short story test info
Short story test 1
Story/Author/Main Characters:
The test: 63 multiple choice Google form questions
* plot structure questions What is plot? Know plot sequence -- exposition, initial incident, rising action, climax, falling action, denouement (unraveling), conclusion (sometimes absent).
* questions about figurative language and its application to the stories and poems
* author identification questions
* author's geographical background questions
* character identification questions
* comprehension and retention questions
* literary terms as they apply to the stories
* interpretive questions (See your interpretive question worksheets for the various stories.)
Emily Dickinson (American writer 1830-1886)
"A Narrow Fellow in the Grass" - snake
"I Like to See It Lap the Miles" - steam engine (horse metaphor); (key words - horrid, hooting stanza; chase itself downhill; step around a pile of mountains)
"A Route of Evanescence" - hummingbird (key words: evanescence, emerald, cochineal, Tunis)
O. Henry (American Writer William Sydney Porter 1862-1910)
"The Gift of the Magi" - Mr. James Dillingham Young (Jim), Della (key words - magi, combs, watch chain)
Note: Jim and Della's experiences are parallel episodes. The two have similar ways they plan to show their love for each other. While she is selling her hair to buy a gift for him, he is selling his watch to buy a gift for her.
"Hearts and Hands" - Marshall, Mr. Easton, Miss Fairchild (key words and ideas - handcuffs, irony)
"After 20 Years" - Jimmy Wells (police officer), 'Silky' Bob (diamond thief); minor character - plainclothes officer (key words and ideas - situational irony in that we don't expect Jimmy Wells to be the officer at the beginning of the story, but in the end, we learn that he is.)
Bjornstjerne Bjornson (Norwegian writer 1832-1910; Nobel prize in 1903)
"The Father" - Thord (the father), Finn (the son), Priest, Karen Storliden, daughter of Gudmund (the bride to be)
Key words and ideas - baptism, confirmation, banns of marriage (the publication of the intent to marry), gard (farm); The son's death brought true blessing to the father because through loss and pain, the father learned to care about others more than himself.
Point of view: Third person omniscient
Arna Bontemps (African-American poet Oct. 13, 1902 - June 4, 1973)
"A Black Man Talks of Reaping"
Literary term: synecdoche (a figure of speech in which a part is made to represent the whole). In this poem, the persona "I" is the part which represents the whole, all slaves.
Allusion: Biblical allusion to Galatians 6:7 "Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows."
Idiom: Feed on bitter fruit (to dwell on bad things that have happened in the past)
Key words and phrases:
"what I have sewed my brother's sons are gathering stalk and root." The brother referred to is the white man. "Stalk and root" means not just the part above ground but the root below also.
"glean in fields they have not sewn" - to harvest fields they did not plant. The descendants of the slaves now are harvesting things they did not plant, things the descendants of the slave owners, now own.
"and feed on bitter fruit" - The descendants of the slaves "have a bad taste in their mouths" about how their people were treated so they now gain strength from remembering the injustice.
Lucille Clifton (African-American poet 1936 - 2010) Twice a finalist for the Pullitzer Prize for poetry)
Key phrases:
"Wet brown bag of a woman" - paper bags are useless when wet
"waiting for your mind like next week's grocery" - Miss Rosie isn't of sound mind.
"I stand up. I stand up." - The narrator of the poem sees Miss Rosie's destruction but respects her for the things she has struggled through.
Nadine Gordimer (Nov. 20, 1923 - July 13, 2014 South African writer and winner of 1991 Nobel Prize for Literature)
"The Moment Before the Gun Went Off" - Marias Van der Vyver (Afrikaner farmer, regional Party leader, commandant of local security commando); Alida, Marias' wife who thinks the barbed security fence around the farmhouse and garden (yard) completely destroys the effect of their artificial stream and tree ferns. Lucas (20-year-old farmhand with mechanical aptitude whom Van der Vyver often takes along on hunting trips; Unnamed wife of Lucas, who has one child beside her and is pregnant with another; Lucas' mother, a woman who can't be older than her late 30s. In the end, we discover that Lucas is Marcais' son and that the unnamed woman in her late 30s, the mother of Lucas, is Marcais' mistress.
