Ethan Frome

Story by Edith Worton and tragic character in her her book of the same name

Harlem Renaissance

The name given to the cultural, social, and artistic explosion that took place in Harlem between the end of World War I and the middle of the 1930s. 

The Lost Generation

Refers to a group of writers and poets who were American, but several members emigrated to Europe. The most famous members were Gertrude Stein, Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, and T. S. Eliot.

Ichabod Crane

Protagonist in Washington Irvings Sleepy Hollow

Arna Bontemps

Poetry

Style of writing often organized into stasis which contain the authors thoughts containing the authors thoughts on a theme

Drama

Works that contain elements of characters, dialog, and plot

Naturalism

A style and theory of representation based on the accurate depiction of detail.

Active Reading 

Refers to taking notes as you read but not just on “what happens.” As  an active reader, you take notes on how the setting affected a scene, how a character changed, what you learned about a character, or how you saw the theme of the story in a scene. 

The Tell Tale Heart

Short story by Edgar Allen Poe

Antagonist

the character who opposes or works against the protagonist

Conflict

The dramatic struggle between two forces in a story

Aristotle’s Unified Plot 

Basic triangle plot structure that used the beginning middle, and end to describe a story that moves in a linear path

Irony Technique 

Uses words that have more than one meaning through sarcasm, irony, or a play on words. It can be used to imply hidden meaning 

Emily Dickinson

An American poet born in Amherst, Massachusetts. 

Realism

an artistic movement in which artists and writers represent objects, events, or social conditions as they really are. 

 Literary Criticism 

   Starting from Aristotle in the 4th century BCE, studies the art of literature and explores the ways that literature affects us emotionally, intellectually, and aesthetically. 

Langston Hughes

American poet, social activist, novelist, playwright, and columnist from Joplin, Missouri. He was one of the earliest innovators of the then-new literary art form called jazz poetry.

 Style Analysis

 Refers to the way that an author uses words— diction, syntax, figurative language, imagery—and how these rhetorical devices work together to create the mood, tone, and meaning of a text.  

Formal Criticism

The formalist critic looks at the literary work itself – its forms, designs, or patterns – and assesses how the work functions as a harmonious whole.