English Reviewer

NARRATIVE
- An account of a sequence of events usually presented in a chronological order, a narrative
maybe real or imagined nonfiction or fiction.
Characters
- A reasonable facsimile of a human being, with all the good and bad traits of being a human.
- Fictional representation of a person.
Characterization
- The way writers develop characters and reveal those characters’ trait to readers.
- May portray characters through their actions, through their reactions.
Motivation
- The reason behind his or her behavior

Types of Characters based on Personality:

1. Round Characters – well developed, closely involved in and responsive to the action.
2. Flat Characters – barely developed or stereotypical
Types of Characters based on Role:
1. Protagonist – the main character in a literary work.
2. Antagonist – Opposes the protagonists’ goals.
3. Sidekick – has a weaker personality in comparison to the character him/himself. Stays with the
main character all the time. Tends to do as directed by the character.
4. Underdog –is a character who is often underplayed in a book someone who is the scapegoat.

Setting
- Establishes the historical, geographical and physical location
- Encompasses a wide variety of physical and cultural features.
Historical Context
- A particular historical period and the events associate with it.
Geographical Context
- Can help readers to understand characters’ behavior.
Physical Context
- The time of the day can clearly influence a story’s mood as well as its development.
Atmosphere
- May emphasize a story’s theme
- Helps to explain a characters’ reaction or state of mind

Plot
- The way in which a story’s events are arranged
Order and Sequence of Plot:
1. En Medias Res (latin for “In the midst of Things”) – starting with a key event and later going back
in time to explain events.
2. Flashback- moves out of the sequence to examine an event or situation that occurred before the
time in which the story’s action takes place.
3. Foreshadowing- introduction early in a story of situations, events, characters, or objects that
hint at things to come.

Point of View
- Position and stance of the voice or speaker.
- Angle or vantage point from which events are presented.

Persona
- “mask”
- Used o describe the narrator created by authors to tell the story.

Kinds of Point of View:

1. First Person POV- told by the protagonist or one of the characters who interacts closely to the
protagonist or other characters (using I, me, we etc.)
2. Second Person POV- writing from the point of view of a narrative onlooker who is writing about
you, the reader.
3. Third Person POV- character are not in the story.

Three Categories of Third Person POV:

1. Omniscient- can move from character to character, event to event, having free access to the
thoughts, feelings and motivations of his characters.
2. Omniscient Limited- we know only what the characters knows and what the author allows
him/her to tell us.
3. Omniscient Objective- it appears as though a camera is following the characters, going
anywhere, and recording only what is seen and heard.

Innocent Eye
- Told through the eyes of a child

Setting
- A natural, manufactured, political, cultural and temporal environment, including everything that
characters own and know.

Types of Setting:
1. Nature and the Outdoors
- Natural surroundings (hills, valleys, trees, lakes, etc.)
- Living creatures (birds, dog, horses, etc.)
- Condition in which things happen (sunlight, darkness, calm, wind, etc.)
2. Objects of Human Manufacture and Construction
- Buildings and Houses, objects of human manufacture and construction
3. Cultural Conditions and Assumptions
Style
- The way writers assemble words to tell a story , develop the argument, dramatize the play, or
compose the poem.
Diction
- A writer’s selection of words
Tone
- The methods by which writers and speakers reveal attitude or feelings.
Theme
- Central or dominant idea

BEOWULF

Background:
- People were divided into two social classes – the earl (ruling class) and the churl (war captives)
- Social System: “An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth”
- Blood Money: fine given by the killer to the family of the victims
- War was the general way of life

Terminologies:
- Thane- A man who owned land back in feudal times
- Danes- residents of Denmark
- Geats- Beowulf’s Clan – a seafaring tribe residing in the south of Sweden. As the poem suggests,
the geats appear to.
Scop
- A bard or story teller
- Responsible for praising deeds of past heroes, for recording history, and for providing
entertainment.
Comitatus
- “Escort” or “Comrade”
- Identifies the concept of warriors and lords mutually pledging their loyalty to one another.
- Synonymous to “Sidekick”
Mead Hall
- The large wall where the lord and his warriors slept, at, hold ceremonies, etc.
Beowulf
- Heroic epic poem
- Primary-source view of medieval society, culture and literature.
- The most famous specimen of Old English literature
- The Author did not sign and date the manuscript, and no records were kept.
- British History Museum in London – original copy of Beowulf
Heorot
- The golden guest hall built by King Hrothgar where warriors gathered to celebrate.
Characters:
1. Beowulf
- Hero of all heroes
- Courageous and Brave
- Geat (from southern Sweden)
- Nephew of Hyegelac (king at story’s start)
 2. Grendel
- Referred to as demon and fiend.
- Haunts the moors (swampy land)
- Descendant of Cain
3. Grendel’s Mother
- She-wolf
- Lives under a lake
- Challenges Hrothgar when she kills one of his best man.
4. Fire Dragon
- Lives in Beowulf’s Kingdom
- Wakes up when thief steals cup
- Guards countless treasures
Plot
- Scyld led the Spear-Danes for many years.
- He has a son named Beowulf.
- Hrothgar had a hall called Heorot.
- Grendel broke into Heorot.
- Beowulf saved the Danes from the Monster.
- The Mother of Grendel come to avenge his son.
- He used a magic sword in killing her.
- The poem with Beowulf’s last adventure, after reigning for 50 years.
- He had battled with a fire dragon.

