World Literature Lesson - Essay Example

? World Literature Lesson No.6 Match the terms in Column I with the s in Column II. epiphany imagery allusion ambiguity memoir flashback A. a reference to a statement, person, place, event, or thing that is from literature, religion, myth, history, politics, or other field of knowledge B. a type of autobiography that usually focuses on the writer's involvement in a single time period or historical event C. in a literary work, a moment of sudden insight or revelation that a character experiences D. language that appeals to the senses E. a scene in a narrative work that interrupts the present action of the plot to tell what happened at an earlier time F. the expression of an idea in language that suggests more than one meaning 2.   2. In After the Deluge, the poet imagines the man living in a village where "Water is a god / That doles its favors by the drop." This image contrasts ironically to the man's Persian rugs. contributions to worthy causes. heart-shaped swimming pool. sophisticated security system.   3. The astrologer in An Astrologer's Day does not have a lamp of his own because he cannot afford a lamp. has a fire that gives off enough light. does not want customers to see his face. prefers the mood set by shadows and half-light.   4. In An Astrologer's Day, what is ironic about the stranger asking if he will succeed in his "present search"? He knows that he is facing the man that he seeks. He doesn't realize that success is impossible. He doesn't know that the astrologer is a fraud. He has already succeeded, although he doesn't know it.   5. Lines 14-16 of Black Cat say "you see yourself, tiny, . . . like a prehistoric fly." Which word in these lines tells you that they contain a simile? tiny like fly prehistoric   6. In Borges and I, who is the narrator representing in the following statement: "My taste runs to hourglasses, maps, seventeenth-century typefaces"? the private Borges the public Borges an impartial observer a close friend of the author   7. A dynamic character is best described as a character who symbolizes a moral concept in an allegory. serves as a pattern or model for other characters. remains true to his or her beliefs throughout a story. changes in an important way as a result of a story's events.   8. Free verse is poetry that relies on rhyme to give it structure. requires stanzas of different length. does not have a regular meter and rhyme scheme. does not rhyme but follows a strict metrical pattern.   9. An example of an allusion is a writer's reference to Greek mythology. writer's vivid description of thunder. character's struggle between opposing desires. character's realization about the purpose of life.   10. The main conflict in Dead Men's Path is between the priest and the villagers. old people and young people. wealthy rulers and poor people. modern ideas and old traditions.   11. The imagery in Before spring there are days like these creates a mood that is vibrant and joyful. bleak and depressing. angry and bitter. outrageous and silly.   12. Throughout the memoir Night, Wiesel's main focus is on the actions that the Germans take against the prisoners. prisoners themselves and their struggle to survive. outsiders who observe how the Germans treat the prisoners. civilians who enjoy watching the prisoners suffer.   13. Which of the following excerpts from Night is objective rather than subjective? "The night was long and never ending." "We all threw blankets over our shoulders, like prayer shawls." "Twenty bodies were thrown out of our wagon." "Wild beasts of prey, with animal hatred in their eyes."   14. The imagery in the phrase "the trumpeting of molten elements" appeals to the reader's sense of taste and sight. sight and smell. smell and hearing. hearing and sight.   15. Which 20th-century event most likely influenced Szymborska's use of irony in In Praise of Feeling Bad About Yourself? World War II the assassination of John F. Kennedy the fall of the Berlin Wall the 1929 stock market crash   16. In Life is Sweet at Kumansenu, why does Bola toss the kola nuts on her husband's grave? If the kola nuts sprout in the grave, the kola tree will provide nuts for the entire village. If the kola nuts fall with all four faces up or down, this means her husband is listening. If the kola nuts bounce off the grave, this means the family will have more children. She is cursing her husband for dying by throwing the kola nuts on his grave.   17. What detail of the setting in Quang Binh best conveys the speaker's love for her homeland? "Dong Hoi citadel stood in silence" "the sandy hill that had no trees for cover" "the enemy guns firing / on the Southern banks" "That purple blue sky, our eyes could never see enough of it."   18. Which of the following situations in The Censors is ironic? Juan becomes a "victim of his devotion to his work." Juan reports a coworker for planning a strike. Juan is transferred to Section B. Juan is "shocked by the subtle . . . ways" in which people pass messages.   19. According to Camus, what makes Sisyphus a universally tragic figure? Sisyphus' torment will never end. Sisyphus is conscious. There is no meaning in what Sisyphus does. Sisyphus has not learned from his mistakes.   20. The people in The Norwegian Rat are worried about rats, but the meaning of the animals is ambiguous. Given the details of the story, the rats most likely stand for any fearful person. any unrealized threat. anything that chews holes. anything that steals your food.   21. Which question provides the epiphany for the man with the dead son in War? "Don't you see how my case would be worse than yours?" "Then . . . is your son really dead?" "What difference can it make?" "Is there any one of us here who wouldn't gladly take his son's place at the front if he could?"   22. All of the following are figures of speech EXCEPT metaphor. imagery. simile. personification.   23. What figure of speech is contained in these lines, "Wind sings in its whirling, / water murmurs going by," from Wind, Water, Stone? simile metaphor personification symbolism   24. Kawabata's use of the bird in the garden in his story The Jay is an example of cultural conflict. symbolism. literature of protest. irony.   25. In Love Must Not Be Forgotten, the author allows the reader to know her mother through foreshadowing. simile. flashback. her magazine articles.   26. The theme of the short story Ocean of Words is the pursuit of knowledge and learning. benefits of having powerful friends. advisability of cooperating with those in authority. destructive influence of Communism.   27. The attitudes of the young married couple in The Train from Rhodesia allow the reader to realize the difference in their ages. compare and contrast different points of view about the culture. understand the problems of apartheid. compare the woman's dishonest attitude with her husband's sense of justice.   