Short Story Literary Terms-Collections 1-3
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http://ai.stanford.edu/~csewell/culture/litterms.htm
Reading Collection-Unit 1
Harrison Bergeron by Kurt Vonnegut Jr. p36-45
"Harrison Bergeron" is a satirical and dystopian science-fiction short story written by Kurt Vonnegut and first published in October 1961. Originally published in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, the story was republished in the author's Welcome to the Monkey House collection in 1968. The story was written as a satire to offer a critique on people's claims that we should all be equal.[1] It has been embraced by those critical of egalitarianism as an allegory of caution against socially enforced equality, more specifically the dangers of enforcing equality by virtue of leveling.[2]
"Harrison Bergeron" is set in the United States in 2081, when laws require everyone to be average or handicapped into average sameness. The story describes an attempt to create a Utopian, or perfect, society in the United States by abolishing all kinds of competition. One day, tall, brilliant 14-year-old Harrison Bergeron is arrested. He escapes and storms a TV studio. Removing his handicaps, he declares himself Emperor but is killed by authorities.
Literary Terms:Plot, Conflict, Inference,
Vocabulary: consternation, cower, synchronize, neutralize, vigilance, wince
"Harrison Bergeron" is set in the United States in 2081, when laws require everyone to be average or handicapped into average sameness. The story describes an attempt to create a Utopian, or perfect, society in the United States by abolishing all kinds of competition. One day, tall, brilliant 14-year-old Harrison Bergeron is arrested. He escapes and storms a TV studio. Removing his handicaps, he declares himself Emperor but is killed by authorities.
Literary Terms:Plot, Conflict, Inference,
Vocabulary: consternation, cower, synchronize, neutralize, vigilance, wince
Everyday Use by Alice Walker p48-61
a widely studied and frequently anthologized short story by Alice Walker. It was first published in 1973 as part of Walker's short story collection, In Love and Trouble. The story is told in first person by the "Mama" (Mrs Johnson), a black woman living in the Deep South with one of her two daughters. The story humorously illustrates the differences between Mrs Johnson and her shy younger daughter Maggie, who still live traditionally in the rural South, and her educated, successful daughter Dee (or "Wangero", as she prefers to be called), who scorns her immediate roots in favor of a pretentious "native African" identity.
Literary Terms: Conflict (Internal/External), Implied conflict, Simile, Flashback, Diction, Irony (Verbal, Situational), Figure of Speech
Words to Own: sidle, furtive, doctrines, cowering, rifling, oppress, heritage, recompose
Literary Terms: Conflict (Internal/External), Implied conflict, Simile, Flashback, Diction, Irony (Verbal, Situational), Figure of Speech
Words to Own: sidle, furtive, doctrines, cowering, rifling, oppress, heritage, recompose
Study Help
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Everyday_Use
http://www.k-state.edu/english/baker/english251/sg-Walker-EU.htm (In-depth study help)
http://xroads.virginia.edu/~ug97/quilt/walker.html (Full Text)
http://www.k-state.edu/english/baker/english251/sg-Walker-EU.htm (In-depth study help)
http://xroads.virginia.edu/~ug97/quilt/walker.html (Full Text)
Searching for Summer by Joan Aiken p64-75
"Searching for Summer" is a story set in the future after bombs have clouded the skies, telling of Tom and Lilly, who want to spend their honeymoon in the sunshine--but instead they get stuck in a dreary village before discovering a home bathed in sunshine. They spend three blissful days there, but then leave rather than reveal the cottage's location. Aiken wrote the story in the 1950's, setting the story in the future '80's'--perhaps the 1980s or 2080s. When the story was published nuclear disaster was an ever-present threat. New nuclear weapons were being tested, and radioactive fallout rained down from the sky, polluting the environment.
The setting mirrors a situation that scientists now call Nuclear Winter. In the 1980s, scientists began predicting that a Nuclear Winter would be the likely outcome of a nuclear war. Estimates unfolded concerning the amounts of dust and soot that would be generated by such a conflict, and how it would fill the earth's atmosphere. The resulting 'cloud' in the atmosphere would absorb sunlight, resulting in less reaching the ground and days would become dark and overcast. Plants would not receive enough light for photosynthesis, and temperatures would plummet. These details are almost identical to those imagined by Aiken when she wrote "Searching for Summer" in the 1950s.
Literary Terms: Setting, Mood (Atmosphere), Conflict (Internal/External), Hypothesis
Vocabulary: commiserate, disengage, indomitable, rudimentary, savoring, unavailing, voluble, wizened
The setting mirrors a situation that scientists now call Nuclear Winter. In the 1980s, scientists began predicting that a Nuclear Winter would be the likely outcome of a nuclear war. Estimates unfolded concerning the amounts of dust and soot that would be generated by such a conflict, and how it would fill the earth's atmosphere. The resulting 'cloud' in the atmosphere would absorb sunlight, resulting in less reaching the ground and days would become dark and overcast. Plants would not receive enough light for photosynthesis, and temperatures would plummet. These details are almost identical to those imagined by Aiken when she wrote "Searching for Summer" in the 1950s.