Key line to interpret: The young black callously shot through the negligence of the white man was not the farmer's boy; he was his son."
Setting: South Africa during the years of Apartheid (1948-1991).
Saki (Hector Hugh Munro) Scottish Writer (December 18, 1870 - Nov. 14, 1916)
"The Open Window" - Framton Nuttle (nervous guest at Mrs. Sappleton's house), Mrs. Sappleton (host to Mr. Nuttle; aunt of Vera), Vera (15-year-old neice of Mrs. Sappleton whose specialty is "romance at short notice.")
Key Places: None really; the setting isn't particularly significant except that the house has to be in the country for the open window and the made-up hunting story to work.
Key words: Self-possessed: Vera is a self-possessed girl of 15 (She's in control of her emotions.)
Romance (Romance has more than one meaning. In this story, it means "adventure" or "mystery.")
Key ideas: Making inferences.
1. We can infer from the names that Mr. Nuttle is a bit of a "nut" and we suspect that Mrs. Sappleton may be a bit of a "sap" for taking in Mr. Nuttle.
2. Framton tells Vera in a "tone of deep regret" that he doesn't really know anyone in her aunt's neighborhood. We can infer from this that he doesn't really enjoy meeting people.
3. When Vera follows with "Then you know practically nothing about my aunt," we can infer that she could have a reason for finding out that Nuttel knows nothing about her aunt or the family (to "string him along" with a tale of adventure about a hunting party that had left through an open window but had not returned).
Point of view: Third person omniscient
Judith Oritz Cofer (Puerto Rican-American author Feb. 24, 1952 - Dec. 30, 2016)
"Catch the Moon" - Luis (a troubled boy whose mother had died three years prior); Jorge Cintron (father of Luis who owns the junkyard "Cintron and son."); E.S. (Endangered Species, Luis' pet boa constrictor); Naomi Ramirez (Dominican "princess" and Luis' love interest, daughter of the funeral home directors who had been in charge of Luis' mother's funeral)
Key Places: The "cementerio" - Spanish for "cemetery." The car cemetery -junkyard - that Jorge Cintron runs.
Key words:
Tiburon - Spanish for "shark." This is the name of Luis' gang, Los tiburones.
Vintage - Naomi's Volkswagen Bug is described as vintage (classic; having enduring appeal)
Point of view: Third person limited. The story is written from a third person point of view, but the narrator is not omniscient. The story is seen mainly through Luis' eyes.
Literary concepts:
Symbolism: White Volkswagen bug and Naomi's white dress symbolize Naomi's purity.
Imagery: Naomi is depicted as a princess, locked behind "a plate-glass window" with a "security bolt" so no one would "steal the princess."
Allusion: The moon-shaped hubcap is referred to as "Cinderella's shoe," indicating that Naomi is a princess in the ilk of Cinderella and that the hubcap is like Cinderella's shoe.
Pat Mora (American Hispanic poet 1942 - Present)
Key idea: Immigrant parents want their children to live like Americans, eating hot dogs and apple pie, and to be liked.
Key idea: A grandmother envisions her Hispanic granddaughter working a blue collar job and therefore gives her uniforms as gifts. The granddaughter aspires to study and move up in the world.
Dorothy Parker (American poet 1893 - 1967)
Key idea: The persona understands the significance of the love symbolism of one perfect rose but might like one perfect limousine even better.
Symbolism: The rose symbolized love.
Point of view: First person major
Edgar Allen Poe (American writer 1809-1849)
"The Masque of the Red Death" - Prince Prospero, the mummer (The Red Death); minor characters, 1,000 friends
Key places: the rooms (blue, purple, green, orange, white, violet, black/scarlet)
Key symbols: the far west room - black symbolizes death; red symbolizes blood
the ebony clock: It's black to represent death. It chimes on the hour, so it symbolizes the imminence of death.
