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CLEP American Literature

Subjects : clep, literature
Instructions:
  • Answer 50 questions in 15 minutes.
  • If you are not ready to take this test, you can study here.
  • Match each statement with the correct term.
  • Don't refresh. All questions and answers are randomly picked and ordered every time you load a test.

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






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






3. (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






4. 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






5. The beat or rhythm of a poem - created by a pattern of stressed an unstressed syllables.






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






7. (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






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






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






10. Written by Michael Wigglesworth - the most famous poem of 17th Century - proceeds from judgement day to hell and then to paradise. First American Best Seller.






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






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






13. Local Colorist Great Niece of Harriet Beecher Stowe. Wrote 'The Yellow Wallpaper'






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






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






16. Won the Nobel Prize - Novels concentrate on the turmoil of modern Jewish life.






17. Involves a speaker who addresses an unseen audience. Usually takes place at a crucial moment in the speaker's life.






18. Chicago School - Wrote 'Lucinda Matlock' - Created 'Spoon River Anthology' - Spoon River poems are characterized by: An unpoetic - colloquial style - frank descriptions of sex - a very critical view of small town life - and a description of he inner






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






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






21. A story told in song form. Ballads often tell stories of adventure and love.






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






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






24. Won the Pulitzer and Nobel Prize - Works focused on the South - Wrote 'As I Lay Dying -' 'Sanctuary -' and 'The sound and the Fury.' Experimented with Stream of Consciousness writing. Considered the most innovative novelist of his time.






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






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






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






28. 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






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






30. Created new poetic forms and subjects to fashion a distinctly American type of poetic expression. Rejected conventional themes - traditional literary references - allusions - and rhymes. Used long lines to capture rhythms of natural speech - free ver






31. Resisted materialism and chose a life of simplicity - close to nature. Walden is a guidebook for life - showing the reader how to live wisely in a world designed to make wise living impossible. 'On the Duty of Civil Disobedience' has become a primer






32. 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






33. Prose - Poetry - Drama






34. 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.






35. A 14-line poem with a set rhythm and rhyme scheme.






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






37. Naturalist - Wrote 'McTeague - a Story of San Francisco'






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






39. Book of feline poems - 'Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats -' formed the basis of the Broadway hit 'Cats.' Wrote 'The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock - Published 'The Waste-Land' which became the most famous poem of the first half of the 20th Centur






40. 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






41. 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






42. Anne Bradstreet - Michael Wigglesworth - Edward Taylor






43. Well-known humorists.






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






45. Coined the term 'Beat Generation' - Wrote 'On the Road' - All of his books are Autobiographical






46. Wrote Catcher in the Rye






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






48. (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






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






50. 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.