Language and Literature

Resource Guide Outlines

Selected Pieces

 

      A.   Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865): Gettysburg Address and Second Inaugural Address

 

            1.   Lincoln's background

 

                  a)    Family

 

 

                  b)    Education

 

 

                  c)    Early political life

 

 

                  d)    Election to Presidency

 

 

 

            2.   Appropriateness for occasion

 

                  a)    Elevated style

 

 

 

 

                  b)    Call to action

 

 

 

 

            3.   Use of language

 

                  a)    Parallelism and antithesis

 

 

 

 

                  b)    Biblical quotations

 

 

 

 

                  c)    Word choice

 

 

 

 

 

 

     B.   Frederick Douglass (c. 1818–1895): Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave (Excerpt)

 

 

            1.   Douglass's background

 

                  a)    Life as a slave

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                  b)    Comparison with white boys

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

            2.   Use of language

 

                  a)    Irony

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                  b)    Animal imagery

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                  c)    Proverbial quotations

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

     C.   Ambrose Bierce (1842–c. 1914): "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge"

 

            1.   Historical fiction

 

 

 

 

            2.   Short story development

 

                  a)    Influence of Edgar Allen Poe

 

 

 

 

 

                  b)    Surprise ending

 

 

 

 

 

                  c)    Manipulation of time

 

 

 

 

 

            3.   Tripartite structure

 

                  a)    Varied settings

 

 

 

 

 

                  b)    Foreshadowing

 

 

 

 

 

            4.   Situational irony

 

                  a)    Ambiguous language

 

 

 

 

 

                  b)    Shifting points of view

 

 

 

 

D.   Bruce Catton (1899–1978): "Grant and Lee: A Study in Contrasts" (Excerpt)

 

            1.   Historical biography

 

                  a)    Author's qualifications

 

 

 

 

 

 

                  b)    Radio presentation

 

 

 

 

 

 

                  c)    Significance of Appomattox

 

 

 

 

 

 

            2.   Use of comparison/contrast structure

 

                  a)    Backgrounds of two generals

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                  b)    Personal characteristics

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                  c)    Differences and similarities

           

 

 

 

 

 

 

   E.   Walt Whitman (1819–1892): "O Captain! My Captain!"

 

            1.   Verse form

 

                  a)    Regular stanza division

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                  b)    Consistent rhyme and meter

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

            2.   Extended analogy

 

                  a)    Lincoln as the captain

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                  b)    The nation as the ship

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  F.   Paul Laurence Dunbar (1872–1906): "The Unsung Heroes"

 

            1.   Theme

 

                  a)    Plea for recognition

 

 

 

 

                  b)    Courage of soldiers

 

 

 

 

            2.   Verse form

 

                  a)    Modification of ballad

 

 

 

 

                  b)    Elevated language

 

 

 

 

                  c)    Figurative language

 

 

 

 

                  d)    Sound patterns

 

 

 

 

            3.   Rhythmic meter

 

                  a)    Iambic verse

 

 

 

 

                  b)    Hexameter and heptameter

 

 

 

 

                  c)    Rhyming pattern