Anton Chekhov (Russian writer 1860-1904)
"The Bet" - The banker, the young lawyer
Key concepts: capital punishment is the subject of the bet, but the bet is really about how much a person loves the things of this world. The banker wins the bet because the lawyer intentionally slips out of his prison early. BUT ... The lawyer "wins" because he has no attachment to things, and the banker "loses" because he is willing to kill the lawyer to keep his money and status.
Leo Tolstoy (Russian writer 1828-1910)
"Land Enough for a Man" -
Characters
Older sister - married to a tradesman in town. They have nice clothing, nice food and drink,
theaters, promenades, and entertainments.
Younger sister - married to a peasant. Claims she would not trade lives with her older sister. Says
she and her husband will not grow rich but will have enough to eat.
Pakhom - The master of the house; he is a peasant who is married to the younger sister. He claims
that the peasant's life is good but that a peasant's problem is not enough land.
The devil - sits behind the oven, overhearing the conversation between the two sisters. Offers
Pakhom a way to get enough land.
The Bashkirs - a simple people group living south of Samara and near the base of the Ural mountains. They have a lot of land that can be bought at two cents an acre.
Figurative language in "Land Enough for a Man"
Similes (comparisons using "like" or "as")
His breast was working like a blacksmith's bellows,
his heart was beating like a hammer, and his legs were giving way as
if they did not belong to him.
Pakhom's eyes glistened: it was all virgin soil, as flat as the palm
of your hand, as black as the seed of a poppy, and in the hollows
different kinds of grasses grew breast high.
Personification (giving human traits to an inanimate object) and simile
The sun was close to the rim, and cloaked in mist looked large, and
red as blood.
Foreshadowing (Pakhom's death is foreshadowed in a dream.)
And Pakhom dreamt that he looked more
attentively to see what sort of a man it was lying there, and he saw
that the man was dead, and that it was himself! He awoke horror-struck.
Types of irony:
Verbal irony: A speaker of writer says the opposite of what he means or a word or name is actually the opposite of its expected meaning. Example: Prince Prospero in "The Masque of the Red Death" is not, in the end, prosperous at all.
Dramatic irony: A character is not aware of something the the reader IS aware of. Example: In "Land Enough for a Man," the reader knows that Pakhom's greed will lead to his destruction just as soon as we are aware of his dream. Pakhom is unaware and continues in his folly, trying to amass more land.
Situational irony (irony of situation): A situation turns out to be different from what was expected. Example: In "The Bet," we don't expect the lawyer to leave his imprisonment just five minutes short of the fixed time and thus give up the money that he has earned by being imprisoned. We see situational irony when a situation turns out to be different from what we had expected. Another example would be in E.A. Poe's "The Masque of the Red Death." Prospero believes that he and his chosen revelers can isolate themselves from The Red Death, but the virus has been with them all along. Thus, the situation turns out to be different than the reader had expected.
Figurative Language
simile - comparison using like or as
metaphor - comparison not using like or as
analogy - comparison used to make a complex idea simpler (an extended metaphor or simile) - example - comparing a piston to a medical syringe
idiom - a figure of speech that means something other than the literal meanings of its individual words. ex. kicked the bucket, had no hay in his hair, feed on bitter fruit (dwell on bad things of the past)
hyperbole - exaggeration
onomatopoeia - wow, bam, whap
personification - The trees waved their arms
imagery - a word picture (Similes and metaphors are specific types of imagery.)
symbolism - one thing represents another - ex from "The Masque of the Red Death"- the black in the west room symbolizes death and the red symbolizes blood. Together, these symbols depict the Red Death.
synecdoche - is a figure of speech in which a term for a part of something is used to refer to the whole of something, or vice-versa. example - In "A Black Man Speaks of Reaping," the "I" persona represents ALL slaves. We didn't see examples of synechdoche in our recent readings.
Points of view:
First person major character: The main character, usually using the pronoun "I," tells the story. We have not read a story this quarter that uses this point of view, but the poem "One Perfect Rose" is written from the first person major point of view.
