Poetry
The final lines of "My mistress's eyes are nothing like the sun":
And yet, by heaven, I think my love as rare
As any she belied with false compare.
can be described by this literary term for two rhyming lines.
couplet
Greek tragedies, such as Sophocles' Antigone, were performed in this ancient Greek city-state.
What is Athens?
Antigone's sister Ismene serves as a contrast to Antigone's bold defiance of Creon, making her this kind of character.
What is a foil character?
Lord Henry Wotton in Dorian Gray leads Dorian to wish that the portrait would grow old and he would remain forever young, an example of this literary trope.
Faustian bargain
Faustus does this to "seal the deal" with Mephistopheles.
What is sign a contract in blood?
Scottish poet Robert Burns uses this literary device in these lines:
O my Love is like a red, red rose
That’s newly sprung in June
What is a simile?
This device describing a characters' pride: "... swollen with cunning, of a self-conceit, / His waxen wings did mount above his reach."
What is allusion?
Bonus point: Who is being alluded to?
Who is Mephistopheles?
This character is an example of the Victorian trope of the "fallen woman."
Who is Laura (from Goblin Market)?
Give an example of a text that can be interpreted as an allegory and explain its allegorical meaning.
Goblin Market: allegory for Jesus dying to save Christians or allegory for women helping women recover from harm done by patriarchy (esp. prostitution)
Doctor Faustus is written in this verse form.
iambic pentameter
This word describes how literary works are all related to one another
What is intertextuality?
This character is described in idealized terms, comparing her to Shakespeare: "I have had the arms of Rosalind around me, and kissed Juliet on the mouth."
Who is Sybil Vane?
Doctor Faustus can best be described as belonging to this ancient dramatic genre, described by Aristotle as provoking catharsis for the audience.
tragedy
Handmaid's Tale could be described as belonging to this genre, which exaggerates elements of real life in order to critique them.
What is satire?
From the French word for "stepping over," this term describes when an idea or phrase continues over the line break in a poem.
What is enjambment?
The Picture of Dorian Gray portrays Dorian's increasingly following this school of thought, which believed in the great importance of beauty.
Aestheticism (or Aesthetes)
This gift from Lord Henry to Dorian, associated with French decadence, serves as a symbol of evil influence and becomes an object of Dorian's obsession.
What is "the yellow book"?
Who is Daedalus?
Alison Bechdel in Fun Home compares the difficulty of understanding her father to this torturous setting from ancient literature, also home to a horrifying secret.
This Italian word meaning "room" describes a group of lines of poetry, often set apart by line breaks.
What is a stanza?
The Good Angel promises (at least in one version of the play) that it is "Never too late, if Faustus will repent." This religious belief would, instead, say that God has already decided for Faustus to be either saved or damned.
What is Calvinism?
Demon Copperhead, like David Copperfield, can be described as this genre of novel about growing up, from a German term meaning "novel of formation."
What is Bildungsroman?
Name any two of Dorian Gray's new activities after choosing to pursue a life of beauty and immorality.
Exotic musical instruments; tapestries; perfumes; reading fantastical literature; Catholicism; disappearing from the city for long periods; and ruining the lives of young men.....
Demon Copperhead begins with the story of the protagonist's birth, including this especially symbolic element that he believes foreshadows his future.
What is a caul? Demon calls it his "baggie birth" and believes it is symbolic that water cannot hurt him. Water serves as a symbol of hope and life throughout the book, but also danger and destruction (Devil's Bathtub).