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Praxis II Summaries a

Summaries

Question:

Beowolf by unknown


Answer:

Danish King Hrothgar builds the great hall Heorot, but is plagued for 12 years by a monster who sneaks in at night and kills his men.Great hero Beowulf sails to Hrothgar’s aid and fatally wounds the monster Grendel by ripping off his arm. Beowulf reaps rich rewards from Hrothgar. Grendel’s mother attacks the next night to avenge her son. Beowulf pursues her into a monster-filled lake and triumphs, receiving more treasure from Hrothgar and Hygelac. Fifty years later, Beowulf is king of Geatland when a dragon awakens. With kinsman Wiglaf’s help Beowulf defeats the dragon at the cost of his own life. A grand funeral for the hero takes place, and Wiglaf takes Beowulf’s place as leader of the Geats.

​-Beowulf-King Hrothgar-Gredel-Grendel's mother



Question:

Things Fall Apart


Answer:

A Nigerian clan leader, terrified of being weak like his father was, brings destruction and tragedy on himself and his family.



Question:

A Death In The Family by James Agee


Answer:

Largely autobiographical, the novel deals in part with the death of Agee's own father but also with the growing tension between rural and urban America (and their differing cultures and views on religion) at the time. The novel centers on the family of Jay, including his wife Mary and their son Rufus. Jay goes to see his father after a call from his drunk brother Rufus, who erroneously says their father has had a heart attack. On the way back from this visit Jay's car spins out of control and he is killed. The remainder of the novel deals with the next few days, especially the funeral and the family's attempts to process this tragedy.



Question:

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen (Romantic)


Answer:

A popular novel in the English language, it is regarded as the first "chic-lit" novel. The novel encompasses strong female protagonists and their journeys to find love, in a world centered around marriage. Austen provides a spot on view of propriety in society as well as well-rounded, believable characters.



Question:

Go Tell It on the Mountain by James Baldwin (Harlem Renaissance)


Answer:

Published in 1953. In large part autobiographical, the novel, set in Harlem, focuses on John Grimes on his 14th birthday in 1935. The five sections are told from the perspective of John and three other members of his family and explore John's resentment toward his father, Gabriel, for loving his other brother, Roy, more. The reader learns that the family's history stretches back to slaves in the South and that Gabriel is not John's real father. The novel largely deals with the central father-son conflict and John's coming of age and religious crisis.



Summaries

Question:

Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett


Answer:

A novel that identified the unrealistic; two men wait for an appointment that may or may have not been made; the suspense is not what is going to happen, but what is exactly happening right now.



Question:

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte 
(Romantic)


Answer:

1847 involves strong elements of social criticism, not to mention a strong, independent female protagonist, that challenged class, gender, and religious roles of the time. The protagonist is an orphan brought up by a cruel aunt, Mrs. Reed, who eventually sends her to the Lowood School, which is run by the hypocritical Mr. Brocklehurst. He is ousted after an epidemic that claims the life of one of the protagonist's dear friends, Helen Burns, and the protagonist goes on to enjoy the rest of her time at the school. After teaching briefly, she becomes the governess at a manor called Thornfield, which is owned by a dark man named Rochester. The protagonist falls in love with him and he proposes, but it is unveiled that he is already married to a woman who has gone mad. The protagonist leaves, but years later returns and tracks down Rochester, who has been disfigured by a fire set by the mad wife (Bertha) that burned down Thornfield. They marry and live happily ever after.



Question:

Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte 
(Romantic)


Answer:

"You love Mr Edgar, because he is handsome and young and cheerful and rich and loves you", 1847 novel influenced by gothicism. The frame story involves a man named Lockwood, who moves to an estate on the moors next to one owned by the mysterious Heathcliff, so he asks his housekeeper, Nelly Dean, to tell him about this man. As a young girl Nelly worked at the manor for the owner, Mr. Earnshaw and his family. Earnshaw one day brings home an orphan boy - Heathcliff - and raises him as his own, loving him more than his own son Hindley. However, after Earnshaw's death his real son enacts revenge on Heathcliff, treating him very poorly, and Earnshaw's daughter Catherine, who Heathcliff loves, marries another man. Heathcliff leaves and returns years later, wealthy and intent on enacting his own revenge. He drives Hindley and Catherine to despair, destitution, and death, mistreats his wife, and toys with Catherine's daughter and his own. We later learn that Heathcliff dies and the estate passes on to Catherine's daughter and her new husband.



Question:

The Stranger by Albert Camus


Answer:

First novel by Albert Camus, published in 1942, and an illustration of his absurdist world view. The novel follows the aimless life of the narrator, Meursault, a young man living in Algiers. It opens with his mother dying and him going to the funeral, where he does not cry. He then returns to Algiers where he becomes entangled in the life of his neighbor, Raymond, who abuses his mistress, who has been cheating on him. Meursault also gets involved in an emotionless and indifferent romance with a former co-worker, Marie, who wants to marry him. One day on the beach Meursault takes Raymond's gun and shoots the brother of Raymond's mistress, who has been harassing them, and once he is taken into custody all around him are astonished at his lack of remorse for his crime and his general emotionless indifference to everything around him. His trial focuses mainly on this part of his character, and he is sentenced to be executed by beheading. By the end he abandons all hope for the future and accepts the "gentle indifference of the world", which makes him feel happy.