First person minor: A minor character, using first person pronouns (I, me, etc.) tells the story. "Everyday Use" uses this point of view. Mama, who is not as central to the story as Dee (Wangero) or Maggie, tells the story.
Second person: Often used in jokes but not in short stories. Uses the pronoun "you." It is unlikely that we will read an essay or short story written from this point of view.
Third person omniscient: The third person narrator is all-knowing. Most of our short stories were written from a third person omniscient point of view.
Third person limited: The third person narrator tells the story through the eyes of one of the characters in the story. "Catch the Moon" which was written from a third person limited point of view; we see "Catch the Moon" mainly through Luis' eyes.
Characterization:
Characterization can be direct or indirect.
In direct characterization, an author tells us what a character looks like, thinks or feels.
In indirect characterization, the author makes us figure out the character for ourselves by seeing the character through action, dialogue, and what others say about the character.
Character types:
Character terms are a bit complicated because there is some overlap in terms, but here are the basics.
Round vs. Flat:
Round characters are fully developed. We see many sides of their personality; they are usually major characters. Pakhom in "Land Enough for a Man" would be an example of a round character. Luis in "Catch the Moon" is also a fully developed character, so he is a round character, too.
Flat characters are not fully developed; they have only one dimension. Pakhom's wife and her sister in "Land Enough for a Man" are definitely flat characters. Sometimes, a flat character can also be a stereotype. The devil in "Land Enough for a Man" is a stereotype. He tempts Pakhom just as we would expect that he would. The devil is not only a stereotyped character, but he is also an archetypal, stock character.
Static vs. Dynamic Characters
Static characters don't change. Most readers would consider Pakhom in "Land Enough for a Man" a static character. He maintains his greedy nature throughout the story. The other characters in the story, including the devil, are also static.
Dynamic characters do change. Anton Checkov's lawyer in "The Bet" changes as the story develops. Early on, he is greedy and rash, betting his freedom to gain a couple million. At the end of the story, the lawyer has changed so much that he intentionally loses the bet because he detests the greedy ways of the world.
Sometimes dynamic characters would also be complex characters. Complex character are not easily stereotyped and often have some good traits and some bad traits. The lawyer in "The Bet" is a complex character. He bets his freedom, then remains confined for nearly 15 years, only to choose to lose the bet when he could have won. He is the "good guy" in the story, but his choice is difficult for most readers to understand, and, in fact, some feel his choice in the end was a bad one.
Often static characters (like the sisters in "Land Enough for a Man") are flat, and dynamic characters are round, but this is not a certainty. In fact, the lawyer in "The Bet" is a flat character, but given the change he undergoes, he is also dynamic.
Short story test 2
Story/Author/Main Characters:
The test: 50 questions
* multiple choice questions about figurative language and its application to the stories and poems
* author identification questions
* character identification questions
* comprehension and retention questions
* literary terms as they apply to the stories
* Approaches to literature questions (archetypal, psychological, feminist, allegorical)
Amy Tan (Chinese-American writer 1952-)
"The Rules of the Game" - Waverly Jong (Meimei), Winston and Vincent (brothers), Mrs. Jong
key ideas - Chinese rules, American rules, "Strongest wind cannot be seen."
Point of view: First person major character
"Two Kinds" - Ni Kan, whose mother wants her to be a piano virtuoso.
Key idea: There is conflict between Chinese mothers, who want perfection, and their daughters, who want to behave like children. There are two kinds of daughters: Those who are obedient and those who follow their own mind.
Point of view: First person major character
William Saroyan (Armenian-American writer 1908-1981)
"The Summer of the Beautiful White Horse" - Mourad, Aram, Uncle Khosrove, John Byro
Key places: San Joaquin valley, California; Armenia, Assyria
Key words and phrases: "I have a way with horses." "I have a way with farmers." "My heart." "It's no harm; pay no attention to it."
Point of view: First person minor. Aram, one of the main characters, tells the story, but he is not as significant a character as Mouhrad.
