Final Exam
Novels Review
10th Grade
May 28-May 31
How do I write a critical lens essay?
 Interpret or explain what you think the quote means.
 Then, pick TWO books (underline titles) that support what you
said the quote means. [Don’t forget the authors!!!].
 Agree or disagree with your interpretation of the quote.
 Choose supporting examples that are literary terms and
elements (themes, conflicts, POV, setting, etc.) that best help
you prove your opinion of the quote.
 Use your examples to prove your interpretation of the quote.
 YOU MUST HAVE TWO EXAMPLES PER BOOK!!!
 BE SPECIFIC WITH SPECIFIC DETAILS FROM THE NOVEL, PLAY, OR
MEMOIR!!!
 REMEMBER: SPECIFIC DETAILS….SPECIFIC DETAILS…SPECIFIC
DETAILS from each work.
Night, Elie Wiesel
Setting
Point of View
Characters
Conflicts
Themes
WWII
Sighet,
Transylvania
First person
Eliezer Wiesel:
narrator, 14
Man v. Man:
Rabbi El.’s son
leaves him to
ensure his own
survival
Bread thrown on
the train pits each
man vs. the other
Faith is
important in
times of
desolation.
Controlled
language allows
Auschwitz, Poland
events to speak
[concentration/exte
for themselves
rmination camp]
and is in sharp
Buna [sub-camp of
contrast to the
A.]
reality about
Gleiwitz, Poland
which it speaks.
[sub-camp of A.]
Buchenwald,
Poland
[concentration
camp]
Chlomo Wiesel: his
dad, well respected in
Jewish community
Eliezer’s mother
Tzipora: E’s sister
Moche the Beadle:
Elie’s religious teacher
Wiesel waited 10 Martha: servant of
years before
Wiesels
writing Night.
Mdme Schaechter:
prophet = screams
about fire.
Man v. Self: Elie
losing his faith in
God
Extreme hatred,
if unchecked,
can result in
horror.
If good people
stand by and do
Man v. Society:
Mosche warns them nothing, evils
will abound.
that they are in
mortal danger.
They ignore him,
and face the
conditions in the
camps.
Others?
Characters, continued
Dr. Mengele: Nazi, decides who lives and who dies at their camp.
Stein of Antwerp: wife Reisal is related to Mrs. Weisel
Juliek: plays the violin
Franek: another prisoner
Yossi and Tibi: brothers
Idek: Jewish man in charge of their block/ whips Elie for seeing
him doing something he shouldn’t have been doing.
Akiba Drumer: prisoner
Zalman: prisoner
Rabbi Eliahou: very religious / well loved / son abandons him
during the run to Gleiwitz.
Meir Katz:
Night: Symbols
 Fire: Madame Sch. screams that she sees flames
and death. It symbolizes their fate once they
arrive in the concentration camp. They must
work in order to avoid the flames of death.
 Night = darkness. This novel is a period of
darkness, not only for Elie but also for all the
Jews.
 Nazis: symbolize the hatred of one group of
people toward another.
 Moshe the Beadle symbolizes unused
knowledge.
 Mr. Wiesel: symbolizes Ellie’s will to live. When
he dies, Ellie’s will is broken.
Themes, more
Maintaining faith in a
benevolent God is difficult to do
in times of continued tragedy.
People turn on each other when
they, themselves, are abused.
Lord of the Flies, William Golding
Setting
Characters
Conflicts
Symbols
Themes
WWII
Ralph
Piggy
Simon
Sam ’N Eric
Percival
Henry
Man v. Man
Piggy’s glasses:
intelligence
Power corrupts,
absolute power
corrupts absolutely:
Jack gains power,
then steals fire & P’s
glasses, beats a kid
randomly, and sets
fire to the island to
hunt down & kill
Ralph.