Literary Terms: Setting, Mood (Atmosphere), Conflict (Internal/External), Hypothesis
Vocabulary: commiserate, disengage, indomitable, rudimentary, savoring, unavailing, voluble, wizened
To Build a Fire by Jack London p78-96
"To Build a Fire" is the title of two short stories by American author Jack London published in 1902 and 1908. The 1908 story has become an often anthologized classic; the 1902 story describes a similar situation but has a different, less famous plot. The 1908 "To Build a Fire" is an oft-cited example of the naturalist movement that portrays the conflict of man vs. nature. It also reflects what London learned in the Yukon Territory.
This story takes place during the Klondike Gold Rush, which began in 1897, almost a half century after the first major North American gold rush at Sutter's Mill in California. The Klondike River, a tributary of the Yukon River, runs through a corner of northwestern Canada called the Yukon Territory. By 1898, thousands of hopeful miners were pouring into the region, arriving mostly by Skagway, Alaska, and traveling hundreds of miles by trail and then by boat to the gold fields around the town of Dawson Creek, Canada. Many of the miners were physically and emotionally unprepared for the conditions they encountered: steep terrain, bitter cold and frozen ground that was difficult to mine. Many lost their pack animals, their possessions and even their lives.Only about a third of those who set off for the Klondike managed to complete the journey--and though some "Klondike Kings" became immensely rich, most of the miners were sorely disappointed.
Literary Terms: Setting. Internal/External Conflict, Foreshadowing, Mood, Idiom, Tone
Vocabulary: apprehension, conflagration, conjectural, imperative, intangible, peremptorily, reiterate, smite
This story takes place during the Klondike Gold Rush, which began in 1897, almost a half century after the first major North American gold rush at Sutter's Mill in California. The Klondike River, a tributary of the Yukon River, runs through a corner of northwestern Canada called the Yukon Territory. By 1898, thousands of hopeful miners were pouring into the region, arriving mostly by Skagway, Alaska, and traveling hundreds of miles by trail and then by boat to the gold fields around the town of Dawson Creek, Canada. Many of the miners were physically and emotionally unprepared for the conditions they encountered: steep terrain, bitter cold and frozen ground that was difficult to mine. Many lost their pack animals, their possessions and even their lives.Only about a third of those who set off for the Klondike managed to complete the journey--and though some "Klondike Kings" became immensely rich, most of the miners were sorely disappointed.
Literary Terms: Setting. Internal/External Conflict, Foreshadowing, Mood, Idiom, Tone
Vocabulary: apprehension, conflagration, conjectural, imperative, intangible, peremptorily, reiterate, smite
from The Johnston Flood by David McCullough p106-116
The Johnstown Flood (locally, the Great Flood of 1889) occurred on May 31, 1889, after the catastrophic failure of the South Fork Dam on the Little Conemaugh River 14 miles (23 km) upstream of the town of Johnstown, Pennsylvania. The dam broke after several days of extremely heavy rainfall, unleashing 20 million tons of water (18 million cubic meters) from the reservoir known as Lake Conemaugh. With a flow rate that temporarily equalled that of the Mississippi River,[2] the flood killed 2,209 people[3] and caused US$17 million of damage (about $425 million in 2012 dollars).
The South Fork Dam near the Quinns' home was originally designed to create a reservoir that could feed the Pennsylvania Canal. Retired from that purpose, the dam was taken over by a wealthy gentleman's club, who continued to raise the height of the dam without paying careful attention to proper construction techniques, such as allowing for water overflows. The dam became incapable of containing the water behind it, and despite efforts of townspeople and club members at the last minute, the dam gave way.
The American Red Cross, led by Clara Barton and with 50 volunteers, undertook a major disaster relief effort.[4] Support for victims came from all over the United States and 18 foreign countries. After the flood, survivors suffered a series of legal defeats in their attempts to recover damages from the dam's owners. Public indignation at that failure prompted the development in American law changing a fault-based regime to strict liability.
Literary Terms: Conflict, Historical Narrative, Mood, Syntax, Chronological Order, Transition
The South Fork Dam near the Quinns' home was originally designed to create a reservoir that could feed the Pennsylvania Canal. Retired from that purpose, the dam was taken over by a wealthy gentleman's club, who continued to raise the height of the dam without paying careful attention to proper construction techniques, such as allowing for water overflows. The dam became incapable of containing the water behind it, and despite efforts of townspeople and club members at the last minute, the dam gave way.
The American Red Cross, led by Clara Barton and with 50 volunteers, undertook a major disaster relief effort.[4] Support for victims came from all over the United States and 18 foreign countries. After the flood, survivors suffered a series of legal defeats in their attempts to recover damages from the dam's owners. Public indignation at that failure prompted the development in American law changing a fault-based regime to strict liability.
Literary Terms: Conflict, Historical Narrative, Mood, Syntax, Chronological Order, Transition
The Race to Save Apollo 13 by Michael Useem p118-139
In May 1961, President John F. Kennedy issued a challenge in a speech to Congress, stating that the United States should become the first nation to land astronauts on the moon and return them home safely. Kennedy believed this goal was necessary because the Soviet Union had recently sent a human into space. Although Kennedy did not live to see it, NASA achieved his goal. In July 1969, the Apollo program successfully landed astronauts on the moon, and about 700 million television viewers around the world watched the historic moment. But after the mission ended, it was difficult to keep up the level of excitement. The launch of Apollo 13 in April 1970 stirred little public interest. That changed when an oxygen tank exploded about the spacecraft Odyssey. In just moments, a seemingly routine mission became a full-blown crisis.
