Frankenstein
Who are the major characters of Frankenstein? What are their names and roles? (Bonus: what is the author's name)
Victor Frankenstein - main character
Henry Clerval - close friend to Victor
Elizabeth Lavenza - sister-wife to Victor
Robert Walton - narrator
The Monster - secondary main character/antagonist, creation of Victor
William Frankenstein - the dead little brother
By Mary Shelley
What are the names of the author and main characters of The Great Gatsby? Who is dating who and who killed Gatsby?
F. Scott Fitzgerald created Nick Carraway (the narrator), Tom Buchanan, Daisy Buchanan, Jay Gatsby (possibly the main character), Jordan Baker, Myrtle Wilson, George Wilson (who kills Gatsby)
Tom is married to Daisy but cheating with Myrtle. Daisy is cheating with Gatsby. Nick is seeing Jordan (and also possibly Gatsby depending on who you ask.)
Who are the major characters and who wrote this book?
Jane Austen - author
Catherine Morland, Isabella Thorpe, Eleanor Tilney, General Tilney, Henry Tilney, James Morland, Captain Tilney, John Thorpe
Who wrote this play and who is in it? When is the play set?
Jim and Laura (Tom's sister), Amanda (Laura and Tom's mom), and Tom (Laura's brother) Wingfield, written by Tennessee Williams.
The play is set around the Great Depression in the Southern United States of America.
Who are the main characters of Othello and where is the play set?
Set in Cyprus and briefly in Venice.
Othello and Iago, Desdemona, Emilia, Barbantio, Cassio, Roderigo, Bianca
What are some major literary references, models, and symbols used by Shelley in this story? (think religion, mythology, etc)
Myth of Prometheus, bringing fire to humanity and facing eternal punishment.
Adam and Eve and the myth of creation, including the Garden of Eden, Apple of Knowledge and "The Fall," and Christian ideas of the God-Human relationship.
Paradise Lost is quoted many times. The Sorrows of Young Werther is also directly mentioned.
What are some major symbols used in the novel?
This is a very sensory novel.
Colors: green and grey
Lights, specifically city lights and the green light on the end of the dock, and water
Eyes, the Valley of the Ashes, and general symbols of wealth, specifically dress shirts, cars, and mansions
What genre is referenced/parodied and famously riffed upon in this ultimately light-hearted story?
The Gothic Novel and other extreme Romantic conventions.
This is done through and includes foreshadowing, visuals (architecture and descriptions), Catherine Morland herself as an "anti-heroine," sensationalism, and irony.
What are major metaphors/symbols in the play? What parts of the play are unique to the stage but important for a reader?
The play makes very effective use of "play specific" elements such as lighting, stage direction, and props, which are not as clear in the written version of it, but are pointed out and worth noting. These include the large portrait of Mr. Wingfield that lights up at pertinent moments and surveys over the family and the glass figurines themselves.
Other symbols include the glass animals, the movies, the merchant marines, music, lightness/darkness, and the fire escape.
In what order do the following events occur:
- Iago tells Roderigo to follow Cassio
- Iago tells Montano that Cassio is often drunk
- Iago brings Cassio a "stoup of wine"
- Iago sings about how soldier's should drink
-Cassio has his first drink
- Cassio denies he is drunk
- Cassio wounds Montano
- Cassio wounds Roderigo
- Othello arrives and demotes Cassio
Cassio has his first drink
Iago brings Cassio a "stoup of wine"
Iago sings about how soldier's should drink
Cassio denies he is drunk
Iago tells Montano that Cassio is often drunk
Iago tells Roderigo to follow Cassio
Cassio wounds Roderigo
Cassio wounds Montano
Othello arrives and demotes Cassio
What are some important ideas and questions explored throughout the novel?
The nature of humanity, nature v.s nurture, scientific achievement and personal ambition and responsibility, the definitions and realities of good and evil, isolation and the necessity of family.
What is Jay Gatsby's birth name?
James Gatz!
Through what objects (characters, symbols, etc) does Austen center her critiques and ideas of the importance of wealth?
Northanger Abbey itself, Mrs. Thorpe and her interactions with Mrs. Allen, General Tilney, the Isabella Thorpe and Frederick Tilney debacle, and the very ending with Eleanor are some examples.
What are some of the significant elements of being a "memory play"
The explicit nature of the play being a "memory play" in whatever capacity that may mean greatly impacts the general meaning of and connections between characters and events. This centers the past and the idea of the past, making the play heavily "past" and "memory" centric and accentuating the character's obsession with and half-hearted battle with escaping the dominance that their past has over each of them individually. This conflict is the major conflict of the play overall, and is highlighted by Laura's and Amanda's characters and Tom's ending (and struggle throughout the play.) Also the memory aspect questions the reliability of the narrator and the accuracy the memory.
