Terms!

Bildungs roman- coming of age novel; protagonist comes to learn who they are (identity plot)

ID plot has 5 major elements:
- Narrative revoles around the question of how to define and understand a character identity
- The character must be a member of a minority within a larger society
- The character is at odds with the minority group which he/she is a part of
- The character needs to be conflicted about his/her difference from the majority about his/her differences from the minority
- Authenticity and origin are always at stake in the character's quest for personal identity, even when these are absent, their absence alone signifies something crucial to the character's identity

Variations:
- Character may seem to be a member of the majority group                                                           -Character is not conflicted about membership to a minority group (will or won't betray the group)
- Characters resist having an identity that is stable
- May be multiple people whose identities are at stake
- Variations of fiction based on fact
- Identity is not based on race of ethnicity
      - personal differences

"A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings" Gabriel Garcia Marquez

Plot:
- Pelayo discovers a dirty man in the mud with large wings
- The man and his wife place the winged man in chicken coop to be shown off
- A neighbor informed them that the man is an angel and has come for their sick child
- In the end, the man regains his strength and leaves the house

Characters:
- Old Man/ Angel
- Pelayo- Father
- Elisenda- Mother
- Father Gonzaga- Priest who is unsure if the man is an angel but investigates whether or not he is
- Neighbor woman- Tells Pelayo and Elisenda that the man is an angel and he has come to take away their sick child
- The Spider Girl- Steals thunder from winged man, turned into a spider because she snuck out of her house

Theory 1:
- Marques is discussing the topic of human nature: our own nature and how we tend to react to life's miracles

Theory 2:
- This is a simple story of a fallen angle that is completely open to interpretation

- Wings symbolize freedom

"The Yellow Woman" Leslie Marmon Silko

Laguna Pueblo Culture
- Oral storytelling
- TYW was the focus of female fantasy stories
- Both heroic and sexual, TYW protects the Pueblos
- YW tales embody both male and female qualities: aggressive sexuality (male) and traditional object of female desire
- A woman courageous in the service of her people and usually achieving success through sexuality rather than destruction

Theory 1: Independence
- TYW often lives on her own away from the village and behaves differently than the norm
- This shows how Silko's life may have been; her family lived on the outside of their reservations and therefore were excluded from Pueblo rituals

Theory 2: Illustration of TYW
- Female liberation
- Independence, sexual freedom,and heroism
- TYW has the power which physical sensations and desire have to blot out the thought of home, family, and responsibilities

"Things Fall Apart" Chinua Achebe

Achebe
- Born in 1930 in Ogidi, Nigeria
- Christian upbringing
- Multicultural Background

Igbo Culture
- Southeastern Nigeria
- Igbo vocab in text
     - "agbala"= "woman" or "man with no titles"
     - "Umuofia kwenu"= "United Umuofia"
     - "osugo"= "low status person"
    - "enzinma"= "true beauty"

Characters:
- Okonkwo- central character
- Unoka- Okonkwo's father
- Nwoye- OK's oldest son, son of his first wife
- Ikemefuna- OK's "adopted" son
- Ekwefi- OK's second and probably favorite wife out of the three
- Ezinma- OK's daughter, daughter of Ekwefi
- Nwakibie- an elder who gives OK his first yam seeds to start his life
- Obieka- OK's best friend but polar opposite
- Ezeuda- an elder who gives OK advice about Ikemefuma
- Uchendu- OK's uncle
- Mr. Brown- British missionary
- Rev. Mr. Smith- a British government official and judge

Division of parts (setting)
- Umuofia: things in place, with OK as representative of his culture
- Mbanta: things out of place, with OK in exile
- Umuofia: things begin to fall apart

"The Guest" Albert Camus

Albert Camus
- 1913-1962
- Born in Mondovi, Algeria
- Won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1957

"The Guest"
- Takes place on the eve of the Algerian war
- Depicts Daru's struggle with what's morally right
- Daru treats the Arab as a guest, but my choose his fate of being set free or being sent to prison
- When given the choice, the Arab chooses prison

Theory 1:
- Because of differing cultures, the characters have different views on crime
- Each character has their own moral code; Arab is not a hostile murderous person, Daru treats him as a guest not a criminal
- Daru cannot send the man to prison because of his moral code, so he leaves the decision up to him.
- The Arab's moral code leaves him with no option to go to prison

Theory 2:
- The Arab never runs even though he knows he is being transported to prison
- The Arab wants Daru to come to his trial to stand up for him
- Due to Daru's hospitality, the Arab cannot take the thought of his host being punished if he gets free, so he proceeds to prison

- Irony in the title (guests are treated well)
- Compares colonized and colonizers