"Innocence and Experience"

"Young Goodman Brown" by Nathaniel Hawthorne

What purpose do Faith’s pink ribbons serve?

• Faiths pink ribbons stand for innocence. She represents Goodman Browns religious faith and the faith that he has in others. “Then God bless you!” said Faith, with her pink ribbons (Hawthorne 82);

"The Lesson" by Toni Cade Bamara

What are Sylvia’s outstanding traits? How are they reflected in her language and in her description of her neighborhood?

• Bamara does not explain any of Sylvia’s traits or anything personal about her. From her language and description of her neighborhood I can assume that she lives in the ghetto, is not well mannered and is under educated. “ And we kinda hated her too, hated the way we did the winos who cluttered up our parks and pissed on our handball walls and stank up our hallways and stairs” (Bambara 136).

"The House on Mange Street" by Sandra Cisneros

Why did the family have to leave the flat on Loomis Street so fast?

• The family had to leave there house on Loomis Street so quickly because their pipes busted and the house was so old the landlord refused to fix them. “ We had to leave fast. We were using the washroom next door and carrying water over in empty milk gallons” (Cisneros 147).

"Exploring Drama"

1) How does the play begin?

• Just like anything else you can’t understand the ending without knowing the beginning.

The above question is quoted from the following source:
Abcarian, Richard and Marvin Klotz. Literature: The Human Experience, Reading and writing. 9th ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s. 2007:29

2) What is the plays theme?

• A theme has a humongous role in plays. It’s very important that each viewer understands what it is. Plays don’t have the highly computerized graphics as television shows and movies, so they have to depend on plots, settings, themes and characters to bring action to the stage. Along with few props the characters would be useless without a theme to bring it all to life.

The above question is quoted from the following source:
Abcarian, Richard and Marvin Klotz. Literature: The Human Experience, Reading and writing. 9th ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s. 2007:30

"Exploring Poetry"

1) Does the poem have a setting?

• Knowing if and what the setting of a poem is can help the reader to better visualize and understand the authors true meaning.

The above question is quoted from the following source:
Abcarian, Richard and Marvin Klotz. Literature: The Human Experience, Reading and writing. 9th ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s. 2007:18

2) From what perspective is the speaker describing specific events?

• Knowing the perspective (or point of view) of the author helps the reader to understand more of where the poem is coming from and makes it easier to imagine the events that are taking place.

The above question is quoted from the following source:
Abcarian, Richard and Marvin Klotz. Literature: The Human Experience, Reading and writing. 9th ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s. 2007:18

"Exploring Fiction"

“Who are the principal characters in the story?
What functions do the minor characters serve?
Do any characters change during the course of the story? How and why?”
(Abcarian and Klotz 10)

• Knowing who the principal characters are help you to following along with the story and have a better understand of it. Also, knowing who the principal characters are help you to focus more on those characters and less on the minors making it easier to grasp the true meaning of the writer.
• Minor characters are used to support the principal characters and add more detail and interest.
• Knowing if any of the characters change during the course of the story is important because a change in character can mean something drastic in a short story. If any of the characters change it can have an impact on the ending, which as a reader you need to be able to understand why and how the ending came to be.

The above question is quoted from the following source:
Abcarian, Richard and Marvin Klotz. Literature: The Human Experience, Reading and writing. 9th ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s. 2007:10


"Does the story seem to support or conflict with your own political and moral positions?" (Abcarian and Klotz 11)

• When reading a story being able to relate to the topic is very important. If the story has different morals or beliefs then you do, it may not interest you. This may cause you to not be able to fully understand the authors intentions and you may unintentionally misinterpret the meaning of the story.

The above question is quoted from the following source:
Abcarian, Richard and Marvin Klotz. Literature: The Human Experience, Reading and writing. 9th ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s. 2007:11

Definition of Literature

Literature-
Writings in which expression and form, in connection with ideas of permanent and universal interest, are characteristic or essential features, as poetry, novels, history, biography, and essays.

West, Rebecca. Dictionary 2006. 19 Jan 2009
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/Literature