Terms Gothic Mix of fiction horror and romanticism Regionalism Local Color Local color or regional literature is fiction and poetry that focuses on the characters dialect customs topography and other features particular to a specific region Sentimental Literature that has the tendency to be governed by feelings instead of reason Naturalism a literary movement or tendency that used detailed realism to suggest that social conditions heredity and environment had inescapable force in shaping human character Free will does not exist Determinism Builds off of naturalism the doctrine that all events including human action are ultimately determined by causes external to the will Victorian Set in the 1800s Victorian literature usually contained idealized portraits of difficult lives in which hard work perseverance love and luck win out in the end virtue would be rewarded and wrongdoers are suitably punished Modernism a philosophical literary movement that involves a self conscious break with the past and a search for new forms of expression Southern Gothic uses the Gothic tools not solely for the sake of suspense but to explore social issues and reveal the cultural character of the American South Harlem Renaissance a cultural movement that spanned the 1920s Participants sought to reconceptualize the Negro apart from the white stereotypes that had influenced black peoples relationship to their heritage and to each other Broke free of Victorian enforced values and stereotypes Unreliable Narrator A narrator who s credibility has been severely compromised usually due to personal bias or mental illness Yellow Wallpaper Patriarchy a system of society or government in which men hold the power and women are largely excluded from it Subjectivity originating and existing in the mind of a perceiving subject and not necessarily corresponding to any object outside that mind Bildungsroman a novel dealing with one person s formative years or spiritual education Feminism Feminist Writing Stories featuring or written by empowered women who go against the restrictions and preconceived notions against a woman s power Authors Stories also refer to the discussion questions posted for the later stories Poe The Fall of the House of Usher Who is the narrator Why use this narrator The narrator is unnamed This is done so in order to focus on what the narrator is experiencing as well as the madness of Roderick Usher and the house what s important is the narrator s perspective which makes the reader feel similar to a fly on the wall of this haunted house What s the story say about patriarchy Patriarchy is displayed by Roderick s treatment of his sister in controlling her living habits as well as encasing her within a coffin while still alive What are the differences between Roderick and the narrator The narrator almost has trouble recognizing his old friend Usher appears sickly and severely changed His hair is web like and floats above his face rather than hangs What s the story s relationship to the South The house along with Roderick s lifestyle can be imagined as being set in a Southern environment Roderick s servants and valets give insight to the Southern architecture of the house and its setting A wealthy Southern Gothic style house begins to take form Where does this story take place An unknown location involving a forlorn countryside The House seems to be an isolated estate Gilman The Yellow Wallpaper Who is the narrator Why use this narrator Jane is the narrator of this story She is used as an unreliable narrator due to her slipping mental state Her questionable credibility keeps the reader interested by laying out the events from her warped perspective What s the story s relationship to feminism The wallpaper is used as an escape method by Jane to be free from her oppressing patriarchal husband who has dubbed her insane and in need of isolation and treatment How is madness represented in the story Is it a liberating force Jane s madness is dealt with by her husband He limits her access to the rest of the house and controls her movements Jane has no liberating force until she obsesses over the wallpaper and finds herself in the woman trapped within the paper design Even then she knows the woman tries to escape the wallpaper but is forever trapped inside Jewett A White Heron What s the relationship between the young girl the hunter and nature The young girl s favor shifts from the hunter to nature and then much later in life ambiguous as to whether she made the right choice or not How does the story relate to regionalism The setting is very important in this story The dialect is that of the specific region as is the young girl s daily life and the hunter s interest in obtaining the wildlife as prizes How s the story relate to the literary convention of the bildungsroman The story takes place during a most crucial point in the girl s life From this perspective the young girl is still formative and making calculated and important decisions about what she stands for and understands particularly about nature and wildlife To what extent is the story about femininity To what extent is it about the growth from childhood innocence to maturity The story is slightly about femininity in that the story gives Sylvia a small girl the power to decide whether or not this armed man gets what he wants or not The conclusion is largely about the sharp contrast between a child s mind and a mature adult s After many years the confidence that Sylvia once had in her choice is now blurred She is unsure whether or not it was wise to turn down the money in exchange for her then newfound appreciation for nature and wildlife Chopin The Maid of St Philippe How does the feminism in this story differ from the feminism in other stories we ve read The feminism in this story is strong Marianne takes a stand for herself and establishes her independence and strength Why is Marianne s decision at the end of the story rebellious Marianne pledged no allegiance to a man or a country She stayed strong and chose freedom After her father was gone she trusted in herself instead of in a man or in a nation At this time particularly this was unheard of Marianne was a feminist pioneer What s Marianne s relationship like with her father Marianne seemed to have a reverse relationship with her father At times he acted more like a child in behavior and her as a brave provider She mirrored her father s will with her own until he was gone Then she became her