Review for Lit' Test 1

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Review for Lit. Test 1!

• Modernism
• The Hack Driver
• In Another Country
• Bernice Bobs Her Hair
• The Jilting of Granny Weatherall

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Modernism (1915-1945)

• Sparked by World War I
• World War I was very destructive, and seemed
  pointless to most Americans
• WWI left a lot of people very depressed, and
  caused them to question the meaning of life
• So, writers started writing depressing stories
  questioning the meaning of life

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Themes of Modern Literature (1 2)

• Individuality
• Isolation
• Fragmentation
• Alienation
• Meaning/meaningless of life
• Disillusionment
• Subjectivity the absence of real, objective
  truth instead, truth and good are relative
  (different for different people in difference
  circumstances) this is a heresy!

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Other Terminology to Know (1 2)

• Expatriate someone who leaves the country of
  which they are a citizen, to go live somewhere
  else
• Realism literary movement that stressed writing
  about real, every day events (rather than
  romantic, imaginative ones)
• Naturalism an even harsher form of realism,
  focusing on the seamier, uglier side of real life
  
• Dystopia the opposite of utopia (a perfect
  world) a world where everything is wrong

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Terminology

• Stream of Consciousness a literary technique in
  which the author writes down every thought the
  main character has
• (Can be confusing, because were getting one
  persons thoughts not necessarily what is really
  going on)

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The Hack Driver

• By Sinclair Lewis
• Written in first-person point of view (I)
  very typical of modern lit
• Uses humor to prove a point
• Moral cant trust everyone in the country
  (typical theme of modern lit)
• Theme city slicker (narrator) gets fooled by
  country bumpkin
• Narrator is disillusioned by his first job
  (wanted to argue cases, hes just serving
  summonses) (disillusionment mod. theme

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In Another Country

• By Ernest Hemingway
• Takes place mostly in a hospital in Italy
• End of story Majors wife dies, making him very
  bitter
• Written in a deceptively simple style
• Modern characteristics
• Written in a very detached way (no emotion when
  describing horrible things)
• No real ending leaves the reader feeling empty
  and dissatisfied
• Very depressing injuries, depressing weather and
  surroundings no real hope for healing

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Bernice Bobs Her Hair (12)

• By F. Scott Fitzgerald
• Be able to describe the basic plot (3 main
  characters and how they interact, major action
  points)

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The Jilting of Granny Weatherall

• Written by Katherine Anne Porter
• Written in a stream of consciousness style
• Confusing to reader only getting Grannys
  thoughts
• Written like this to make us feel sympathetic to
  Granny (does it work?)
• Granny argues with the doctor because he young
  and she is old

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Essays for All and Excuses for None

• You will have the opportunity to choose your
  favorite story and explain why you liked it best.
  You will be graded on your explanation and your
  references to the story.

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