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CLEP American Literature

Subjects : clep, literature
Instructions:
  • Answer 50 questions in 15 minutes.
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  • Match each statement with the correct term.
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This is a study tool. The 3 wrong answers for each question are randomly chosen from answers to other questions. So, you might find at times the answers obvious, but you will see it re-enforces your understanding as you take the test each time.
1. Wrote 'Richard Cory' - Created poems dealing with historic myths and characters. Known primarily for short - ironic characteristics of ordinary individuals. Won 3 Pulitzers : 'Collected Poems -' 'The Man Who Died Twice -' and 'Tristram'






2. The belief that 'true' Americans were those of earlier Anglo-Saxon descent - and that this 'race' was under threat from the growing influx of Central European and Asian immigrants.






3. Major theme of 20th Century literature.






4. New England local color writer - is known primarily for her two collections of stories. 'A Humble Romance' and 'A New England Nun'






5. A single sheet of paper printed on one or both sides. 'The Dying Redcoat'






6. Written by Cottonn Mather - to justify the execution of 19 women during the Salem Witch Trials.






7. A philosophy pioneered by Ralph Waldo Emerson in the 1830's and 1840's - in which each person has direct communication with God and Nature - and there is no need for organized churches. It incorporated the ideas that mind goes beyond matter - intuiti






8. People who are best adapted to survive are chosen through the process of natural selection.






9. Stylistic Elements Parallel Structure: repeated used of phrases - clauses - or sentences that are similar in structure. Rhythm - Forceful and Direct Language






10. Wrote 'The Life and Times of Frederick Douglass.' Escaped slave that became one o f the most effective orators of his day - an influential newspaper writer - a militant abolitionist - and a famous diplomat.






11. Brief - musical poems that convey a speaker's feelings.






12. Genius; called the 'Black Keats' - Worked within traditional poetic forms rather than jazz rhythms. Wrote ' Copper Sun -' and 'The Ballad of the Brown Girl.'






13. A line or group of lines repeated at the end of a poem or song. Refrains reinforce the main point and create musical effects.






14. Considered the greatest humorist of 19th century American Literature. Wrote 'The Adventures of Tom Sawyer' and 'The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.' Master of 'Local Color' writing. Used vernacular - exaggeration and deadpan narrator to create humor.






15. The Bard of Harlem; most successful black writer in America during the Harlem Renaissance. Wanted to capture the dominant oral traditions of black culture in written form. Best known for his poetry: 'The Weary Blues -' 'Fields of Wonder -' and 'The D






16. A long narrative that represents characters in a high position who take part in a series of adventures of significance.






17. Writings portray the lives of poor - oppressed black women in the early 1900s.






18. A type of literature win which words are selected and strung together for their beauty - sound - and power to express feelings.






19. An artistic and intellectual movement originating in Europe in the late 18th Century and characterized by a heightened interest in nature - emphasis on the individual's expression of emotion and imagination - departure from the attitudes and forms of






20. Confessional Poet - Won a Pulitzer for 'Live or Die'






21. Wrote 'Native Son -' and 'Black Boy' - First Black Best-Seller - Staunch Communist : Believed it was black America's best hope for equality.






22. (Colonial Period) One of the most brilliant of American thinkers. Theologian and philosopher; vigorous defender of Calvinistic orthodoxy at the end of the Puritan era. Influenced major nineteenth century writers such as Emerson - Hawthorne - Melville






23. Work did not have a political agenda. Wrote 'Their Eyes Were Watching God -' 'Mules and Men -' and 'Jonahs Gourd Vine.' Considered one of the key black writers of the 20th Century.






24. Wrote gold-rush stories like 'The Luck of Roaring Camp' and 'The Outcasts of Poker Flat'; never matched up to his previous fame local colorist






25. Wrote 'The Red Badge of Courage' and 'Maggie: A Girl of the Streets -' and 'The Open Boat.' Red Badge of Courage is considered the first modern war novel. Work is celebrated for its images and symbolism. Work is often described as impressionist due t






26. Third US President Referred to as the 'Sage of Monticello'Drafted the Declaration of Independence.






27. (Colonial Period) Only person to publicly repent his part in the Salem Witch Trials. Published America's first anti-slavery tract.






28. Literary movement of the 19th century that traced the effects of heredity and environment on people who ere helpless to change their situations. Also called Determinism for its belief in the effects of environment - heredity - and chance on human fat






29. Unorthodox writers who hung around the bars and coffee houses of San Francisco's North Beach.






30. Anne Bradstreet - Michael Wigglesworth - Edward Taylor






31. Credited with creating: the modern short story and the detective novel - and the entire genre of mystery. Wrote 'The Philosophy of Composition' - 'The Raven' - 'Tell-Tale Heart -' 'The Cask of Amontillado -' and 'The Gold Bug.' (The first detective






32. Friedrich Nitezche's belief in the 'will to power' as the primary force of society and the individual.






33. Wrote 'The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man' and 'Lift Every Voice and Sing -' (The Black National Anthem)






34. Produces ribald - exuberant - feminist poems - novels and essays. Most famous novel is 'Fear of Flying.'






35. Well-known humorists.






36. Wrote 'Daddy' and 'The Bell Jar' - Confessional Poet






37. The reappearance in an individual of characteristics of some distant ancestor that have not been present in intervening generations - such as hand like a hairy paw.






38. Wrote 'The Invisible Man' - Considered a landmark achievement in American literature






39. Used to describe literature that was pandered to the polite - refined - and delicate elements of society. Denied the unsavory underbelly of life.






40. A piece of literature intended to be performed in front of an audience.






41. Wrote 'Portnoy's Complaint.' Work reflects the changing attitude of Jews living in post-World War II America.






42. Wrote Catcher in the Rye






43. A story in poetic form. Has plot. characters and theme.






44. Autobiography is considered the one of the greatest ever written. Wrote Poor Richard's Alamanac






45. Typically referred to as the greatest American novelist (next to Mark Twain) of the second half of the 19th century. Main theme of his work was the innocence and exuberance of America compared to the corruption and wisdom of Europe. Wrote 'The Portra






46. The primacy of science over religious - mythical - or spiritual interpretations of life.






47. Famous Poet and Novelist - 'I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings'






48. Writings interweave sexual and racial concerns; what it means to be black and homosexual in America in the 2nd half of the 20th Century.






49. A social and artistic movement of the 1950's stressing unrestrained literary self expression and nonconformity with the mainstream culture






50. Most prominent black leader of his day. Wrote 'Up From Slavery'