Samuel Langhorne Clemens is his real name. He was born on Nov. 30 1835. At a young age he had very poor health and was kept inside most of the time. At age 12 his father died and he went to school to be an printers apprentice. He became a river pilot and Mark Twain came from river talk. It means it is free to move on. He then became a newspaper and married Olivia Langdon. They had four children but three died before the age of twenty. By the end of his writing career he had written over 30 books. Before writing under Mark Twain Samuel used Thomas Jefferson Snodgrass as his pen name. His books are controversial because of the use of words for African Americans and the fact that he uses many African Americans in his stories as main charaters was controverial.
Irony: the use of words to convey a meaning that is the opposite of its literal meaning.
Ex: the irony of someones reply when you ask how their weekend was and they say Great when really they worked all weekend.
Jules Verne was a Frence writer. He was writing books at the same time as Mark Twain. He wrote Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea.
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
The Fall of the House of Usher
-Poe: very structured in his writing
-unity of effect: single overall feeling
-Poe wrote to explore the strange and fantastic, convey psychological terror through carefully chosen details and events.
-Mood: feeling or atmosphere through writers words.
The narrator goes to the house of Usher to visit an old friend. It is a big house and only the friend and his sister live there. They are the last of the Ushers and are both quite sick. The house seems to be dying with the family. Roderick gets nervous about everything and his senses are all extreme. He can't listen to anything but string interments, or eat anything but bland foods. His sister has spells where she looks like she is dead. She will go into a coma like stage and nobody really knows if she is alive or dead. While the friend is visiting Roderick buries his sister alive on purpose. He wants the family to be gone and everything to be destroyed. The friend just thinks she died suddenly. He wants to end their suffering. Roderick hears her scratching at the coffin and screaming. On night there is a storm and the friend reads a book to Roderick because he is going crazy. Everything he reads in the book happens in real life. The sister escapes and comes up bloody and scary looking. Roderick screams and she falls on him and it kills him. The friend goes running out of the house and is able to escape before the house crumbles into the ground and goes into the swamp in was near.
-unity of effect: single overall feeling
-Poe wrote to explore the strange and fantastic, convey psychological terror through carefully chosen details and events.
-Mood: feeling or atmosphere through writers words.
The narrator goes to the house of Usher to visit an old friend. It is a big house and only the friend and his sister live there. They are the last of the Ushers and are both quite sick. The house seems to be dying with the family. Roderick gets nervous about everything and his senses are all extreme. He can't listen to anything but string interments, or eat anything but bland foods. His sister has spells where she looks like she is dead. She will go into a coma like stage and nobody really knows if she is alive or dead. While the friend is visiting Roderick buries his sister alive on purpose. He wants the family to be gone and everything to be destroyed. The friend just thinks she died suddenly. He wants to end their suffering. Roderick hears her scratching at the coffin and screaming. On night there is a storm and the friend reads a book to Roderick because he is going crazy. Everything he reads in the book happens in real life. The sister escapes and comes up bloody and scary looking. Roderick screams and she falls on him and it kills him. The friend goes running out of the house and is able to escape before the house crumbles into the ground and goes into the swamp in was near.
The Signal Man By Charles Dickens
Specter- ghost
-The signal man lives and works at the station. A visitor came to pay a visit to the signal man. He was taking a walk a was interested in the signals man's work. They became friends and the signal man tells him about the ghost and how the ghost yells Hello below down there and waves his arms like danger is coming. Both times it has happened some one has died.
-The signal man lives and works at the station. A visitor came to pay a visit to the signal man. He was taking a walk a was interested in the signals man's work. They became friends and the signal man tells him about the ghost and how the ghost yells Hello below down there and waves his arms like danger is coming. Both times it has happened some one has died.
The Raven By Edgar Allen Poe
Poem about loss.
-Raven represents evil, omens, and death. Bird of prophecy.
-End Rhyme-similar or identical sounds at the ends of lines.
-Internal Rhyme- rhymes within a line.
-Rhyme scheme- the basic pattern of the end rhymes.
The man in story has lost someone in the past, Lorene. He is morning about his lost love. A raven comes and sits on the top of his door. All the raven will ever will say is Nevermore. The man asks the raven questions that he knows will be answered nevermore. His sorrow continues. He already knows what the answer is and it will continue to make him sad.
-Raven represents evil, omens, and death. Bird of prophecy.
-End Rhyme-similar or identical sounds at the ends of lines.
-Internal Rhyme- rhymes within a line.
-Rhyme scheme- the basic pattern of the end rhymes.
The man in story has lost someone in the past, Lorene. He is morning about his lost love. A raven comes and sits on the top of his door. All the raven will ever will say is Nevermore. The man asks the raven questions that he knows will be answered nevermore. His sorrow continues. He already knows what the answer is and it will continue to make him sad.
The Masque of the Red Death
-Allegory- a work with two layers of meaning, where the persons, objects, and events stand for abstract ideas or qualities.
Prince- thought he could escape the plague. He couldn't escape the plague.
Abbey- was a refuge from the plague. It became a place of death.
Series of 7 rooms- all had life but the scarlet room meant death. They all die in the black room. Stages of life.