Apollo 13 was the seventh manned mission in the AmericanApollo space program and the third intended to land on the Moon. The craft was launched on April 11, 1970, at 13:13 CST from the Kennedy Space Center, Florida, but the lunar landing was aborted after an oxygen tank exploded two days later, crippling the Service Module (SM) upon which the Command Module (CM) depended. Despite great hardship caused by limited power, loss of cabin heat, shortage of potable water, and the critical need to jury-rig the carbon dioxide removal system, the crew returned safely to Earth on April 17.
The flight was commanded by James A. Lovell with John L. "Jack" Swigert as Command Module Pilot and Fred W. Haise as Lunar Module Pilot. Swigert was a late replacement for the original CM pilot Ken Mattingly, who was grounded by the flight surgeon after exposure to German measles.
Apollo 13 consisted of two main modules: the first one, code-named Odyssey, had two parts--a command module and a service module--with the crew living in and communicating to Mission Control in Houston from the command module. The Odyssey service module, which was connected to the command module, contained all the consumable supplies, such as water, oxygen and fuel. The other main module was the lunar landing module, code-named Aquarius, that also had two parts. The first part was an operating base; the second, living quarters. Although none of the modules were spacious, the control module had couches for the three crew members' comfort.
Literary Terms: suspense, conflict, mood, tone, Inference, point of view
Vocabulary: collaborative, innovative, mandate, replenish, respite, trajectory, spacecraft, slingshot, frontline, shortcuts, trouble-shooting
Apollo 13 was the seventh manned mission in the AmericanApollo space program and the third intended to land on the Moon. The craft was launched on April 11, 1970, at 13:13 CST from the Kennedy Space Center, Florida, but the lunar landing was aborted after an oxygen tank exploded two days later, crippling the Service Module (SM) upon which the Command Module (CM) depended. Despite great hardship caused by limited power, loss of cabin heat, shortage of potable water, and the critical need to jury-rig the carbon dioxide removal system, the crew returned safely to Earth on April 17.
The flight was commanded by James A. Lovell with John L. "Jack" Swigert as Command Module Pilot and Fred W. Haise as Lunar Module Pilot. Swigert was a late replacement for the original CM pilot Ken Mattingly, who was grounded by the flight surgeon after exposure to German measles.
Apollo 13 consisted of two main modules: the first one, code-named Odyssey, had two parts--a command module and a service module--with the crew living in and communicating to Mission Control in Houston from the command module. The Odyssey service module, which was connected to the command module, contained all the consumable supplies, such as water, oxygen and fuel. The other main module was the lunar landing module, code-named Aquarius, that also had two parts. The first part was an operating base; the second, living quarters. Although none of the modules were spacious, the control module had couches for the three crew members' comfort.
Literary Terms: suspense, conflict, mood, tone, Inference, point of view
Vocabulary: collaborative, innovative, mandate, replenish, respite, trajectory, spacecraft, slingshot, frontline, shortcuts, trouble-shooting
Reading Collection-Unit 2
Shoofly Pie by Naomi Shihab Nye p182-200
In "Shoofly Pie," Mattie distracts herself from the grief she feels after her mother's death by becoming a cook at the Good for You Restaurant. There, she comes into conflict with Johnny, the rude chef. After about six months, she leaves. She has made friends, resolved her conflict with Johnny, and coped, in some ways, with her grief.
Nye's inspiration for the Good for You Restaurant in "Shoofly Pie" came from her own memories. While attending college, she worked as a cook at a natural foods restaurant called the Greenwood Grocery, and the experience left a lasting impression. Nye says that she has made several attempts in her writing to memorialize the "characters, flavors and fragrances" of a place that has since passed out of existence.
Shoofly pie (or shoo-fly pie)[1] is a molasses pie considered traditional among the Pennsylvania Dutch.[2] The pie may get its name because the sweet molasses odor attracts flies that must be "shooed" away.[3][4] The shoofly pie's origins may come from the treacle tart with the primary difference being the use of molasses rather than golden syrup.[5] A Montgomery pie is similar to a shoofly pie, except lemon juice is usually added to the bottom layer and buttermilk to the topping. A chess pie is also similar, but it is unlayered.
Shoofly pie also comes in two different versions – wet bottom and dry bottom. The dry bottom version is baked until fully set and results in a more cake-like consistency throughout. The wet bottom version is set like cake at the top where it has mixed in with the crumbs, but the very bottom is a stickier, gooier custard-like consistency.
Literary Terms: Character Traits, Conflict, Tone, Mood, Static Character, Dynamic Character, Compare, Contrast
Nye's inspiration for the Good for You Restaurant in "Shoofly Pie" came from her own memories. While attending college, she worked as a cook at a natural foods restaurant called the Greenwood Grocery, and the experience left a lasting impression. Nye says that she has made several attempts in her writing to memorialize the "characters, flavors and fragrances" of a place that has since passed out of existence.
