Study Guide for Unit 4 Literature Test Friday June 3Rd

Study Guide for Unit 4 Literature Test – Friday June 3rd

1. What is regionalism? Provide some examples of regionalist writers and works we discussed in class this marking period.

Regionalism is literature that emphasizes a specific geographic setting and reproduces the speech, behavior, and attitudes of the people who live in that region.

Example: Mark Twain’sHuckleberry Finn, “The Jumping Frog of Calaveras County”

1. What is naturalism? Provide some examples of naturalist writers and works we discussed in class this marking period.

Naturalism is a nineteenth century literary movement that was an extension of realism and that claimed to portray life exactly as it was.

Example: Jack London’s “The Law of Life”.

1. What is third-person limited point of view?

The story is told by a voice outside the story; the reader knows only one character’s thoughts and feelings.

Example: “He closed his eyes in order to fix his last thoughts upon his wife and children.”

1. What is hyperbole?

A figure of speech exaggerating or overstating a claim or point

1. What types of things does Jim Smiley bet on in “The Notorious Jumping Frog of Calaveras County”? What does this say about his character? How does this aspect of his character make it easier for the stranger to cheat him in the contest?

Jim Smiley bets on horse races, his bull-pup, the Parson’s wife not getting well. The fact that he bet on the Parson’s wife’s health says that he would bet on ANYTHING he could, and that he isn’t a very caring or compassionate person. He is so eager to bet that he leaves his frog with the stranger while he goes to find another frog. This gives the stranger the chance to fill the frog with quail shot.

1. According to the law of life, what is the task of every living thing in nature?

To accept death.

1. What does the fire symbolize in this story?

An individual’s fight against nature; this is clear in the fact that the fire goes out at the end because the individual must die, as it is a law of nature.

1. What do the wolves at the end of the story symbolize?

The relentlessness of nature

1. In “The Story of an Hour”, what is the rising action? What is the climax?

Rising action: Mrs. Mallard’s reactions and thoughts after she learns of her husband’s death.

Climax: The moment that Mr. Mallard returns home.

1. Give one reason why Mrs. Mallard feels free after her husband’s death.

She understands that her future will belong only to her.

-She can live for herself instead of for her husband.

-Her husband loved her, but he expected her to obey his will.

1. In “The Yellow Wallpaper”, John’s cure for the narrator’s illness is what?

rest and avoid all work

1. What does the woman in the wallpaper tell you about the social context of the late 1800s?

Husbands’ rules made women feel trapped

1. The wallpaper pattern that traps the creeping woman represents what?

rules that everyone expects the narrator to follow

1. Define the following terms: dramatic irony, verbal irony, colloquial language

Dramatic irony: occurs when the reader knows more than a character knows

Verbal irony: the author says one thing but meaning its opposite

Colloquial language: words and phrases taken from informal English

1. Give one example of irony present in the excerpt we read from The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.

Huck believes that he has done the wrong thing by ripping up the letter he wrote to Ms. Watson to let her know Jim’s whereabouts. He says, “All right, then, I’ll go to hell”. This is an example of dramatic irony because we, the readers, know that Huck is actually doing the right thing by deciding not to turn Jim in.