Final!

English 2740 with Emery at Bowling Green State University

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By: ERICKA Welch
Created: 2011-04-29
Size: 38 flashcards
Views: 12

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My Kinsman... - Hawthorne

Guy comes to town to get a job from Major Molineux. Thinks people will think his contact is impressive.
Actually, Molineux is tarred and feathered for being a traitor.
Tries to stay and make it on his own.
themes:

If you're going to get ahead, must do it alone.
America needs to get off GB's tail.

Hawthorne mocks the patriots, likens them to teenagers.
The darkness of the story symbolizes the confusion for america.
Hawthornian: 1 Psychological level, one historical level.

Young Goodman Brown - Hawthorne

Married to Faith. Goes to a witch meeting in the forest, sees his primary religious teacher, Goody Cloise. Sees Faith's pink (half red, half white) ribbons in the tree. Meeting is for his and Faith's initiation. Wakes up alone in to morning, wonders if it was a dream. Lives the rest of his life in suspicion.
Themes:

Everybody is sinful.
Keep faith. Once you doubt, you can't stop.
Historical: The witchcraft trials were a case of doubt gone wild.

The Maypole of Marymount

Shows Edgar and Edith getting married. Pilgrims show up, cut down maypole. The pilgrim minister still goes on with the marriage.
This shows the struggle of the pilgrims and the mortonites.
Hawthorne obviously read Morton and Bradford's accounts.
Very critical of both pilgrims (boring, didn't enjoy life) and the Mortonites (irresponsible).
Psychological meaning: People get serious in marriage.

What was an important feature of Hawthorne's works?

They had both psychological and historical levels.

My Kinsman: Psychologically, it's about how to get ahead, one must do it alone. Historically, it's that America's time of revolution was pretty adolescent.
Young Goodman: Historically, it's about how the witchcraft trials were a case of doubt gone bad. Psychologically, it's about how once you doubt, you cannot stop.
Maypole: Psych, it's about how marriage makes people serious. Hist, it's about the struggle between the pilgrims & the mortonites

The Birthmark - Hawthorne

Physical perfection is linked to death.
Possible criticism of science.
Aylmer is the mind, Aminedab is the body. The separation of these two things is bad.

How is The Scarlet Letter feminist?

Hester is a much stronger character than Dimsdale. She is a strong, faithful woman even though she sinned.
"Hester at Her Needle" describes her psychology, something unheard of.
The depiction of Hester as better off because by showing her sin, she is free.

Compare/Contrast Dimsdale and Hester.

Both did the crime, but only Hester has to pay. This makes her free, while Dimsdale's misterable.
Pearl and the Letter both represent Hester's public penance. Chillingsworth represents Dimsdale's private grief.
Hester is very emotional and linked to nature, she doesn't care about society. Dimsdale cares about society and wishes to conform to its standards, as he is a minister.

The Raven

The raven represents the permanence of grief.
Not necessarily inspired. Calculated the exact words he used.
Written in fear that he will react to his wife's death like this, completely grieving forever.

Annabel Lee

Even though he may have lost his love, their love will never die.

Ligeia

The narrator lost his wife, a dark haired woman he used to read books with. He marries a woman named Rowena with blond hair. He puts her in Ligeia's deathbed to sleep in. She slowly dies, awakens with Ligeia's eyes.
Interpretations:

The power of the will (ligeia's) transcends death.
If you want someone back, you can hallucinate anyone.

The Fall of the House of Usher

The narrator comes to visit his friend, Roderick Usher. Roderick is really nervous. The narrator starts to feel sort of crazy living in the house. They bury Rod's sister alive. The sister comes back, the 2 ushers die. As the narrator rides off, the house collapses.
Could be about how if the logical side of the mind [usher] tries to repress the emotional side [sister] the whole thing collapses.

Motifs in Poe's Works

He is very concerned with rhyme and meter. [the raven being contrived]
He writes frequently about the death of a beloved woman. [for example, ligeia]
He also writes constantly about insanity. A literary psychologist of sorts. [the tell-tale heart's narrator is batshit insane]

Tell-Tale Heart

A sign of craziness is not realizing how crazy you are.
The guilt of killing the man eventually breaks him down.
The eye's gaze symbolizes his feeling that he is already bad.
Pruritans thought everyone was bad. Emerson thought everyone was good. Poe thinks even murderers have consciences.

Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl - Harriet Jacobs

She was happy until age six when her mom died because she didn't know she was a slave. Dr. Flint, her owner, wants ta fuck. She wants a black boy. He won't let her marry him. Gets impregnated by a white guy on purpose to get away from flint. Doesn't work. Hides in a crawlspace for 7 years watching her kids. Goes to the north sold to a white woman to be freed.

Why did people believe Jacobs' writing was fake?

It was very well-written.
She used a fake name.
It was unbelievable, as she hid in a crawl space for 7 years?

How does Jacobs appeal to white women?

By saying that slavery is worse for women than men.

There is a great threat of losing your kids, like she did to hide.
There is a threat of rape, like from her owner.
Slavery makes women do immoral things, like sleeping with Sands.

How does Douglass try to convince readers to support abolition?

He writes intelligently in order to get white people to see that blacks are human.
He appeals to Christian values in the story by showing the conflict between going to church and brutally beating your slave the next day.
He beats misconceptions about slavery, like that masters are nice, like in the parable where the slaves were given holidays and provided alcohol. They were given too much alcohol and had bad hangovers, making them not want freedom.

Narrative of the Life - Douglass

The novel is about a man who was a slave. He was never beaten until he got to Mr. Casey. Here he finally fights him off, gains self-confidence and becomes a man. He essentially says that worse than the beatings are the psychological effects. The novel is very male. Shows that slavery destroys a man's sense of worthfulness.

Uncle Tom's Cabin - Stowe

White writer for abolition.
Good characters re characterized as being christian.
Makes Haley horrible from the beginning to contrast with the good characters.

Stowe makes it seem like those involved with slavey are involved with shady guys like these.

Byrd helping them escape is to show readers that the law is wrong and to follow your heart.
Points out that even kentucky's mild slavery is horrible because it separates families.
Appeals she makes: to christians, to families, slaveowners.

How is Tom a Christ figure?

Dies like Christ in that he forgives his killers.
Sacrifices himself for the two other women.
He is originally very happy and content with his life.

How does Uncle Tom's cabin appeal to feminism?

Mr. Shelby wants to sell the slaves, but his wife listens to her heart and is depicted as smarter for not wanting to sell them.
Men are confused by money and the law. Women know to follow their hearts.
Women at the time were strong readers. Making strong women characters makes women want to agree with the cause.

Moby Dick - Melville

Moby Dick is symbolic of every frustration in life. Also symbolizes god and the absence of god.
Ishmael goes to sea. This is representative of all men who need to go to sea. Going represents asking the hard questions in life. Staying on land is acceptance and ignorance. Melville wants everybody to go to sea, but since it is dangerous, we should all go vicariously.

Ishmael went to sea because he started feeling violent. His violence was assuaged by watching Ahab's violence.

Moby Dick Again! - Melville

Ishmael was saved by Queequeg's coffin. They had a really good relationship, showing that Melville was very racially accepting.
The book is very diverse, making people not want to read it.

Some chapters are narrative, others shakespearian tragedy, others are philosophical essays

The chapter on "whiteness" is to make us afraid of the whale. The white of the whale is the absence of all color.

What are some major points in "Moby Dick?"

Whiteness can be even more frightening than black or red because it is the absence of color and is typically assumed to be pure, making its terror that much scarier.
Moby Dick has a very racially accepting view, as evidenced by the relationship between Queequeg and Ishmael.
The main point is that every man needs to go to sea in some way. Going to sea isn't necessarily literal. You can get your violent tendencies out by reading or watching others. But don't just stay on cowardly land.

What is a theme of Bartleby?

Rebellion is very limiting.

The narrator pressures Bartleby to do things, he is unable to do them afterwards. Even eat.
Edwards on the Will says that people don't have free will because you'd have to be entirely free from pressure, like Bartleby.
Priestly on Necessity is also about free will, saying that rewards wouldn't affect a son b (BartleBY) type figure, but they would a son a figure, like Turkey and Nippers.

Also about Melville writing books that nobody wanted to read, leading to his demise.

The Paradise of Bachelors - Melville

Narrator goes to a bachelor party in New York. There is lots of drinking and eating. The narrator calls it paradise. There are many allusions to theories of bachelordom.
Originally, bachelordom was to improve oneself spiritually and intellectually. Now, it simply leads to overeating.

