Vocabulary
Definition of incredulity
What is doubt; disbelief
According to Joseph Campbell, this is the first stage of any hero's journey, where the protagonist is pulled away from their ordinary world.
What is the Call to Adventure
In C.P. Cavafy’s "Ithaka," the poet argues that the value of the island is not the destination itself, but this.
What is the journey that made you wise/wealthy in experience
In "Hurricane Hits England," the speaker uses the storm to reconnect with these original deities from her homeland.
Who are the African/Caribbean gods
In "Rules of the Game," the story is told from the perspective of a child. This perspective makes her mother’s "invisible strength" feel less like a gift and more like this.
What is a threat, a mystery, or an opponent
Definition of guise
What is outward appearance; costume
In both Homer’s epic and Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o's The Return, the protagonist faces this specific internal struggle upon arriving home.
What is the realization that home has changed or moved on without them
In "Rules of the Game," Meimei’s home becomes a "battleground" for this type of cultural and generational conflict.
What is the struggle between cultures and traditions
In "Writing on the Wall," Camille Dungy explores how the natural landscape of Angel Island acts as a "canvas" for this human emotion.
What is the despair or longing of detained immigrants
Unlike Homer’s original epic, Gareth Hinds uses "Silent Panels" (no dialogue) in his graphic novel to force the reader to focus on this instead of the plot.
What is the character's internal emotion or the atmosphere/setting
Definition of dependency
What is a dependent or subordinate thing, especially a country or province controlled by another.
Campbell argues that the "Atonement with the Father" is a key step; in The Odyssey, this is literally realized through Odysseus’s reunion with this character.
Who is Telemachus
Alberto Ríos uses the metaphor of "A House Called Tomorrow" to suggest that home is built not of bricks, but of these.
What are our ancestors, memories, or the lineage that precedes us
In "The Prom," the setting of the cliff/ocean serves as a metaphor for this stage of adolescence.
What is the "edge" of adulthood or the transition from innocence
In "Writing on the Wall," the "Perspective" isn't just Camille Dungy's; it is a "Collective Perspective" of the immigrants because of this physical evidence.
What are the poems carved into the walls by many different people
Definition of deftly
What is doing something skillfully and quickly
In Gareth Hinds' graphic novel-The Odyssey, the hero’s "Inner Cave"—the place of greatest danger—is depicted not just as a location, but as this literal realm of the dead.
What is the Underworld / Hades
In "The Return," Kamau expects a hero's welcome, but instead finds this, symbolizing the cost of the struggle for independence.
What is alienation or collective forgetting
Grace Nichols uses the hurricane to suggest that even a destructive force can provide this positive outcome for an immigrant.
What is a sense of belonging
Grace Nichols uses the "First Person" ("I") in "Hurricane Hits England" to show that a person's perspective on a scary event can change from "victim" to this.
What is a "Participant" or a "Survivor"
Definition of relented
What is to give in or soften after resisting
In "Rules of the Game," Meimei’s "Supreme Ordeal" (the climax of her journey) isn't a physical monster, but a mental battle against this opponent.
Who is her mother
Compare the "Ithaka" of Cavafy to the "Ithaka" of Homer. For Cavafy, reaching the island is almost a disappointment because of this reason.
What is "she has nothing left to give you" / the journey was the true gift
Both "Writing on the Wall" and "The Prom" use physical environments to reflect "internal geography." Explain the connection.
How the external landscape mirrors the characters' feelings of isolation or boundary-crossing.
C.P. Cavafy addresses the reader as "You" in "Ithaka." This perspective shift turns the poem from a story about Odysseus into this for the reader.
What is a piece of advice, a guide, or a universal map for life