NAME:____________________________________________
8A—Final Review
PER:_____
TITLE:
The Diary of a Young Girl
AUTHOR:
Anne Frank
OVERVIEW: Perhaps the most famous personal account of the Holocaust, The Diary of Anne Frank was written in
Amsterdam, the Netherlands, between 1942 and 1944. The Franks were a Jewish family originally from Germany, where Anne was
born in 1929. Anne’s father, Otto, had come from a wealthy background, but his family’s fortune was lost after World War I. Anne
was thrilled to receive a diary on her thirteenth birthday and expressed hope that it would become her one trusted confidant. She
immediately began filling her diary with details of her life, including descriptions of her friends, boys she liked, and events at school.
Less than one month after she began documenting her relatively carefree childhood, Anne and her family were suddenly forced into
hiding. The Gestapo finally arrested Anne and her family on August 4, 1944. Two secretaries who worked in the building found the
books containing Anne’s diary entries strewed over the floor of the annex. The secretaries handed over the diaries to Miep Gies, an
assistant in Otto’s office. Miep held the diary, unread, in a desk drawer. Mr. Frank reviewed the diary and selected passages,
keeping in mind constraints on length and appropriateness for a young-adult audience. He also left out certain passages that he
considered unflattering to his late wife and the other residents of the annex. When Mr. Frank died in 1980, the Anne Frank
Foundation in Basel, Switzerland, inherited the copyright to the diary.
CHARACTERS:
TITLE:
The Outsiders
AUTHOR:
S.E. Hinton
OVERVIEW: The Outsiders, first published in 1967, tells the story of class conflict between the greasers, a group of low-class
youths, and the Socs (short for Socials), a group of privileged rich kids who live on the wealthy West Side of town. The novel broke
ground in the genre of Young Adult fiction, transcending established boundaries in its portrayal of violence, class conflict, and
prejudice. Hinton’s publishers decided that Hinton should publish her novel under the name S. E. Hinton in order to cloak her
gender. They worried that readers would not respect The Outsiders, which features male protagonists and violent situations, if they
knew a female wrote it. Hinton has said that she does not mind using an authorial name that is gender neutral. The language and
details of the novel root the story in the sixties. Characters call fights “rumbles,” and people listen to the Beatles and Elvis Presley.
The novel is set in the Southwest, as evidenced by the fact that many greasers ride in local rodeos. Despite its location in a specific
time and place, however, the novel is remarkable for its ability to transcend location. The Outsiders examines the universal urge to
form factions, compete, and unite for survival. With only a few minor cosmetic changes, the novel could easily take place in a
contemporary setting. This fact has given it universal appeal for the last few decades. Hinton attempts to humanize the greasers,
the outsiders of the story’s title, by showing that their exterior toughness masks vulnerability and emotion. She makes both the
greasers and the Socs sympathetic and refuses to cast blame on one group over the other. As one character tells another, “Things
are rough all over.”
CHARACTERS:
TITLE:
Flesh and Blood So Cheap
AUTHOR:
Albert Marrin
OVERVIEW: On March 25, 1911, the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory in New York City burst into flames.
The factory was
crowded. The doors were locked to ensure workers stay inside. One hundred forty-six people—mostly women—perished; it was
one of the most lethal workplace fires in American history until September 11, 2001. But the story of the fire is not the story of one
accidental moment in time. It is a story of immigration and hard work to make it in a new country, as Italians and Jews and others
traveled to America to find a better life. It is the story of poor working conditions and greedy bosses, as garment workers discovered
the endless sacrifices required to make ends meet. It is the story of unimaginable, but avoidable, disaster. And it the story of the
unquenchable pride and activism of fearless immigrants and women who stood up to business, got America on their side, and finally
changed working conditions for our entire nation, initiating radical new laws we take for granted today. With Flesh and Blood So
Cheap is a gripping, nuanced, and poignant account of one of America's defining tragedies.
CHARACTERS:
TITLE:
Romeo and Juliet
AUTHOR:
William Shakespeare
OVERVIEW: The play, set in Verona, begins with a street brawl between Montague and Capulet servants who, like their
masters, are sworn enemies. Prince Escalus of Verona intervenes and declares that further breach of the peace will be punishable
by death. Later, Count Paris talks to Capulet about marrying his daughter Juliet, but Capulet asks Paris to wait another two years
and invites him to attend a planned Capulet ball. Lady Capulet and Juliet's nurse try to persuade Juliet to accept Paris's courtship.
