Spring Semester Literature Analysis #1

Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck

George and Lennie are migrant field workers and friends. They are searching for a job during the time of the Great Depression. Lennie has a mild mental disorder and likes to pet soft things but ends up killing them. George looks after Lennie, and in doing so shoots Lennie to protect him from a mob.

Lit Terms #4

Interior Monologue: a form of writing which represents the inner thoughts of a character; the recording of the internal, emotional experience(s) of an individual; generally the reader is given the impression of overhearing the interior monologue. 
Inversion: words out of order for emphasis
Juxtaposition: the intentional placement of a word, phrase, sentences of paragraph to contrast with another nearby. 
Lyric: a poem having musical form and quality; a short outburst of the author’s
innermost thoughts and feelings. 
Magic(al) Realism:  a genre developed in Latin America which juxtaposes the everyday  with the marvelous or magical. 
Metaphor(extended, controlling, and mixed): an analogy that compare two different  things imaginatively.
   Extended: a metaphor that is extended or developed as far as the writer wants to take it.
   Controlling: a metaphor that runs throughout the piece of work.
   Mixed: a metaphor that ineffectively blends two or more analogies. 
Metonymy:  literally “name changing” a device of figurative language in which the
 name of an attribute or associated thing is substituted for the usual name of a thing. 
Mode of Discourse:  argument (persuasion), narration, description, and exposition. 
Modernism:  literary movement characterized by stylistic experimentation, rejection of tradition, interest in symbolism and psychology
Monologue:  an extended speech by a character in a play, short story, novel, or narrative poem.  Mood:  the predominating atmosphere evoked by a literary piece
Motif:  a recurring feature (name, image, or phrase) in a piece of literature. 
Myth:  a story, often about immortals, and sometimes connected with religious rituals, that attempts to give meaning to the mysteries of the world.
Narrative:  a story or description of events.
Narrator:  one who narrates, or tells, a story. 
Naturalism: extreme form of realism. 
Novelette/Novella: short story; short prose narrative, often satirical.
Omniscient Point of View:  knowing all things, usually the third person.
Onomatopoeia: use of a word whose sound in some degree imitates or suggests its meaning. Oxymoron: a figure of speech in which two contradicting words or phrases are combined to produce a rhetorical effect by means of a concise paradox. 
Pacing:  rate of movement; tempo. 
Parable:  a story designed to convey some religious principle, moral lesson, or general truth. Paradox:  a statement apparently self-contradictory or absurd but really containing a possible truth; an opinion contrary to generally accepted ideas

The Tale of Two Cities Lecture Notes

- The Frozen Deep was an amateur play

- written before TToTC

- have similar plot lines

- characters reflect eachother (ex. initials of characters- CD and DC, also Dickens initials)

- Lucy represents the woman Ellen's husband cheated with

- London, England and Paris, France

- stream of conscious writing style

- warn society about feared revolution (19th century)

- published in sections

- lecturer reads excerpts from TToTC

(more on paper turned in during class)

What's the Story

Joseph Heller wrote Catch-22 to share ideas of morals and personal decision making. The time period when Heller wrote this novel is during an intellectual revolution in the United States. Heller's use of satire and irony is to make war seem like a funny idea. These literary techniques led me to the conclusion that Heller was apart of this revolution to have readers rethink their morals. The plot revolves around WWII but the theme is making decisions for yourself. I got this idea from when he fleas the military to Sweden.

Lit Terms #3

Exposition: beginning of a story that sets forth facts, ideas, and/or characters, in a detailed explanation
Expressionism: movement in art, literature, and music consisting of unrealistic   representation of an inner idea or feeling(s).
Fable: a short, simple story, usually with animals as characters, designed to teach a moral truth
Fallacy: from Latin word “to deceive”, a false or misleading notion, belief, or
argument; any kind of erroneous reasoning that makes arguments unsound.
Falling Action: part of the narrative or drama after the climax.
Farce: a boisterous comedy involving ludicrous action and dialogue.
Figurative Language: apt and imaginative language characterized by figures of speech (such as metaphor and simile).
Flashback: a narrative device that flashes back to prior events.
Foil: a person or thing that, by contrast, makes another seem better or more prominent.
Folk Tale: story passed on by word of mouth
Foreshadowing: in fiction and drama, a device to prepare the reader for the outcome
of the action; “planning” to make the outcome convincing, though not to give it away.
Free Verse: verse without conventional metrical pattern, with irregular pattern or no rhyme
Genre: a category or class of artistic endeavor having a particular form, technique, or content.
Gothic Tale: a style in literature characterized by gloomy settings, violent or grotesque action, and a mood of decay, degeneration, and decadence.
Hyperbole: an exaggerated statement often used as a figure of speech or to prove a point.
Imagery: figures of speech or vivid description, conveying images through any of the senses.
Implication: a meaning or understanding that is to be arrive at by the reader but that is not fully and explicitly stated by the author.
Incongruity: the deliberate joining of opposites or of elements that are not appropriate to each other.
Inference: a judgement or conclusion based on evidence presented; the forming of an opinion which possesses some degree of probability according to facts already available.
Irony: a contrast or incongruity between what is said and what is meant, or what is expected to happen and what actually happens, or what is thought to be happening and what is actually happening

