Flashcards
AP Literature Vocabulary #9 Flashcards
Terms : Hide Images
| 8156190362 | Accolade (N) | - award of merit | 0 | |
| 8156193696 | Accommodate (V) | - to render fit or correspondent; to adapt to circumstances; to make adjustment; to make room for | 1 | |
| 8156196775 | Bequeath (V) | - leave to someone by a will; hand down | 2 | |
| 8156198816 | Capricious (ADJ) | - subject to whims or passing fancies; spur of the moment | 3 | |
| 8156204503 | Deference (N) | - courteous regard for another's wish | 4 | |
| 8156219737 | Egregious (ADJ) | - conspicuous, standing out from the mass (used particularly in an unfavorable sense); remarkably bad | 5 | |
| 8156227900 | Fallacious (ADJ) | - embodying a falsehood; misleading as in wrong thinking/reasoning | 6 | |
| 8156260785 | Genre (N) | - a kind, sort, or species; usually refers to works of literature or art. | 7 | |
| 8156273751 | Havoc (N) | - wide and general destruction; devastation | 8 | |
| 8156275379 | Immutable (ADJ) | - unchangeable | 9 |
AP Language list #5 Flashcards
Terms : Hide Images
| 8522155286 | abate | become less in amount or intensity. | 0 | |
| 8522161829 | abdicate | give up, such as power, as of monarchs and emperors, or duties and obligations. | 1 | |
| 8522164498 | aberration | a state or condition markedly different from the norm. | 2 | |
| 8522168513 | abjure | (v.) to reject, renounce (To prove his honesty, the president abjured the evil policies of his wicked predecessor.) | 3 | |
| 8522171021 | abrogate | v.) to abolish, usually by authority (The Bill of Rights assures that the government cannot abrogate our right to a free press.) | 4 | |
| 8522175067 | acerbic | (adj.) biting, bitter in tone or taste (Jill became extremely acerbic and began to cruelly make fun of all her friends.) | 5 | |
| 8522177793 | acrimony | (n.) bitterness, discord (Though they vowed that no girl would ever come between them, Biff and Trevor could not keep acrimony from overwhelming their friendship after they both fell in love with the lovely Teresa.) | 6 | |
| 8522179626 | acumen | (n.) keen insight (Because of his mathematical acumen, Larry was able to figure out in minutes problems that took other students hours.) | 7 | |
| 8522184019 | adversity | state of misfortune or affliction. | 8 | |
| 8522185599 | arid | lacking sufficient water or rainfall. | 9 | |
| 8522188607 | aesthetic | concerning or characterized by an appreciation of beauty or good taste. | 10 | |
| 8522192511 | alacrity | (n.) eagerness, speed (For some reason, Chuck loved to help his mother whenever he could, so when his mother asked him to set the table, he did so with alacrity.) | 11 | |
| 8522194397 | amicable | characterized by friendship and good will. | 12 | |
| 8522196932 | anachronistic | chronologically misplaced. | 13 | |
| 8522201067 | anathema | (n.) a cursed, detested person (I never want to see that murderer. He is an anathema to me.) | 14 | |
| 8522204961 | approbation | (n.) praise (The crowd welcomed the heroes with approbation.) | 15 | |
| 8522206697 | arrogate | (v.) to take without justification (The king arrogated the right to order executions to himself exclusively.) | 16 | |
| 8522209846 | aspersion | (n.) a curse, expression of ill-will (The rival politicians repeatedly cast aspersions on each others' integrity.) | 17 | |
| 8522210954 | assertion | an emphatic statement. An assertion supported by evidence becomes an argument | 18 | |
| 8522212298 | assiduous | (adj.) hard-working, diligent (The construction workers erected the skyscraper during two years of assiduous labor.) | 19 |
AP Literature Vocabulary 1.1 Flashcards
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| 5836527895 | flippancy | lack of caring or regard | 0 | |
| 5836527896 | bucolic | rustic, peaceful | 1 | |
| 5836527897 | exuberant | extremely excited | 2 | |
| 5836528375 | desultory | lacking a plan, purpose, or enthusiasm | 3 | |
| 5836528966 | bourgeois | middle-class; materialistic | 4 | |
| 5836528967 | bourgeoise | the middle class | 5 | |
| 5836529163 | garish | ugly, tacky, unsophisticated | 6 | |
| 5836529164 | deplore | to hate, strongly dislike | 7 | |
| 5836529165 | precariously | near the tipping point; close to collapse | 8 | |
| 5836529166 | immutable | unchanging over time | 9 | |
| 5836529747 | impecunious | having little or no money | 10 | |
| 5836529748 | impious | having little respect for tradition, esp. religion | 11 | |
| 5836529749 | raucously | recklessly, roughly | 12 | |
| 5836530063 | redolent | strongly reminiscent or suggestive of something | 13 | |
| 5836530064 | facetiousness | a joking manner, lack of seriousness | 14 | |
| 5836530065 | deferred | put off, delayed | 15 | |
| 5836530066 | fester | to become septic, infected | 16 | |
| 5836530528 | indictment | a formal charge or accusation of a serious crime | 17 | |
| 5836530529 | assimilationist | a person who advocates assimilation | 18 | |
| 5836530980 | looming | upcoming | 19 | |
