American Lit

Front 1

My Kinsman, Major Molineux

Back 1

• By Nathaniel Hawthorne
• Hawthorne & Poe were among the first short story authors
• Artistically arranged, depthly written
• Similar to Rip Van Winkle

Front 2

My Kinsman, Major Molineux

Back 2

• 1750’s - Many governors were very loyal to New England
• Molineux (Robin’s uncle) was tarred & feathered b/c he is a loyalist
• Robin- symbolizes young America
• Molineux- symbolizes New England
• Robin daydreams about his family in the church & pictures them praying near a tree outside
• Meets a cynical man who mocks Robin’s innocence

Front 3

My Kinsman, Major Molineux

Back 3

• Rebellion is necessary to become your own
• Country homeRobinCity
• Romantic image of society
o Tree/Sunset
o Domestic worship
o Family/Neighbors

Front 4

Edgar Allan Poe

Back 4

• Two worst things
o Marries 13yr old cousin, Virginia
o Alcoholic
• Born 1809, Boston
• Died from alcohol 1849

Front 5

Edgar Allan Poe

Back 5

• 1st major southern author
• Good primary & secondary
• Wrote science fiction stories
• 1st modern detective stories/heroes
• Age of grave robbers
• Fear of being buried alive
• “Loss of breath”
• 2 ambitions-poet & an editor

Front 6

Edgar Allan Poe

Back 6

• Lived with Aunt Marie O’Quinn
• Wife dies at age 26
• Quarreled with John Allan b/c of money and his unfaithfulness
• Joins army & is accepted at West Point
• Wanted to be a pope & editor

Front 7

Plato

Back 7

put Socrates’ thoughts into words
• It’s good to love, beauty connects the ideal and the earth
• God is amorphous, does not have form nor a body, he is a spirit –Socrates
• The Ideal- “Heaven” – godliness, perfection, plutonic love
• 450 BC – 550 BC

Front 8

The Raven

Back 8

• Speaker has lost his beautiful lady Lenore
• Visited by a raven who said one word- “Nevermore”
• Pallas-Athena
• Alludes with Greek Gods
• Pluto-Hades-God of death
• Nepenthe- a break, a relief from grief
GodBeautiful LadySuitor
HeavensAnnabel LeeSpeaker

Front 9

Emily Dickinson

Back 9

• Born 1830, New England, Never married
• Began writing poetry in her 20s
• 1775 poems, only published 10-12
• Poems are known from the 1st line
• Went to Ann Hurst Academy for girls
• Never joined her parents church

Front 10

Epigram

Back 10

Fairly short poem, with contradiction, irony, paradox

Front 11

Ballad meter

Back 11

Syllables of 8 then 6
(can be sung)
Speaker, persona-rather than author

Front 12

Allegory

Back 12

type of symbolism, in which symbols are more or less clearly labeled so that a pattern of meaning emerges easily

Front 13

Era of American Realism

Back 13

• Realism-a literary movement that places emphasis upon economic, cultural, ethnic and psychological conflicts of people in society
• “Fidelity to experience”/ ”Probability of motive”
• William Dean Howells- editor of Atlantic Monthly when James Lowell retired

Front 14

Industrial Revolution

Back 14

• Manufacturing, clothing, industrial growth, better health care, technology, vaccines
• “Mark Twain”
• Realistic writers write from experience
• Negative social effects tramps, hobos
• Crimes, violence
• Realism in America begins after Civil War

Front 15

Samuel Clemens

Back 15

Mark Twain”- pen name, river boat term
• 1835-1910 Halie’s comet returned
• Characters in “Tom Sawyer” are fictional
• Job as a printer’s apprentice

Front 16

Samuel Clemens

Back 16

• Horace Bixby- Steamboat pilot, taught him how to pilot a riverboat
• Joined small military army-traitor, deserter
• Became a minor, then a nonfiction writer
• Lost all children but one. Wife died
• “The Damn Human Race” –dark & cynical

Front 17

Satire

Back 17

comic portrayal that man parts from reason, common sense, ethnics or morality

Front 18

Irony

Back 18

a statement, event, or point of view contrary to what is intended of expected.
• There is irony between what we & Huck see

Front 19

BLAH

Back 19

• The Adv. Of Tom Sawyer
Narrator is Mark Twain
• Adv of Huck Finn
Narrator is Huck
• Miss Watson uses Hell to frighten Huck
• Huck is very superstitious

Front 20

Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

Back 20

1. Satire on Romanticism
2. Satire on Sentimentality
3. Satire on debased Religious Notions
4. Satire on Hierarchical Notions
5. Freedom versus “sivilization”
6. Cynicism
7. The natural human potential for friendship
8. African Humanity

Front 21

Static Characters-

Back 21

those who don’t change (Tom)

Front 22

Dynamic Characters

Back 22

those who change (Huck)

Front 23

ADV HUCK FINN

Back 23

General Structure
• Introduction of civilization
• Flight from civilization
• A return to civilization

Tone –Ironic, Satire, Cyterical
Superstitions- debased religious notions
Steamboat- Symbol of civilization

Front 24

ADV HUCK FINN

Back 24

• Miss Watson doesn’t have hesitation in judging Tom and Huck to hell.
• Shepardson’s & Grangerford’s go to church with guns and fight with each other.
• The colonel was only concerned with his pride than his son’s life.
• Cynical attitude is Mark Twain’s writings

Front 25

Major scenes of cynicism

Back 25

3 Major Scenes of Cynicism
1. Grangerfords
2. Shooting of Boggs
3. Death of Peter Wilks

Front 26

ADV HUCK FINN

Back 26

Huck & Jim have mutual friendship
Jim needs Huck for the boat
Huck needs Jim for companionship
Huck’s racism is challenged as their friendship continues.