Ap Lit - Major Works Data Sheet

AP LIT - MAJOR WORKS DATA SHEET *Keep this in your notes* Name______Date______Period______DUE DATE:______

TITLE: AUTHOR: DATE OF PUBLICATION: GENRE:

Clearly LABEL each section. Staple all work to this handout.

*Biographical information about the author: -Born July 30, 1818 – Died December 19, 1848 (30 yrs old) -Father was a rector in a parsonage in West Yorkshire -Parsonage was on the edge of the bleak and windy moor (and it was surrounded on the other three sides by a graveyard -Her mother died when she was just little – she and her 5 siblings were kind of on their own – they roamed and played in the moors – they were all voracious readers – they also entertained each other with their own elaborate and inventive stories – they were all abnormally shy because they were so isolated -Their father sent the girls to a cheap boarding school (bad food/not much food – horrible conditions) – the 2 older sisters got sick and died (TB) and the father brought the other girls home -As adults, the brother (an alcoholic) and the sisters (all writers) sometimes left home but always returned

*Historical information about the period of publication: -Author’s life straddled the Romantic period (it’s a Romantic work) and the Victorian period (the book was published during the Victorian period) -Romantic Literary Period -reaction to earlier period that emphasized order, rational thought and science -challenged belief that powerful government/church leads to harmonious society -challenged belief that city life is superior to country life -reaction to political and social turmoil (American Revolution and French Revolution /rise of Napoleon) -England was changing from an agrarian to an industrial society -the Romantics believed that spiritual truth could be found in nature -they felt that truth was best expressed in feelings, emotions, and imagination

*Significance of the title:

*Main Setting/Settings and Significance -Action takes place 1771-1802 -Yorkshire Heath – it’s bare, rolling and wild country -People lived in scattered farms and villages -People were fiercely independent and suspicious of outsiders -People spoke their minds – often harshly - and they tended to show (not hide) their emotions ---Critic V.S. Pritchett observed that local people were “capable of ‘unending’ hatred . . . so Heathcliff is a realistic example of a ‘mistreated’ Yorkshireman” from his time period.

*Plot summary:

*Point of View – Main perspective – Dominant Voice: -2 Main narrators – Mr. Lockwood and Nelly Dean -1st Person – layers of shifting narrators – the work is Mr. Lockwood’s “diary” and he is recording Nelly’s eyewitness account of the lives of the characters -Within Nelly’s story other narrators emerge to describe events at which Nelly wasn’t present (often through letters or diary entries)

*Describe the author’s style: -Dramatic tone and lyrical style -Uses rural setting and local dialect -Byronic Hero (Power Point Notes) -a rebel -does not posses traditional “heroic” virtues -many dark qualities -“larger than life” -titanic passions, pride, and self-identity -is abnormally sensitive -superior emotional and intellectual abilities (so he can’t help but be arrogant) -often rebels against life itself -isolated/wanderer/exiled – this social separation is self-imposed or imposed upon him -moody by nature or passionate about particular issues -rejects (unrepentantly) societal norms/customs -usually guilty of some sexual crime -we are as repulsed by him as we are fascinated by him -Gothic (Notes) -gloomy/strong architecture -woman (or other culturally disempowered person) in distress and needing to be rescued -bad, evil, nasty, controlling, dominating, lustful villain who has the power of a king, lord of the manor, father, or guardian, to demand that one or ore of the female characters do something intolerable – the woman may be commanded to marry someone she does not love (it may be the powerful male himself) or commit a crime -supernatural event(s) – these events are often explained later by science -omens, portents, visions, prophecy -evokes terror through the depiction of physical/psychological violence -explores the nightmares under the surface of the “civilized” mind and/or aberrant psychological states

*Symbols and significance: HOUSES -Wuthering Heights – sits on desolate/stormy hill surrounded by gnarled /stunted trees -Thrushcross Grange – calm, ordered, and peaceful – elaborately decorated – carefully tended gardens ---The HOUSES represent the emotions/family structure of the Earnshaws (including Heathcliff) and the Lintons NATURAL ELEMENTS – weather/plants/environment of the moors often reflect and foreshadow emotions/conflicts of the characters

*Major irony:

*Significance of opening scene: - Winter day in 1801 -Framework – tells story spanning 30 years – told in flashbacks *Significance of closing/ending scene: -About one year later -Deliberately ambiguous

*Significant literary devices that contribute to the themes of the work (list and explain at least 5 – include page numbers):

*Themes and motifs (list and explain at least 5 major and minor themes and motifs): 1) Love as a creative and nurturing force versus love as an all-consuming and destructive force 2) Destructive power of revenge 3) Consequences of power that dominates reason

*Create a chart about significant Characters (Type: flat, round, static, dynamic, complex, protagonist, antagonist) – It should look like this:

Character Name (Type) Role in story Significance Descriptive adjectives