| 5836530981 | Prometheus | in Greek mythology, the creator of mankind and its greatest benefactor | 20 | |
| 5836531454 | coo | make a soft murmuring sound | 21 | |
| 5836531455 | melodrama | overly-exaggerated drama | 22 | |
| 5836531456 | nonplussed | unfazed, unaffected | 23 | |
| 5836531519 | eccentricity | strangeness, deviance from the typical | 24 | |
| 5836531839 | martyrdom | heroic death for a cause | 25 | |
| 5836531840 | monologue | extended dramatic speech by one character | 26 | |
| 5836532063 | idiom | a characteristic mode of expression; a group of words established by usage as having a meaning not deducible from those of the individual words | 27 |
AP Spanish Literature: Crash Course HC AP Spanish Literature Themes Flashcards
Terms : Hide Images
| 2199109107 | Los Sociedades en Contacto | -La asimilación y la marginación -La diversidad -Las divisiones Las divisiones socioeconómicas -El imperialismo -El nacionalismo y el regionalismo | 0 | |
| 2199109108 | La Construcción del Género | -El machismo -Las relaciones sociales -El sistema patriarcal -La sexualidad -La tradición y la ruptura | 1 | |
| 2199109109 | El Tiempo y es Epacio | -El carpe diem y el memento mori -El individuo en su entorno -La naturaleza y el ambiente -La relación entre el tiempo y el espacio -El tiempo lineal y el tiempo circular -La trayectoria y la transformación | 2 | |
| 2199109110 | Las Relaciones Interpersonales | -La amistad y la hostilidad -El amor y el desprecio -El comunicación o falta de comunicación -El individuo y la comunidad -Las relaciones de poder -Las relaciones familiares | 3 | |
| 2199109111 | La Dualidad del Ser | -La construcción de la realidad -La espiritualidad y la religion -La imagen pública y la imagen privada -La introspección -El ser y la creación literaria | 4 | |
| 2199109112 | La Creación Literaria | -La intertexualidad -La literatura autoconsciente -El proceso creative -El texto y sus contextos | 5 |
AP Human Geo Language Flashcards
Terms : Hide Images
| 8262546580 | Creole | A language that results from the mixing of a colonizer's language with the indigenous language of the people being dominated. |  | 0 |
| 8262546581 | Dialect | A regional variety of a language distinguished by vocabulary, spelling, and pronunciation |  | 1 |
| 8262546582 | Ebonics | Dialect spoken by some African Americans. | 2 | |
| 8262546583 | Extinct Language | A language that was once used by people in daily activities but is no longer used. |  | 3 |
| 8262546584 | Franglais | A term used by the French for English words that have entered the French language |  | 4 |
| 8262546585 | Ideograms | The system of writing used in China and other East Asian countries in which each symbol represents an idea or concept rather than a specific sound, as is the case with letters in English. |  | 5 |
| 8262546586 | Isogloss | A boundary that separates regions in which different language usages predominate. |  | 6 |
| 8262546587 | Isolated Language | A language that is unrelated to any other languages and therefore not attached to any language family |  | 7 |
| 8262546588 | Language | A system of communication through the use of speech, a collection of sounds understood by a group of people to have the same meaning. |  | 8 |
| 8262546589 | Language Branch | a collection of languages related through a common ancestor that existed several thousand years ago |  | 9 |
| 8262546590 | Language Family | A collection of languages related to each other through a common ancestor long before recorded history. |  | 10 |
| 8262546591 | Language Group | A collection of languages within a branch that share a common origin in the relatively recent past and display relatively few differences in grammar and vocabulary. |  | 11 |
| 8262546592 | Lingua Franca | A language mutually understood and commonly used in trade by people who have different native languages |  | 12 |
| 8262546593 | Literary tradition | A language that is written as well as spoken |  | 13 |
| 8262546594 | Official language | The language adopted for use by the government for the conduct of business and publication of documents. |  | 14 |
| 8262546595 | Pidgin language | A form of speech that adopts a simplified grammar and limited vocabulary of a lingua franca, used for communications among speakers of two different languages. |  | 15 |
| 8262546596 | Spanglish | Combination of Spanish and English, spoken by Hispanic-Americans. |  | 16 |
| 8262546597 | Standard language | The form of a language used for official government business, education, and mass communications. |  | 17 |
| 8262546598 | Vulgar Latin | A form of Latin used in daily conversation by ancient Romans, as opposed to the standard dialect, which was used for official documents. |  | 18 |
| 8262546599 | hierarchical diffusion | A form of diffusion in which an idea or innovation spreads by passing first among the most connected places or peoples. |  | 19 |
| 8262546600 | Most numerous language speakers on earth: | Mandarin Chinese speakers |  | 20 |