Clock- life/death. Stops ticking when last person dies.
Stranger- the plague. No one can escape it.
The plague had killed many people, they would have sharp pains, dizziness, lots of bleeding and then die.
-The prince thought it would be a good idea to save some of his people. They went into a closed abbey and it was provided with supplies and different kinds of people. Then he shut everyone else out. They started to party!
-The clock is in the bed room with the black and scarlet furniture. The clock represents evil or death. It strikes every hour and everything freezes and the people are confused and nervous.
-Nobody will sleep in the apartment because it has the clock. It is the farthest one back and its scary! All the other rooms have life but this room is death.
-A masked stranger comes out of the dark room, people are surprised, their horrified and then disgusted.
-The stranger represents death. He is dressed like death, he has a mask that looks like a skeleton, he has blood all over him.
-The Prince is mad and orders his men to take him away to be killed. No one will move to the dark side and kill him. They let the stranger walk the whole length of the room. Prince tries to kill him but the stranger kills everyone he walks by without touching them.
-The stranger represents the plague. He is not a real man but a dark side. The Prince tries to escape the plague but it was impossible.
Prince- thought he could escape the plague. He couldn't escape the plague.
Abbey- was a refuge from the plague. It became a place of death.
Series of 7 rooms- all had life but the scarlet room meant death. They all die in the black room. Stages of life.
Clock- life/death. Stops ticking when last person dies.
Stranger- the plague. No one can escape it.
The plague had killed many people, they would have sharp pains, dizziness, lots of bleeding and then die.
-The prince thought it would be a good idea to save some of his people. They went into a closed abbey and it was provided with supplies and different kinds of people. Then he shut everyone else out. They started to party!
-The clock is in the bed room with the black and scarlet furniture. The clock represents evil or death. It strikes every hour and everything freezes and the people are confused and nervous.
-Nobody will sleep in the apartment because it has the clock. It is the farthest one back and its scary! All the other rooms have life but this room is death.
-A masked stranger comes out of the dark room, people are surprised, their horrified and then disgusted.
-The stranger represents death. He is dressed like death, he has a mask that looks like a skeleton, he has blood all over him.
-The Prince is mad and orders his men to take him away to be killed. No one will move to the dark side and kill him. They let the stranger walk the whole length of the room. Prince tries to kill him but the stranger kills everyone he walks by without touching them.
-The stranger represents the plague. He is not a real man but a dark side. The Prince tries to escape the plague but it was impossible.
Danse Macabre and The Big Bug Theory
Danse Macabre by Steven King- means "dance of death"
-the big bug behind the door theory means the suspense leading up to the scary part is what is the scariest part. The rest is a relief since it could have been worse. It could have been a bigger bug.
-the big bug behind the door theory means the suspense leading up to the scary part is what is the scariest part. The rest is a relief since it could have been worse. It could have been a bigger bug.
The Devil and Tom Walker
-It was said that a treasure was buried by Boston, Massachusetts in Charles Bay. It was under a tree and buried by a pirate. The old stories said that the devil posses the treasure and all other treasure that was stolen. The pirate died and never came back to get his treasure.
-Tom Walker- New England, him and his wife are miserable. His wife sometimes beats him, she was a scolding women and many people just left them alone b/c they didn't know how to help.
-One day Tom took a shortcut through the swamp- it was a mistake and he had to stop and rest by an old tree. It was here that the Indians had a fort during the wars w/ the colonists, it was said that the Indians put charms or spells on things along with sacrifices to the evil spirit.
-When Tom puts his stick in the ground he finds a skull and an ax. He hears a voice and it tells him to leave the skull alone. The man is swarthy and dingy and covered in soot. He has an ax on his shoulder and has great Red eyes.
-All of the trees in the swamp have a name of a wealthy person carved on it. They are all dead people. The tree is axed and when the devil wants him dead he will ax the tree all the way down.
-The devil told him of the buried treasure under the old oak tree and that the devil protected it. Tom thought about this and wondered if their was a way he could get the treasure.
- Tom questions the devil on who he really is and the devil puts his finger on Tom' s forehead. When he returned home he found a burn on his forehead.
-Absolom Crowinsheid had just died and Tom had seen the tree in the swamp hacked down by the devil.
-Tom tells his wife about the devil and she tells him to become his helper to get the treasure. He doesn't want to please her so he says no.
- Tom's wife decides to get the treasure herself, she wants the treasure and will not give any to Tom. She comes back b/c the devil says she has to give up everything she owns. The next day she goes again but doesn't return home. Nobody knows what happened just that their are many stores. All Tom found was his wife's heart and liver in her apron in a tree.
-Tom thinks that his wife must have put up a good fight for the devil. He is almost happy to have her gone.
-Tom agrees to do anything for the devil for the treasure.
-Tom becomes a broker in Boston and charges high interest and drives people to bankruptcy, he brings them to the devil.
-He grows old and realizes what a mistake he has made. He decides to change his life and become closer to God.
-One night he is talking to a client and he says the devil take me and he doesn't have his bible on him. The devil comes on a black horse and takes him away. They go back to the swamp and it lights on fire. Nobody really knows what happened but Tom was never seen again.
