ENGLISH LIT REVISION

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OF MICE AND MEN

THE CRUCIBLE

MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING

GREAT EXPECTATIONS

LITERARY TERMS

Syndetic list = list of ands

Polysyndeton = lots of ands

Asyndeton = no ands

Alliteration

Assonance = a rhyming of vowel sounds in neighbouring or close words

Blank verse = a verse without rhyme, especially one that uses iambic pentameter. Blank verse is often unobtrusive and the iambic pentameter form oftern resembles the rhythms of ordinary speech

Cacophony = harsh, discordant sounds (opposite of euphony)

Caesura = a break in a line of poetry

Cliché = phrase expressing a common thought, lost originality by overuse

Connotation = second meanings and overtones of a word (opposite denotation)

Couplet = a pair of rhymed lines, of any metre

Consonance = repetition of consonant sounds, sound usually occurs at the ends of words

Ellipsis = the omission of part of a grammatical structure- more informal

Enjambment = continuation of a phrase from one line of verse to the next without pause

Euphony = soothing pleasant sounds (opposite of cacophony)

Eytomology = study of the history and origin of words

Figurative language = whenever you describe something by comparing it with something else (similes, metaphors and personification)

Foreshadowing = Clues of events to come

Free verse = non rhyming verse also with free metrical verse

Hyperbaton = figure of speech in which words that naturally belong together are separated for effect, author plays with regular positioning of words and phrases

Hyperbole = an extravagant statement or figure of speech not intended to be taken literally

Idioms = group of words established by usage as having a meaning not deducible from those of the individual words

Imagery = language that evokes one or all of the five senses (also trope)

Internal rhyme = rhyme withing a single line of poetry

Irony = use of words to convey a meaning that is the opposite of its literal meaning. Indicating through character or plot development, an intention or attitude opposite to that which is stated.

Dramatic irony = audience knows more than the characters

Juxtaposition = one theme or idea paralleled to another for effect

Lexeme or lexical field = type of words used

Metaphor = or trope, not literal word or phrase

Motif = recurrent thematic element

Mood or tone = the emotional attitude the author takes towards the subject

Onomatopoeia = the use of a word to describe or imitate the sound its descibing

Oxymoron = opposite words in close proximity for effect

Parody = imitate for purposes of ridicule or satire

Pathetic fallacy = connection between human mood and the external world

Personification = human characteristics are given to an animal or object

Pun = word play involving words with double meanings

Quatrain = a stanza with four lines

Register = a variety of language used in a specific social setting

Satire = literature which exhibits or examines vice and folly and makes them appear ridiculous or contemptible

Sibilance = The occurance of an 's', 'ch' or 'sh' or hissing sound at the beginning of words that are neighbouring or in close proximity to each other

Simile = comparison of one thing with another thing

Synecdoche = a figure of speech in which a part is made to represent the whole or vice versa (lend me your ears)

Theme = the general idea or insight about life expressed

Mimesis = meaning like sound

Phonoaesthetics = how a word sounds

Plosive words = like cacophony

Anaphora = poetry - lines beginning with the same word

Antithesis = contrasting opposites

Chiasmus = words/concepts repeated in reverse order

Pathos = emotion

Bathos = anticlimax

Ascending and Descending tricolon

Stichomythia

Main and Subordinate clauses

End focus and fronting

Iambs, trochees and spondees

Themes

are the fundamental and often universal ideas explored in a literary work.

Motifs

are

recurring structures, contrasts, or literary devices that can help to develop

and inform the text’s major themes.

Symbols

are objects, characters, figures, or colours

used

to represent abstract ideas or concepts

In John Proctor, Miller gives the reader a marvelous tragic hero for any time—a flawed figure who finds his moral center just as everything is falling to pieces around him.

Hamartia = affair with Abigail, occurs before the play begins so audience more likely to be persuaded that he is a good man? More easy to forgive? Elizabeth's coldness also contributes to the audience's readiness to forgive John.

Proctor is, above all, a proud man who places great emphasis on his reputation. is immense pride and fear of public opinion compelled him to withhold his adultery from the court, but by the end of the play he is more concerned with his personal integrity than his public reputation. He still wants to save his name, but for personal and religious, rather than public, reasons. By refusing to give up his personal integrity Proctor implicitly proclaims his conviction that such integrity will bring him to heaven.

I have given you my soul; leave me my name!” he cries to Danforth in Act IV. By refusing to relinquish his name, he redeems himself for his earlier failure and dies with integrity.

Proctor’s courageous decision, at the close of the play, to die rather than confess to a sin that he did not commit, finally breaks the cycle. The court collapses shortly afterward, undone by the refusal of its victims to propagate lies.