Meanwhile, Benvolio talks with his cousin Romeo, Montague's son, about Romeo's recent depression. Benvolio discovers that it
stems from unrequited infatuation for a girl named Rosaline, one of Capulet's nieces. Persuaded by Benvolio and Mercutio, Romeo
attends the ball at the Capulet house in hopes of meeting Rosaline. However, Romeo instead meets and falls in love with Juliet.
Juliet's cousin, Tybalt, is enraged at Romeo for sneaking into the ball, but is only stopped from killing Romeo by Juliet's father, who
doesn't wish to shed blood in his house. After the ball, in what is now called the "balcony scene", Romeo sneaks into the Capulet
orchard and overhears Juliet at her window vowing her love to him in spite of her family's hatred of the Montagues. Romeo makes
himself known to her and they agree to be married. With the help of Friar Laurence, who hopes to reconcile the two families through
their children's union, they are secretly married the next day. Tybalt, meanwhile, still incensed that Romeo had sneaked into the
Capulet ball, challenges him to a duel. Romeo, now considering Tybalt his kinsman, refuses to fight. Mercutio is offended by Tybalt's
insolence, as well as Romeo's "vile submission," and accepts the duel on Romeo's behalf. Mercutio is fatally wounded when Romeo
attempts to break up the fight. Grief-stricken and wracked with guilt, Romeo confronts and slays Tybalt. Montague argues that
Romeo has justly executed Tybalt for the murder of Mercutio. The Prince, now having lost a kinsman in the warring families' feud,
exiles Romeo from Verona, under penalty of death if he ever returns. Romeo secretly spends the night in Juliet's chamber, where
they consummate their marriage. Capulet, misinterpreting Juliet's grief, agrees to marry her to Count Paris and threatens to disown
her when she refuses to become Paris's "joyful bride." When she then pleads for the marriage to be delayed, her mother rejects
her. Juliet visits Friar Laurence for help, and he offers her a drug that will put her into a deathlike coma for "two and forty hours."
The Friar promises to send a messenger to inform Romeo of the plan, so that he can rejoin her when she awakens. On the night
before the wedding, she takes the drug and, when discovered apparently dead, she is laid in the family crypt. The messenger,
however, does not reach Romeo and, instead, Romeo learns of Juliet's apparent death from his servant Balthasar. Heartbroken,
Romeo buys poison from an apothecary and goes to the Capulet crypt. He encounters Paris who has come to mourn Juliet
privately. Believing Romeo to be a vandal, Paris confronts him and, in the ensuing battle, Romeo kills Paris. Still believing Juliet to
be dead, he drinks the poison. Juliet then awakens and, finding Romeo dead, stabs herself with his dagger. The feuding families
and the Prince meet at the tomb to find all three dead. Friar Laurence recounts the story of the two "star-cross'd lovers". The families
are reconciled by their children's deaths and agree to end their violent feud. The play ends with the Prince's elegy for the lovers:
"For never was a story of more woe / Than this of Juliet and her Romeo."
CHARACTERS:
TITLE:
The Hunger Games
AUTHOR:
Suzanne Collins
OVERVIEW: In the ruins of a place once known as North America lies the nation of Panem, a shining Capitol surrounded by
twelve outlying districts. Long ago the districts waged war on the Capitol and were defeated. As part of the surrender terms, each
district agreed to send one boy and one girl to appear in an annual televised event called, "The Hunger Games," a fight to the death
on live TV. Sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen, who lives alone with her mother and younger sister, regards it as a death sentence
when she is forced to represent her district in the Games. The terrain, rules, and level of audience participation may change but one
thing is constant: kill or be killed.
Theme, Setting, Conflict, Plot
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Theme:
(in literature, music, art, etc) a unifying idea, image, or motif,
repeated or developed throughout a work.
Setting:
the locale or period in which the action of a novel, play, film, etc.,
takes place.
Conflict:
discord of action, feeling, or effect; antagonism or opposition, as of
interests or principles.
Plot:
the plan, scheme, or main story of a literary or dramatic work, as a
play, novel, or short story.
EXTRA MATERIAL: