ENGLISH 11: The Mid- To Late Twentieth Century: Postmodernism

The Things They Carried

NOT) the ease of difficulty with which the subject can be analyzed

NOT) the Civil War and World War I

the frame-story structure

1) coddled 2) demagogue

NOT) At ten minutes before H-hour the general came in, shepherding the professor before him.

World War II

social sci-fi

1) The full contents of the chest never came quite clear, perhaps because he didn't want to know. 2) His mother had once tried to explain the paper to him, but he hadn't wanted to listen.

the creation of individual identity and the need to belong

He found the place in the chest lid, near one of the little dark hinges, where a split had occurred, and with a few carefully driven nails repaired the damage well enough. He could not blame the boy, who was named Gordon, after his paternal grandfather, the onetime football player crouching for his picture in some sunny autumn when Harding was President.

touch or scrape lightly in passing worn into grooves absorb and integrate tell someone about a private matter

1) And tell us how to save us from ourselves 2) who would make a plutocracy of our democracy 3) unknown

1) Raga of insignificance & blessed hopelessness. 2) The greatest men have gone unknown:

through the use of free form and improvisation in the poem

postmodernism

Jim Crow laws

cordial

Nation of Islam- Congress of Racial Equality- Southern Christian Leadership Conference- Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee-

1) In a way, it seemed, he was part of the morning fog, or my own imagination, but there was also the reality of what was happening in my stomach. 2) I tried to swallow whatever was rising from my stomach, which tasted like lemonade, something fruity and sour. 3) In all kinds of combat the whole body is battered by emotion. The ductless glands pour their fluids into the system to make it able to stand up to the great demand on it.

Vietnam War

1) It was a difficult moment, but I did what seemed right, which was to say, "Of course not," and then to take her onto my lap and hold her for a while. 2) They would discuss their experiences right up to the time of battle and then suddenly they wouldn't talk anymore.

to evaluate and analyze the effect war has on soldiers

Now I realize that I haven't any more right to it than a man has a right to own an atomic bomb

social sci-fi

The professor's casual attire and the characters sitting on a love seat just before the critical "H-hour" creates an ironic contrast and a playful mood.

the use of irony with a serious topic

1) unanimity 2) extravagant

anaphora

Henry David Thoreau

how institutions are sacrificing the humanity of America

the restrictions of society

The revolution is at hand, and we must free ourselves of the chains of political and economic slavery.

There was a tremendous need then, and there remains a need today, for someone to take hold of the urban centers in the North and give them that sense of direction.

He refused to pay a poll tax as a protest against the Mexican-American War.

NOT) She refused to go out with her mother in public because she was ashamed of her accent.

language bias

changing language varieties

NOT) Kevin wondered why they were partitioning the entire town for signatures when the amendment would easily pass.