Hamlet
This recurring motif represents the "unweeded garden" of Denmark and the physical manifestation of moral decay spreading through the kingdom
What is rot/corruption/disease?
This essential sentence, usually found at the end of the introduction, must identify both the poem’s complex theme and the specific devices used to convey it.
What is the thesis statement?
She serves as the spiritual matriarch of 124, leading the community in "The Clearing" to love their own flesh in a world that does not.
Who is Baby Suggs?
This prop is used by Gabriel at the end of the play; when it fails to produce sound, he begins a primal dance to open the gates of heaven.
What is the trumpet?
These are the three degrees that Mr. Mayse has from UNC-Chapel Hill (you must get them all correct).
What are English, Comparative Literature, and African-American Studies?
Shakespeare uses this literary device—a speech delivered alone on stage—to allow Hamlet to reveal his "innermost part" and the depth of his existential despair.
What is soliloquy?
This part of the essay is where the student moves beyond "what" the poem says to "why" the author used a specific device to say it.
What is commentary or analysis?
Paul D uses this metaphor to describe the psychological "room" where he stores his painful memories to avoid breaking.
What is the tin tobacco box?
Troy frequently recounts a wrestling match he had with this personified figure, claiming he won after three days.
What is Death?
This type of annotation device is Mr. Mayse's go-to when related to noting specific passages that require longer amounts of writing.
What are post-it notes?
This character serves as a direct foil to Hamlet; unlike the Prince, he acts immediately and violently to avenge his father, Polonius.
Who is Laertes?
Readers look for this technique where a poet breaks a line in the middle of a thought without punctuation, often to create a sense of momentum or tension.
What is an enjambment?
Sethe uses this coined term to describe the way a memory can exist as a physical place that one can stumble into.
What is rememory?
This systemic barrier prevented Troy from playing in the Major Leagues, fueling his bitterness toward his son’s athletic opportunities.
What is systematic racism?
This is the first short story read and analyzed in the class.
What is "The Story of an Hour"?
During the "Closet Scene," Hamlet forces his mother to look into this specific metaphoric object to see the "black and grained spots" upon her soul.
What is a glass (mirror)?
This is the specific term for the "voice" in the poem; Readers will lower a score if a student mistakenly refers to this person as "the author."
What is the speaker?
Morrison uses this narrative style, characterized by a lack of chronological order, to mimic the way trauma and memory actually function.
What is a non-linear narrative?
Because Troy’s internal struggles are mirrored by the building of the physical fence, the fence serves as this literary device.
What is extended metaphor?
This is name of the company of actors and tech crew that performed Macbeth in Chapel Hill.
What is Playmakers?
In his most famous soliloquy, Hamlet compares death to this common human experience, famously wondering "what dreams may come" during it.
What is sleep?
While "tone" is the speaker’s attitude, this 4-letter term refers to the emotional atmosphere the poem creates for the reader.
What is mood?
The title of the book and the inscription on the headstone are examples of this literary device, as they refer to a biblical passage.
What is allusion?
This "King of the Jungle" is the subject of a song Troy sings, which Raynell and Cory later sing together as a tribute to Troy’s legacy.
Who is Old Blue (the dog)?
What are MCQs and FRQs?