| 8262546601 | Second most numerous speakers on earth: | Spanish speakers |  | 21 |
| 8262546602 | Third most numerous speakers on earth: | English speakers |  | 22 |
| 8262546603 | Fourth most numerous speakers on earth: | Arabic speakers |  | 23 |
| 8262546604 | Fifth most numerous speakers on earth: | Hindi speakers |  | 24 |
| 8262546605 | Accent | A way of pronouncing words that indicates the place of origin or social background of the speaker. |  | 25 |
| 8262546608 | Pidgin | when two or more languages are combined in a simplified structure and vocabulary |  | 26 |
| 8262546609 | Trade Language | A language used by speakers of a different native language for communication in commercial trade |  | 27 |
| 8262546610 | Vernacular | Everyday language of ordinary people |  | 28 |
| 8262546611 | Bilingual | Able to speak two languages |  | 29 |
| 8262546612 | Multilingual | able to speak several languages |  | 30 |
AP Literature Flashcards
Terms : Hide Images
| 8583600846 | allegory | story or poem that can be used to reveal a hidden meaning |  | 0 |
| 8583600847 | alliteration | beginning of same letter or sound in closely connected words |  | 1 |
| 8583600848 | allusion | indirect of passing reference |  | 2 |
| 8583600849 | anaphora | repetition in first part of a sentence , to have an artistic meaning |  | 3 |
| 8583600850 | antagonist | a hostile person who is opposed to another character |  | 4 |
| 8583600851 | apostrophe | figure of speech used to adresss an imaginary character |  | 5 |
| 8583600852 | approximate rhyme | words in rhyming pattern that sound alike |  | 6 |
| 8583600853 | aside | when a character's dialogue is spoken but not heard by other actors on the stage |  | 7 |
| 8583600854 | assonance | repetition of vowel sounds |  | 8 |
| 8583600855 | blank verse | poetry written in meter without an ending rhyme |  | 9 |
| 8583600856 | cacophony | blend of unharmonious sounds |  | 10 |
| 8583600857 | caesura | pause in the middle of a line |  | 11 |
| 8583600858 | catharsis | the release of emotions through art (emotional cleanse) |  | 12 |
| 8583600859 | flat character | story character who have no depth, usually has one personality or characteristic |  | 13 |
| 8583600860 | round character | character who has complex personality: contradicted person |  | 14 |
| 8583600861 | dynamic character | changes throughout the story, through major conflict |  | 15 |
| 8583600862 | static character | person who doesn't change throughout story keeps same personality |  | 16 |
| 8583600863 | characterization | process of revealing characters personality |  | 17 |
| 8583600864 | climax | point where conflict hits its highest point |  | 18 |
| 8583600865 | comedy | drama that is amusing or funny |  | 19 |
| 8583600866 | conflict | struggle between opposing forces |  | 20 |
| 8583600867 | connotation | secondary meaning to a word |  | 21 |
| 8583600868 | consonance | repetition of same consonant in words close together |  | 22 |
| 8583600869 | couplet | two rhyming lines in a verse |  | 23 |
| 8583600870 | denotation | the literal meaning of a word |  | 24 |
| 8583600871 | denouement | final outcome of the story |  | 25 |
| 8583600872 | deus ex machina | resolution of a plot by chance or coincidence |  | 26 |
| 8583600873 | didactic writing | writing with a primary purpose to teach or preach |  | 27 |
| 8583600874 | direct presentation of character | author telling the reader how a character is and what actions it will do further in the story |  | 28 |
| 8583600875 | double rhyme | rhyme where the repeated vowel is in the second last syllable of words involved (ex; born scorn) | 29 | |
| 8583600876 | dramatic exposition | prose commentaries, to provide background information about the characters and their world |  | 30 |
| 8583600877 | end rhyme | rhymes occurring at the end of line |  | 31 |
| 8583600878 | end stopped line | line ending in regular punctuation |  | 32 |
| 8583600879 | English sonnet | a sonnet rhyming ababcdcdededgg |  | 33 |
| 8583600880 | epiphany | when a character receives a spiritual insight into they life |  | 34 |
| 8583600881 | euphony | smooth choice and arrangement of sounds |  | 35 |
| 8583600882 | extended figure | A figure of speech sustained or developed through a considerable number of lines or through a whole poem. |  | 36 |
| 8583600883 | falling action | Events after the climax, leading to the resolution |  | 37 |
| 8583600884 | feminine rhyme | lines rhymed by their final two syllables |  | 38 |
| 8583600885 | figurative language | Language that cannot be taken literally since it was written to create a special effect or feeling. |  | 39 |
| 8583600886 | figure of speech | a way of saying something other than the ordinary way |  | 40 |
| 8583600887 | foot | basic unit in the scansion or measurement of verse , stressed and un stressed syllables |  | 41 |
| 8583600888 | form | external pattern or shape of a poem |  | 42 |
| 8583600889 | free verse | Poetry that does not have a regular meter or rhyme scheme |  | 43 |