Themes and Important Aspects:

- Good vs. Evil
- Religion: Christian and Pagan Influences
- The importance of wealth and treasure.
- The importance of the sea and sailing
- The sanctity of the home
- Fate (wyrd)
- Loyalty and Allegiance
- Heroism and Heroic Deeds

Mythological Criticism:
- The recurrent universal patterns underlying most literary works
- Tracing how the individual imagination uses myths and symbols common to different cultures.
- The key concept in mythological criticism, is the “Archetype”

Archetype
- A symbol, character, situation, or image that evokes a deep universal response.

Character Archetypes:
The Hero (Beowulf)
- A near god-like here faces physical challenges and external enemies.
Stages of Hero’s Journey
- Stage 1: Departure – the hero is called to adventure.
- Stage 2: Initiation – the hero crosses into a new more dangerous world.
 - Stage 3: The Road of Trials – the hero is given supernatural aid, endures tests of strength,
resourcefulness and endurance.
- Stage 4: The Innermost Cave – the hero descends into the innermost cave, an underworld or
some places of great trial.
- Stage 5: Return and Reintegration with Society – the hero uses his new wisdom to restore
fertility and order of the land.
The Task
- The nearly super human feat the hero must perform in order to accomplish his quest.

Symbolic Archetype:
Light vs. Darkness
- Light usually suggests hope, renewal, or intellectual illumination; darkness implies the unknown,
ignorance or despair.
Battle between Good and Evil
The Magic Weapon
- Sometimes connected with the task, this refers to a skilled individual hero’s ability to use a piece
of technology in order to combat evil, continue a journey or to prove his or her identity as a
chosen individual.

The Pardoner’s Tale

Author: Geoffrey Chaucer

The Doll’s House

Author: Katherine Mansfield

Characters:
1. Lil Kelvey- the older of the two Kelvey Sisters.
2. Else Kelvey- the younger sister of Kelveys who usually walk closely to her sister as if asking for
protection.
3. Kezia Burnell- The youngest of Burnell Sisters, who are well-to-do, and receive the beautiful
dollhouse.
4. Isabel Burnell- The eldest of Burnell Sisters and usually described as “Bossy”
5. Lottie Burnell- The middle child of the Burnell Sisters.
6. Mrs. Kelvey- A washerwoman, and the mother of the girls.
7. Mr. Kelvey- He is the father of the girls and presumed to be in jail.
8. Ms. Hay- the one who gave the dollhouse to the Burnell Sisters.
9. Aunt Beryl- the who ran off the Kelveys upon seeing them at home.

The Cask of Amontillado

Catacombs- underground cemetery especially one consisting of tunnels and rooms with recesses dug
out for coffins and tombs.

Impunity- exemption from punishment

Connoisseur- wine expert

Edgar Allan Poe
- 1809-1849
- American writer, critic and editor
- Famous for his tales and poems of horror and mystery.
- He belongs to the Romantic Movement in American Literature.

Cask- a wooden container for wine

Amontillado- a dry white wine

Setting
- “It was dusk one evening during the supreme madness of the carnival season”

Palazzo- a large, imposing building

Characters:
Montresor
- Narrator of the story
- He killed Fortunato
Masons
- A member of the fraternity of Freemasons/
Fortunato
- Mostley – clothing of different colors

The Gift of Magi

William Sydney Porter (O. Henry)

- American short-story writer whose tales romanticized the common place.
- Known for his surprise endings and plot twists.
Magi (Wise Men)
- Gift-Bearing men from the east
- Three Famous Gifts: gold, frankincense and myrrh
Setting:
- Christmas season, winter
- New York
Characters:
- Mr. James Dillingham (Jim)
- Bella Young
Plot:
- Jim suffered a pay cut.
- Bella wanted to buy something for Jim.
- Bella went Mme. Sofronie to sell her hair for $20 .
- Bella bought a platinum watch chain for Jim.
- Jim saw Bella’s Hair and showed no anger, surprise and disapproval.
- He showed the set of combs for her hair.
- Bella gave her present but came to realize that Jim sold Jim his watch to buy her a gift.