At first, a passive protagonist

he doesn't stop fighting the false accusations even after he finds out that Elizabeth is pregnant and therefore safe for a while. He feels a greater duty to his community and proceeds anyway

Throughout sense of wasted potential

Crisis = pivot moment in the tragedy after which the hero falls/ is doomed (when Elizabeth lies)

Anagnorisis = moment of realisation that changes the tragic hero- when John admits his intentions are larger

Catharsis = Audience purging of emotions (John and Elizabeth act 4)

How intolerance and hysteria can intersect and tear a community apart

The Crucible introduces a community full of underlying personal grudges. Religion pervades every aspect of life, but it is a religion that lacks a ritual outlet to manage emotions such as anger, jealousy, or resentment. By 1692, Salem has become a fairly established community, removed from its days as an outpost on a hostile frontier. Many of the former dangers that united the community in its early years have lessened, while interpersonal feuds and grudges over property, religious offices, and sexual behavior have begun to simmer beneath the theocratic surface. These tensions, combined with the paranoia about supernatural forces, pervade the town’s religious sensibility and provide the raw materials for the hysteria of the witch trials.

The idea of guilt by association is central to the events in The Crucible, as it is one of the many ways in which the private, moral behavior of citizens can be regulated. To solidify one’s good name, it is necessary to publicly condemn the wrongdoing of others.

The language of the play is almost biblical, and Abigail seems like a biblical character—a Jezebel figure, driven only by sexual desire and a lust for power.

Miller page 5- 'It is still impossible for man to organize his social life without repressions, and the balance has yet to be struck between order and freedom.'

Hale- start of page 26, end of page 30, idea of finding diabolism being an act of precision, comparisons with a doctor. Clear boundary with good and bad, morality and immorality.

projecting an air of great knowledge

he experiences a transformation, one more remarkable than that of any other character.

Doubt begins in act 2

Comparisons with pontius pilot

Although Hale recognizes the evil of the witch trials, his response is not defiance but surrender. He insists that survival is the highest good, even if it means accommodating oneself to injustice—something that the truly heroic characters can never accept.

Dichotomy = a division or contrast between two things that are or are represented as being opposed or entirely different.

Diabolism = devil worship

Theocratic society - dichotomy functions as the underlining logic behind the witch trials. Most illustrated in the character of Danforth, Act 3.

the townsfolk accept and become active in the hysterical climate not only out of genuine religious piety but also because it gives them a chance to express repressed sentiments and to act on long-held grudges. Hysteria only thrived because people benefited from it

Analyse as a play, it is spoken language

Act 1, Abigail makes clear contradictions with herself. The adults are already too blinded with her persuasive power and willingness to believe in the supernatural to notice this. Audience sees how easily the community are swayed by one manipulative individual just trying to save her own neck

(rising to a great glee) act 1= enjoyment in her condemnation

Giles’s claim to Hale that Proctor does not believe in witches does not necessarily arise out of a desire to do his Christian duty—he may only be making a joke. However, the very offhand nature of his statement indicates that reporting a neighbor’s heretical words or thoughts is a deeply ingrained behavior in Salem.

Tituba, Abigail and Betty empower themselves through their allegedly religious hysteria.

Deputy Governor Danforth and Judge Hathorne do not want to admit publicly that they were deceived by a bunch of young women and girls, while Parris does not want the trials to end as a fraud because the scandal of having a lying daughter and niece would end his career in Salem.

act 3 Too many reputations are at stake, and Proctor’s revelation comes too late to stop the avalanche.

Act 4 Danforth and Hathorne’s treatment of Proctor reveals an obsessive need to preserve the appearance of order and justify their actions as well as a hypocritical attitude about honesty.

hysterical, self-serving accusations

'A man may think God sleeps, but God sees everything, I know it now. I beg you, sir, I beg you—see her what she is. . . . She thinks to dance with me on my wife’s grave! And well she might, for I thought of her softly. God help me, I lusted, and there is a promise in such sweat. But it is a whore’s vengeance. . . .' Proctor Act 3

'You must understand, sir, that a person is either with this court or he must be counted against it, there be no road between. This is a sharp time, now, a precise time—we live no longer in the dusky afternoon when evil mixed itself with good and befuddled the world. Now, by God’s grace, the shining sun is up, and them that fear not light will surely praise it.' Danforth Act 3

Early in the play, Proctor’s desire to preserve his good name keeps him from testifying against Abigail. Now, however, he has come to a true understanding of what a good reputation means and what course of action it necessitates—namely, that he tell the truth, not lie to save himself.

TONE · Serious and tragic—the language is almost biblical.

THEMES · Intolerance; hysteria; reputation

Discuss the role that grudges and personal rivalries play in the witch trial hysteria.

Abigail's jealousy of Elizabeth

Parris and his desire to keep and maintain his authority

The Putnams and their feud with the Nurse's over land and still born children

Abigail's hatred of Salem

How do the witch trials empower individuals who were previously powerless?

Betty stands up to Proctor (Act 2)

Elizabeth's gang (Elizabeth standing up to Danforth Act 3) “I’ll

not have such looks.” (pg

89)

Tituba- able to show her hatred of Parris and in accusing white people has power over the race that enslave her.

