A Separate Peace
By John Knowles
Imagery, diction, detail, point of view, syntax,
style, tone, and theme
Author’s Page
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John Knowles
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Born in Fairmont, West Virginia in 1926.
Attended Phillips Exeter Academy Boarding School.
Spent eight months as an Air Force cadet
Attended Yale University
Earned living as a journalist and freelance writer.
Knowles has published nine novels including A
Separate Peace.
A Separate Peace Exposition
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Genre: Coming of age/ tragedy
Tense: The story begins in 1958 but quickly
flashes back to the years 1942–1943
Setting: The Devon School, an exclusive New
England academy
Point of view: First person
Characters
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Gene Forrester - The narrator and protagonist of the novel.
When A Separate Peace begins, Gene is in his early thirties,
visiting the Devon School for the first time in years. He is
thoughtful and intelligent, with a competitive nature and a
tendency to brood. He develops a love-hate relationship with his
best friend, Finny, whom he alternately adores and envies.
Finny - Gene’s classmate and best friend. Finny is honest,
handsome, self-confident, disarming, extremely likable, and the
best athlete in the school; in short, he seems perfect in almost
every way. He has a talent for engaging others with his
spontaneity and sheer joy of living, and, while he frequently gets
into trouble, he has the ability to talk his way out of almost any
predicament.
Characters
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Leper Lepellier - A classmate of Gene and Finny. Leper
is a mild, gentle boy from Vermont who adores nature
and engages in peaceful, outdoor-oriented hobbies, like
cross-country skiing. He is not popular at Devon but
seems to pay no attention to such things.
Brinker Hadley - A charismatic class politician with an
inclination for orderliness and organization. Manifesting
a mindset opposite to that of Finny, who delights in
innocent anarchy, Brinker believes in justice and order
and goes to great lengths to discover the truth when he
feels that it is being hidden from him.
Characters
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Cliff Quackenbush - The manager of the crew
team. Quackenbush briefly assumes a position
of power over Gene when Gene volunteers to
be assistant crew manager. The boys at Devon
have never liked Quackenbush; thus, he
frequently takes out his frustrations on anyone
whom he considers his inferior.
Chet Douglass - Gene’s main rival for the
position of class valedictorian. Chet is an
excellent tennis and trumpet player and
possesses a sincere love of learning.
Major Conflict
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major conflict · Gene feels both love and
hate for his best friend, Finny, worshipping
and resenting Finny’s athletic and moral
superiorities.
Themes
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The Creation of Inner Enemies
Transformations
Athletics
Syntax, Style, and Tone
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Syntax: The way an author puts words
together to form sentences and phrases.
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Style: The characteristic or manner in which
the author writes.
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Very formal, educated
Internal dialogue, Images, and life themes
Tone: To give a particular feeling or mood in
writing.
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Melancholy, reminiscent, wise
Literary Elements
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Allusion: When authors refer to other great
works, people, and events.
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World War II- was a global military conflict lasting
from 1939 to 1945 which involved most of the
world's nations, organized into two opposing
military alliances: the Allies and the Axis. It was the
most widespread war in history, with more than
100 million military personnel mobilized. In a state
of "total war," the major participants placed their
entire economic, industrial, and scientific
capabilities at the service of the war effort, erasing
the distinction between civilian and military
resources.
Literary Elements
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Alliteration: two or more words of a word
group with the same letter at the beginning
of the words.
“Super suicide society of the summer
session”
Literary Elements
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foreshadowing · Prior to his flashback, the
older Gene makes reference to a “death by
violence” and to fears that he had at school,
which are associated with a flight of marble
steps and a tree.
Literary Elements
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Symbols: objects, characters, figures, and
colors used to represent abstract ideas or
concepts.
the tree, marble steps, school, the Summer and Winter
Sessions at Devon
Vocabulary
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Chapter 1
Tacit :unvoiced or unspoken; understood without being openly expressed
Irate: enraged
Inveigle: to entice or lure by artful talk
Consternation: a sudden, alarming amazement or dread
Rhetorically: spoken in a manner not intended to elicit a reply
Chapter 2
Eloquence: fluent, forceful speech
Indulgent: yielding to the wishes or desires of (oneself or another)
Inane: lacking sense or ideas; empty or void
Resonant: deep and full of sound
Conniver: one who gives aid to wrongdoing by pretending not to know or
notice
Infer: to conclude by reasoning from premises or evidence
Vocabulary
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Chapter 3
Venerable: respected due to great age or associated dignity
Inured: toughened or accustomed
Anarchy: a state of society with out government or law
Fey: strange or foreign
Blitzkrieg: (German) an all out attack
Insidious: treacherous; marked by hidden dangers
Chapter 4
Enmity: active and typically mutual hatred or ill will
Candid: free from bias, prejudice, or deception
Chapter 5
Decalogue: a basic set of rules carrying binding authority
Cordovan: soft fine-grained colored leather
Erratic: irregular
vocabulary
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Chapter 6
Idiosyncratic: peculiarly individualistic; eccentric manner
Vindicated: freed
Sinecure: a position requiring little or no work and usually providing income
Bantam: tiny or diminutive
Stupefaction: overwhelmed amazement
Chapter 7
Insinuating: tending to cause doubt, distrust, or change of outlook
Impinge: come into close contact; infringe
Fratricide: the act of murdering one’s own sibling
Virtuoso: one who excels in technique of an art especially for military
Encumbrance: a burden or weight
Chapter 8
Ambiguously: doubtfully; uncertainly; obscurely
Clodhoppers: large, heavy shoes
Discernible: detectible
Opulent: luxurious or rich
Aphorisms: statements of principle; adages;
Pungent: sharp or biting taste or smell
Preeminently: outstanding; supremely
Poignancy: painfully affects the feelings
Gulls: people who are easily deceived
Sententiousness: state of excessive moralizing
vocabulary
Chapter 9
 Bolsheviks: the extremist wing of the Russian social party in
Russia
 Cacophony :harsh sound
 Accolade: an award
 Multifariously: varyingly: diversely
 Proviso: a stipulation
Chapter 10
 Holocaust :Thorough destruction or devastation, especially by
fire
 Furlough: a leave of absence from duty granted to a soldier
 Austerity: state of being stern and forbidding
 Aesthete: having or affecting sensitivity to the beautiful,
especially in art
Vocabulary
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Chapter 11
Latent: dormant
Bane: person or thing that harms, spoils, or ruins
Incredulously: skeptically
Ruefully: mournfully; regretfully
Torpid: dormant; numb
Urbane: notably polite or polished in manner
Obstinate: not easily subdued or remedied
Chapter 12
Pontiff: bishop; pope
Impervious: incapable of being influenced or affected
Parody: a feeble or ridiculous imitation
Languid: drooping from exhaustion; weak
Precariously: doubtfully: insecurely
Bellicose: inclined to start quarrels
Disconcerting: disturbing; unsettling
Parry: to ward off a weapon or blow