Jane Pittman Literary Elements Flashcards
Point of view
Two narrators generally alternate between first and third person. They use first person when describing their perceptions and personal actions. They use third person when describing those around them.
Narrator
Author who collected the autobiography documents the introduction of the book. Miss Jane narrates the remainder of the book in first person.
Tone
The school teacher narrative uses formal english. Jane describes her experiences in southern, Louisiana, dialect
Tense
Past
Setting
From slavery through the 1960s, different parts of Louisiana
Protagonist
Miss Jane Pittman
Themes/sub themes
- The legacy of slavery
- Manhood
- Class differences in race
Despite injustices of the past, it’s important to strive for the future
Man needs to respect nature and try not to control it
Living in fear is worse than death
People bring forth leaders, leaders do not bring forth people
Motifs
Horses, slave narratives , names
Symbols
Ned’s flint, the black stallion, the river
Literary elements
Irony, foreshadowing, dialect, inference, simile, hyperbole
Autobiography
Relating of a persons life by that person
Novel
A fictional prose story, usually lengthy
Oral tradition
Transference of stories, songs, etc. From one generation to another or from one culture to another , easily forgotten, important teller remind listener about important character traits and events
Fiction
Book or story that isn’t true
Nonfiction
Book or short story who is true , frequently applied to resource and textbooks
Irony
A subtle, sometimes humorous perception of inconsistency in which the significance of statement or event is changed by its content
Dramatic irony
Audience knows more about the characters situation than the character does
Structural irony
A naive hero whose view of the world differs from the authors and readers, flatters the readers intelligence at the expense of the hero
Verbal irony
A discrepancy between what is said and what is really meant, sarcasm
Symbol
An object, person, or place that has a meaning in itself and that also stands for something larger than itself (usually a concrete thing that represents an abstraction (idea)
Metaphor
A comparison of two things that are basically dissimilar but are brought together in order to create a sharp image
Foreshadowing
Use of hints or clues in a story to suggest what action is to come, frequently used to create interest and suspense
Theme
The central or dominant idea behind the story
Hyperbole
Exaggeration for emphasis , overstatement
Inference
The act if drawing a conclusion that is not actually stated
Allusion
A reference to a person place poem book event or movie outside the story that the author expects the reader will recognize
Dialect
A distinctive variety of language spoken by members of an identifiable regional group, nation, or social class
Simile
A comparison between two different things using either like or as
Reliable and unreliable narrator
Reliable narrators = we trust , usually third person
Unreliable= don’t trust usually first person