Elizabeth Bowen (Irish writer who uses British English 1899-1973)
"The Demon Lover" - Kathleen Drover, the fiance in the garden; minor character - William Drover
Key places: London house; house in the country (arboreal part of Kensington) \
Point of view: Third person omniscient. The narrator knows the thoughts of all the characters.
Approaches to Literature
There are many approaches to literature. We have explored four of them in our reading of "The Demon Lover."
Archetypal: An archetype is a pattern. Many readers believe that "The Demon Lover" is patterned after an English ballad by the same name.
Psychological: This approach focuses on the mental condition of a character. In "The Demon Lover," Kathleen Drover seems to suffer from several psychoses including paranoia, schizophrenia and postpartum depression.
Feminist: This approach to "The Demon Lover" would follow the psychological approach but focus on ways that Kathleen Drover's culture traps her, as a woman, into its mold of expecting her to marry and raise and care for children.
Allegorical: In an allegory, one thing stands for another. For example, if a writer uses this approach to "The Demon Lover," he might state that Kathleen Drover, the house, the taxi, and even the man in the garden all represent war or the effects of war.
Persuasion Techniques (Informal fallacies)
Bandwagon - Everybody does it; get ont the bandwagon.
Glittering generalities - Our Prom will be the best prom ever; it will have sensational decorations and a dynamite theme.
Citing statistics - More than half the world's population believes in ghosts, so ghosts must exist.
Citing authority - Kobe Bryant wears Nikes, so you need a pair of Nikes.
Testimonial - I just love my new air purifier; it's cured my asthma and helped me to lose weight.
Figurative Language
simile - comparison using like or as
metaphor - comparison not using like or as
analogy - comparison used to make a complex idea simpler (an extended metaphor or simile) - example - comparing a piston to a medical syringe
idiom - a figure of speech that means something other than the literal meanings of its individual words. ex. kicked the bucket, had no hay in his hair, you ain't gonna strap that boy, not today, you ain't
hyperbole - exaggeration
onomatopoeia - wow, bam, whap
personification - The trees waved their arms
imagery - a word picture (Similes and metaphors are specific types of imagery.)
symbolism - one thing represents another - ex from "The Masque of the Red Death"- the black in the west room symbolizes death and the red symbolizes blood. Together, these symbols depict the Red Death.
synecdoche - is a figure of speech in which a term for a part of something is used to refer to the whole of something, or vice-versa. example - In "A Black Man Speaks of Reaping," the "I" persona represents ALL slaves. We didn't see examples of synechdoche in our recent readings.
Points of view:
First person major character: The main character, usually using the pronoun "I," tells the story. All four of our recently-read stories were written from a third person point of view.
First person minor: A minor character, using first person pronouns (I, me, etc.) tells the story. All four of our recently-read stories were written from a third person point of view.
Second person: Often used in jokes but not in short stories. Uses the pronoun "you." It is unlikely that we will read an essay or short story written from this point of view.
Third person omniscient: The third person narrator is all-knowing. All four of our recently-read stories were written from a third person omniscient point of view.
Third person limited: The third person narrator tells the story through the eyes of one of the characters in the story. We've read a story "Catch the Moon" which was written from a third person limited point of view, but none of the three stories we've read recently utilizes this point of view.
Characterization:
Characterization can be direct or indirect.
In direct characterization, an author tells us what a character looks like, thinks or feels.
In indirect characterization, the author makes us figure out the character for ourselves by seeing the character through action, dialogue, and what others say about the character.
Character types:
Character terms are a bit complicated because there is some overlap in terms, but here are the basics.
Round vs. Flat:
Round characters are fully developed. We see many sides of their personality; they are usually major characters. Kathleen Drover in "The Demon Lover" would be a round character. Mourad and Aram in "The Summer of the Beautiful White Horse" are also round.
Flat characters are not fully developed; they have only one dimension. The fiance in "The Demon Lover is a flat character. Mr. Drover is also flat. Sometimes, a flat character can also be a stereotype. The demon is "The Demon Lover" is a stereotype. He puts his mark on Kathleen just as we would expect that he would. The demon is not only a stereotyped character, but he is also an archetypal, stock character -- essentially the same as the demon in the ballad of "The House Carpenter," also known as "The ballad of Jim Harris" or "The Ballad of James Herries."
