History, Culture, and the Author

Concepts and Terms

Four Factors that shape a writer’s world view:  Gender  Ethnicity  National Identity  Family

Key Term  The social and cultural conditions that may have influenced a writer’s work are the:  Historical and Cultural Contexts

Harlem Renaissance  A 1920’s literary movement that took place in Harlem.  African Americans expressed their own heritage, style, and voice.

Dialect:  A form of language as it is spoken in a particular geographic area or by a particular social or ethnic group.  “watcha always do”  “come into all this mess”  “buzzin”, “savin”

Voice  Voice is a writer’s unique style of expression.

Memoir  A form of autobiographical writing in which a writer shares his or her personal experiences and observations of events and people.

Cultural Symbol  A cultural symbol is one that has shared meaning for an entire culture.  Symbols include:  Concepts  Animals  Objects  Places

Allusion  A reference to a well-known person, place, event, or literary work.  It depends on the shared knowledge of both the writer and reader.

Allusion Examples  Reference to the biblical figure Job  Reference to a historical event (The Great Famine)  Reference to a famous poem or novel  Reference to a famous place/person

Review Notes

Poems  The author of “The Tropics in New York” describes Jamaica to express ________.  a unique cultural experience.  The speaker cries at the end of the poem because he ________________.  misses familiar ways.

Poems  The speaker from “Theme for English B” feels connected to the instructor because they are both _________________.  American.

Angela’s Ashes  While in the hospital, Frank realized he loved ________________.  Shakespeare’s writing  He first read Shakespeare in a book of English history.  Why was Seamus sad when he recited the end of the poem to Frank?  It reminded him of Patricia.

Four Days in November  The author (of the newspaper article) talked to witnesses to research Nov. 22,  The time after Kennedy’s death was called ____.  the age of cynicism  The political cartoon connects ___________.  Abe Lincoln to JFK.

American History  Elena does not feel like she is part of a group at school.  Elena cries _____________ at the end of the story.  For Herself  Elena’s mother warns her that she is headed for ___________ by chasing after Eugene.  Humiliation

Vocabulary

Angela’s Ashes  Torrent = a heavy outpouring  Induced = persuaded  Perfidy = treachery  Relapse = worsening of an illness

American History  Muted = quiet  Vigilant = watchful  Enthralled = charmed greatly  Distraught = deeply upset  Hierarchy = a group that has importance or authority

American History  Maneuvering = an action skillfully designed to reach a goal  Infatuated = unreasonably in love  Resigned = marked by acceptance of a condition or action as unavoidable  Solace = comfort after sorrow or misfortune

STUDY!