English Final Topics Flashcards
Pear tree
Metaphor for sex/sexual awakening (bees, flowers blooming) from Johnny Taylor
Nanny & Johnny Taylor
When Nanny finds out about Johnny Taylor (who helped Janie experience sexual awakening) she wants to get rid of him
“De mule uh de world”
Black women are mules of the world, below everyone else in the world
White men > black men > black women
Black men have horrible lives & then come home & take it out on their wives
The rapes
The two generations of rape in Janie’s family
Nanny was raped by the white plantation owner & Janie’s mother was raped by her white schoolteacher
Safety first
Nanny wants Janie to have a good, stable husband to take care of her & give her an easy & comfortable life
Safety before love
Nanny prioritizes Janie’s protection before her desire to marry for love
“Come help me move dis manure pile”
The manure pile is a shit field
He wants Janie to help move it because she is seen as garbage to Logan Killicks
Jody’s dream
Go to Eatonville & put it on the map
Put a post office in it make it an official town
Start a black town
House/field
House slaves had food & shelter
Field slaves were more often beaten & worked harder
House slaves were lighter & field slaves were darker
The street lamp
Indication of what Jody wants to turn Eatonville into
Ordered from Sears
Janie & the mule
Janie could not
Janie’s speech making
Janie was not allowed to make speeches
Jody would not let her
The porch
The setting for the oral culture
Oral culture
Happens on the porch
Like hallway, cafeteria, locker rooms, texting, twitter, etc.
“De change uh life”
Shows up Jody in front of a lot of people at the store
That is what Janie calls Jody in the store
Male menopausal woman
First time she stood up to him
“You gointuh listen tuh me one time befo’ you die”
Unloading it all
Ultimate closure between her & Jody (both cruel & unnecessary)
The kerchief
Janie lets her hair down, metaphor for her freedom
Tight kerchief hair was a metaphor for her life with Jody
No longer in Jody’s control
Jody wants Janie under his thumb
The “starched & ironed” face
Janie’s face at Jody’s funeral
Checkers
Tea Cake teaches Janie how to play checkers
Treats her as an equal (no longer classed off)
Girls used to not go into the muck just stayed & watched the store
Tea cake let her get involved
“Janie, everybody’s talking”
About Janie and Tea Cake (he’s young, below her class, not good enough for her according to people in Eatonville)
She shouldn’t be with tea cake because he is a gold digger and young but Janie does not hear a word they’re saying
Phoebe told Janie everybody was talking about them
$200
Tea Cake took Janie’s money and threw a party but did not tell her & Janie doesn’t want Tea Cake to go out and have fun without her
Tea Cake wins back the money he lost gambling
Janie does not tell tea cake about this but he finds it and throws a party
She is not upset about money she is upset that she wasnt inviited to it - boxed off again
The muck: Garden of Eden
Janie finally gets to be a part of things
Not seen as being too good for anything but when she gets out of the muck she gets to be with everyone & be in the Garden of Eden or Heaven on Earth
“Jody classed me off”
Janie was not allowed to participate in conversations
Jody would say Janie was not allowed to talk to everyone on the porch because thought they were too trashy for her and him
Mrs Turner: the snake
Was the snake that broke up Adam & Eve
Broke them up because she worshiped lightness of skin & did not want Janie to be with Tea Cake (who was dark)
wanted Janie to marry her brother because she thought tea Cake was trash
The flood
Janie can start fresh after the flood
Tea Cake is gone & she ends up in Eatonville happy & independent
The flood wipes out all of the evil of mankind in the Bible
Jim Crow burials
White people in coffins
Black people are just thrown in the ground
“She pulled in her horizon like a great fish net”
She took the horizon in & just let herself be embraced in it
Janie is a dreamer
Afraid she was never going to ge to the horizon
The central metaphor of “Constantly Risking Absurdity”
When walking on the tightrope one can fall and crash and burn
Saying that writing poetry is basically impossible
It is easy to crash and burn and mess up the poem
It is easy to crash and burn and mess up the poem
Theme of “Constantly Risking Absurdity”
When you are trying to reach beauty you have to walk on a tight rope and still do fancy tricks while still on the tight rope
Beauty in “Constantly Risking Absurdity”
Trying to get & catch beauty but it is very hard to get it
You must make your poem beautiful & make sure it has imagery, metaphors, etc.
The little Charley Chaplin man in “Constantly Risking Absurdity”
Little Charley Chaplin man is trying to catch beauty as it is walking on a tight rope but he will not be able to do it
He is ineffectual
Trying to catch beauty
Imagery in “Harlem”
A sore that runs - tactile
Stink like rotten meat - olfactory
Syrupy sweet - gustatory
Maybe it just snags - kinesthetic
The theme in “Harlem”
When you back people into a corner even a little thing can spark a major reaction (explosion)
Imagery in “Meeting at Night”
Two hearts beating - kinesthetic
Sea scented beach - olfactory
Slushy sand - Auditory
Yellow moon - visual
Imagery in “Out Out”
How the saw acted
Personification & the way the saw was portrayed
Allusion in “Out Out”
“Out out damn spot, out out brief candle” from Macbeth
Metaphor in “Out Out”
Life can end at any minute but it does not matter that he died, everyone will just go on with their affairs
Tone in “Out Out”
First sweet & imaginative then becomes horrific & sad
Personification in “Out Out”
The saw
It leapt like an animal
As if it knew what dinner was
Imagery in “The Life Guard”
The moon
Hands turn to stone
Allusion in “The Life Guard”
He wants to be like Jesus
He wants to be a savior but he was unable to save the kid
Walking on water
The central metaphor in “The Road Not Taken”
The road splitting represents a decision you can make
Sometimes it is better to take the road less taken
Ways lead on to way “The Road Not Taken”
One road leading to another
Shows how decisions will affect future decisions
Frost’s own life in “The Road Not Taken”
He had the opportunity to be a farmer but he took the road less taken because he decided to become a poet
Central metaphor in “Africa”
Poem is turning the continent of Africa into a person
Personification in “Africa”
Personification of Africa
Allusions in “Africa”
Slave trade
The central metaphor in “Ex Basketball Player”
He used to have a great life but he does not anymore
Images in “Ex Basketball Player”
He works on pearl street but his life is not like a pearl anymore
He dribbles around with the 5 gas pumps
Irony in “Ex Basketball Player”
Incredibly skilled basketball player becomes a gas pump worker
What Mr. Pirzada had in Pakistan (Bangladesh) vs. what he has in the US
He has a lot less in the US than in Pakistand
Mr. Pirzada “no longer considered Indian” but “Mr. Pirzada & my parents spoke the same language, laughed at the same jokes, looked more or less the same”
They can still relate even though they are from different countries
What Lilia learned in school in When Mr Pirzada Came to Dine
She learns about the American Revolution every year & does not know anything about Indian history
“One can only hope… that Dacca refugees are as heartily fed”
Mr Pirzada feels guilty because he can eat and is safe but in Dacca maybe not
“See children your age, what they do to survive”
References the bad stuff in Dacca