Static vs. Dynamic Characters
Static characters don't change. The demon is "The Demon Lover is a static character; he's flat and he doesn't change. He also represents an archetype, the devil archetype (pattern).
Dynamic characters do change. Amy Tan's character, Waverly (MeiMei) changes in response to conflict with her mother. Early on, she is lighthearted, joking about "guts and duck's feet and octopus gizzards!" and wickedly taunting her mother by asking her about "Chinese torture." At the end of the story, Waverly has changed. She isn't in a joking mood; her mother has established the "rules of the game" and Meimei is losing.
Sometimes dynamic characters would also be complex characters. Complex character are not easily stereotyped and often have some good traits and some bad traits. Mrs. Jong in "The Rules of the Game" is a complex character. She wants the best for her family, but she also is proud and stubborn.
Often static characters (like Uncle Khosrove in "The Summer of the Beautiful White Horse") are flat, and dynamic characters (like Waverly Jong) are round, but this is not a certainty.
In addition to the above, know the following
Plot structure terms:
(Note: These terms, and others, are sometimes used to discuss short story plots. Not all short stories will contain all of these parts. For example, short stories with surprise endings often eliminate the denouement or combine it with the conclusion. Some short stories eliminate a conclusion and let the reader determine the final outcome.)
Exposition: The setting, characters, and time are often introduced in the exposition of a story.
Initial event: The event that sets the plot rolling is called the initial event.
Conflict: There are a number of possible conflicts. The most common are man vs. man (person vs. person), man vs. nature (person vs. nature) and man vs. himself (person vs. oneself)
Climax: The highest point of action.
Denouement (de - new - mah): This term means "the unraveling." Events are typically unraveled during the falling action phase of the story, and thus "denouement" and "falling action" are often considered synonymous.
Conclusion: The end of the story is the conclusion.
Figurative Language Terms
simile - comparison using like or as
metaphor - comparison not using like or as
analogy - comparison used to make a complex idea simpler (an extended metaphor or simile) - example - an extended metaphor that compares a steam engine to a horse (as in Emily Dickinson's poem "I like to see it lap the miles")
idiom - a figure of speech that means something other than the literal meanings of its individual words. ex. Uncle Khosrove saying "I spit on money" (meaning he doesn't care about money); Kathleen Drover "putting herself out" (meaning she makes herself available to potential suitors)
hyperbole - exaggeration; ex. - The horse was the "loveliest thing I had ever seen." It's likely that there have been many other things more lovely than this horse.
onomatopoeia - wow, bam, whap
personification - Example: The trees waved their arms.
imagery - a word picture (Similes and metaphors are specific types of imagery.) See the imagery in Amy Tan's description of the Chinatown street on which Waverly Jong grew up.
symbolism - one thing represents another - ex from "Two Kinds." Ni Kan's mother gives her the piano. This is symbolic of their resolving their conflict with each other.
allusion: A reference to a well-known story, event, person, or object. Example: "Two Kinds" alludes to Shirley Temple on the Ed Sullivan Show.
ACES Writing Method
A = Answer. In writing a paragraph, the first sentence (the topic sentence) should restate the question and form an answer for it.
C = Cite. This involves quoting (citing) from the text.
E = Explain. The writer explains the answer and how the citation relates to it.
S = Summarize (or shift). The final sentence of the paragraph summarizes the point of the paragraph. In an essay, the final sentence shifts to the next point.
_____________________________________________________________
UNDER CONSTRUCTION BEYOND THIS LINE.
Alice Walker (African American writer 1944 - present; famous for the novel The Color Purple; nobel prize winner)
"Everyday Use" - Dee (Wangero) older sister; Dee's husband, Hakim-a-barber; Maggie, younger sister with burns;
Key ideas:
1. Leaving one's culture of poverty isn't necessarily a good thing.
2. Things (such as quilts) are meant to be used; they are not just for show.
3. A simple burn victim who has always lived at home can know her heritage better than one who has left home to better herself.