Shoofly pie (or shoo-fly pie)[1] is a molasses pie considered traditional among the Pennsylvania Dutch.[2] The pie may get its name because the sweet molasses odor attracts flies that must be "shooed" away.[3][4] The shoofly pie's origins may come from the treacle tart with the primary difference being the use of molasses rather than golden syrup.[5] A Montgomery pie is similar to a shoofly pie, except lemon juice is usually added to the bottom layer and buttermilk to the topping. A chess pie is also similar, but it is unlayered.
Shoofly pie also comes in two different versions – wet bottom and dry bottom. The dry bottom version is baked until fully set and results in a more cake-like consistency throughout. The wet bottom version is set like cake at the top where it has mixed in with the crumbs, but the very bottom is a stickier, gooier custard-like consistency.
Literary Terms: Character Traits, Conflict, Tone, Mood, Static Character, Dynamic Character, Compare, Contrast
The Possibility of Evil by Shirley Jackson p202-217
"The Possibility of Evil" is a 1965 short story by Shirley Jackson. Published on December 18, 1965, in the Saturday Evening Post,[1] a few months after her death, it won the 1966 Edgar Allan Poe Award for best mystery short story.[2]It has since been reprinted in the 1996 collection Just an Ordinary Day as well as "Elements of English 10" for high school students.[3]
While not as well-known or read as her later classic, "The Lottery", it later became a set work in high school Englishclasses.
Miss Adela Strangeworth lives on Pleasant Street in her ancestral home. She is described prominently as a harmless old lady in the beginning of the story. Through conversations with the people in her town, it is evident that Miss Strangeworth often believes that she owns the town, and has great interest in the townspeople. She also takes great pride in the orderliness of her house, as well as her family roses. However, Miss Strangeworth is not such a quiet figure in her town; she often writes anonymous letters to her neighbors, which are rarely based on fact and more on what gossip she has heard during her walks down the streets. When she is mailing some of them, one is dropped on the ground and one of her neighbors (whom she had once made a subject of her uncouth letters) notices, and, feeling kind, delivers it to the intended recipient (unaware the letter is meant to be anonymous). The next morning, Miss Strangeworth receives a similarly written letter, informing her that her roses, a source of her familial pride, have been destroyed. The story examines many themes, such as a person being two-faced, as well as how a single person can make a mark on a community.
Literary Terms: Character Motivation, Inference
While not as well-known or read as her later classic, "The Lottery", it later became a set work in high school Englishclasses.
Miss Adela Strangeworth lives on Pleasant Street in her ancestral home. She is described prominently as a harmless old lady in the beginning of the story. Through conversations with the people in her town, it is evident that Miss Strangeworth often believes that she owns the town, and has great interest in the townspeople. She also takes great pride in the orderliness of her house, as well as her family roses. However, Miss Strangeworth is not such a quiet figure in her town; she often writes anonymous letters to her neighbors, which are rarely based on fact and more on what gossip she has heard during her walks down the streets. When she is mailing some of them, one is dropped on the ground and one of her neighbors (whom she had once made a subject of her uncouth letters) notices, and, feeling kind, delivers it to the intended recipient (unaware the letter is meant to be anonymous). The next morning, Miss Strangeworth receives a similarly written letter, informing her that her roses, a source of her familial pride, have been destroyed. The story examines many themes, such as a person being two-faced, as well as how a single person can make a mark on a community.
Literary Terms: Character Motivation, Inference
Like the Sun by R.K. Narayan p218-223
In "Like the Sun," Sekhar, a school teacher in India, knows that the truth may be shocking; nevertheless, he sets apart one day to be totally honest. His resolve is tested by his wife and then by a colleague. When his boss, the headmaster, asks Sekhar to comment on his musical talent, Sekhar tells the truth again. The price for his candor: he must grade 100 overdue papers that night.
The central scene in the story features a performance of classical and folk music. In India instrumental and vocal music is often performed in small ensembles, like the group of three that performs in this story. Although classical music is played and appreciated only by an elite minority, folk music and classical music are often intertwined and are based on classical ragas: ancient melodic patterns. Vocalists and instrumentalists improvise on these patterns, often in performances that go on for long periods of time. These performances usually delight audiences, but when the vocalist or musicians are unskilled, as in the story, they can result in boredom or worse.
The setting for most of Narayan's stories is the fictional town of Malgudi, first introduced in Swami and Friends. His narratives highlight social context and provide a feel for his characters through everyday life. He has been compared to William Faulkner, who also created a fictional town that stood for reality, brought out the humour and energy of ordinary life, and displayed compassionate humanism in his writing. Narayan's short story writing style has been compared to that of Guy de Maupassant, as they both have an ability to compress the narrative without losing out on elements of the story. Narayan has also come in for criticism for being too simple in his prose and diction.
Literary Terms: Prediction, Moral Dilemma, Character, Plot, Absolute Truth, Denotation, Connotation
The central scene in the story features a performance of classical and folk music. In India instrumental and vocal music is often performed in small ensembles, like the group of three that performs in this story. Although classical music is played and appreciated only by an elite minority, folk music and classical music are often intertwined and are based on classical ragas: ancient melodic patterns. Vocalists and instrumentalists improvise on these patterns, often in performances that go on for long periods of time. These performances usually delight audiences, but when the vocalist or musicians are unskilled, as in the story, they can result in boredom or worse.
