Literature Midterm Study Guide

Personification

\- literary device where non-human things are given human traits Ex) The sea lashed out in anger at the ships, unwilling to tolerate another battle. 🌊

Mood

Tone

\- reflects the writer’s attitude toward the subject matter or audience of a literary work, creating a particular relationship with the reader that, in turn, influences the intention and meaning of the written words

Diction

\- refers to the linguistic choices made by a writer to convey an idea or point of view, or tell a story, in an effective way

Onomatopoeia

\-  a sound device where the words sound like their meaning or mimic sounds, adding a level of fun and reality to writing Ex) hiss, crackle, buzz, oink, meow, ruff

Hyperbole

\- an outrageous exaggeration that emphasizes a point, adding color and depth to a character Ex) I've told you a million times to clean your room!

Alliteration

\- the repetition of the first letter in several words Ex) We're up, wide-eyed, and wondering while we wait for others to awaken.

Simile

\- compares two things using the words “like” or “as” Ex) I move fast like a cheetah on the Serengeti. 🐆

Idiom

\- phrases that have a different meaning beyond their literal meaning Ex) throwing caution to the wing, kill two birds with one stone

Metaphor

\- a figure of speech that describes an object or action in a way that isn't literally true, but helps explain an idea or make a comparison Ex) This coffee shop is an icebox! 🧊

Symbolism

\- occurs when a word has its own meaning but represents something entirely different Ex) incorporating a red rose🌹in your writing to symbolize love

Parallelism

\- refers to using similar words, clauses, phrases, sentence structure, or other grammatical elements to emphasize similar ideas in a sentence

Theme

\- refers to the central, deeper meaning of a written work, often what creates a memorable and significant experience of a literary work for the reader Ex) Love ❤️, Redemption, Morality, Good versus Evil, Power, chaos versus order

Flowers for Algernon: Setting

1960s in New York

Rising Action

\- Charlie goes through an operation to get smart \- He is very doubtful and skeptical that it is actually working \- He begins to learn really advanced material and concepts and beats Algernon, a mouse he has lost to countless times \- Charlie learns his friends have been making fun of him

Climax

\- Algernon bites Charlie \- Charlie decides to study Algernon's behavior and finds that Algernon has regressed mentally \- Algernon dies

Falling Action

\- Charlie is really sad about Algernon and puts flowers on his grave frequently \- Charlie, similar to Algernon begins to lose his memory and all the information he learned

Resolution

\- Charlie moves away and plans to continue practicing and remembering information.

Theme

1\. It is a common pattern in society to mistreat people with an intellectual disability 2\. Whether knowledge is truly more valuable than happiness 3\. Our humanity is not measured by how smart we are but instead should be measured by our kindness and love

Parallelism

When Charlie's writing has more grammatical and spelling mistakes it can show the readers Charlie's current intelligence levels

Symbolism

- the flowers can represent Charlie's wish for him and Algernon to be remembered