Authors Flashcards
Occurence at Owl Creek Bridge
Ambrose Bierce
- enlisted in the union army, therefore, has first hand experience of being in the army adding to the authenticity of the realist nature of his work.
- speculated to be one of the first American writers to introduce psychology into his characters
- known for his grim subject matter, cynical or brooding tone and crisp precise language.
- Bierce participates in a realist tradition that helped transform popular conception of war and takes his place among other writers, artists and photographers of the era who did not romanticise war or avoid its horrific nature, portraying shocking details of violence and death. the reality these artists brought to the public forced a new realisation on many Americans, they saw that lives were senselessly sacrificed in the name of an abstract cause.
Melancholy Hussar of the German Legion
Thomas Hardy
- left school at 16 years old to becaome an architect’s apprentice where he gained consciousness of class based oppression and ideas of liberal reform.
- Hardy was forcefully married by his family to a woman in mutual conditions.
The Lady’s Maid’s Bell
Edith Wharton
- Edith Wharton was an upper class American woman who lived through the aristocratic era of the US Gilded Age. while the us gilded age was characterised by technological innovations and social changes the aristocratic age was characterised by growing corruption which may have possibly influenced her husband and thus, her works.
- Wharton had a husband who had erratic behaviour which led her to her divorce. the nature of this erraticness is possibly reflected in Mr. Brympton’s character.
- Wharton’s marriage took a turn for the worst when she moved into a mansion called The Mount in Massachusetts which may have inspired her to write this story which encircles the crumbling marriage of a couple.
Gabriel-Earnest
Saki(Hector Hugh Munro)
- believed to be gay and kept it a secret; perhaps being mysterious in his own life led him to add a sense of mystery in his own stories
- the theme of deception prevailed in his own life
The Doll’s House
Katherine Mansfield
- grew up in a small village of new zealand characterised by provincialism
- her disdain for provincialism and class based discrimination is evident in her writing
- the story is partially contextualised by events in her childhood years making the story autobiographical in ways
- she is a master of storytelling by exploring psychological depth
Warning to the Curious
M.R. James
- had a highly religious upbringing and went on to become a midieval scholar, the influences of which are seen in warning to the curious (paschal moon, the story of the three crowns)
- he often drew upon his work and wrote stories based on historical legends or items
- one of the first to de-center from gothic themes when writing horror stories and instead introduced elements of horror to more ordinary settings
Death in the Woods
Sherwood Anderson
- Sherwood Anderson was a realist/naturalist writer in a modernist era.
- he emphasised form over plot. he stated in his autobiography, A Story Teller’s Story that there had been no plot short stories that lived any life he had known anything about
- wrote in naturalist, colloquial prose and experimented with story forms that emphasised theme, character, tone and setting over actions and events.
The Black Ball
Ralph Ellison
Ralph Ellison’s work is encountered through the lens of the civil rights movement which began shortly after his major work, the invisible man. he focused on the often harrowing African American experience in the southern states between the wars.
The Axe
Penelope Fitzgerald
English novelist and biographer noted for her economical, yet evocative, witty, and intricate works often concerned with the efforts of her characters to cope with their unfortunate life circumstances.
The Plantation
Ovo Adagha
he co-edited a multi-ethnic anthology of short stories in 2009 called, One World which included works of writers such as Jhumpa Lahiri and Henrietta Rose-Innes. this represents his commitment to uplift ethnic literature and his level of solidarity with other people of color.
Haywards Heath
Aminatta Forna
Scottish Writer who often focused her work on themes of memory, history, culture and emotional reactions to conflict. her work is also heavily influenced by her Sierra Leonean heritage.
Paper Menagerie
Ken Liu
Ken Liu is famous in the science fiction and fantasy writing community and he is very in touch with his heritage. he uses translation to offer connection between Chinese fiction and the western world for example, he translated Cixin Liu’s Three Body Problem trilogy which included science fiction tropes in the context of Chinese history and contemporary chinese culture.
Stability
Philip K. Dick
Dick pioneered modern science fiction with stories such as Do Androids Dream of Electronic Sheep which was later made into the movie, Blade Runner. Dick’s central concern is that reality varies from what it is and how it must be understood.
The Tower
Marghanita Laski
Laski is a well known English novelist who portrays her eloquence through simple vocabulary and straight forward structure. She contributed greatly to the development of the Oxford English Dictionary. Her work was often concerned by class and gender barriers and she often wrote for the feminist movements.
it is interesting to note that Laski’s father’s name is Neville which is also the partly antagonistic, overbearing male figure in The Tower.
When It Happens
Margaret Atwood
Atwood was outspoken about political issues particularly those concerning the environment and women.
Atwood lived through the attack on Montreal Stock Exchange and had seen the economic consequences first hand. this experience may have contributed to the backdrop of the story.