The setting for most of Narayan's stories is the fictional town of Malgudi, first introduced in Swami and Friends. His narratives highlight social context and provide a feel for his characters through everyday life. He has been compared to William Faulkner, who also created a fictional town that stood for reality, brought out the humour and energy of ordinary life, and displayed compassionate humanism in his writing. Narayan's short story writing style has been compared to that of Guy de Maupassant, as they both have an ability to compress the narrative without losing out on elements of the story. Narayan has also come in for criticism for being too simple in his prose and diction.
Literary Terms: Prediction, Moral Dilemma, Character, Plot, Absolute Truth, Denotation, Connotation
Drama
A Marriage Proposal by Anton Chekhov p258-274
In A Marriage Proposal, Lomov asks his neighbor Tschubukov for permission to marry Natalia, Tschubukov's daughter. Tschubukov agrees, but then the men quarrel. Exasperated, Tschubukov announces that Lomov and Natalia are engaged.
A Marriage Proposal (sometimes translated as simply The Proposal) is a one-act farce by Anton Chekhov, written in 1888-1889 and first performed in 1890. It is a fast-paced play of dialogue-based action and situational humor.
Ivan Vassiliyitch Lomov, a long-time neighbor of Stepan Stepanovitch Chubukov, has come to propose marriage to Chubukov's 25-year-old daughter, Natalia. After he has asked and received joyful permission to marry Natalya, she is invited into the room, and he tries to convey to her the proposal. Lomov is a hypochondriac, and, while trying to make clear his reasons for being there, he gets into an argument with Natalia about The Oxen Meadows, a disputed piece of land between their respective properties, which results in him having "palpitations" and numbness in his leg. After her father notices they are arguing, he joins in, and then sends Ivan out of the house. While Stepan rants about Lomov, he expresses his shock that "this fool dares to make you (Natalya) a proposal of marriage!" She immediately starts into hysterics, begging for her father to bring him back. He does, and Natalia and Ivan get into a second big argument, this time about the superiority of their respective hunting dogs, Guess and Squeezer. Ivan collapses from his exhaustion over arguing, and father and daughter fear he's dead. However, after a few minutes he regains consciousness, and Chubukov all but forces him and his daughter to accept the proposal with a kiss. Immediately following the kiss, the couple gets into another argument.
The farce explores the process of getting married and could be read as a satire on the upper middle class and courtship.
The play points out the struggle to balance the economic necessities of marriage with what the characters themselves actually want. It shows the characters' desperation for marriage as comical.
In Chekhov's Russia, marriage was a means of economic stability for most people. They married to gain wealth and possessions or to satisfy social pressure. The satire is conveyed successfully by emphasizing the couple's foolish arguments over small things. The main arguments in the play revolve around The Oxen Meadows and two dogs called Guess and Squeezer.
Literary Terms: Farce, Dialogue, Characters, Monologue, Aside, Stage Directions, Hypothesis
Vocabulary: contrary, glutton, mediate, usurper, patronymic
A Marriage Proposal (sometimes translated as simply The Proposal) is a one-act farce by Anton Chekhov, written in 1888-1889 and first performed in 1890. It is a fast-paced play of dialogue-based action and situational humor.
Ivan Vassiliyitch Lomov, a long-time neighbor of Stepan Stepanovitch Chubukov, has come to propose marriage to Chubukov's 25-year-old daughter, Natalia. After he has asked and received joyful permission to marry Natalya, she is invited into the room, and he tries to convey to her the proposal. Lomov is a hypochondriac, and, while trying to make clear his reasons for being there, he gets into an argument with Natalia about The Oxen Meadows, a disputed piece of land between their respective properties, which results in him having "palpitations" and numbness in his leg. After her father notices they are arguing, he joins in, and then sends Ivan out of the house. While Stepan rants about Lomov, he expresses his shock that "this fool dares to make you (Natalya) a proposal of marriage!" She immediately starts into hysterics, begging for her father to bring him back. He does, and Natalia and Ivan get into a second big argument, this time about the superiority of their respective hunting dogs, Guess and Squeezer. Ivan collapses from his exhaustion over arguing, and father and daughter fear he's dead. However, after a few minutes he regains consciousness, and Chubukov all but forces him and his daughter to accept the proposal with a kiss. Immediately following the kiss, the couple gets into another argument.
The farce explores the process of getting married and could be read as a satire on the upper middle class and courtship.
The play points out the struggle to balance the economic necessities of marriage with what the characters themselves actually want. It shows the characters' desperation for marriage as comical.
In Chekhov's Russia, marriage was a means of economic stability for most people. They married to gain wealth and possessions or to satisfy social pressure. The satire is conveyed successfully by emphasizing the couple's foolish arguments over small things. The main arguments in the play revolve around The Oxen Meadows and two dogs called Guess and Squeezer.
Literary Terms: Farce, Dialogue, Characters, Monologue, Aside, Stage Directions, Hypothesis
Vocabulary: contrary, glutton, mediate, usurper, patronymic
Reading Collection-Unit 3
By the Waters of Babylon by Stephen Vincent Benet p308-322
Babylon is a post-holocaust story, set sometime after a future war has destroyed our present civilization, and the descendants of the survivours wander amongst the ruins wondering at the nature of those who built the abandoned marvels surrounding them. In many respects this is similar to how some later peoples regarded monolithic architectural remains of Roman, Egyptian and other fallen empires and kingdoms.The dystopic tale, 'By the Waters of Babylon', was first published in 1937, years before the Atomic Bomb. The tale was set in the future, in a world after the Great Burning - the fire which fell out of the sky.
