Literary Terms I
Fiction
Another name of a story is a _________________________.
narrative
In general, what is the setting (time and place) of the novel?
Cincinnati, OH right after the civil war
Who is the first--and only--character to realize Beloved is the ghost of the baby?
Denver
From whose point of view does the reader view Sethe's murder of her child?
The four horsemen (slave catcher, school teacher, nephew, sherriff). [any will work]
Each chapter of Beloved, for the most part, uses a _______________________ point of view.
third person limited
Beloved uses a lot of vivid _____________________ (sensory details) to help the reader experience the story more completely.
imagery
Famous first line of the novel:
"124 was _________________. Full of a baby's venom."
spiteful
She too is escaping her own slavery (indentured servitude)
In summary (you don't need the exact words), what does Paul D constantly tell Stamp Paid that shows he is in a state of denial about what Sethe did to her child 18 years ago.
"That ain't her mouth."
"Now [Baby Suggs] stood in the garden smelling disapproval, feeling a dark and coming thing, and seeing high-topped shoes that she didn't like the look of at all. At all."
This quote, to end Chapter 16, is an example of ___________________________.
foreshadowing
Explain the irony of the name Sweet Home.
Sweet Home is a cruel plantation for the ensalved people who live there.
Answers can include:
Halle
Paul D coming back
Slavery itself
(more are possible--teacher determined)
What is Baby Suggs like before Sethe's act?
She is a mother/preacher to her people.
How does Morrison symbolically show Paul D and Sethe drifting apart?
He slowly is moving out of the house at night.
"She stopped then and turned her face toward him and the hateful wind" (150).
What type of figurative language is being used here?
personfication
Paul D's heart is referred to as a tobacco tin. What is this?
a metaphor
Once Paul D exorcizes the ghost, what is Denver's reaction, and why is it ironic?
She is disappointed because she misses her only companion. It is ironic because it haunted her and chased away her brothers.
Baby Suggs immediately resents Sethe upon Sethe's arrival. Why?
She is not or did not come with Halle.
Paul D's sexual encounter with Beloved made him self-conscious about what aspect of his identity?
His maleness/gender/masculinity
When Amy tells Sethe, "Anything dead coming back to life hurts," she is explicitly stating one of the novel's major __________________.
themes
Morrison placing a quiet, caring, and demure Denver alongside a selfish, forceful, and single-minded Beloved is an example of _______________________.
juxtaposition
Chapter 4--in which Paul D, Sethe, and Denver attend a carnival--is the first chapter to not use a flashback. What does this "lack of flashback" represent about the characters or the narrative at this point?
Denver is born on a river. Provide 1 reason that is significant.
Answers will vary.
1. its on the border of slavery and freedom
2. there is a baptism in water
3. Beloved herself comes from water.
What biblical allusion (reference) is lost by Sethe's murder of her child?
Eden/Paradise