Midterm Study Guide

The format of the test will be as follows:

17 fill-in-the-blanks covering the works; authors, actors, & characters; and literary terms
7 multiple choice covering the works, genre, literary terms, and context
several short answer questions covering the works, genre, literary terms, and context
10 pts. extra credit drawing on your memory for detail and your opinion.

genres: drama and short story/fiction

drama -- drama (script)/theater (performance)

dialogue
stage directions
set
central idea
physical presence of the actors/casting
actors
directors

Drama --
A Doll's House (1879) -- Henrik Ibsen (Norwegian -- this is a translated play)

Nora, Helmer (Torvald), Dr. Rank, Mrs. Linde, Krogstad
Nora (Jane Fonda, Claire Bloom, Janet McTeer, Hattie Morahan)
Helmer (Anthony Hopkins, David Warner)
Dr. Rank (Ralph Richardson -- much older than Anthony Hopkins)
director (Joseph Losey, Patrick Garland, Carrie Cockrell)
setting -- Christiana (Oslo)

problem play
feminism -- feminist play or humanist play -- Ibsen said his play was not feminist
Aristotle's unity of time, plot, setting
well-made play
play about middle-class


Fences (1984)  -- August Wilson -- part of Century Cycle
setting -- Homewood, an African-American neighborhood in Pittsburgh

Troy (Denzel Washington, James Earl Jones)
Rose (Viola Davis)
Cory, Bono, Gabriel, Lyons, Raynell
director (Denzel Washington)

we do not see Alberta

follows unity of setting (in play) but not plot or time
orality -- characteristics of culture without reading or writing
Troy is illiterate
episodic
character
archetypes -- not individuals but types

short stories/fiction --
narration -- 1st person (reliable, unreliable, naive) & 3rd person (objective, omniscient, limited)
setting
plot -- flashbacks & foreshadowing
dialogue
exposition
theme
symbolism

The Red Convertible, The Necklace, Godfather Death, Love in LA, Everyday Use, Hills Like White Elephants, Coyote and Eagle Visit the Land of the Dead

folklore -- Godfather Death (German--transcribed and edited by Brothers Grimm) -- actual storyteller was female, archetypal characters (God, Devil, Death; princess is always beautiful), godson is a doctor who tries to cheat Death, orality

Coyote and Eagle Visit the Land of the Dead (Wishram/Native American) -- Coyote (trickster), Eagle (sidekick), moral, explanation of why death is in the world, orality

Coyote and Eagle Steal the Sun and the Moon (video only)

literary stories -- The Red Convertible (1984) (Louise Erdrich -- Native American heritage);  setting -- reservation after Vietnam, 1st person narrator (Lyman), Henry, Suzy (symbol), symbolism, did Henry intend to commit suicide?  Vietnam & post-traumatic stress  (Erdrich & Dorris' interview with Bill Moyers -- dark humor, patriotism, service in wartime)

The Necklace (Guy de Maupassant -- French story, translated) -- Madame & Monsieur Loisel, rich friend, class & wealth, story with a surprise ending, older story (1885) -- 3rd person limited omniscience

Love in LA (1990s) (Dagoberto Gilb -- Latino-American) -- Jake & Mariana -- 3rd person limited omniscience-- setting: LA freeway -- almost a flash fiction

Everyday Use (1973) (Alice Walker -- African-American) -- Dee, Maggie, Hakim-a-barber, and mother/narrator -- 1st person (reliable?  unreliable?) -- setting -- rural Georgia in the 1970s -- dream: use of popular culture -- symbol: quilts -- politics & character

Hills Like White Elephants (1927) -- (Ernest Hemingway -- Caucasian-American) -- couple (Jig & the American) -- 3rd person objective -- we don't see inside people -- we don't see their pasts -- man vs. woman (over the decision to have an abortion) -- setting: a restaurant/bar at a railway station in Spain -- characters are rootless)