Set in a future following the destruction of industrial civilization, the story is narrated by a young man[3] named John who is the son of a priest. The priests of John’s people are inquisitive "scientists" associated with the divine. They are the only ones who can handle metal collected from the homes (called the "Dead Places") of long-dead people whom they believe to be gods. The plot follows John’s self-assigned mission to get to the Place of the Gods. His father allows him to go on a spiritual journey, but does not know he is going to this forbidden place.
John takes a journey through the forest for eight days, and crosses the river Ou-dis-sun. Once John gets to the Place of the Gods, he feels the energy and magic there. He sees a statue of a "god" — in point of fact, a human — that says "ASHING" on its base. He also sees a building marked "UBTREAS". After being chased by dogs and sleeping in someone's apartment, John sees a dead god. Upon viewing the visage, he has an epiphany that the gods were simply humans whose power overwhelmed good judgment. After John returns to his tribe, he speaks of the places "newyork" and "Biltmore". His father tells him not to, for sometimes too much truth is a bad thing, that it must be told little by little. The story ends with John stating his conviction that, once he becomes the head priest, "We must build again."
Literary Terms: Allusion, Summarizing, Visualizing, Plot, Setting, Conflict, Resolution, Character Analysis, Conclusions, Synthesizing, Author's Purpose, First-Person Point of View, Naive Narrator, Inference, Tone, Figurative Language, Idioms
Vocabulary: perplexed, customs, ignorant, naive, pessimistic
Set in a future following the destruction of industrial civilization, the story is narrated by a young man[3] named John who is the son of a priest. The priests of John’s people are inquisitive "scientists" associated with the divine. They are the only ones who can handle metal collected from the homes (called the "Dead Places") of long-dead people whom they believe to be gods. The plot follows John’s self-assigned mission to get to the Place of the Gods. His father allows him to go on a spiritual journey, but does not know he is going to this forbidden place.
John takes a journey through the forest for eight days, and crosses the river Ou-dis-sun. Once John gets to the Place of the Gods, he feels the energy and magic there. He sees a statue of a "god" — in point of fact, a human — that says "ASHING" on its base. He also sees a building marked "UBTREAS". After being chased by dogs and sleeping in someone's apartment, John sees a dead god. Upon viewing the visage, he has an epiphany that the gods were simply humans whose power overwhelmed good judgment. After John returns to his tribe, he speaks of the places "newyork" and "Biltmore". His father tells him not to, for sometimes too much truth is a bad thing, that it must be told little by little. The story ends with John stating his conviction that, once he becomes the head priest, "We must build again."
Literary Terms: Allusion, Summarizing, Visualizing, Plot, Setting, Conflict, Resolution, Character Analysis, Conclusions, Synthesizing, Author's Purpose, First-Person Point of View, Naive Narrator, Inference, Tone, Figurative Language, Idioms
Vocabulary: perplexed, customs, ignorant, naive, pessimistic
Study Help
http://www.tkinter.smig.net/Outings/RosemountGhosts/Babylon.htm (Full text)
http://www.ingilizcepratik.net/by-waters-babylon-by-stephen-vincent-benet-t-97829.html (Full text)
http://www.ingilizcepratik.net/by-waters-babylon-by-stephen-vincent-benet-t-97829.html (Full text)
by_the_waters_of_babylon.doc | |
File Size: | 24 kb |
File Type: | doc |
Video of short story: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Xzy6_ZavW0weeblylink_new_window
There Will Come Soft Rains by Ray Bradbury p324-334
"There Will Come Soft Rains" is a short story by science fiction author Ray Bradbury which was first published in the May 6, 1950 issue of Collier's. Later that same year the story was included in Bradbury's The Martian Chronicles (1950).
The story begins by introducing the reader to a computer-controlled house that cooks, cleans, and takes care of virtually every need that a well-to-do United States family could be assumed to have. The reader enters the text on the morning of August 4, 2026, and follows the house through some of the daily tasks that it performs as it prepares its inhabitants for a day of work. At first, it is not apparent that anything is wrong, but eventually it becomes clear that the residents of the house are not present and that the house is empty. While no direct explanation of the nonexistence of the family is produced, the silhouettes of a woman, a man, two children, and their play ball are described as having been burnt into one side of the house, implying that they were all incinerated by the thermal flash of possibly a nuclear weapon.
The house is described as standing amidst the ruins of a city; the leveled urban area is described briefly as emitting a "radioactive glow".[1] The house is the only thing left standing, and continues to perform its duties, unaware that the family is gone. At one point, further insight into the demise of the family is given when a tape recorder within the house recites a poem by Sara Teasdale called "There Will Come Soft Rains". The poem describes how the Earth's other living things, and implicitly natureas a whole, are unaffected by an event of human extinction that has occurred as the result of an unnamed disaster.
