Literary Terms
This is the moment in the plot when we learn whether the protagonist or antagonist wins.
What is the climax?
THE YEAR WAS 2081, and everybody was finally equal. They weren't only equal before God and the law. They were equal every which way. Nobody was smarter than anybody else. Nobody was better looking than anybody else. Nobody was stronger or quicker than anybody else. All this equality was due to the 211th, 212th, and 213th Amendments to the Constitution, and to the unceasing vigilance of agents of the United States Handicapper General.
The first paragraph of "Harrison Bergeron" describes the ______________ of the story.
What is the setting?
"Everyday Use" utilizes this point of view to suggest the narrator can't be entirely trusted.
first person
He was a good husband, a good father. I don’t understand it. I don’t believe in it.
The first line of "The Wife Story" uses direct ___________.
What is foreshadowing?
The _________________ at the beginning of the play characterizes the apartment as worn and tired, yet cared for.
What is stage direction?
Mama does this to make Walter symbolically feel like a man.
Mama gives Walter control the family's finances.
This is the type of narration used when a character in the story is telling the story.
What is first-person point of view?
What is the resolution?
In Mama's narration, Dee plays the role of the _______________ in the story.
What is the antagonist?
Both stories establish an ominous ____________ at the beginning.
What is mood?
To prove herself to her family and society, Beneatha is determined to become a _______________.
What is a doctor?
What does Beneatha do to symbolically prove she is not an "assimilationist?"
She cuts off her straightened hair.
What is tone?
When the tv broadcaster announces that Harrison has escaped from jail, the primary _______________ is introduced.
conflic
To Dee, the old house that burnt down symbolized this.
poverty
The "Interlopers" uses this point of view.
The battle over 50 cents characterizes Ruth as _________ and Walter as __________.
What is practical, idealistic?
To Mama, the $10,000 is especially important because it symbolizes _________________.
Her husband's life.
This is a story that uses hyperbole and/or irony to mock an aspect of human nature or a trend in society.
What is satire?
"It was tragic, all right, but George and Hazel couldn't think about it very hard. Hazel had a perfectly average intelligence, which meant she couldn't think about anything except in short bursts. And George, while his intelligence was way above normal, had a little mental handicap radio in his ear."
In this paragraph, the narrator is using a particularly saracastic or ironic ___________.
What is tone?
When Dee changes her name to Wangero Leewanika Keemanjo, she is following this popular Black pride trend of the 1970s.
What is Afrocentrism?
The "Interlopers" directly satirizes this concept.
What is toxic masculinity? What is holding grudges? What is land ownership?
To Mama, her plant symbolizes ________________.
What is her family?
Moving to a bigger house is especially important to Ruth because it means __________________.
She won't have to have an abortion.
When an entire story acts as a metaphor for a larger idea or experience.
What is an allegory?
Which of the following could serve as a theme for the story?
What is C. People in power can hide oppressive practices in positive language?
Much of the conflict in "Everday Use" can be traced to all three characters having different ________________.
What are values?
"The Wife's Story" can be read as a(n) _______________ for real-world prejudice.
What is an allegory?
Walter leaves the apartment at the end of Act I instead of tending to his wife because he is too blinded by his ______________.
What are dreams?
What does Mama do during the climax to make sure Walter does not sell back the house to Karl Lindner?
She has Travis watch.
This is an intentional reference to another literary work or historical event in a work of literature.
What is an allusion?
Most critics today believe that the object of Vonnegut's satire in "Harrison Bergeron" is really ____________
people against civil rights
According to Mr. Eisen's theory, how might Mama's narration suggest Dee burnt down the first house?
She constantly alludes to Dee wanting to tear the second house down when comparing it to the first house. She also cuts herself off at a moment of revealing it.
This was the name of the famous mountain ranger where "The Interlopers" takes place.
The Carpathians.
This was the legal practice banks and government lenders used to segregate Black people and white people in the North.
What is redlining?
Karl Lindner offers Walter and the rest of the Youngers a ___________ bargain: one in which they sell their soul for more money.
What is Faustian?