| Term | Definition |
|---|
| Genre | A category or type of writing, such as the short story, the novel, drama, and poetry |
| Protagonist | The main character around whom a literary work revolves; the protagonist is not necessarily the same as the narrator. |
| Antagonist | The character(s) or force(s) opposing the protagonist in a literary work; antagonists intentionally or unintentionally cause problems for protagonists. |
| Character traits | The qualities exhibited by a charactes. |
| Narrator | The character telling the story; the narrator may or may not be involved in the action of the story |
| Narrative point of view | The POV from which a story is told. |
| First person | A narrative POV in which a character who is involved in the action of the story tells the story; uses "I" |
| Third person objective | A narrative POV in which a character who is not involved in the action of the story tells the story; uses "he" or "she" and doesn't tell about thoughts or feelings |
| Third person omniscient | A narrative POV in which a character who is not involved in the action tells the story; uses "he" or "she" and directly tells peoples' thoughts and feelings |
| Third person limited omniscient | A narrative POV in which a character who is not involved in the action of the story is telling the story; uses "he" and "she" and directly reveals some characters' but not all thoughts and feelings. |
| Conflict | A problem, obstacle, or struggle faced by a character in a literary work; gives rise to action |
| What are four types of conflict? | Man vs. man; man vs. society; man. vs self; man vs. nature. Or woman |
| Plot | The sequence of events in a story; exposition, rising action, climax, falling action and resolution |
| Exposition | starting point of a story; introduced to setting, characters, mood, etc. |
| Rising action | Escalating events in the ploy, leading up to the climax |
| Climax | turning point in a story |
| Falling action | events after the climax in a story where people resolve their conflicts |
| Resolution | end of the story where you find out about the resolution of conflicts |
| Foreshadowing | hints about what is about to happen in a literary work |
| Setting | Time and place of a literary work |
| Atmosphere | Mood of a story, or feeling |
| Tone | attitude conveyed by a writer's words |
| Irony | a sharp, surprising, or dramatic contrast between what is expected and what actually happens |
| Verbal irony | sarcasm |
| Dramatic irony | When the reader knows something that the character doesn't |
| Symbol | an object, action, person, place, etc. that is concrete that represents something abstract, usually an idea |
| Theme | an idea lying beneath the surface of a literary work that presents a universal truth; themes often comment upon how people are or ought to be, according to the author; themes are similar to, but more complex than, morals or lessons. |
| Genre - The Piano Lesson | The Piano Lesson is a play (so drama). |
| Protagonist - The Piano Lesson | There isn't really one protagonist in The Piano Lesson, but Boy Willie and Berniece would probably be the two protagonists. |
| Antagonist - The Piano Lesson | Pretty much all of the main characters are antagonists--Berniece to herself and Boy Willie, Boy Willie to Berniece, Lymon to Berniece, Wining Boy/Doaker to Boy Willie, etc. etc. |
| Narrative POV - The Piano Lesson | There is no Narrative POV in a play!! |
| Conflicts - The Piano Lesson | Some main conflicts are Berniece and herself "picking up her burdens" and Boy Willie and Berniece. |
| Climax - The Piano Lesson | The climax is when Berniece is playing the piano. |
| Resolution - The Piano Lesson | After Berniece plays the piano, the rest is falling action or resolution. Like the train--which is symbolic--might be either. |
| Foreshadowing - The Piano Lesson | The beginning, when it says stuff about an omen. When Boy Willie talks about "cutting the piano in half" it's also kind of figurative |
| Setting - The Piano Lesson | 1930s, black life in the US after slavery |
| Symbolism - The Piano Lesson | One thing that's symbolic is the piano--their history. The train at the end--Sutter's ghost leaving? But also Berniece's troubles, and Boy Willie is more mature. The wind "blowing across two continents" The stones that Berniece is picking up |
| Theme - The Piano Lesson | Legacy and history, especially of black life/slavery. The wind "blowing across two continents." Black art and expression--paintings, music from slave working, carvings in piano. Racism--cycle of debt, not slaves but still _en_slaved. Blacks had no power. POWER STRUCTURE. Black vs. white for the law and financially. VALUES-material and sentimental, and then financial value. |
| The significance of the title. What lessons are being taught, who is teaching whom? | First of all, the "ghosts" are much better defined as "spirits" when Berniece lets the spirits out of the piano. It is not truly a ghost, although who knows, maybe there are ghosts. But it's not specifically one person, even then. They are being haunted by their slave history. Berniece is being haunted by her burdens. They are being taught the value of material goods--really, even though Boy Willie seems to want the money for money at first, it's also sentimental because he wants to avenge history and get the land that his family worked on as slaves. Berniece's urges to keep the piano are also sentimental and familial. Another huge lesson is from Avery to Berniece: let go of the past. You can be sad, like of course she has a right to mourn her husband's death, but three years is a long time. You can't let things weigh you down because there are always going to be more problems coming along and then you'll be carrying 50 lbs worth. Also, respect other peoples' wishes & property rights--Berniece and Boy Willie both had good points, and they both owned the piano equally. |
| Who or what causes Sutter's ghost to leave? What are the implications? | The person who plays the biggest role is Berniece. She finally lets go of her old, old burdens like Avery had been advising her to. Berniece finally plays the piano, which lets the spirits out--NOT ghosts, but spirits. Whereas the Ghosts of the YD/Sutter were GHOSTS, a ghost can actual physically do something like wrestle someone, but these are the SPIRITS of her ancestors, and also African ancestors b/c of "wind blowing across two continents," and they aren't physical but, no duh, spiritual--which fight Sutter away. Also, when Berniece plays the song that is a "command" and a "plea," she is commanding Sutter to leave and asking the spirits to wake up. |
| By the end of the play, who's changed/how/why? | Boy Willie and Berniece have changed the most. Boy Willie just cared about the money (for land, though) but by the end, he has not only matured--in the beginning he was described as actually acting like a boy--but he has learned to respect other peoples' wishes as well, like Berniece's wish to keep the piano. He doesn't really respect that until the very very end, though. Berniece has finally gotten over her burdens--the "stones"--by playing the piano. Boy Willie isn't as selfish anymore, and he doesn't think that EVERYTHING he does is right and ANYTHING that is not what he thinks is right, is wrong (like the law). And Boy Willie understands the significance of the piano--for himself, too; his family. |
| African-American life in the US | POWER STRUCTURE--blacks were financially less than whites. They could not take advantage of opportunities--in education and jobs--that were as good as whites' opportunities. There was discrimination, laws were unfair still and whites were still considered better. There were also less financial/other opportunities. So blacks had to search for jobs--in search of jobs, roots (if they came from say Alabama and had to leave) and families (like BW's ancestors!!! Family tree!) got split apart. |
| Charles' Family Tree | Mama Esther and Papa Boy Charles had Papa Boy Willie who carved the piano, he and Mama Berniece had the 1/2 slave boy, who had Wining Boy, Doaker, and Boy Charles. Boy Charles and Mama Ola had Berniece and Boy Willie. |
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