Tartarus of Maids - Melville

About women working in a factory in terrible conditions, which contrasts with the bachelors in great conditions who own the factories.
Also an allegorical trip through the female reproductive system.

A machine produces paper in 9 months.
The narrator is a seedsman.
Cupid kisses the paper, when it comes out, the paper doesn't have a kiss. This means that there is love in sex, but not after. The man just leaves.
The paper is plain afterwards, meaning babies aren't special.

Benito Cereno - Melville

The spanish ship is really decrepit. The way things are on the ship makes Delano think he can run it right, like the American attitude of manifest destiny.
Delano offers to buy Babo.
The blacks are in charge of the ship, something Delano didn't think possible because he's a racist. Testimonies happen, Babo executed and his head put on a stick.
Shows whites that slavery is bad because it is so violent.

Possible themes of Benito Cereno by Melville?

Slavery produces violent feelings in people (The slaves revolted against the whites, killing them.)
People are too trusting (Delano didn't push any of his concerns)
Everyone is universally violent. (Whites to slaves...)

How does Benito Cereno show that all people are universally violent?

Whites are violent to slaves in slavery.
Slaves are violent to whites, as they revolt and kill them. Also, the boy who hits the white kid on the head with a hatchet.
Women are also violent. Supposedly, the women sang songs to inspire the slaves to kill the spaniards.

How did Emerson inspire Whitman?

Emerson said that good poets are able to lift the readers above reality. Whitman tried to do this.
Emerson said that America is a poem waiting to be written. Whitman wrote "Song of Myself," that describes people, cities, and diversity of America.
Emerson says most poets are too concerned with rhyme and meter. Whitman invented free verse.

Song of Myself - Whitman

He is very sexual in the poem, but he feels that sexualizing something is spiritualizing it.
Whitman believes that what he says is the way everybody feels.
He attacks the distance that we have from other people. Celebrates humanity's diversity.
Feels that body and soul need to respect each other.
Gets off on his own body.
Claims that a city scene gives the same pleasure as nature.

Why does Whitman focus on grass in Song of Myself?

Represents his sunny disposition.
Encourages us to think of who made it, causing us to think of god.
It grows under all feet, transcending racial boundaries.
The uncut hair of graves, something beautiful that grows out of death.

Differences in Emerson/Thoreau and Whitman.

Emerson and Thoreau promote solitude (chapter in nature called "solitude," feels other people distract from life's purpose.) while Whitman wants human connectedness (wants to erase boundaries in people like race and gender).
Thoreau and Emerson distance themselves from their readers, Whitman uses "you" and wants the reader to be close.

What were Whitman's religious beliefs?

Whitman definitely believed in a god and though that religion was important, as evidenced by Song of Myself's musing about grass.
However, he included all religions in himself, including christianity and atheism, and does not rank one above the other.
He felt that people who fret over their duty to god make him sick. It's important to love ourselves and to not make god more important.

What are important things about Dickinson's poetry?

She is transcendental in the fact that she finds spirituality in nature. The birds are her choir.
She uses many conventions that aren't that normal, like dashes and capitalizations of words.
She uses a very specific meter for her poems.

How is Dickinson's poetry different from Whitman's?

Dickinson is very brief, while Whitman's poetry (Song of Myself) can be very, very long and prosaic.
Whitman wrote in free verse and of whatever he was thinking at the time. The careful meter and near rhyme of Dickinson's poetry shows that she was more traditional.
Dickinson wrote for herself, while Whitman was aiming to be the bard of America.

How were Elizabeth Stoddard and Rebecca Harding Davis ahead of their time?

Stoddard's writing was very feminist. She attacks both the way women are passive with her description of Margaret, but also the poor situation women face in her criticism of Aunt Eliza.
Davis is an early environmentalist with her descriptions of the thick clouds caused by the factories and also the Amish settlement Deb went to and found happiness at.
Davis also was very critical of the exploitation of workers, being before the muckrakers. She describes how bosses don't care and how bad Wolf had it

About this deck

By: ERICKA Welch
Created: 2011-04-29
Size: 38 flashcards
Views: 12

About StudyBlue

“Simply amazing. The flash cards are smooth, there are many different types of studying tools, and there is a great search engine. I praise you on the awesomeness.”
Dennis