| 8583600890 | hamartia | tragic flaw which causes a character's downfall |  | 44 |
| 8583600891 | imagery | Description that appeals to the senses (sight, sound, smell, touch, taste) |  | 45 |
| 8583600892 | indirect presentation of character | the personality of a character is revealed by what he or she does or says |  | 46 |
| 8583600893 | internal rhyme | A word inside a line rhymes with another word on the same line |  | 47 |
| 8583600894 | irony | A contrast between expectation and reality |  | 48 |
| 8583600895 | verbal irony | A figure of speech in which what is said is the opposite of what is meant |  | 49 |
| 8583600896 | dramatic irony | Irony that occurs when the meaning of the situation is understood by the audience but not by the characters in the play. |  | 50 |
| 8583600897 | irony of situation | refers to an occurrence that is contrary to what is expected or intended |  | 51 |
| 8583600898 | italian sonnet | A sonnet consisting of an octave with the rhyme pattern abbaabba, followed by a sestet with the rhyme pattern cdecde or cdcdcd |  | 52 |
| 8583600899 | masculine rhyme | A rhyme ending on the final stressed syllable |  | 53 |
| 8583600900 | melodrama | a play based upon a dramatic plot and developed sensationally |  | 54 |
| 8583600901 | metaphor | A comparison without using like or as |  | 55 |
| 8583600902 | meter | A regular pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables in a line of poetry |  | 56 |
| 8583600903 | metonymy | A figure of speech in which something is referred to by using the name of something that is associated with it |  | 57 |
| 8583600904 | motivation | A need or desire that energizes and directs behavior |  | 58 |
| 8583600905 | narrator | Person telling the story |  | 59 |
| 8583600906 | octave | 8 line stanza |  | 60 |
| 8583600907 | onomatopoeia | A word that imitates the sound it represents. |  | 61 |
| 8583600908 | hyperbole | A figure of speech that uses exaggeration to express strong emotion, make a point, or evoke humor |  | 62 |
| 8583600909 | oxymoron | A figure of speech that combines opposite or contradictory terms in a brief phrase. |  | 63 |
| 8583600910 | paradox | A contradiction or dilemma |  | 64 |
| 8583600911 | paraphrase | A restatement of a text or passage in your own words. |  | 65 |
| 8583600912 | personification | A figure of speech in which an object or animal is given human feelings, thoughts, or attitudes |  | 66 |
| 8583600913 | plot | Sequence of events in a story | | 67 |
| 8583600914 | point of view | The perspective from which a story is told |  | 68 |
| 8583600915 | omniscient point of view | The point of view where the narrator knows everything about the characters and their problems - told in the 3rd person. |  | 69 |
| 8583600916 | third person limited point of view | narrator tells the story from only one character's pov |  | 70 |
| 8583600917 | first person point of view | a character in the story is actually telling the story himself/herself |  | 71 |
| 8583600918 | objective point of view | a narrator who is totally impersonal and objective tells the story, with no comment on any characters or events. |  | 72 |
| 8583600919 | protagonist | Main character |  | 73 |
| 8583600920 | quatrain | A four line stanza |  | 74 |
| 8583600921 | rhythm | A regularly recurring sequence of events or actions. |  | 75 |
| 8583600922 | rhyme scheme | A regular pattern of rhyming words in a poem |  | 76 |
| 8583600923 | rising action | Events leading up to the climax |  | 77 |
| 8583600924 | sarcasm | the use of irony to mock or convey contempt |  | 78 |
| 8583600925 | satire | A literary work that criticizes human misconduct and ridicules vices, stupidities, and follies. |  | 79 |
| 8583600926 | scansion | Analysis of verse into metrical patterns |  | 80 |
| 8583600927 | sestet | 6 line stanza |  | 81 |
| 8583600928 | setting | The context in time and place in which the action of a story occurs. |  | 82 |
| 8583600929 | simile | A comparison using "like" or "as" |  | 83 |
| 8583600930 | soliloquy | A long speech expressing the thoughts of a character alone on stage |  | 84 |
| 8583600931 | sonnet | 14 line poem |  | 85 |
| 8583600932 | stanza | A group of lines in a poem | | 86 |
| 8583600933 | stream of consciousness | private thoughts of a character without commentary |  | 87 |
| 8583600934 | syllabic verse | Verse measured by the number of syllables rather than the number of feet per line. |  | 88 |
| 8583600935 | symbol | A thing that represents or stands for something else |  | 89 |
| 8583600936 | synecdoche | a figure of speech in which a part is made to represent the whole or vice versa |  | 90 |
| 8583600937 | synesthesia | describing one kind of sensation in terms of another ("a loud color", "a sweet sound") |  | 91 |
| 8583600938 | tercet | 3 line stanza | | 92 |
| 8583600939 | terza rima | a verse form with a rhyme scheme: aba bcb cdc, etc. |  | 93 |
| 8583600940 | theme | Central idea of a work of literature |  | 94 |