Danforth, although stubborn,

is swayed

by Abigail. As soon as he begins to doubt her,

she manages to change his feelings back. “Engaged and entered by Abigail.” (pg

87) "weakening"

•

Elizabeth is shocked

at how far Abigail would go to spite Elizabeth “She must be ripped out of the

world!” (pg 62) Elizabeth a very sensitive, plain speaking woman.. audience finds this choice of words shocking

•Proctor

is described by Miller as “Powerful of body, even tempered, and not easily

led.” (pg 16) This shows Miller thinks

highly of Proctor and respects

his character. The “not easily led” is a hint almost to show he will not be caught up

in the hysteria of the witch trials.

•Proctor

is described by Miller as “Powerful of body, even tempered, and not easily

led.” (pg 16) This shows Miller thinks

highly of Proctor and respects

his character. The “not easily led” is a hint almost to show he will not be caught up

in the hysteria of the witch trials.

•His

use of vivid

imagery pops up throughout the play. He

uses it to describe situations which help the reader understand how he feels.

“Your justice would freeze beer” (pg 46)

Proctor and Elizabeth catharsis act 4

The emotional weight of the play rests on Proctor's quest to regain his lost self-image, his lost goodness.

Proctor likes rebellious Abigail as he too despises aspects of Salem 'smile widening' act 1

"I do think I see some shred of goodness in John Proctor. Not enough to weave a banner with, but white enough to keep it from such dogs" (IV.298).

"I do think I see some shred of goodness in John Proctor. Not enough to weave a banner with, but white enough to keep it from such dogs" (IV.298).

Proctors frustration that he cannot forgive himself, taken out on Elizabeth- desperate for self gratification. Their relationship described as a trial and journey to forgiveness, foreshadowing later trials in the play

INSTRUMENTAL (power of law) and INFLUENTIAL power (abigail manipulation)

Proctor and others power through self sacrifice

Miller's portrayal of witchcraft is stereotypical and unbelievable for audience- he is critical of it (making a point)

Hale pg105 I come to do the devil's work.. There is blood on my head! damnation's doubled on a minister who counsels men to lie

Pg.82 intimidating the children, using graphic images, consonance. Leading the witness

Metaphor crucible- 'fire' applied to several people and we see what theyre made of- whether they lie to protect themselves or be honest and face death

Elizabeth- almost self fulfilling prophecy

Putnam = stirrer malicious and self serving

itinerant workers

Every character displays a belief in the

American Dream

“A guy gets too lonely an’ he gets sick”

Use of indefinite article

“Maybe ever’body in the whole damn world

is scared of each other”

Workers loneliness but wariness and suspicion of each other as a result of the lifestyle and times they live in.

‘Crooks had retired into the terrible

protective dignity of the negro’

Hands are referred to continuously

throughout the novel

They can say lots about a character

Steinbeck uses animal imagery to describe

the characters in their simplest form

This makes them seem as if they are basic

creatures and are instinctive

Lennie in particular- easier to forgive for his sin.

‘his huge paws and bleated with terror’ metaphor and antithesis

The ranch is a microcosm of society

This means that the ranch represents the

groups in society and their views about each other, within a small group

writes with a very poetic, lyrical beauty when

describing the Salinas Valley.

foreshadowing- throughout and in the title

Steinbeck

doesn’t give Candy a name at the beginning to indicate that Candy is of little

importance on the ranch

Like ranch workers dont understand george and lennie's relationship, dont understand Candy and his dog

‘a

change came over old Candy’. effect of hope 'master of the situation'

His innocence

raises him to a standard of pure goodness

exemplifies

the predatory nature of the ranch-hands’

world. The

strong attack the weak but the weak will attack the weaker.

Crooks exhibits an insight that other characters

lack. He is openly sceptical

Crooks

acts brusque not because of any dislike for others; rather, he uses it as

a defence mechanism.

makes her utterly human and much more interesting than the stereotypical

vixen in fancy red shoes

Candy’s dog serves as a harsh reminder of the fate that awaits anyone who outlives his

usefulness.

cynicism

Candy and Crooks sign on to

this fantasy, which helps them also to transcend their circumstances.

Slim seems to have somehow reached the sad

conclusion indicated by the novel's title, that to dream leads to despair.

This is a novel of defeated hope and the harsh

reality of the American Dream.

– the

idyllic setting turns predatory

delicate and beautiful bond

between friends is not appropriately mourned because it is not understood.

ISOLATION

. “And

then her words tumbled out in a passion of communication, as though she hurried

before her listener could be taken away...“I don’t like Curley. He ain’t a nice fella.””

,

Curley is fairly one dimensional

Whit

is an enthusiastic, young ranch hand. ““Go on” said the young man “read it

aloud.”” This shows that he is still quite excited about seeing the letter from

Bill Tanner. However, with his “slumped shoulders...as though he was carrying an invisible grain bag,” he is

starting to show the first signs of exhaustion from ranch life

OF MICE AND MEN

THE CRUCIBLE

MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING

GREAT EXPECTATIONS

LITERARY TERMS