At ten o'clock p.m., the house is finally destroyed as well when a gust of wind blows a tree branch through the kitchen window, spilling cleaning solvent on the stove and causing a fire to break out. The house warns the family to get out of the building and tries shutting doors to limit the spread. The house also attempts to fight the fire, but its water reservoirs have been depleted after numerous days of cooking and cleaning without replenishment. The house burns to the ground except for one wall, which continues to give the time and date the following morning.
In the original Collier's story, the story's events take place in a deserted house in the city of Allendale, California,[2] on April 28, 1985 (a year changed to 2026 in later printings). The title and motif of the story, as outlined above, comes from Sara Teasdale's 1920 poem, "There Will Come Soft Rains", which had a post-apocalyptic setting inspired by World War I. The imagery of the poem is echoed and expanded in the story.
The story portrays a scene of obliteration, in which the human race has been destroyed by a nuclear war. The fear of the devastating effects of nuclear force was typical of the Cold War era. The world was still recovering from the effects of World War II and events, such as the dropping of atomic bombs in Japan, were fresh in the minds of citizens throughout the world. In 1945, the United States released a nuclear bomb over the city of Hiroshima that destroyed nearly everything in the city.[3] Three days later, Nagasaki was also bombed.[4] Tens of thousands of people died as a direct result of the bombings, a quarter of a million more perished of radiation poisoning within 30 days.[4] Even though the war ended shortly after these events, the fear of retaliation and the increasing focus on the development of nuclear weapons by many military powers world wide produced fear in the minds of people.[3] After the war, tension increased between the two major military powers of the time, the U.S.S.R. and its satellite states, and NATO including the United States, culminating in the Cold War. This was a time of uncertainty, and the possibility of nuclear war was a daily fear.
Literary Terms: Chronological Order, Conclusion, Compare/Contrast
Vocabulary: silhouette, paranoia, manipulate, tremulous, oblivious, sublime, reveal, emerged, panels, ceased, reinforcements
The story begins by introducing the reader to a computer-controlled house that cooks, cleans, and takes care of virtually every need that a well-to-do United States family could be assumed to have. The reader enters the text on the morning of August 4, 2026, and follows the house through some of the daily tasks that it performs as it prepares its inhabitants for a day of work. At first, it is not apparent that anything is wrong, but eventually it becomes clear that the residents of the house are not present and that the house is empty. While no direct explanation of the nonexistence of the family is produced, the silhouettes of a woman, a man, two children, and their play ball are described as having been burnt into one side of the house, implying that they were all incinerated by the thermal flash of possibly a nuclear weapon.
The house is described as standing amidst the ruins of a city; the leveled urban area is described briefly as emitting a "radioactive glow".[1] The house is the only thing left standing, and continues to perform its duties, unaware that the family is gone. At one point, further insight into the demise of the family is given when a tape recorder within the house recites a poem by Sara Teasdale called "There Will Come Soft Rains". The poem describes how the Earth's other living things, and implicitly natureas a whole, are unaffected by an event of human extinction that has occurred as the result of an unnamed disaster.
At ten o'clock p.m., the house is finally destroyed as well when a gust of wind blows a tree branch through the kitchen window, spilling cleaning solvent on the stove and causing a fire to break out. The house warns the family to get out of the building and tries shutting doors to limit the spread. The house also attempts to fight the fire, but its water reservoirs have been depleted after numerous days of cooking and cleaning without replenishment. The house burns to the ground except for one wall, which continues to give the time and date the following morning.
In the original Collier's story, the story's events take place in a deserted house in the city of Allendale, California,[2] on April 28, 1985 (a year changed to 2026 in later printings). The title and motif of the story, as outlined above, comes from Sara Teasdale's 1920 poem, "There Will Come Soft Rains", which had a post-apocalyptic setting inspired by World War I. The imagery of the poem is echoed and expanded in the story.
The story portrays a scene of obliteration, in which the human race has been destroyed by a nuclear war. The fear of the devastating effects of nuclear force was typical of the Cold War era. The world was still recovering from the effects of World War II and events, such as the dropping of atomic bombs in Japan, were fresh in the minds of citizens throughout the world. In 1945, the United States released a nuclear bomb over the city of Hiroshima that destroyed nearly everything in the city.[3] Three days later, Nagasaki was also bombed.[4] Tens of thousands of people died as a direct result of the bombings, a quarter of a million more perished of radiation poisoning within 30 days.[4] Even though the war ended shortly after these events, the fear of retaliation and the increasing focus on the development of nuclear weapons by many military powers world wide produced fear in the minds of people.[3] After the war, tension increased between the two major military powers of the time, the U.S.S.R. and its satellite states, and NATO including the United States, culminating in the Cold War. This was a time of uncertainty, and the possibility of nuclear war was a daily fear.
Literary Terms: Chronological Order, Conclusion, Compare/Contrast
Vocabulary: silhouette, paranoia, manipulate, tremulous, oblivious, sublime, reveal, emerged, panels, ceased, reinforcements
The Doll's House by Katherine Mansfield p342-353
"The Doll's House" is a 1922 short story by Katherine Mansfield. It was first published in The Nation and Atheneum on 4 February 1922 and subsequently appeared in The Dove's Nest and Other Stories. Mansfield used an alternative title in other editions, including At Karori. The story is set in the late 1800s in New Zealand, which was then a colony of Great Britain. When the British emigrated there, they took with them not only their possessions but also the social prejudices of their native land. At the time, British society was divided among rigid class lines, birth usually determining a person social standing, and climbing the social scale was difficult. In her fiction, Mansfield criticized this elitist system.
