midterm Flashcards
imagery
evokes as a kind mental image any of the five senses
word choice/diction
refers to the author’s specific words, imagery, and figurative language to communicate that tone
syntax/grammar
word order, tense, subject-verb agreement and even sentence length
figurative language
the use of words in a way that deviates from the conventional order and meaning in order to convey a complicated meaning, colorful writing, clarity, or evocative comparison
form
the name of the text type that the writer uses
irony
a situation where there is a contrast between reality and expectations
diction
the selection of words an author uses to create a specific impact or tone in their writing
tone
the mood implied by an author’s word choice and the way that the text can make a reader feel
tragic hero
-Protagonist of a tragedy
-Despite their virtuous and sympathetic traits and ambitions, they ultimately meet defeat, suffering, or even an untimely end
catharsis
The process of releasing, and thereby providing relief from, strong or repressed emotions
hamartia
A fatal flaw leading to the downfall of a tragic hero or heroine
hubris
Excessive pride or self-confidence
aristocracy
-Highest and most privileged class
-Traditionally, wealth and lands were acquired by inheritance on the grounds of lineage and divine right, rather than any skill or qualification
bourgeoisie
-Class of people who control most economic and human resources
-After collapse of feudalism, this class expanded with the advent of cash economics, streamlined production methods, and industrialization
-Wealth has been expanded through capitalist mechanisms and concentrated through inheritance
proletariat
-Working class
-Largest group which has no lasting capital to benefit from
-Survives only by trading bodily labor for wages, the fruits of which directly benefit the Bourgeoisie
ideology
Set of ideas that assume the economic status quo is “natural,” which is reinforced and transmitted through all cultural products
base
Real-world economic means of production
superstructure
Social, political, and cultural institutions in a society
hegemony
Total network of systems and institutions that maintains the dominant ideology and make it appear unchallengeable
conspicuous consumption
Consuming for the sake of consuming to establish one’s class status (ex: Status symbols, “keeping up with the Joneses”); one of the principal mechanisms of maintaining the class structure
interpellation
Ways in which the dominant class manipulates those below it into accepting its ideology
interpellation
Ways in which the dominant class manipulates those below it into accepting its ideology
class consciousness
Set of beliefs that persons hold regarding their social class or economic rank in society
aristotelian poetics
Earliest surviving work of Greek dramatic theory and the first extant philosophical treatise to focus on literary theory.
marxist materialism
-Focused on the physical, organic, and temporal characteristics of humans and their societies
-These characteristics are used by Marx to call into question the notion that capitalism is a social arrangement that is a timeless natural state of affairs for humans.
psychoanalysis
-Type of treatment based on the theory that our present is shaped by our past
-Focuses on identifying and releasing unconscious, repressed feelings, thoughts, memories, and desires that are negatively impacting your life
-Not only a theory of the human mind, but a practice for curing those who are considered mentally ill or disturbed
paranoia
-Refers to a more or less systemized state of delusion, under which Freud includes not only delusions of persecution but delusional jealousy and delusions of grandeur
-The root of such paranoia he locates in an unconscious defense against homosexuality: the mind denies this desire by converting the love-object into a rival or persecutor, systematically reorganizing and reinterpreting reality to confirm this suspicion
psychosexual theory
Individuals progress through five sexual stages. Conflicts at each stage can have lasting impacts on personality and behavior
id
-unconscious desire
-Schizophrenia involves a detachment from reality and a turning in on the self, with an excessive but loosely systematized production of fantasies: it is as though the ‘id’, or unconscious desire, has surged up and flooded the conscious mind with its illogicality, riddling associations and affective rather than conceptual links between ideas.
eros
Sexual energy, is the force which builds up history, but it is locked in tragic contradiction with Thanatos or the death drive
Who falls in love with Emily in ‘Knight’s Tale’?
arcite and palamon
Where do Palamon and Arcite first see Emily?(Knight’s Tale)
in prison after Theseus put them after defeating Creon
Why are the women weeping when Theseus finds them at the beginning(Knight’s Tale)?
Creon killed their husbands and they cannot retrieve their husbands bodies
Who is Emily in ‘Knight’s Tale’?(Knight’s Tale)
niece of King Theseus
What happens to Arcite after he gains his freedom?(Knight’s Tale)
banished from Athens
Why does Arcite return to Athens?(Knight’s Tale)
can’t bear to live away from Emily
How does Palamon escape from prison?(Knight’s Tale)
breaks out
Where do Arcite and Palamon meet after Palamon’s escape?(Knight’s Tale)
in a forest grove
What does Theseus do when he discovers Arcite and Palamon fighting?(Knight’s Tale)
He puts an end to their fight and organizes a contest
To whom does Arcite pray for victory before the contest?(Knight’s Tale)
Mars, god of war to win battle against Palamon
What are the three temples built at the battle site? (Knight’s Tale)
Venus-goddess of love
Mars-god of war
Diana-goddess of chastity
To whom does Palamon pray for the sole possession of Emily?(Knight’s Tale)
Venus, goddess of love to marry Emily
Who does Emily pray to?(Knight’s Tale)
Diana, goddess of Chastity to not get married and if she does get married, it would be to someone who truly loves her
What is the outcome of the joust in ‘Knight’s Tale’?