28. The poem Requiem can be considered ironic because it deals with the Cultural Revolution. the author was in Tiananmen Square when the event happened. the poem immortalizes people the Chinese government hoped to erase from public view. the author is now an official in the Chinese government. 29. In “The Norwegian Rat”, Naguib Mahfouz induces the element of suspense by utilizing a psychological approach to draw the story’s general public into conflict. The development of the theme initiates with a declaration about something that is bound to exist and cause fright even if in truth within the story, no actual Norwegian rat would surface to get in tangible contact with the villagers. While destructive rats remain strong in adherence to the people’s imagination, the tools of deception is consistently at work. This is demonstrated by the narrator on admitting “Soon, rats predominated over the rest of our worries. They made frequent appearances in our dreams, occupied the most time in our conversations, and came to engross us as life’s main difficulty.” On engaging a reader to the intended epiphany, Mahfouz operates with the technique of ambiguity wherein the absence of rats, despite exhaustive precautions, leads one to step out of the imagination and confront the corrupt reality. Domestic realism apparently unfolds through the exaggerated presence of solutions offered yet to no avail. Besides monetary charges, political manipulation proceeds to build advocacies in the mind of each individual so as to sustain the idea that rats still are the principal enemies. Such is exemplified when Mr. A.M. delivers remarks of encouragement saying “The losses are slight … We shall become experts in matters of fighting rats.” However, the moment of realization is about to commence for the narrator and his wife upon witnessing how the inspecting bureaucrat devouringly gobbled the served food beyond hesitation. Saying “It seemed that his face reminded me no longer of a cat but of a rat, in fact of the Norwegian rat itself” indicates a positive sense of realism that can eliminate the conflict with original suspense at any instant. 30. Government censorship office or a place central to extensive censorship bureaus serves as the setting for “The Censors” by Luisa Valenzuela. Upon Juan’s designation in the workplace, the setting becomes an environment that draws the young man into a precarious scheme of intercepting a letter addressed to Mariana. Perhaps to compensate for feeling guilty and uncertain of the odds for his intention, Juan eventually finds himself engrossed in the job, having been able to perceive and gauge the tasks by which he could obtain an advantage knowing how indispensable and fulfilling it is to have for a choice of profession. Mixed attributes of cleverness and hard-work in Juan have evolved within the same setting whereby his growing potentials can be observed to acquire vivid progress as he moves from section to section. Valenzuela even notes via third person view: “So you have to outsmart them, you have to do what everyone does: try to sabotage the mechanism, throw sand in the gears, that is, go to the source of the problem in order to obstruct it” to indicate that Juan is fully aware of the inevitable politics besides the requirements of the sensitive work. As if to establish an irony, the story occurs to be thematic about the main character’s knowledge of the unpleasant consequences yet he still pursues to have his letter undergo censorship risks. Without change of setting, in the end, the smoothness in the middle of the story develops rather into a pitch realization of what could have been cautiously done for the sake of the desired promotion, and not execution. 31. In “Love Must Not be Forgotten” which depicts the story of the author herself, conflict emerges at the point Zhang Jie is having a difficult time attempting to figure out why she could not bring herself to decide on marriage at 30. Such hardship due to indecision given the fact on society’s rigid norms and expectations of her age altogether forms the situation of conflict. Later on in the story, a reader would be made to discover that certain political influences as well as cultural orientation and biological relations bear impact on the status of her prevailing struggle. Jie portrays the conflict initially by acquainting readers to the nature of her relationship with Qiao Lin. With the help of a few physical details about her boyfriend, Jie manages to describe circumstances which justify her problematic claims. At one occasion, she confesses asking “Qiao Lin, why do you love me?” only to be responded to with “Because you’re good!” which merely disappoints her as it manifests no hint of serious thought based on her assessment. Moreover, the conflict is portrayed through her sentiment over the pressure of thinking about the legal truth on bondage between married couples. Wondering whether duties by tradition alone would suffice to keep them together, she goes on to exclaim “But how tragic simply to comply with law and morality! Was there no stronger bond to link us?” In order to come up with an appropriate resolution, as reflected in the story, Jie would have to understand certain issues about her origins. Then the story develops onto the part where she holds herself back from burning her mother’s diary in which a matter of significant interest regarding the woman’s life in love with wretched ending is disclosed. This enables Jie to take time meditating and becoming enlightened in the process of discerning how her mother is fated with lack of desirable romantic affair for the man of her dreams is beyond imaginable reach. By examining truths on human weaknesses, Jie can assist herself into reducing ideal hopes to the subjective practicality of treating marriage with a flexible consideration of overlooking imperfect traits in a spouse-to-be. Additionally, she ought to learn how other external factors like the Cultural Revolution of her period affect a person’s social behavior and perceptions concerning love. 32. Ha Jin admits to have thematic concentrations on subjects that have had excruciating impact on people’s lives in reference to his work “Ocean of Words.” A combination of betrayal, loss, rivalry, and yearning acts comprise the bulk of effects as amply influenced by the Cultural Revolution in China during the 70s. The author is said to have derived chief inspiration from communist ideology under the regime of Mao Zedong. One concrete instance would be when political machinations put to high risk of distrust the valuable relation between a local militia commander and an army officer. Bourgeois liberalism is another context dealt with by “Ocean of Words” being a philosophy at work among the Chinese soldiers at the time though they seem unconscious about it. Read More