Mrs. Hay has given a dolls' house to the Burnell children; it is minutely described, with special emphasis on a lamp inside of it as they want to tell us that there is some hope for the town to stop from class discrimination, which the youngest girl, Kezia, thinks is the best part of the dolls' house. The next morning they cannot wait to show it off to their school friends; Isabel bossily says she will be the one to decide who is allowed to come and see it in the house as she is the eldest. The Kelveys, two poor girls, Lil and our Else, will not be allowed to do so because they are of a much lower social class. Later, Isabel and two of her friends, Emmie Cole and Lena Logan, taunt the Kelveys about their low social status. Soon afterwards Kezia impulsively decides to show them the house anyway as she does not understand why the Kelveys have to be treated like this. Aunt Beryl, worried about an insisting letter from a certain Willie Brent, walks in on them, shoos away the Kelveys, scolds Kezia, then feels better. The Kelveys have managed to see the lamp, though, and our Else smiles her rare smile. The story ends with them being silent once more.
The school is portrayed as a melting pot or mixing of all social classes, and the Kelveys as the lowest of the social classes. The other children are discouraged from talking to them; they are outcasts. The Burnells (Kezia, Isabel and Lottie) are one of the higher ranking families. Class distinction is also a major theme of this story.
Literary Terms: Symbol, Third-Person omniscient point of view, Criticism, Tone, Narrator, Denotation, Connotation, Inference, Conflict
Mrs. Hay has given a dolls' house to the Burnell children; it is minutely described, with special emphasis on a lamp inside of it as they want to tell us that there is some hope for the town to stop from class discrimination, which the youngest girl, Kezia, thinks is the best part of the dolls' house. The next morning they cannot wait to show it off to their school friends; Isabel bossily says she will be the one to decide who is allowed to come and see it in the house as she is the eldest. The Kelveys, two poor girls, Lil and our Else, will not be allowed to do so because they are of a much lower social class. Later, Isabel and two of her friends, Emmie Cole and Lena Logan, taunt the Kelveys about their low social status. Soon afterwards Kezia impulsively decides to show them the house anyway as she does not understand why the Kelveys have to be treated like this. Aunt Beryl, worried about an insisting letter from a certain Willie Brent, walks in on them, shoos away the Kelveys, scolds Kezia, then feels better. The Kelveys have managed to see the lamp, though, and our Else smiles her rare smile. The story ends with them being silent once more.
The school is portrayed as a melting pot or mixing of all social classes, and the Kelveys as the lowest of the social classes. The other children are discouraged from talking to them; they are outcasts. The Burnells (Kezia, Isabel and Lottie) are one of the higher ranking families. Class distinction is also a major theme of this story.
Literary Terms: Symbol, Third-Person omniscient point of view, Criticism, Tone, Narrator, Denotation, Connotation, Inference, Conflict
The Seventh Man by Haruki Murakami p354-372
In "The Seventh Man," the central narrator tells about the most tragic event of his life; when he was ten years old, he watched as his best friend, K, drowned during a Japanese typhoon. As the survivor he is continually haunted by K's death. He finally returns to the scene of the tragedy and shed his guilt.
Japan consists of four main islands and numerous smaller ones. Because the rock underlying these islands is constantly shifting, Japan is subject to frequent earthquakes. When the earthquakes occur out at sea, they whip up tsunamis, or tidal waves, which wreak havoc along the coastal areas. The country also experiences typhoons, tropical storms that produce high winds and oceans surges.
The storm that the central narrator talks about in this story is such a typhoon. Typhoons form over warm ocean water in the Pacific and Indian Oceans and bring strong winds to an area. The eye of a typhoon is an area near the center of the storm that is relatively calm, and the area surrounding the eye is called the eyewall, and it contains the strongest winds in the storm. Typhoons are capable of causing storm surges, huge waves, or successions of waves that have enormous power and are extremely destructive.
Literary Terms: Flashback, Foreshadowing, Setting, Conflict
Vocabulary: delirium, ominous, premonition, reconciliation, savagery, sentiment
Japan consists of four main islands and numerous smaller ones. Because the rock underlying these islands is constantly shifting, Japan is subject to frequent earthquakes. When the earthquakes occur out at sea, they whip up tsunamis, or tidal waves, which wreak havoc along the coastal areas. The country also experiences typhoons, tropical storms that produce high winds and oceans surges.
The storm that the central narrator talks about in this story is such a typhoon. Typhoons form over warm ocean water in the Pacific and Indian Oceans and bring strong winds to an area. The eye of a typhoon is an area near the center of the storm that is relatively calm, and the area surrounding the eye is called the eyewall, and it contains the strongest winds in the storm. Typhoons are capable of causing storm surges, huge waves, or successions of waves that have enormous power and are extremely destructive.
Literary Terms: Flashback, Foreshadowing, Setting, Conflict
Vocabulary: delirium, ominous, premonition, reconciliation, savagery, sentiment