-Tom Walker- New England, him and his wife are miserable. His wife sometimes beats him, she was a scolding women and many people just left them alone b/c they didn't know how to help.
-One day Tom took a shortcut through the swamp- it was a mistake and he had to stop and rest by an old tree. It was here that the Indians had a fort during the wars w/ the colonists, it was said that the Indians put charms or spells on things along with sacrifices to the evil spirit.
-When Tom puts his stick in the ground he finds a skull and an ax. He hears a voice and it tells him to leave the skull alone. The man is swarthy and dingy and covered in soot. He has an ax on his shoulder and has great Red eyes.
-All of the trees in the swamp have a name of a wealthy person carved on it. They are all dead people. The tree is axed and when the devil wants him dead he will ax the tree all the way down.
-The devil told him of the buried treasure under the old oak tree and that the devil protected it. Tom thought about this and wondered if their was a way he could get the treasure.
- Tom questions the devil on who he really is and the devil puts his finger on Tom' s forehead. When he returned home he found a burn on his forehead.
-Absolom Crowinsheid had just died and Tom had seen the tree in the swamp hacked down by the devil.
-Tom tells his wife about the devil and she tells him to become his helper to get the treasure. He doesn't want to please her so he says no.
- Tom's wife decides to get the treasure herself, she wants the treasure and will not give any to Tom. She comes back b/c the devil says she has to give up everything she owns. The next day she goes again but doesn't return home. Nobody knows what happened just that their are many stores. All Tom found was his wife's heart and liver in her apron in a tree.
-Tom thinks that his wife must have put up a good fight for the devil. He is almost happy to have her gone.
-Tom agrees to do anything for the devil for the treasure.
-Tom becomes a broker in Boston and charges high interest and drives people to bankruptcy, he brings them to the devil.
-He grows old and realizes what a mistake he has made. He decides to change his life and become closer to God.
-One night he is talking to a client and he says the devil take me and he doesn't have his bible on him. The devil comes on a black horse and takes him away. They go back to the swamp and it lights on fire. Nobody really knows what happened but Tom was never seen again.
American Gothic
-Cavernous Gothic cathedrals- irregularly placed towers and their high stained-glass windows were intended to inspire awe and fear in religious worshipers. Gargoyles-mascot of Gothic, imaginative distortion of reality. Gargoyles warded off evil spirits.
-Romantic writers- led to the threshold of the unknown- the shadowy region where the fantastic, the demonic and the insane reside.
-Gothic tradition can be called the dark side of individualism.
-Romantic see "hope" Gothics see "potential evil"
-Poe- dark medieval castles or decaying ancient estates provided the setting for weird and terrifying.
-male narrators were insane
-female characters- beautiful and dead or dying.
-extreme situations- not just murder, life burials, physical and mental torture, retribution from the grave.
-For Poe it was only in such extreme situations that people revealed their true natures.
-Hawthrone examined the human heart under various conditions of fear, greed, vanity, mistrust, and betrayal.
-Now days Steven King
-Romantic writers- led to the threshold of the unknown- the shadowy region where the fantastic, the demonic and the insane reside.
-Gothic tradition can be called the dark side of individualism.
-Romantic see "hope" Gothics see "potential evil"
-Poe- dark medieval castles or decaying ancient estates provided the setting for weird and terrifying.
-male narrators were insane
-female characters- beautiful and dead or dying.
-extreme situations- not just murder, life burials, physical and mental torture, retribution from the grave.
-For Poe it was only in such extreme situations that people revealed their true natures.
-Hawthrone examined the human heart under various conditions of fear, greed, vanity, mistrust, and betrayal.
-Now days Steven King
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Gothic Literature
Gothic Lit: is characterized by grotesque characters, bizarre situations, and violent events. Originating in Europe, Gothic lit was a popular form of writing in the U. s., during the 19th century especially in the hand of such notables Edgar Allen Poe and Nathaniel Hawthorne.
-Romanticism: writers saw limitations of reason, celebrated individual spirit, emotions, and imagination. The basic elements of human nature. This was a reaction to Puritanism.
- The splendors of nature insired the romantics more than the fear of God.
-Fascination with the supernatural
-Washington Irving
-Their works exhibit a typical romantic preoccupation with atmosphere, sentiment and optimism.
-Transcendentalism: transcendent forms of truth exist beyond reason and experience.
- Belief in something else: faith, God-something beyond you that you follow.
-every individual is capable of discovering this higher truth on his/her on, through intuition.
-Romanticism: writers saw limitations of reason, celebrated individual spirit, emotions, and imagination. The basic elements of human nature. This was a reaction to Puritanism.
- The splendors of nature insired the romantics more than the fear of God.
-Fascination with the supernatural
-Washington Irving
-Their works exhibit a typical romantic preoccupation with atmosphere, sentiment and optimism.
-Transcendentalism: transcendent forms of truth exist beyond reason and experience.
- Belief in something else: faith, God-something beyond you that you follow.
-every individual is capable of discovering this higher truth on his/her on, through intuition.
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