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Lit Review

Terms

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Poet—extravagant with words—wrote mostly free verse—seemed to celebrate everything—published some his own works
Walt Whitman
Dramas, originally under church control, that were based on the lives of the saints
Miracle
He is said to have said, "The unexamined life is not worth living."
Socrates
In the language of the people rather than in some scholarly language such as Latin
Vernacular
Wrote a history into which he threw nearly everything he'd ever read—source of much misinformation
Pliny
Greatest Tragic Writer
Seneca
Active desire to raise downtrodden from their low circumstances
Humanitarianism
A "learned comedy" designed for small courtly audience in Italy—early efforts based on Plautus and Terence
Commedia Erudita
The woman (representing faith) who guided Dante on the final leg of his 3-stop Holy Week journey through the afterlife
Beatrice
Intended to "induce wonder, pity, and horror"—often lengthy, bloody, complicated (and boring to modern audiences)
Italian Tragedy
The result of the years of mingling the language of the Normans and the language of the Anglo-Saxons
Middle English
All 6 of his plays (4 based on Menander originals) survive; refined language, subtle humor, complex story lines
Terrence
A combination of grace and nonchalance
Spretzzatura
Said, "I may disagree with what you say , but I will defend to the death your right to say it"
Voltaire
Name for the 3-line stanzas that were the basic structural unit of The Divine Comedy
Terza Rima
Wrote The Book of the Courtier
Castiglone
Improvised comedy with stock characters often in half masks and exaggerated costumes—performed by traveling troupes
Mime
Wrote The Aeneid—Rome's epic of the founding of the city
Vergil
Said, "Cogito ergo sum"
Descartes
Belief that matters of ultimate reality (God, the Cosmos, the self) go beyond human experience
Trancendentalism
Wrote Spirit of the Laws—USA's founders influenced by his thinking and that of Locke
Montesqieu
Poet called the 10th Muse by peers
Sappho
This literary work complained about the "gift devouring" aristocracy
Works and Days" Hesiod
Belief that God created the world but does little to influence its ongoing natural processes
Deism
It is Achilles' story—the gods
The Illiad
Wrote books and articles on self-sufficiency and civil disobedience—influenced Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr.
Henry David Thoreau
Said, "man is born free and everywhere he is in chains"
Rousseau
Exaggerated pride—holding oneself equal to the gods
Hubris
Novelist and short story writer—works often set in Puritan New England—explored guilt and other dark aspects of humanity
Nathaniel Hawthorne
Wrote Don Quixjote
Cervantes
Dramas, originally under church control, that were based on Bible stories
Mystery
Great writer of new comedies; used stock characters; situational comedies concerned with ordinary happenings of contemporary life
Menander
They helped inspire artists in nine categories of artistic endeavor
Muses
Born of bloodshed, they punished those who escaped public justice
Giants and Furies
Driving force behind assembling, editing, and publishing The Encyclopedia
Diderot
This artistic genre was created by Renaissance Italians when they attempted to re-create Greek drama
Opera
How many lines are required for a poem to be considered a sonnet?
14
Dramatist—often in trouble with political leaders, skeptical about myths, increased focus on tragic choice, presented men as they are
Euripides
These comedies reflect political changes in Athens after Peloponnesian War—most political commentary gone
Middle Comedy
Wrote a lot, wrote fast—plays include puns, satire, parody, backchat, and slapstick humor
Plautus
Legendary founder of Greek drama—created first actor (speaker separate from chorus)
Thespis
Frankenstine
Mary Shelley
Poet—precise, meticulous choice of words—controlled rhyme and meter—delicate, small poems—most published after author's death
Emily Dickinson
Novelist—works often set at sea—keenly interested in conflict between good and evil
Herman Melville
Poetic foot consisting of 2 syllables (the first unstressed, the second stressed)
iambic
How many metrical feet are in a pentametric line?
5
Introduced 3rd actor, closely aligned with those in power, conventional religious values, presented men as they should be
Sophocles
These blind sisters controlled the destinies of mankind
The Fates
Dramas—originally under church control—didactic allegories in which characters had names of virtues, vices, or other qualities
Morality
Greek philosopher who linked morality with the golden mean
Aristotle
For what group were the lowest reaches of Hell reserved in Dante's great work?
Traitors
The woman idealized by Petrarch and celebrated in his sonnets
Lora

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