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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.
  • 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. 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






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






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






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






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






6. (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






7. 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.






8. Characterized by: Ordinary Language - Free Verse - Concentrated Word Pictures - Very specific words and phrases - Advanced by Ezra Pound and Amy Lowell; also utilized by Robert Frost






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






10. 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.






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






12. Wrote Catcher in the Rye






13. 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






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






15. Wrote 'Howl -' ' Empty Mirror -' and 'Kaddish and Other Poems' - Poet






16. Unrhymed poetry Captures natural rhythm of speech.






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






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






19. 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.






20. Story in which the characters - setting and action represent abstract concepts apart from their literal meaning.






21. Leader of naturalism in American writing. Wrote 'An American Tragedy'






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






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






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






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






26. That America's unique identity transcends ethnic - cultural - or religious backgrounds. Idea given by St. Jean de Crevecoeur






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






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






30. 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.






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






32. 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






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






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






35. Wrote 'Grapes of Wrath -' 'Of Mice and Men -' and 'East of Eden -' and 'Winter of Our Discontent.' Awarded Nobel Prize for Literature - Pulitzer and and the National Book Award.






36. Major theme of 20th Century literature.






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






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






39. (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






40. 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






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






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






43. 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.






44. Wrote 'Songs of Jamaica' - Poetry and 'Harlem Shadows' (first great literary achievement of the Harlem Renaissance. Much of his poetry evokes the rich heritage of Jamaica.






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






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






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






48. Local Colorist Wrote 'The Country of the Pointed Firs' Famous for use of idiomatic language - conservative values and imagery and vivid descriptions of rural New England.






49. Words that carry a strong emotional overtones.






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