Titles and Authors Flashcards
The Incarnation of the Word of God (Introduction)
C.S. Lewis
Since every age is good at seeing certain truths and is specially liable to make certain mistakes, it is good to read old books that have been tested though the ages
Convocation Address
George Fauldy
Life is not just about animalistic survival but human thriving
The Fly
Katherine Mansfield
Characters: Mr. Woodifield, “The Boss”, dead son, Fly
Themes: Power, Control, Meaning of Life, Loss, Isolation, Greif, Insanity, War Trauma, Emotional Numbness, Shell Shock (PTSD), Sadism
What does the Fly represent? The Boss? Mr. Woodfield? His son?
For Esme - with Love and Squalor
J.D. Salinger
1st person narration in a letter format which changes into 3rd person narration
This story doesn’t contain a single mood.
the main character is very ironic/sarcastic a lot of the time
the story is very ambiguous because we don’t really know what the main character thinks/feels a lot of the time
Indirect discourse is a way of controlling the narrative
What connects Esme and Sergeant X? He’s already teetering and she’s suffering from the loss of her father + mother, they’re both lost and hurting - and that’s how they connect.
The watch represents main character, as it is not as shock proof as we can imagine
The Happy Autumn Fields
Elizabeth Bowen
This story shows how setting is not just background but is like a character because there are certain things that can/can’t happen because of where the setting is.
dynamic v.s. one-dimension characters
It’s not always about finding an explanation but more about the experience of the characters
Nothing is permanent. One day life is familiar and the next day, everything we know is gone
Point-of-view changes from Sarah (past) and Mary (present). 3rd person omniscient narration
The Black Christ
Countee Cullen
Countee Cullen vs Langston Hughes
Cullen didn’t want his poetry to become propaganda and Hughes accused Cullen of not being a “black poet”
The Black Christ is an epic - opening lines “let me sing”
The Black Christ is a narrative poem
Metaphor: Describes the crucifixion of Jesus Christ in terms of the suffering of African Americans. Jesus was “the first leaf in line” for all the people who died after him.
Imagery-sensory: the concept of spring and the natural world. the image of spring in this poem. Spring is personified “spring was in them and they were spring”
characters:
mother - the main defender of God (theodicy) - has faith but it isn’t blind faith
speaker - protagonist who narrates the story. believes God, doubts Him, mocks mother (when brother dies), and then believes God again when brother is resurrected
Jim (brother) - the first one to clothe doubt with words, falls in love with a white woman (spring finds them), dies, and is resurrected
plot:
- life is hard in the South but mother speaks of spring and God’s goodness - this was enough for the speaker at first
- Jim and the speaker talk about a man that was lynched and Him “was the first to clothe a doubt with words”
- Mothes (holding unto faith) vs Jim (struggling with belief, revengeful, prideful, has bitterness)
- Jim metaphorically tells his love story and hitting a white man. The mob is waiting outside the house. the white man “murdered the spring” = love. Spring is personified in Jim’s speech
- Mob arrives and shouts “lynch him!” (imagery of the passion). Jim hands himself over, the mother is praying, and the speaker is angry and mocks the mother.
- Jim dies, yet somehow miraculously appears again alive “the wonder of His miracle”
- Speaker has faith now “who on it…we saw Him die. It’s roots were fed with priceless blood. It is the cross; it is the rood.”
The Twelfth Night
William Shakespeare
4 Plots
- Orsino loves Olivia
- Toby wants to keep Andrew around
- Sebastian is alive!
- Malvolio
(even though Viola is the protagonist, she isn’t central to any of the main plots, but is the catalyst for these plots)
theme:
- people have outer appearances and true insides - and these two sometimes do not align. (cessario’s doesn’t match, but Sebestains do and that’s exactly what Olivia wanted)
- Shakespeare is interested in love/imagination. Imagination is not trustworthy, it deludes us SO what’s stopping us from becoming totally deluded? we all have it and we should all be worried about it. How can we be sure that we’re not living in a reality like Malvolio’s if we are all lovers and can be deceived by our own imagination
what distinguishes Malvolio from Orsino? Wonder vs. Madness. Wonder as an experience forces us to step out of ourselves. Malvolio isn’t filled with wonder when he figures out Olivia likes him, because he expected it.
The End of the Affair
Graham Greene
Upon Julia’s Clothes
Robert Herrick
It is a love poem in which the poet uses abstract diction “liquefaction” to describe Julia’s clothes
Deliberate
Amy Uyematsu
The poet puts an emphasis on sound to create a specific rhythm and tone. (ex. Daddy’s muddy gardening shoes vs nylons sassy black high heels)
God’s Grandeur
Gerard Manley Hopkins
This poem repeats the word “trod” three times.
The Tiger
Nael, Grade 1
It’s a poem about celebrating a victory of defeating/destroying the “understroyable”
in terram visionis
Christopher Snook
Reading this poem provides a unique experience to the biblical story of Abraham and Issac that wouldn’t be experienced, unless you read the poem.
My Papa’s Waltz
Theodore Roethke
This poem is written in the perspective of a child who imagines a waltz (or uses a waltz as a metaphor for their interaction) with his father as the son clings unto the father despite the father’s brokeness.
Snake
William Baer
The poet uses sound such as repetition and onomatopoeia (words that sound like what they describe) to set the tone for the poem. Using words like “yes” several times which sounds like a snake.