Deserted, idyllic
island
In the Pacific
Ocean
Point of View
Third Person,
omniscient
narrator
Foreshadowing
Simon’s convo w/
pig’s head = his
death
Rocks & Roger
Jack
Roger
Bill
Robert
Maurice
Man v. Self
The conch: order
/power /
civilization
The island: Eden
/ perfect place
Man v. Society
Face Paint: hides
faces to allow for
savagery
The Little ’uns
Birthmark Boy
Man v. Nature
Naval officer
Parachutist
The Beast: fear /
themselves
At his heart, man is a
beast.
The boys have
everything they need
to survive and have
fun. Yet they still
have the same
problems the adults
have. Others?
The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, William Shakespeare
Setting
Characters
Conflicts
Symbols
Themes
Rome
Caesar: wants to be
emperor.
Antony: loyal friend
of JC/ turns crowd vs.
B and starts a war.
Calpurnia: JC’s wife/
has dream of JCs
death
Brutus: becomes
leader of conspirators/
wants to kill JC b/c he
fears JC will become
a dictator.
Portia: B’s wife/ to
prove her worth, stabs
self in leg/ kill self by
swallowing hot coals.
Cassius: despises JC/
leader of the
conspiracy, convinces
Brutus to join.
Casca: stabs JC 1st
Man v. Man
Conspirators kill
Caesar before he
gains too much power.
weather
Power corrupts,
absolute power
corrupts absolutely:
Antony, Octavius
& Lepidus create a
hit list of 300
Romans
44BC
Point of View
It’s a play; there
isn’t one
Characters:
Soothsayer: warns
JC of death on
3/15/44
Artemidorus:
teacher/ writes
warning letter.
Man v. Self: Brutus:
should I kill Caesar or
not?
Man v. Society
Portents and
omens
Eagles
replaced by
crows before
battles at end
The will:
deception
used by
Antony to
sway the
crowd away
from Brutus.
Language/Words
have the power to
manipulate and/or
inspire.
Antony’s funeral
oration
Don’t be mindless
sheep. Think about
what leaders are
saying and why they
are saying it.
Others?
Themes, continued
Power can go to one’s head:
Antony takes power and abuses
it with JC’s will/ also he makes
a “hit list” of people to kill once
the conspirators have left and
he, Octavius, and Lepidus have
formed the 2nd Triumvirate.
The Color of Water, James McBride
Setting
Point of View
Characters
New York:
Brooklyn,
Queens
First person
(2 narrator)
James
McBride:
main
character/
narrator
Virginia
Kentucky
(summers /
James “bad”
period to
stay w/ his
sister Jack)
Oberlin, Ohio
Wilmington,
Delaware
Conflicts
Man vs. self:
James
struggles to
Andrew
identify who
Dennis
he is /Ruth
McBride: 1st
changes who
husband
Ruth McBride she is when
Jordan
she moves to
Tateh
NY
Mameh
Hunter
Sam
Jordan: 2nd
Man vs. Man:
Dee Dee
husband
Ruth vs. her
dad who
Chicken Man: Peter: her 1st sexually
his death
boyfriend
molests her.
spurs James
to get back
Frances:
on the “right childhood
track”
friend
Themes
Finding
yourself
through
mistakes,
struggles and
hardships.
Ex: James
questions the
color difference
b/t himself and
his mother so he
doesn’t
understand who
he is when he is
younger, but
eventually he
investigates his
mother’s past
and discovers
who she is
Themes continued
When Ruth married her first
husband, her family disowned
her. So she had to find her own
path through life with her
husband and children
She also changes her religion to
one that is more relevant to her
and her new life.
Symbols
Color: what color is God? Is he black or
white? The minister says he’s all colors /
James’s brother then says he’s gray/
James’s mother says God is the color of
water = water has no color.
Bicycle: her way of grieving/ escape from
grief after husband dies. James is
embarrassed b/c it showed she was
different from others.
Names (changing them): change of
identity. Rachel when in U.S. / Ruth when
she moved to N.Y.
Foreshadowing
Ruth’s feelings for her father
are cold, we find out it’s b/c he
molested her.