| 8583600941 | tone | Attitude a writer takes toward the audience, a subject, or a character |  | 95 |
| 8583600942 | tragedy | A serious form of drama dealing with the downfall of a heroic or noble character |  | 96 |
| 8583600943 | truncation | Utilizing a melody with part of the end omitted. |  | 97 |
| 8583600944 | understandment | the deliberate representation of something as lesser in magnitude than it actually is; a deliberate under-emphasis |  | 98 |
| 8583600945 | verse | A single line of poetry writing arranged with a metrical rhythm, typically having a rhyme | | 99 |
| 8583600946 | vilanelle | a nineteen-line poem with two rhymes throughout, consisting of five tercets and a quatrain, with the first and third lines of the opening tercet recurring alternately at the end of the other tercets and with both repeated at the close of the concluding quatrain. |  | 100 |
AP English Language: Language Fallacies Flashcards
Terms : Hide Images
| 4924008979 | Emotional, Biased, or Slanted Language | A logical fallacy characterized by the manipulation of the recipient's emotions in order to win an argument, especially in the absence of factual evidence. | 0 | |
| 4924057569 | Equivocation | The misleading use of a term with more than one meaning or sense | 1 | |
| 4924059954 | Ambiguity or Obfuscation | This occurs when someone adopts a position after hearing, or presenting, an argument containing unnecessarily complex language that either impresses (when it shouldn't), confuses or deceives. | 2 | |
| 4924059955 | Euphemism | A mild or indirect word or expression substituted for one considered to be too harsh or blunt when referring to something unpleasant or embarrassing. | 3 | |
| 4924061892 | Doublespeak | Any language that pretends to communicate but actually does not. | 4 | |
| 4924064172 | Pretentious Language | Trying to sound intelligent by using long, complicated words, even though you don't know what they mean. | 5 | |
| 4924065848 | Bureaucratic Language | An official who is rigidly devoted to the details of administrative procedure. | 6 | |
| 4924065849 | Jargon | A use of specific phrases and words by writers in a particular situation, profession or trade. | 7 |
AP Literature Book Themes Flashcards
Terms : Hide Images
| 5674847293 | Time | Theban plays: The prophecy-based time structure of Oedipus Rex shows how vulnerable even the most powerful of humans are to the gods' wills. The jumps in time within Oedipus Rex and in between plays makes chronology less important and emphasizes character's motives/actions GoST: The non-linear structure paints time as an unstoppable Western Construct which the characters attempt to overcome (as they attempt to overcome the patterns/significance of History) - significant as post-colonial literature. Also a pattern of time "freezing" emphasizes important moments in the book (Ammu and Velutha's love scene). The preserved pickels are a symbol of moments in time being preserved. CoDF: The book uses time to make a statement about how stories can be told (non-linearly and from multiple less-than-reliable sources), and also to further the notion of communal responsibility by drawing out the causes of a single event. Also the fact that the story is written many years after the murder and that many details are now inconsistent and blurry shows how the passage of time can change things that have already happened. Time is also an element of magical realism (slept for 11 months) | 0 | |
| 5674987079 | Fate | Theban plays: Oedipus Rex uses prophecies to illustrate of fatalism and the gods' ultimate power over humans. Antigone plays with fate in that the events are already largely set, but it is still desirable to maintain honor in anything that is still controllable (shown in Antigone fighting to bury Polyneices honorably, rather than resigning to his death.) Also the tragic nature of the plays feeds in to the idea that fate is a set thing and humans only maintain control over their honor and their acceptance of their fate. GoST: The events and character relationships (Ammu and Velutha, the twins and Sophie Mol) are dictated by a fate created by social norms such as caste, race, and colonialism - 'Big Gods'. The character's efforts (particularly the women in the book) are largely an attempt to control their own fate and History, and transcend these social norms, but they are eventually overcome (and face the consequences of their attempts) by the powers of imperialism, caste, and gender (the patriarchy.) CoDF: paints the events and Santiago's murder as fated, not by a higher power, but because of the priorities of the society (blind obedience to organized religion, marriage, and the patriarchy) - contributes to Márquez's social critique, "foretold" part of title also indicates this fatalism. In other words, the town decided Santiago's fate with their inaction, and conversely Angela decides his fate when she accuses him of taking her honor, essentially writing his sentence for him. | 1 | |
| 5675073999 | Secrets | Theban plays: Oedipus discovers the prophecy was true and keeps it secret from everyone for a long time; Antigone keeps her brother's burial secret to preserve his honor in a humble way. Secrets concerning humans do not have extreme moral consequences, but secrets from/against the gods result in loss and destruction (Oedipus hiding the prophecy and Creon stopping the secret burial) GoST: Secrets between family members creates tension and divides that influence the ways in which the love laws apply to the family. The secrets present in essentially every character relationship compile until ultimately the entire family is punished with Sophie Mol's death. CoDF: The whole town keeps the impending death of Santiago a secret from him and his mother. Rather than sparing the family from bad news, this actually makes the entire town responsible for his death, and serves as a social critique of the systems of power which prevent communication and honesty between people (marriage, the church, the patriarchy) | 2 | |
| 5675077842 | Shame/Guilt | Theban plays: Guilt is most important when it goes against the will of the gods (Creon's actions in Antigone); more excusable in the audience's eyes when it is dictated by fate (Oedipus as a tragic hero, Antigone disobeying Creon but obeying the gods); suicides and self-blindness caused by guilt in both plays GoST: guilt of children vs. adults who raised them; shame from disobeying the love laws; guilt felt by the most powerless, while the more powerful people (Baby Kochamma and Chacko) feel less guilt; shame surrounding love/sex/incest; shame of killing "pure" and Westernized Sophie Mol; Estha's silence caused from shame of being molested - The abundance of social constraints forces shame upon the most powerless, hindering their ability to live fully CoDF: The shame seen is related to gender roles, honor, and marriage, but the true blame for events can be traced to the entire community and their values - the townspeople ignore any guilt they may have for the murder, which only promotes the negative effects of their society (lack of responsibility, ineffective shaming of the weakest people) | 3 | |
| 5674848134 | Love | Theban plays: Love of the gods should come above all, and the fatalism (in prophesies) of destroying human relationships shows their inferiority. However, the most noble part of human love is of family and family duty (Antigone and Polyneices) GoST: The love laws outline who should be loved, how, and how much - these define many of the relationships in the novel. Ammu's children are always afraid their mother will love them less which causes them to act out, many of the characters lose lovers/spouses, and the love between Ammu/Velutha and Rahel/Estha is forbidden. The Greater the love, the Greater the loss. Roy also largely criticizes the society for restricting love through the social structure (caste/gender/religion/nationality roles with Velutha, women in the family, Western spouses, and Father Mulligan) as well as the tradition of abuse that leads to broken families CoDF: Love only exists for Angela after her and Bayardo break up and a man is killed in the process, yet she still overcomes and redeems her life. However, Bayardo's love for Angela destroys his life and confidence. Love is also like Falconry because there is tension and risk and danger - the risk comes from unrequited love (Bayardo and Angela) and retaliation by the social systems of class and gender (Santiago and Angela) | 4 | |
| 5674974817 | Marriage | Theban plays: problems caused over Oedipus's unknowingly incestuous marriage to Jocasta - wrong in the eyes of the gods and resulting in Thebes's sickness; and also over Antigone's marriage to Haemon - wrong in the eyes of Creon, but superseded by the gods' moral power GoST: marriage as a harmful construct unrelated to love - used to control women in a relationship, and shame them if they are not in one; history of domestic violence and divorce; Marriage in GoST is ruined by a post-colonial type of powerless-ness, which makes all relationships centered around obtaining some small amount of power, rather than love. CoDF: Marriage is shown as a contract, without love (Angela Vicario); used as a tool for male dominance, shaming and confining women; harmful to both genders in the end (in Bayardo's lonely future and Santiago's death) not because of a lack of love, but rather because of the strains of so many social requirements in one relationship (Angela and Bayardo ending up together) | 5 | |
