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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. All written work that is not poetry - drama or song. Articles - autobiographies - biographies - essays - novels and editorials are prose.






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






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






4. (Colonial Period) 1. God is King and Ruler. 2. Our duty in this world is to see that God's will prevails.3. Man is depraved from birth. 4. Few will be saved. Damned are damned despite their best efforts. Belief in Covenant Theology : God's covenant w






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






6. (Colonial Period) Best-known Southern colonial writer. Famous for 'The History of the Dividing Line' and 'The Secret Diary of William Byrd of Westover'






7. Pilgrim's constitution. Shaped the politics - religion - and social behavior of the first settlers. Eventually influenced the shape - style and content of the U.S Constitution. William Bradford was famous for being one of the authors and signers.






8. Ranked as top American novelist - even though few of his contemporaries recognized his genius. Moby Dick is considered to be America's greatest prose epic. It is also top contender for best American novel. Wrote the first great romance about the Sout






9. Produced a number of sketches - poems - and a one-act pay titled 'Cane.'






10. Well-known humorists.






11. The process of reading a poem to figure out it's meter.






12. Considered the voice of the Twenties. Wrote 'The Great Gatsby' - Heavy drinking problem.






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






14. Wrote 'since feeling is first -' 'somewhere i have never traveled - gladly beyond -' and 'The Enormous Room' - Experimented with : form - punctuation - spelling - typography - grammar - imagery - rhythm - and syntax.






15. 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






16. Clever - memorable sayings.






17. 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.






18. Ezra Pound and T.S Eliot






19. Father of American Literature - First American writer to achieve an international reputation. Rip Van Winkle (antihero). Legend of Sleepy Hollow. The Devil and Tom Walker. Was 50 years old before his real name appeared on any of his books. Used alias






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






21. 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






22. Poetry that does not have a regular beat - rhyme or line length. Walt Whitman






23. Won 4 Pulitzers - Top 20th Century Poet - Wrote 'The Road Not Taken -' ' Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening -' and 'Mending Wall'






24. A stanza.






25. Key intellectual and philosophical voice of 19th-century America. Key player in the transcendentalist movement. First to define what made American poetry American - it is verse that celebrates ordinary experience rather than the epic themes of the pa






26. All events follow natural laws.






27. A pattern of stressed unstressed syllables that create a beat - as in music.






28. (Colonial Period) One of colonial New England's most eminent clergyman. Greatest achievement was as an historian of the Puritan experience. 'Diary of Cotton Mather' - Account of Mather wrestling with sexual temptation to marry a much younger women di






29. People who sang lyrics as they played string-like instruments.






30. Confessional Poet - Wrote 'Lord Weary's Castle' and 'In Life Studies'






31. Use of medieval - wild - or mysterious elements in literature. Features gloomy settings and horrifying events. Edgar Allen Poe is regarded as the American Master of Gothic writing.






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






33. End : occurs when words at the ends of lines of poetry rhyme. Internal: occurs when words within a sentences share the same sound - such as 'Each narrow cell in which we dwell.'






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






35. First Black female poet to win a Pulitzer. Best known for her poems 'The Bean Eaters' and 'We Real Cool.'






36. A literary mask a writer assumes for the purpose of creating a character in a poem.






37. Best-known and most influential early Naturalist. Rougon-Marcquart






38. (Colonial Period) Stands in direct opposition to the principles - personalities and literary styles of William Bradford and John Winthrop. Did not come to settle the land and establish God's Kingdom - but to trade beaver pelts and live pleasantly. Es






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






40. Chicago School - Work bridges folk poetry and modernist poems. Used music and strong rhythm - Wrote 'The Congo'






41. (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






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






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






44. (Colonial Period) Primarily written to set forth orthodox Calvinist Christianity. Not considered the best representation of poetry during the whole period. Rarely approached excellence of English models. Too much of an emphasis on heavenly values and






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






46. A literary argument that aims to change public opinion rather than entertain.






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






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






50. 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.