Department of English
Faculty of Arts, Chulalongkorn University
Roman Fever
(1934)
Edith Wharton
(January 24, 1862 – August 11, 1937)
Notes
First published in Liberty magazine in 1934.
Study Questions Memory and Mortality Youth
Remembering, forgetting; collective v. individual memory
Height, Vertical Relationship; the stairs mediating between high and low?
Roman Sites and Landscape
Other topics that you can think about:
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Review Sheet
Characters
Mrs. Horace Ansley, Grace Ansley
Mrs. Ansley was much less articulate than her friend (239)
Mrs. Delphin Slade, Alida Slade
fuller, and higher in colour, with a small determined nose supported by vigorous black eyebrows (235)
had been a dashing girl (240)
Barbara Ansley, Babs
"dynamic" (242)
Jenny Slade
Jenny was such a perfect daughter that she needed no excessive mothering (239)
Jenny, who was younger than her brilliant friend, was that rare accident, an extremely pretty girl who somehow made youth and prettiness seem as safe as their absence. (239)
Places
Rome
the lofty terrace of the Roman restaurant (234)
Time
spring – "the spring effulgence of the Roman skies" (235)
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Key Terms to Date
character
foil
personality
direct presentation of character
indirect presentation of character
show v. tell
consistency in character behavior
motivation
plausibility of character: is the character credible? convincing?
flat character
round character, multidimensional character
static character
developing character
direct methods of revealing character:
characterization through the use of names
characterization through physical appearance
characterization through editorial comments by the author, interrupts narrative to provide information
characterization through dialog: what is said, who says it, under what circumstances, who is listening, how the conversation flows, how the speaker speaks (ex. tone, stress, dialect, diction/word choice)
characterization through action
plot
beginning, middle, end
scene
chance, coincidence
double plot
subplot, underplot
deus ex machina
disclosure, discovery
story
conflict, internal conflict, external conflict, clash of actions, clash of ideas, clash of desires, clash of wills
man v. self
man v. man
man v. society
man v. nature
protagonist
antagonist
suspense
mystery
dilemma
surprise
ending
happy ending
unhappy ending
indeterminate ending
artistic unity
time sequence
exposition
complication
rising action, falling action
crisis
climax
conclusion
resolution
denouement
flashback, retrospect
foreshadowing
Reference
Links |
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Edith Wharton |
Reference
Wharton, Edith. "Roman Fever." Classic American Short Stories. Ed. Douglas Grant. Oxford: OUP, 1989. 234–51. Print.
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Last updated August 10, 2011