Lit Terms #2

Circumlocution: a roundabout or evasive speech or writing, in which many words are used but a few would have served
Classicism: art, literature, and music reflecting the principles of ancient Greece and Rome: tradition, reason, clarity, order, and balance
Cliché: a phrase or situation overused within society
Climax: the decisive point in a narrative or drama; the pint of greatest intensity or interest at which plot question is answered or resolved
Colloquialism: folksy speech, slang words or phrases usually used in informal conversation
Comedy: originally a nondramatic literary piece of work that was marked by a happy ending; now a term to describe a ludicrous, farcical, or amusing event designed provide enjoyment or produce smiles and laughter
Conflict: struggle or problem in a story causing tension
Connotation: implicit meaning, going beyond dictionary definition
Contrast: a rhetorical device by which one element (idea or object) is thrown into opposition to another for the sake of emphasis or clarity
Denotation: plain dictionary definition
Denouement: loose ends tied up in a story after the climax, closure, conclusion
Dialect: the language of a particular district, class or group of persons; the sounds, grammar, and diction employed by people distinguished from others.
Dialectics: formal debates usually over the nature of truth.
Dichotomy: split or break between two opposing things.
Diction: the style of speaking or writing as reflected in the choice and use of words
Didactic: having to do with the transmission of information; education.
Dogmatic: rigid in beliefs and principles.
Elegy: a mournful, melancholy poem, especially a funeral song or lament for the dead, sometimes contains general reflections on death, often with a rural or pastoral setting.
Epic: a long narrative poem unified by a hero who reflects the customs, mores, and aspirations of his nation of race as he makes his way through legendary and historic exploits, usually over a long period of time
Epigram: witty aphorism.
Epitaph: any brief inscription in prose or verse on a tombstone; a short formal poem of commemoration often a credo written by the person who wishes it to be on his tombstone.
Epithet: a short, descriptive name or phrase that  may insult someone’s character,
characteristics
Euphemism: the use of an indirect, mild or vague word or expression for one thought to be coarse, offensive, or blunt.
Evocative: a calling forth of memories and sensations; the suggestion or production through artistry and imagination of a sense of reality

Lit Terms #1

Check out Rebecca's blog for exquisite definitions and easy to remember examples. Best on the internet. Thanks Becky! http://rebeccaaldrich.blogspot.com/2014/01/lit-terms-1.html?m=1

AP Prep Post 1: Siddhartha

1. What kind of knowledge is valued in Siddhartha. Is knowledge valued at all?

2. Describe how Siddhartha and Govinda compare and contrast in their relationship. How does this relationship impact the novel?

3. Compare Siddartha's spiritual experience to another book with a transfermation. 

4. What is the relationship between the internal and external words of Siddhartha?

5. How does the author use literary examples in the text to create a deeper meaning for the reader?

These questions tell me that the AP exam is looking for a deeper meaning to the words and comparing one text to another. 

what's in this for me?

I'm very excited for the last semester of my high school career. However, my learning is far from over. I will cherish these last few months with peers I may never see again as we all will take our own paths. This semester I plan to win some scholarships to help pay for my college education and prepare myself in every way to pass my AP tests. 

Hacking my Education

1. What do you want to know by the end of the course that you don't know now?

• I want to know how to make connections between school and my personal interests. 

2. What skills do you want to share on your blog?

• On my blog I want to try and show my organization and intellect. 

3. What experiences do you want to get "under your belt" before you graduate?

• Before I graduate I want to experience receiving college acceptance letters and scholarship winner letters and the stress of deciding which college I will attend. 

Personal Learning Network: 3 types of people

-peers

-public

-experts