Embedded Files
Each slide will contain the following information:
•The term / phrase
•The type of allusion (mythological, historical, Biblical, literary, etc.)
•The background or context of the term/ phrase.
•The modern definition or usage of the term/ phrase.
•An example (or two) of how the term/ phrase is used
You are responsible for information on the slide.
Note # 1: The photos, cartoons, and clip art used for examples of each term are not meant to demonstrate any political, religious, or social biases or viewpoints. I have tried to find relevant examples in the media. This slideshow was created in the summer of 2016, preceding a very contentious election season and many of the political cartoons and memes reflect this.
Note # 2: Titles of long works (e.g., novels) and foreign words & phrases (e.g., hakuna matata) are indicated by italicizing the word or phrase. When you hand write these names, words, or phrases, you should underline them (hakuna matata). In these slides, they will be italicized.
Given the length of this Powerpoint, it is NOT recommended that you print it out. You should hand copy the information into the allusions section of your binder. If you have difficulty accessing the document on your computer at home, use a computer in school or copy from the printed document in my classroom after school. You are required to have your up-to-date notes with you in class every day.
Cultural Literacy/ Allusions to Know Master List
- Adonis
- Amazon
- Apollonian
- Basilisk
- My Brother’s Keeper
- Face that Launched a Thousand Ships
- Eden
- Furies
- Halcyon Days
- Harpies
- Herculean
- Homeric
- Hubris
- Hydra-Headed
- Job
- Chimera
- Mark of Cain
- Ahab
- Alice in Wonderland
- Babes in the woods
- Bad seed
- Bermuda Triangle
- Caesar’s Wife
- Cheshire Cat
- Doppelganger
- Down the rabbit hole
- Elysian Fields
- Et tu, Brute
- Everyman
- Fall on One’s Sword
- Frankenstein
- Hatfields & the McCoys
- Hemlock
- Sherlock Holmes
- Jekyll and Hyde
- Kill/Shoot the messenger
- Lemmings
- Stealing someone’s thunder
- Nemesis
- Pyrrhic victory
- Handwriting on the wall
- Albatross around one’s neck
- Don Quixote/ Quixotic/ tilting at windmills
- Bedlam
- Sour grapes
- Benedict Arnold
- Murphy’s law
- Scapegoat
- Tantalus
- The Emperor’s New Clothes
- Ivory Tower
- Let the cat out of the bag/ buy a pig in a poke
- Bread and circuses
- Crossing the Rubicon
- Pearls before swine
- Mrs. Grundy
- 30 Pieces of Silver/ Betrayed with a kiss
- Gordian Knot
59. Deus ex Machine
60. Tabula Rasa
61. NIMBY
62. Waterloo
63. Left-Handed Compliment
64. Golden Calf
65. Sword of Damacles
66. Svengali
67.Non Sequitur
68.Shibboleth
69.Doublespeak
70.Philistines/ Philistinism
71.Hoist with one’s own petard
72.Muckrakers
73.Faust / Faustian Bargain
74.Kafkaesque
75.Tower of Babel
76.Pollyanna
77.Pavlov’s Dogs/ Pavolonian
78.Prometheus / Promethean
79.Holy Grail
80.Juggernaut
81.Coals to Newcastle
82.Freudian slip
83.Burning Bush
84.Methuselah
85.Scylla & Charybdis
86.Luddites
87.Babylon
88.Xanadu
89.Sine Qua Non
90.In Media Res
91.Loaves & Fishes
92.Janus
93.A chip on one’s shoulder
94.Noble Savage
95.Scheherazade
96.Lot’s Wife/ Pillar of Salt
97.Catch -22
98.Achilles’ Heel
99.Pound of Flesh
100.Sacred Cow
101.Once in a blue moon
102.Sirens
103.Sound & Fury
104.Skeleton in the Closet
105.Cassandra
106.Witch Hunt
107.Throw down the gauntlet
108.Red herring
109.Pharisees / Pharisaical
110.Sold down the river
111.Flash in the pan
112.Crocodile tears
113.All that glitters is not gold
114.Read the riot act
115.Phoenix / Rising from the ashes
Report abuse