| 5674987080 | Responsibility/Duty | Theban plays: Duty to obey the gods (their fate - failed by Oedipus and then Creon) and familial responsibility (failed by Ismene, but followed by Antigone). The result of disobeying gods and betraying family is either death or loss. GoST: The duties these characters hold are according to gender/race/caste (for example, the women are responsible for the men and kids, and the men like Chacko are only responsible for themselves usually). The novel shows responsibilities that are limiting, rather than empowering - the oppressed are overcome with a responsibility to obey the more powerful (ex: women to men and lower-caste to upper-caste) CoDF: The characters have a duty to social "honor" but not to morality- people are responsible for maintaining their family reputation, but the townspeople feel no duty to warn Santiago or his mother of his impending death. This is a social critique of town because they are collectively responsible for his death, but refuse to fully take the blame even years after the fact. | 6 | |
| 5674987081 | Gender | Theban plays: Antigone = female empowerment, supported by the gods and antithesis shown in her subordinate sister Ismene; Oedipus's mother/wife Jocasta commits suicide because she is unable to stand the shame of incest, but Oedipus remains alive. The plays' ultimate point on gender is that morality and obedience to the gods determines the quality of a person, rather than their sex. GoST: family of powerful women; pattern of abuse and divorce; double standards shown in the consequences of having an affair (for Ammu) or getting a divorce (Ammu, Mammachi, and Rahel compared to Chacko); gender shown to be partially transgressed in the twins and how they both disobey roles set for them. The book uses a storyline centered around women's lives to show the non-central role they are forced into by society, despite any high levels of skill or education (shown in Ammu and Rahel's education and Mammachi's pickle factory resented by the men in their lives) CoDF: importance of machismo and male dominance to preserve female "honor"; Angela Vicario's immediate future because of her broken marriage vs. her long-term success compared to Bayardo; role of mothers in the drama; role of female cooks in permitting the murder. The male power dynamic over women in society is the true reason for Santiago's death, making the point that gender roles are harmful for both men and women (also seen in how the Vicario twins do not want to kill him, but feel pressured to), and that disempowered women face the need to manipulate, lie to, and hold back information from the men in their life (seen in Divina Flor and Angela) | 7 | |
| 5674978988 | Death/Loss | Theban plays: Death is usually caused by fate in these plays (Oedipus killing his dad etc) or is a result of characters trying to escape their fate (cause of the suicide of Jocasta, Antigone, Haimen). Partly, this shows how humans over-emphasize their own problems and losses, when really they are pawns of the gods. However, the dead also need to be honored. GoST: Death is predominantly a consequence for disobeying societal constraints (Velutha with and Sophie Mol as a Western person and product of a dysfunctional family). The book also aligns the 'God of Loss' with the 'God of Small Things' (in Ammu's dream and with Velutha), making the point that loss/death is so common and so personal that it builds up inside people and changes how they live their own life CoDF: The entire novel revolves around the death of Santiago Nasar. However, it describes the cause of the murder to go beyond the twins, spread amongst the entire society (his death was fated by the social constructs of the town). Overall, the book de-emphasizes death itself, and is a critique of how people fail to live a positive life | 8 | |
| 5675103699 | Nature/Environment/Weather | Theban plays: The storms during Antigone and when Thebes is sick under Oedipus represent the natural powers of t.he gods, and how far above humans they are GoST: Baby Kochamma's Western garden (surrendered in favor of the television); symbol of the river (escape from reality, powerful, destroys Western Sophie Mol); Velutha connected to nature. The environment is a Big God in that it can overcome Western powers and the local social hierarchy (in Velutha) CoDF: bird/trees in dreams and the falconry motif; inconsistency in raining and weather on the day of the murder. The book brings nature into the very unnatural and improbable murder story to show a basic incorrectness in the way that the town is conducting itself (selfishly), and to make human actions seem less reliable in general. Also magical realism the happening of unatural events so its presence in the novel indicate the how unnatural the restrictions and societal constrainsts are and therfore how corrupt the society and people are. | 9 | |
| 5675103700 | Religion | Theban plays: The gods are the highest power in O/A, and problems arise when people question their prophecies or don't bend to their will. While the Theban plays promote a democratic life amongst people, their ultimate goal is also to encourage acceptance of the Greek religion. GoST: Religion is subordinate to caste (because the constraints or advantages of a caste are applicable to both Hindus and Christians), and is mostly seen in Christianity's connection to imperialism and race (seen as the Western/whiter side of the family, and in Father Mulligan's indifference to Baby Kochamma). However, no one in the text is religious for moral reasons. This implies that the social constraints have prevented the characters from believing in a higher power - the only God they can believe in is the God of Small Things. CoDF: Religion is an important part of the structure of the town (power of the church in government, Father Amador, and the Bishop) but is not actually connected to moral value or the practice of religion. Father Amador lacks morality, and serves as an important symbol of the moral and social failings of the Church | 10 | |
