AKE 455 Final Exam Review Sheet

1. The product of a teenage prodigy, John Kennedy Toole’s The Neon Bible presents a
simply-written yet searing criticism of small town southern life between the 1930s and
1950s. In this essay, discuss the social, racial, sexual, gender and religious bigotry and
hypocrisy critiqued by Toole. How are his characters able to resist gossip and conformity
to find their own personal freedom?

2. Eudora Welty’s “A Worn Path” and Truman Capote’s “A Christmas Memory” both deal
with elderly women and their young male companions, struggling to survive in the Great
Depression South. Discuss how prejudice (e.g., racism and ageism), poverty, the harsh
environment, loneliness, and mental health issues complicate the struggles of these
characters and bring them closer together. Also, explain how “myth” and “memory” (i.e.,
nostalgia) function in these short stories.

3. Truman Capote’s The Grass Harp is considered a quintessential work of Southern Gothic
literature because it incorporates all the important elements of the genre and can also be
easily compared to other Southern Gothic works. Write an essay discussing this
statement. Why is The Grass Harp a good example of Southern Gothic literature (i.e.,
how does it reflect this genre)? How is it similar to other works we have read this
semester?

4. Over the course of the semester, we have encountered a number of child protagonists
who can be considered “grotesque” because they either willingly, or unwillingly, adopt
adult characteristics, thus functioning as “adults in children’s bodies.” In this essay, select
two of these children (at least one of them has to be “new”—that is, from a work we
have read since Exam #2), and explain what makes them grotesque. Include how their
unusual behavior is heightened by the gothic environment in which they live, and the
price they pay for their precociousness.