Unit 3 Review
Terms and Applications
Terminology of Literary Criticism
 Magic Realism—literature containing a magical
element neither explained nor questioned. It includes
rich sensory description, distortion of linear time, and
mythical or folkloric elements
 Verisimilitude—the appearance of being real or
true; the elements of a story that make it seem real
 Willing Suspension of Disbelief—Samuel Taylor
Coleridge’s theory that readers willingly “believe”
stories are real for aesthetic pleasure
 Doppelgangers—parallel, identical characters, often
used to represent a divided consciousness
 Foils—characters placed in similar situations in order
to enlighten readers about one of them
Terminology of Literary Criticism
 Metafiction—fiction about writing fiction, calling
attention to its own “fictionality”
 Transcendentalism—a branch of American
Romanticism. Major tenets:
 Spiritual, individual intuition is the only way to
understand the truth of the world;
 In order to “transcend” reality, individuals must
rely on their abilities to look inside themselves to
understand what is right and true for themselves;
 All knowledge begins with self-knowledge;
 Reason alone results in an incomplete
understanding of the universe.
General Terms
 Progressive Era—a period in American history
(~1890s – 1920) when reformers moved by
outrage about present conditions optimistically
tried to improve society through political,
economic, and social reform
 The Prodigal Son—a religious parable in which
a son, given wealth, leaves home, wastes his
wealth, and returns humbly only to be welcomed
with open arms. Used figuratively in literature.
 Rapture—generally extreme happiness;
specifically, the direct ascension to heaven of
true believers
I was my parents’ third child, which
proves that __________ makes perfect!
Which term above represents the following?
 A woman crying at the end of a sad movie
 Teddy Roosevelt’s prosecution of monopolies
under the Sherman Anti-Trust Act
 The direct promotion of a student who truly
believes in the value of literature to English
11 without English 9 or 10
 Belief in intuition over reason
 Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
 Both Romeo and Paris love Juliet
Practice
 The reason Arthur Miller has the women in his
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play addressed as “Goody”
One indication of this genre is Ray’s detailed
description of digging Annie’s garden
Fiction focusing metaphorically on writing fiction
Richard was metaphorically this
J.D. Salinger perhaps experienced this in fiction
Belief in “the force” resembles this belief
Intuition is this belief’s answer to the basic
question of epistemology
Practice
 What Ethan Frome might be if the sled had
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miraculously flown Mattie and Ethan to Florida
What readers really would need to have if the
above had happened
What the above lacks, therefore, if the readers
don’t accept it
Upton Sinclair’s novel The Jungle is set in this
era
The Outsiders turns out to be Ponyboy’s English
theme
Practice
 What I must do is all that concerns me, not what
the people think. This rule, equally arduous in
actual and in intellectual life, may serve for the
whole distinction between greatness and
meanness. It is the harder because you will
always find those who think they know what is
your duty better than you know it. It is easy in
the world to live after the world's opinion; it is
easy in solitude to live after our own; but the
great man is he who in the midst of the crowd
keeps with perfect sweetness the independence
of solitude.—Ralph Waldo Emerson
Shoeless Joe
 Why is Ray obsessed with baseball and
Shoeless Joe Jackson?
 In what ways is this novel typical of magic
realism?
 How are Annie and Karin fitting family for
Ray?
 How is Annie’s family not so fitting?
 Why does Mark want Ray’s farm?
 Explain the rules and dynamics of Ray’s
ballpark.
Shoeless Joe
 Why does Ray want his father to play on the
field?
 What happens on Ray’s trip to Boston? What
does this show us about the modern world he
lives in?
 Who is J.D. Salinger?
 How is Moonlight Graham different from the
other dead ballplayers who appear on the field?
 What does Eddie Scissons do to betray Ray?
Shoeless Joe
 What does Eddie do to betray baseball?
 How is he “punished” for this?
 In what ways is religion used as a motif throughout the
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novel?
How is the farm saved?
What does Salinger do at the end of the novel?
What does this have to do with the novel?
How are Richard and Ray similar and different?
Who created the world of the book?
What term does this question address?
“The Hollow Men”
 In what way are the men “hollow”?
 What literary movement does this poem
belong to?
 What technique is used in the last four lines—
”This is the way the world ends”?
 How does this poem relate to “The Snow
Man”?
 How does this poem relate to Shoeless Joe?
“The Snow Man”
 What major poetic techniques are used in the
poem?
 Who is the “Snow Man”?
 What does nothing have to do with the
poem?
 In what ways is the “Snow Man” blind?
 What does this poem have to do with “The
Hollow Men”?
 What does the poem have to do with
Shoeless Joe?