| 5675112281 | Dreams/Visions | Theban plays: The prophesies from Tiresias are not obeyed or believed by Oedipus and Creon, which shows their hubris and plays a role in their negative fate GoST: unspoken communication and knowledge between the twins, Ammu's dream of one-armed man/God of Small Things - these show hope in the characters for relationships without the social constraints of caste and gender (and incest?) CODF: Santiago Nasar's dream of trees/birds & his mother's interpretation, confusing visions and testimonies of people on the night of the murder (making personal stories less reliable), foreshadowing throughout the book - these create inconsistencies in the conception of reality and make the reader consider the characters' intentions rather than the events themselves (dreams and interpretations are more important to the story than the actual murder) | 11 | |
| 5675115563 | Class/Caste | Theban plays: The major characters in Oedipus and Antigone are all part of a selective upper class, but events are nearly always out of their control and in the hands of the gods (the prophecy is also fulfilled, in part, by the lower-class shepherd who saves baby Oedipus). Choragos is the voice of the lower-class, and it is essential to the story GoST: Caste creates social boundary between touchables and untouchables, seen most prominently in the relationship between Velutha (Paravan and the GoST/GoLoss) and Ammu (upper-caste "respectable" woman) and their forbidden love affair, which ultimately leads to Velutha's death, serving as a history lesson on caste and also relating to the underlying influence of colonialism and the western mindset that led them to believe they could transcend these social boundaries. CoDF: Class is seen in CoDF predominately through the upper-class "desirable" character Bayardo who essentially buys Angela's love, and how she is in a way forced to marry him just because of his social status. This also ties in to the fact that many upper-class male citizens of the town have power over even upper-class women, showing that the patriarchy can overpower class structures. Also, Divina Flor is molested by Santiago Nasar mostly because she is lower-class. | 12 | |
| 5675172255 | Authority/Power/Government | Theban plays: In O/A the governmental power structure holds great authority in their society. But, the most prominent source of power is the gods, and this authority connects to the theme of fate as a major inescapable force within their lives. GoST: In GoST, power is seen not only through gender and class, but through colonialism and western influence on India. Men and upper-caste citizens definitely hold the majority of the authority and power throughout the novel, but christianty, marxism, and other western ideals have managed to take authority over their entire culture/society which is a "big-god" power structure compared to the "smaller" issues of caste and the patriarchy power stuggles seen in everyday life CoDF: The main authorities in CoDF are the church and the patriarchy. These two sources overpower the unseen form of goventment existing in the town and create social constraints (like marriage, the qualifications to be "honorable" etc) that affect the members of the town | 13 | |
| 5719221266 | Point of view | Theban plays: The most important POV is that of the audience - who see the dramatic irony of the prophesies. The Choragos, who represents the average person in the plays, offers a critique on the righteousness of each character, encouraging the audience to do the same in real life (encouraging a more democratic way of life) GoST: mainly shows the POV of women (Rahel, Ammu, other women in family) and children (the twins) to show how they struggle to maintain normal lives. The children are manipulated by adults and attempt to seek refuge in fiction (across the river) to retain their lost innocence. The women are repeated victims of double standards and biases, so much that it appears to consume their entire life - and thus the entire story CoDF: The story is told from the POV of a narrator who was partially involved, and his discovery of different testimonies from people years after the event. The confusing inconsistencies between these POVs form a twisted concept of reality (similar to effect of magical realism), and they echo how inconsistent the townspeople are of actually supporting each other | 14 |
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