

Answer 71

High: - Subconsciously trying to be as white as possible - Separate themselves from black people Middle: - Strive to be like white people - Deny their race - Look down upon people who are not white Lower: - Embrace their race and are proud of being themselves - Not worried about what others think - Celebrate who they are and express themselves in ways they are comfortable with

Answer 72

True. White people are more likely to ignore, while black people are more likely to avoid.

Answer 73

He acted as a sort of messenger for the invisible man, sacrificing his own life to show the narrator that the Brotherhood was betraying both him and Clifton. Unfortunately, the narrator doesn't understand this until much later in the novel.

Answer 74

The narrator finds his own true form when he's making speeches. Unfortunately, the Brotherhood tries to take these speeches away from him repeatedly.

Answer 75

Exhorter: racist, makes powerful speeches Destroyer: creates destruction in Harlem

Answer 76

The narrator dons sunglasses and a hat, and is immediately mistaken for Rinehart, a preacher who is apparently quite friendly with the townspeople. He realizes that Rineheart has multiple forms that fit well with his identity, which makes him wonder if finding only one true form is actually necessary.

Answer 77

Ralph Ellison

Answer 78

Ralph Ellison

Midterm Flashcards

(103 cards)