Unit 2 Review
Terms and Applications
General Terms
 Nature vs. Nurture—the debate in
psychology over the relative roles of genetics
and environment in producing psychological
outcomes
 Quid pro quo—”this for that”: an action
performed in expectation of a return action
 Ostentation/Ostentatious—the gaudy,
excessive showing off of wealth
Terminology of Literary Criticism
 Realism—a literary movement in which writers
represented ordinary people in extraordinary,
but real situations, rejecting the fantastic,
heroic, mythic, etc. Began in the 19th century
 Modernism—literary movement from the
1880s – WWII which introduced radical
experimentation in literary technique, including
fragmentation of perspective, discontinuity of
narrative, disruption of syntax, and themes of
alienation and spiritual emptiness
Terminology of Literary Criticism
 Levels of Interpretation
 Action—what happens in the story
 Characters’ Motivation—why the characters
do what the do
 Author’s Motivation—why the author does
what he/she does
 Evaluation—is the literature successful at
what it attempts to do
 Interpretive Lenses—specific perspectives
though which literature can be viewed. A
Critical Lens is an interpretive lens (see next
slide)
Terminology of Literary Criticism
 Marxist Criticism—views literature through
perspective of economics and class struggle
 Feminist Criticism—views literature through
the treatment of women, women’s rights, and
women’s issues
 Christian Criticism—views literature through
adherence to Christian morals and beliefs
 Ethical Criticism—analyzes literature
through the ethical/moral perspectives
presented; how does the literature deal with
issues of right and wrong?
Terminology of Literary Criticism
 Motif—a repeated thematic element
throughout a story or other work of art
 Persona—a “mask” or personality a
character (or real person) adopts in
preference to or to cover up his/her real self
 Deconstruction—an interpretive lens that
looks at literature through questions about
certainty, what identity means (persona vs.
“self”), and the nature of truth
Terminology of Literary Criticism
 In medias res—starting a story “in the middle of
things” in order to draw in readers
 Flashback—interruption in the chronological order
of the story by a scene or image from the past
 Back Story—history of a character, often not
shown or related, perhaps hinted at
 Foreshadowing—authorial hints or suggestions
about future events in the story
 Flash Forward—Interruption in the chronological
order of the story by a scene or image from the
future
Terminology of Literary Criticism
 Motif—a repeated thematic element
throughout a story or other work of art
 Persona—a “mask” or personality a
character (or real person) adopts in
preference to or to cover up his/her real self
 All other literary terms learned last quarter
or in previous English classes: Irony,
figurative language (metaphor/simile etc.),
and much, much more
Terminology of Philosophy
 Platonic Idealism—Plato’s belief that the reality we
can sense is only a poor reflection of an ideal that
exists on a higher plane
 Free Will—the ability to choose your actions and
ultimately your fate for yourself
 Naturalism—detached, scientific view of humans as
controlled by environmental forces, thus negating the
possibility of free will and perhaps the existence of
god
 Determinism—denies free will and sees humans as
animalistic, controlled more by biologic drives than
logic and thought—if we can’t see the soul, then it
must not exist.
Composition
 Critical Lens Introduction Structure
 Interpret the lens
 Agree or disagree
 Connect to both pieces of literature
 Body Paragraph Structure
 Topic sentence that connects the lens to a
specific piece of literature
 Specific details from the literature supporting
the topic sentence
 Transition or clincher sentence that connects
points to one another through the critical lens
Composition
 Diction






Vocabulary—use of terms we have learned
Mechanics—grammar, spelling, punctuation
Essay Structure—especially topic and
transition sentences
Use of Specific Details—precise and
accurate
Sentence Structure—syntax, complex vs.
simple sentences
Formality—avoiding slang terms and phrases
How do you get to Carnegie Hall?
Try to figure out which of the terms above best
represent the following:
 Ethan Frome
 The narrator’s details about Jim’s marriage in
My Antonia
 As I was hanging by a branch from the cliff,
my life passed before my eyes . . .
 James Gatz’s view of himself
 Using stream of consciousness as a narrative
technique
How do you get to Carnegie Hall?
 The Great Gatsby illustrates the sinful nature of






materialistic American society
Teasing out a character’s identity and what we
can truly know about him/her
The plot in The Crucible turns on the question of
whether or not it is right to lie to save your life
Ned and Ruth almost hitting the big elm
Pointing out that mostly women were accused of
witchcraft but The Crucible focuses on Proctor
Showing off your huge engagement ring
Are identical twins alike in every way?
How do you get to Carnegie Hall?
 My Antonia reflects the lack of economic