Arcite emerges victorious but falls from his horse and dies
Who marries Emily at the end of ‘Knight’s Tale’?
palamon
Theme of the Miller’s Tale
The carpenter is easily tricked, he’s not very smart
Who had an affair with John, the carpenter in the Miller’s Tale?
Nicholas, a clerk
What does Nicholas tell John in the Miller’s Tale?
There is a flood, similar to Noah’s flood and that they must make 3 tubs to hang from the ceiling to escape the flood
Why did Nicholas make up a story to John in the Miller’s Tale?
Nicholas wanted to sleep with John’s wife, Allison
Who else likes Alison in the Miller’s Tale?
Absolon
What happens when Absolon begs Alison for a kiss? (first and second time he stood outside the window)
First time: Alison sticks her butt out the window
Second: Nicholas sticks his butt out and Absolon brands him with red-hot iron
What happens after Nicholas gets burned in the behind?
John hears the scream, cuts the rope and breaks his arm. The town laughs at John
What tale is a comeback to the Miller’s Tale?
Reeve’s Tale
What are the college students trying to do?(Reeve’s Tale)
John and Alan, the college students, were trying to expose the Miller who had stolen the flour
What does Simpkin do to the college students in the Reeve’s Tale?
Simpkin cuts the college students’ horse loose, after chasing it down, the college students ask to spend the night
What happens when the college students spend the night in the Reeve’s Tale?
Simpkin(the miller) gets drunk, and goes to sleep. John and Alan come up with a plan to get back at Simpkin
Whose bed does Alan crawl into initially(Reeve’s Tale)?
Simpkin’s daughter
How does John sleep with the Miller’s wife?(Reeve’s tale)
He moves the baby cradle from Simpkin’s bed to his, so that the wife gets tricked and crawls into the bed where the cradle is by. After she does that, John sleeps with her
Whose bed does Alan crawl back into later and what happens?(Reeve’s Tale)
Confused by the cradle placement, Alan crawls back into bed with Simpkin, boasting about sleeping with his daughter. Simpkin wakes up angry and his wife strikes him by accident
What is the purpose of the Reeve’s Tale?
Though an excessive comeback, it discusses how the trickster will always get tricked.
Where does the flour that Simpkin stole end up?(Reeve’s Tale)
flour is baked into a cake
Why do the three men seek out Death in the Pardoner’s tale?
death took their friend
Why do the three men seek out Death in the Pardoner’s tale?
death took their friend
What sin does the Pardoner say he makes the most money preaching about?(Pardoner’s Tale)
Greed and how money is the root of all evil
What sin does the Pardoner say he makes the most money preaching about?(Pardoner’s Tale)
Greed and how money is the root of all evil
Who tells the men where they can find the killer?(Pardoner’s Tale)
the old man tells them to go to an oak tree
What do the men find under the tree?(Pardoner’s Tale)
gold
What happens to the men at the end of the story?(Pardoner’s Tale)
They get greedy and kill themselves through tricks.
One guy pulls the shortest straw and get killed by the other two men.
The one that pulled the short straw poisoned the other two drinks and they die as well.
Why is the knight being punished in the Wife of Bath’s tale and who gives his punishment?
He raped a maid and the queen gives him the punishment. She gives him a year to find out what a women wants most
Where does the knight get his answer to the queen’s question?(Wife of Bath’s tale)
He agrees to marry and old hag in return for the answer to the question
What is the answer to the question ‘What do women want most?’(Wife of Bath Tale)
Women want power over men
What does the hag ask the knight after they are married and and what is his answer?(Wife of Bath Tale)
She asks him if he wants a beautiful or loyal wife and he tells her that it is her choice, then she kisses him and turns into a beautiful women!
How many husbands did Wife of Bath have(Wife of Bath Prologue)?
5
Why did Church Father’s hate her?(Wife of Bath Prologue)
She slept with a lot of guys, however, she was married to all of them, so technically she was not going against Church Law
What are some of the Wife of Bath’s opinions?(Wife of Bath Prologue)
She thinks that people should remarry if their prior spouse dies or does not satisfy their needs
Wife of Bath’s opinion on virginity:
If everyone were a virgin, human population would decrease severely and reproduction would not exist(even though she has no children of her own)