Question:

The Canterbury Tales by Chaucer 
(Middle English)


Answer:

Chaucer (14th Century) First work in English vernacular. Stories of 12 pilgrims traveling to the shrine of Saint Thomas Becket. A picture of English society through estates satire (social commentary on people's estates: life, property).



Summaries

Question:

The Cherry Orchard by Anto Chekov


Answer:

Play first performed in 1904. The whole of the action takes place on a Russian estate of Ranevsky, who returns, with her daughter Anya and their entourage, after several years in France because the debt she has accumulated there necessitates that she sell the Russian estate. The action follows conversations about this sale with Lopakhin, a friend of the family who wants to buy the estate and build vacation cottages on the site of an enormous cherry orchard, which Ranevsky does not want to be cut down. In the midst of all this there are conversations and intrigue among the play's lesser characters, including the servents, who are involved in a love triangle with Dunyasha at the center. In the end, Lopakhin buys the estate and everyone leaves as the cherry orchard is being cut down.



Question:

The Awakening by Kate Chopin


Answer:

... a married woman who defies social convention first by falling in love with another man, and then by committing suicide when she finds that his views on women are as oppressive as her husband's. The novel reflects the changing role of women during the early 1900s.



Question:

Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad


Answer:

A sailor tells the story of his journey through the Congo, where he met an enigmatic, powerful, insane imperialist who had abandoned the rules of English civilization., story reflects the physical and psychological shock Conrad himself experienced in 1890, when he worked briefly in the Belgian Congo.



Question:

The Last of Mohicans by James Cooper


Answer:

The last members of a dying Native American tribe, the Mohicans -- Uncas (Eric Schweig), his father Chingachgook (Russell Means), and his adopted half-white brother Hawkeye (Daniel Day-Lewis) -- live in peace alongside British colonists. But when the daughters (Madeleine Stowe, Jodhi May) of a British colonel are kidnapped by a traitorous scout, Hawkeye and Uncas must rescue them in the crossfire of a gruesome military conflict of which they wanted no part: the French and Indian War.



Question:

The Red Badge of Courage Samuel Beckkett


Answer:

A war novel (1871-1900). Taking place during the American Civil War, the story is about a young private of the Union Army, Henry Fleming, who flees from the field of battle. Overcome with shame, he longs for a wound—to counteract his cowardice. When his regiment once again faces the enemy, Henry acts as standard-bearer.



Summaries

Question:

The Wasteland T.S Elliot


Answer:

(1922) epic poem, depicting a world devoid of purpose or meaning.



Question:

Inferno by Dante
(Middle Ages)


Answer:

Allegorical journey through hell.



Question:

Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes
(Middle Ages)


Answer:

A comedic book written by during the reign of Philip II. The title character is now used to refer to idealists that champion hopeless or fanciful causes. This book was a comment on the Middle Ages and Philip II's idealistic wars of religion.



Question:

Robinson Cruesoe by Daniel Defoe


Answer:

Robinson Crusoe is the story of an Englishman that has been castaway on a remote tropical island for 28 years. The story may be based on the true-life events of Alexander Selkirk, a Scottish castaway that survived four years on a Pacific island. This classic tale of adventure features cannibals, captives and mutineers. Some regard it as the very first novel written in English.



Question:

A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens
(Victorian)


Answer:

1859 novel set in the late 18th century. It has a typically Dickensian plot with lots of characters and twists and turns, but it revolves around the love triangle of Charles Darnay, Lucie Manette, and Sydney Carton and takes place in London and Paris on the eve of and during the French Revolution. Lucie and Darnay marry, and in the end Carton tricks the imprisoned Darnay, switches places with him, and is executed instead of Darnay, giving Carton's life meaning and saving the lives of Lucie, Darnay, and their daughter.



Summaries

Question:

Crime and Punishment by Dostoyevsky


Answer:

A novel about the poor student Raskolnikov who kills two old women, because he believes he is beyond the bounds of good and evil. This psychological novel examines Raskolnikov's anguished mind before, during and after the crime.



Question:

Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglas


Answer:

(1845) the autobiography of begins at his first memory of the Whipping of this Aunt which was his inauguration into slavery through his youth when he decides to stand up against his master and fight for his freedom.



Question:

The Three Musketeers by Alezander Dumas


Answer:

1844 novel (originally serialized) that combines historical fiction with the romantic. It follows a poor young nobleman named d'Artagnan in his quest to become a Musketeer. In the process he befriends the Three Musketeers Athos, Porthos, and Aramis, and the four together try to foil a plot by the Cardinal Richelieu.



Question:

The Mill on the Floss by George Eliot.


Answer:

Maggie Tulliver has to choose between each of her suitors and her duty to her family. Adores brother Tom Tulliver. Mr. Tulliver (victim of character and circumstances), Philip Wakem (Maggie's sensible lover-encourages her to give up her unnatural self-denial)



Question:

Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison


Answer:

Kaleidoscopic novel written that forcefully accentuated the problem of alienation by using a black narrator who is struggling to find and liberate himself in the midst of an oppressive white society.