freedom immigrants face in American society
The frequent references to driving and car
accidents in The Great Gatsby
Our “decisions” are only biological imperatives
Nick’s reverie about the first time Gatsby kissed
Daisy
Nick’s sense of alienation from the world at the
end of The Great Gatsby is a characteristic of
this
How do you get to Carnegie Hall?
 Contribute to my campaign and I’ll steer





business to your company
Fuzzy picture only seen clearly on a U2 (jet that
flies at extreme altitude)
Here we are starting the story in the middle
Sure he was able to kill his English teacher, but
why would anyone do such a foolish thing?
You can do whatever you choose
Debating how a text can be “true” with any
certainty
How do you get to Carnegie Hall?
“In the end, all literature is about ethics.”
Why did Fitzgerald tell the story out of order?
Who killed Gatsby?
Why did Tom tell Wilson about Gatsby?
Did Fitzgerald effectively illustrate the upper
class moral failures of the 1920’s?
 Someone isn’t listening right now—years later
he curses as he lays dying because he hadn’t
understood that his inattentiveness would cause
poor reading skills and lead to his using his radio
in the bathtub—he thought the directions said he
could





How do you get to Carnegie Hall?
The Hollow Men (fragment)
Here we go round the prickly pear
Prickly pear prickly pear
Here we go round the prickly pear
At five o'clock in the morning.
Between the idea
And the reality
Between the motion
And the act
Falls the Shadow
For Thine is the Kingdom
Between the conception
And the creation
Between the emotion
And the response
Falls the Shadow
Life is very long
Between the desire
And the spasm
Between the potency
And the existence
Between the essence
And the descent
Falls the Shadow
For Thine is the Kingdom
For Thine is
Life is
For Thine is the
This is the way the world ends
This is the way the world ends
This is the way the world ends
Not with a bang but a whimper.
- T.S. Eliot
How do you get to Carnegie Hall?
We Wear the Mask
WE wear the mask that grins and
lies,
It hides our cheeks and shades our
eyes,—
This debt we pay to human guile;
With torn and bleeding hearts we
smile,
And mouth with myriad subtleties.
Why should the world be over-wise,
In counting all our tears and sighs?
Nay, let them only see us, while
We wear the mask.
We smile, but, O great Christ, our
cries
To thee from tortured souls arise.
We sing, but oh the clay is vile
Beneath our feet, and long the mile;
But let the world dream otherwise,
We wear the mask!
Paul Laurence Dunbar
My Antonia
 At the beginning of the novel, what do Jim
and Antonia have in common?
 What is the geography where Jim and
Antonia live?
 What is the Shimerda’s first winter like?
 What adventures do Jim and Antonia share?
 Who are Otto and Jake?
 What causes the “feud”?
 How does the feud end?
My Antonia
 What religious conflicts are developed in the
novel?
 Why do the Burdens move to the town?
 How does the town treat the immigrant girls?
 Why are the dances a problem?
 Why does Antonia go to work for Wick Cutter?
 Why does Wick Cutter pummel Jim?
 Describe Jim’s sojourn in Lincoln.
 Who is Gaston Cleric?
My Antonia
 Why does Jim decide to go to Harvard?
 Why do some people think Antonia should be
ashamed? What is she instead?
 Why doesn’t Jim go back to see Antonia for 20
years?
 What makes him go back?
 What does he find when he goes back?
 What are Jim’s future plans?
 What do he and Antonia share?
The Great Gatsby
 What is Nick’s mood at the beginning of the
novel?
 What is his contradictory opinion of Gatsby?
 Why has Nick moved to West Egg?
 What is Nick’s salient characteristic at the
beginning of the novel?
 How does he know Tom and Daisy?
 Explain Myrtle.
 What are some of the rumors about Gatsby?
The Great Gatsby
 How does Gatsby find out Nick knows Daisy?
 What do we know for sure about Gatsby’s
past?
 Why does Nick like Jordan?
 What are some of the signs that Gatsby is not
who he says he is?
 What is Gatsby’s first reunion with Daisy like?
 What does Gatsby want Daisy to do?
 What happens at the hotel?
The Great Gatsby
 Why did Gatsby fail?
 What are the circumstances of the car
accident?
 What does Tom do for revenge?
 Why does Nick dump Jordan?
 Describe Gatsby’s funeral?
 What the heck does the ending mean?
 What characteristics of Realism can we find in
this book.