Explain the story of the handkerchief: what character who had it and what they did with the handkerchief in Othello
Desdemona has it and uses it to comfort Othello who refuses it. Emilia recognizes its importance to Othello as the first gift Desdemona gives him and steals it to make a second copy of it per Iago's request. Emilia gives the original to Iago when she doesn't have a chance to make a copy. Iago plants it in Cassio's affects so that Othello will see it and think Desdemona is cheating with Cassio. Cassio finds it and brings it to Bianca to make a copy as he likes it. Iago tells Othello he saw Cassio with the handkerchief to exacerbate his suspicion. When Iago tries to frame Cassio, Bianca throws the handkerchief in her despair and Othello sees and recognizes it.
In what order do these events occur *in the book*:
- Victor speaks with the Monster in Scotland
- Henry Clerval is killed
- Robert Walton meets Victor in the Arctic
- William Frankenstein is killed
- The Monster foreshadows Elizabeth's death
- The Monster discovers and tries to help the DeLacey Family
-Robert Walton meets Victor in the Arctic
-The Monster discovers and tries to help the DeLacey Family
- William Frankenstein is killed
- Victor speaks with the Monster in Scotland
- The Monster foreshadows Elizabeth's death
- Henry Clerval is killed
What are some of the themes and ideas explored by the novel?
The duality of wealth and capitalism, the follies and lie of The American Dream in general, specifically the pursuit of wealth and success to relive or rewrite the past and/or future, self-identity and the idea of reinvention, the superficial and frivolous nature of culture and society at the time, etc.
Which Tilney is which? Don't get confused now!
General Tilney - the moderately cantankerous and self-agrandising father
Henry Tilney - the good one that Catherine marries
Eleanor Tilney - Henry's younger, reserved sister
Frederick Tilney (Captain Tilney) - The oldest Tilney who's involved with Isabella
What is the animosity between Amanda and Tom about?
Amanda wants Tom to simultaneously fill the gap left by Mr. Wingfield when he abandoned the family by supporting them and being responsible yet also be nothing like his father in any way and critiques him when she believes his behavior is similar. In this way, Amanda is tied to the past and terrified of recreating it with Tom, inadvertently leading to that very event. Tom, on the other hand, feels suffocated by and tied to the past by his family and wants to escape it by ignoring it, through the movies, and eventually forging his own present and future, by joining the merchant marines.
Who kills whom in the murder-fest finale and why?
Iago stabs Roderigo, Othello kills Desdemona for her perceived affair, Iago kills Emilia for revealing Iago's manipulation, and Othello stabs himself in remorse and despair after realizing what has occurred.
What characters are set up as foils to each other, or characters' interactions are used to challenge, develop, or contrast each other? What story do they come together to communicate?
Almost all characters are set up against Victor, notably:
Robert Walton and Victor Frankenstein are clearly set up as mirrors of each other, with the end making Walton a direct contradiction to Frankenstein.
The Monster and Victor Frankenstein have a complex relationship where The Monster embodies both the inevitable consequences of Victor's reality and also the result of direct contradictions to Victor.
Henry Clerval is an important foil to Victor's behavior and philosophy at the beginning and throughout the novel as well.
What is the ending of the book even? (From the argument between Tom and Gatsby in the apartment to Gatsby's death), what is the car switch scenario?
Tom arrives in Gatsby's car. Myrtle sees him in it. Tom and Gatsby argue about whom Daisy loves. Gatsby tries to make Daisy admit that she always loved Gatsby and never loved Tom, but she freaks out. Daisy leaves with Gatsby in Gatsby's car. This is when they switch cars. Daisy is driving Gatsby's car with Gatsby and runs over Myrtle who runs out because she thinks Tom is in the car (as she saw him in it earlier). Tom and Nick drive Tom's car home. Gatsby takes the blame for the homicide. The car colors are also important and symbolic.
Why does General Tilney send Catherine back home? Is it because of her fantasizing? Bonus: What city is the novel centered around Catherine visiting?
Although her overly active imagination leads to conflict with Henry, General Tilney kicks Catherine out because he believes she is exceedingly poor. Specifically, he thinks that she has lied about being much wealthier than she is, though John is the one that informs him her family is very poor (despite this not being exactly true.) Hoping for a more fiscally successful match for Henry, he abruptly sends Catherine away, leading her to believe it was because of her snooping.
How does Jim serve as a foil to the Wingfield family as a whole?
Jim serves several purposes both thematically and literally. He bursts into the bubble that exists around the world of the Wingfields as an "emissary from the outside" and creates a stark contrast with their lives and attitudes, emphasizing their isolation. Because he doesn't have any exaggerated caricatures as the other characters do, he is also not trapped in a particular fantasy view of life. Finally, he effectively breaks the illusions each character has both directly and through his existence as a "forward thinking" and "future oriented" character, symbolized by his interest in technology.
Are there any important symbols, thematic elements, or techniques in the story?
This play makes heavy use of irony, both verbal and dramatic which is a large element of its tragic effect.
Primarily, the handkerchief is an important symbol. Other thematically important details can include Othello's candle, Desdemona's song, animals and animal metaphors (think back to those Tudor era racial tensions as well), and more. Being a Shakespeare play, a lot of the symbols ad thematic elements are present in diction and dialogue, but since you cannot memorize the whole play, these are also worth remembering.