Point of view: first person minor character; Mama tells the story, but both Wangero and Maggie are more central to the story than she is.
________________________________________________________________________________
(from 2016)
"The Demon Lover" - Elizabeth Bowen -- Kathleen Drover, The Demon Lover, Mr. William Drover
"Neighbor Rosicky" - Willa Cather -- Anton Rosicky, Mary Rosicky, Dr. Ed Burleigh, Rudolf's wife Polly
"The Masque of the Red Death" - Edgar Allen Poe -- Prince Prospero, The Red Death
"The Bet" - Anton Chekhov -- Banker, Lawyer, third person narrator
"The Beginning of Grief" - L. Woiwode --Stanion (dad), Carl (oldest), Kevin (Mother's favorite), Jim, Marvin (Jim's friend)
"The Rockpile" - James Baldwin -- Gabriel (father), Elizabeth Grimes (mother), John (oldest son but not Gabe's), Roy (goes to the rockpile), Sister McCandles (church member), Aunt Florence (aunt who pretends to come from a higher status neighborhood), Delilah (baby)
"The Blues Ain't No Mockin' Bird" - Toni Cade Bambara -- Granny, Grandaddy, Smilin', Camera, Cathy, first person minor character unnamed narrator
"A Pair of Silk Stockings" - Kate Chopin -- Mrs. Sommers
"Marigolds" - Eugenia Collier -- Lizabeth, Miss Lottie, John Burke
Types of irony:
Verbal irony: A speaker of writer says the opposite of what he means or a word or name is actually the opposite of its expected meaning. Example: Prince Prospero in "The Masque of the Red Death" is not, in the end, prosperous at all.
Dramatic irony: A character is not aware of something the the reader IS aware of. Example: In "The Rock Pile," the reader knows and other characters know that Aunt Florence is not from a higher status neighborhood but she thinks she is fooling everyone. Example 2: In "The Blues Ain't No Mockinbird," the reader knows that Granny and Grandaddy are proud of their place and don't need food stamp assistance, but Smilin and Camera don't know.
Situational irony (irony of situation): A situation turns out to be different from what was expected. Example: In "The Bet," we don't expect the lawyer to leave his imprisonment just five minutes short of the fixed time and thus give up the money that he has earned by being imprisoned. We see situational irony when a situation turns out to be different from what we had expected. Another example would be in E.A. Poe's "The Masque of the Red Death." Prospero believes that he and his chosen revelers can isolate themselves from The Red Death, but the virus (small pox?) has been with them all along. Thus, the situation turns out to be different than the reader had expected.
Persuasion Techniques (Informal fallacies)
Bandwagon - Everybody does it; get ont the bandwagon.
Glittering generalities - Our Prom will be the best prom ever; it will have sensational decorations and a dynamite theme.
Citing statistics - More than half the world's population believes in ghosts, so ghosts must exist.
Citing authority - Kobe Bryant wears Nikes, so you need a pair of Nikes.
Testimonial - I just love my new air purifier; it's cured my asthma and helped me to lose weight.
Figurative Language
simile - comparison using like or as
metaphor - comparison not using like or as
analogy - comparison used to make a complex idea simpler (an extended metaphor or simile) - example - comparing a piston to a medical syringe
idiom - a figure of speech that means something other than the literal meanings of its individual words. ex. kicked the bucket, had no hay in his hair, you ain't gonna strap that boy, not today, you ain't
hyperbole - exaggeration
onomatopoeia - wow, bam, whap
personification - The trees waved their arms
imagery - a word picture (Similes and metaphors are specific types of imagery.)
symbolism - one thing represents another - ex, the rockpile in "The Rockpile" represents danger.
synechdoche - is a figure of speech in which a term for a part of something is used to refer to the whole of something, or vice-versa. example - In "A Black Man Speaks of Reaping," the "I" persona represents ALL slaves and in "Recuerdo," the shawl-covered head represents ALL poor people.