American Literary History after 1914 Terminology used in Discussing Literature A Strong Sense of the Literature Covered in Class and the Techniques to Discuss Them

Review your reading and PowerPoints and make sure you are comfortable with the major themes in American Literature after Certain periods, particularly the American Renaissance ( ) will be presented in the post-test but not the final. This section will be multiple choice.

o Grew out of European romanticism with its focus on the individual rights and nature o Transcendentalist like Emerson and Thoreau -- individual relationship to universe and duty to disobey unjust laws o Great Novelists like Hawthorne and Melville -- The Scarlet Letter and Moby Dick o Great poets like Emily Dickinson, though few works published in her lifetime o Edgar Allan Poe -- the father of the modern short story o Also the period where Modern Journalism really takes off and helps create the next set of authors

o Issues of states’ rights, slavery, and economics all played important rolls in the Civil War o Journalism flourished after the Civil War allowing a range of regional authors to make a living o Naturalism stressed the determining influence of social and environmental forces on individual lives.

o The Two Wars show increasing US influence and international presence o US Grew to be more Isolationist and had less Immigration o Women Gained the Vote o The Founding of the NAACP o Definition of American up for grabs with youth culture and changing society o Cultural Change (Puritans vs Individualism?) o Changing Sexual Standards with Increasing Sexual Freedom for Women -- Automobile o African American Migration and the Harlem Renaissance -- Richard Wright, Langston Hughes etc. o Marxism – gains influence with stock market crash – loses most adherents due to Stalin o New Literary Themes (Political and African American Justice) o Technology and Big Science

From a literary perspective, the main characteristics of modernism include: 1. an emphasis on impressionism and subjectivity in writing (and in visual arts as well); an emphasis on HOW seeing (or reading or perception itself) takes place, rather than on WHAT is perceived. An example of this would be stream- of-consciousness writing. 2. a movement away from the apparent objectivity provided by omniscient third-person narrators, fixed narrative points of view, and clear-cut moral positions. Faulkner's multiply-narrated stories are an example of this aspect of modernism. 3. a blurring of distinctions between genres, so that poetry seems more documentary (as in T.S. Eliot or e.e. cummings) and prose seems more poetic (as in Woolf or Joyce). 4. an emphasis on fragmented forms, discontinuous narratives, and random- seeming collages of different materials.

From a literary perspective, the main characteristics of modernism include: 5. a tendency toward reflexivity, or self-consciousness, about the production of the work of art, so that each piece calls attention to its own status as a production, as something constructed and consumed in particular ways. 6. a rejection of elaborate formal aesthetics in favor of minimalist designs (as in the poetry of William Carlos Williams) and a rejection, in large part, of formal aesthetic theories, in favor of spontaneity and discovery in creation. 7. A rejection of the distinction between "high" and "low" or popular culture, both in choice of materials used to produce art and in methods of displaying, distributing, and consuming art.

Postmodernism follows most of the conventions of modern art. Postmodern art (and thought) favors reflexivity and self-consciousness, fragmentation and discontinuity (especially in narrative structures), ambiguity, simultaneity, and an emphasis on the destructured, de-centered, dehumanized subject. But--while postmodernism seems very much like modernism in these ways, it differs from modernism in its attitude toward a lot of these trends. Modernism see fragmentation, ambiguity, and a destructured, dehumanized subject as tragic. Many modernist works try to uphold the idea that works of art can provide the unity, coherence, and meaning which has been lost in most of modern life. Postmodernism, in contrast, doesn't lament the idea of fragmentation, provisionality, or incoherence, but rather celebrates that. The world is meaningless? Let's not pretend that art can make meaning then, let's just play with nonsense.

o The Idea of the Representative Short Story o The Great American Novel o New Topics and Themes o A New Sense of Scale o Poetry moves to less fixed forms (free verse, which lacks fixed patterns) o Increased diversity – Post-modernism no longer has a Eurocentric American focus

The second part of your exam will consist of short answer questions (2-3 sentences) testing your understanding of the readings and literary analysis. Review your handouts on literary analysis and your notes on terminology from the midterm review. This section will test your ability to discuss both elements of the short story and poetry. Section 2 is open book.

Short Stories Eligible for the Final  “The Man Who Was Almost a Man"  “The Snows of Kilimanjaro“  “The Yellow Wallpaper”  “Desiree’s Baby,”  “Good Country People”  “Recitatif”  “Everyday Use”

The short story questions will ask you to discuss the following: Plot Setting Narrator and Point of View Character and Characterization Symbolism and Figurative Language Theme.

Discuss the use of irony in “Good County People” (2569). What does the gun symbolize to the protagonist in “The Man who was Almost a Man” (2289)

Poems Eligible for the Final o Robert Frost pp (Mending Wall, The Road Not Taken, and Desert Places) o William Carlos Williams pp (The Widow's Lament in Springtime and This is Just to Say) o e.e. cummings pp (next to of course god america i and O sweet spontaneous) o Langston Hughes pp (I, Too and Note on Commercial Theater) o Theodore Roethke pp (Cuttings, Cuttings (later), and The Waking) o Sylvia Plath pp (Daddy and Child) o Lucille Clifton pp (the Mississippi river empties into the gulf) o by Li Young Lee pp (Persimmons and Eating Together) o Cathy Song pp (The White Porch)

The Poetry questions will ask you to discuss the following: Speaker and Situation Tone Symbol and Figurative Language Theme Rhythm, Meter, and Rhyme (remember some poetry is free verse and lacks fixed patterns)

How is figurative language used in "Homage to My Hips?" (2716) Trace the development of one major theme in ‘The Waking” (2321)

The third and final part of your exam will provide a choice of writing prompts to respond to based upon our readings much like the midterm. Your response should be 3-5 paragraphs. Review the basic essay structure and literary analysis guides to prepare. This section will be open book and use the same readings as the essay questions section.

To review literary analysis, either view the prezi file that was available in class or view any of the literary analysis reviews available on e-companion. There are also guides to basic essay construction and crafting thesis statements. Finally, OWL at Purdue offers excellent guides to writing about literature and is linked in the course webliography.

 A class or category of artistic endeavor having a particular form, content, technique, or the like: the genre of epic poetry  We’ve studied drama, poetry, essays, short stories, novels, and biography (all are genres)

 Please let me know if you have any questions!  Remember your literary review of words is also due. Make sure to include your citations, but you do not need a title page or abstract. You can review the requirements and rubric for this assignment on e-companion under week 1.