Jennifer Wu's learning notes

American Literature Note 11

“If you can rock the children, you can make them learn!!!” (said Teacher Sara)

Existentialism

Existentialism is a term applied to the work of certain late 19th- and 20th-century philosophers who, despite profound doctrinal differences, shared the belief that philosophical thinking begins with the human subject—not merely the thinking subject, but the acting, feeling, living human individual. In existentialism, the individual's starting point is characterized by what has been called "the existential attitude” , or a sense of disorientation and confusion in the face of an apparently meaningless or absurd world. Many existentialists have also regarded traditional systematic or academic philosophies, in both style and content, as too abstract and remote from concrete human experience.

Movie: 2012

It is a 2009 American science fiction disaster adventure film directed and co-written by Roland Emmerich. It stars John Cusack, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Amanda Peet. The plot follows Jackson Curtis (John Cusack) as he attempts to bring his family to refuge, amidst the events of a geological and meteorological super-disaster. The film includes references to Mayanism, the Mesoamerican Long Count calendar, and the 2012 phenomenon in its portrayal of cataclysmic events unfolding in the year 2012.

Young Goodman Brown p.619- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DbqCHT85yO0

"Young Goodman Brown" is a short story published in 1835 by American writer Nathaniel Hawthorne. The story takes place in 17th century Puritan New England, a common setting for Hawthorne's works, and addresses the Calvinist/Puritan belief that all of humanity exists in a state of depravity, except those who are born in a state of grace. Hawthorne frequently attempts to expose the hypocrisy of Puritan culture in his literature. In a symbolic fashion, the story follows Young Goodman Brown's journey into self-scrutiny, which results in his loss of virtue and faith.

Climax--- p.624,625

The cry of grief, rage, and terror, was yet piercing the night, …...

“My Faith is gone!” “There was no good on earth; and sin is but a name. Come, devil! For to thee is this world given.”

Some words

gloom (n.)

To become dark or dim; to be or appear dismal, gloomy, or sad; to come to the evening twilight

e.g. I wanted to switch on a table lamp to banish the gloom of a winter afternoon.

e.g. Gloom pervaded the office.

malevolent (adj.)

Having or exhibiting ill will; wishing harm to others; malicious

Having a harmful influence

e.g. Her stare was malevolent.

benevolent (adj.)

kind and generous

e.g. The old woman had a benevolent feeling towards all cats.

e.g. The club received a benevolent donation.

Synecdoche 提喻法

It’s a figure of speech in which a part is used for the whole or the whole for a part, the special for the general or the general for the special, as in ten sail for ten ships or a Croesus for a rich man.

Synecdoche is a literary device in which a part of something represents the whole or it may use a whole to represent a part.

Synecdoche may also use larger groups to refer to smaller groups or vice versa. It may also call a thing by the name of the material it is made of or it may refer to a thing in a container or packing by the name of that container or packing.

Edgar Allan Poe

World Literature Made Simple p. 168

1. The father of the American short story

2. His criticism and artistic practice are intertwined.

The end of art is beauty (ideal and supernal), not truth (the satisfaction and of the

intellect).

3. He developed three kinds of narrative:

(1) tales of horror which frequently make use of psychological abnormalities

(2) prose-poems which are lavish with tone color and symbolism

(3) tales of ratiocination and detection

4. He pioneered American esthetic theory (art for art’s sake)

Magic realism

  Magic realism or magical realism is an aesthetic style or genre of fiction in which magical elements are blended into a realistic atmosphere in order to access a deeper understanding of reality. These magical elements are explained like normal occurrences that are presented in a straightforward manner which allows the "real" and the "fantastic" to be accepted in the same stream of thought. It has been widely considered a literary and visual art genre; creative fields that exhibit less significant signs of magic realism include film and music.

For example

One Hundred Years of Solitude (1967)by Colombian author Gabriel García Márquez

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