Gatsby
This glowing object at the end of Daisy’s dock represents Gatsby’s longing and his unreachable future.
What is the green light?
Whitman’s poem is written in this kind of unrhymed, flexible form with no regular metre.
What is free-verse?
In “The Story of an Hour,” this news event triggers Louise Mallard’s complex reaction.
What is "news of her husband's death"?
This character is the protagonist of the play, a foreign woman betrayed by her husband.
Who is "Medea"?
Eliot’s poetry is often associated with this early 20th-century artistic movement characterized by experimentation and fragmentation.
What is modernism?
This bleak industrial wasteland between West Egg and New York symbolizes social and moral decay.
What is the valley of ashes?
Whitman often uses long lists of images (“I hear America singing…”)—these accumulations are known by this term.
What is enumeration?
In “The Story of an Hour,” the open window most strongly symbolizes this abstract idea for Louise.
What is freedom / new possibilities / independence?
Jason abandons Medea to marry this person, hoping to improve his status.
Who is Glauce (or Creon’s daughter, princess of Corinth)?
Eliot’s speakers frequently feel isolated and unable to act decisively. This modern psychological state is often summed up by this word (starts with “a”).
What is alienation? (You could also accept anxiety depending on poem.)
This character narrates the story and often presents himself as “inclined to reserve all judgments.”
Who is Nick Carraway?
Whitman frequently blurs the line between himself and others using pronouns like “I” and “you.” This reflects his belief in a shared _______.
What is a shared self / shared soul / universal self / collective identity?
In “The Kiss,” Nathalie’s careful manipulation of her relationships is primarily motivated by this social or economic concern.
What is security, especially financial or social security (marrying well, social status)?
In Greek tragedy, the group that sings, comments on the action, and reacts to events is called this.
What is the chorus?
In one poem you’ve studied, name one urban image (e.g., streets, fog, smoke, dust) and say briefly what it suggests.
Fog / smog → confusion, obscurity.
Empty streets / sordid corners → loneliness, decay.
Yellow smoke / grimy city details → moral and physical pollution.
The eyes of Dr. T. J. Eckleburg are often read as symbolizing for this.
What is a judging / watching / moral / god-like presence?
Name one way Whitman’s treatment of the body challenges 19th-century social norms or modesty.
He celebrates the body openly, including sexuality.
He treats the body as holy, not shameful.
He merges spiritual and physical, refusing to separate them.
In “Beyond the Bayou,” the bayou itself functions as this kind of barrier between La Folle and the wider world.
What is a psychological / racial / social / fear-based barrier separating La Folle from the wider world?
Name one way Euripides challenges traditional gender expectations through Medea’s speeches or actions.
Medea speaks with intellectual power and public rhetorical skill.
She questions male dominance and the injustice of women’s roles in marriage.
She commits acts of extreme revenge, claiming a form of agency normally granted to male heroes/villains.
Eliot often uses references to other texts, myths, or religious writings inside his poems. This technique is known as _______.
What is allusion?
Name one structural or stylistic choice Fitzgerald uses to critique the American Dream (be specific: a technique, not just “he uses symbolism”).
Symbolism (green light, valley of ashes, cars as status and death).
First-person retrospective narration showing disillusionment.
Juxtaposition of glittering parties with emptiness and tragedy.
Irony in how “success” leads to moral failure.
(You can require them to state both technique + brief effect.)
Explain one authorial choice in “Song of Myself” (such as direct address, catalogue, or enjambment) and how it helps him explore individuality or democracy.
Direct address brings readers into his democratic vision.
Catalogue form suggests the vastness and inclusivity of America.
Enjambment and long lines create a feeling of flow and expansiveness.
Across Chopin’s stories, name one recurring tension between a female character’s inner desires and her external social role, and identify one narrative technique Chopin uses to show it.
Tension: Desire for independence vs. expectations of marriage and duty.
Technique: Free indirect discourse, ironic narration, symbolism (window, physical thresholds), sudden twist endings showing inner vs. outer life.
In Medea, most of the violence occurs offstage and is reported in speeches. Explain one effect of this structural choice.
It leaves the horror to the imagination, increasing psychological impact.
It keeps focus on Medea’s moral and emotional state, not gore.
It follows Greek conventions while making the messenger speeches highly dramatic.
Explain how one structural feature of an Eliot poem you’ve studied (e.g., fragmentation into sections, repeated refrains) reflects the theme of spiritual or emotional fragmentation.
Fragmented structure / sections reflect a fragmented self or world.
Repeating refrains emphasize paralysis or cyclical despair (“this is the way the world ends…”).
Shifts in voice or perspective show fractured identity and uncertainty.