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






2. 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






3. Well-known humorists.






4. A group of lines in a poem. - Lines of poems are grouped into _______s - just as sentences of prose are grouped into paragraphs.






5. 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






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






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






8. 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.'






9. Wrote 'My Antonia' and 'Death Comes for the Archbishop' Won a Pulitzer for her novel 'One of Ours'






10. 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






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






12. 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.






13. Wrote 'The Souls of Black Folk' - Founder of the NAACP






14. 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.






15. Ben Franklin paid his passage to America. First Pamphlet was Common Sense : credited with getting the colonists to see the 'advantage - necessity - and obligation' of breaking with Britain. Followed by a series of pamphlets - collectively called 'An






16. 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.






17. A stanza.






18. First great writer of psychological fiction; obsessed with sin and guilt. 'The Scarlet Letter' - 'Young Goodman Brown' - Claimed his work was romance and therefore not required to be realistic.






19. (Colonial Period) First writer of American Literature. Wrote 'The Generall Historie of Virginia - New England - and The Summer Isles.' Archetypal American.






20. 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.






21. America's most popular humorist in the 30s and 40s. Frequently explored the battle of the sexes. Wrote 'The Secret Life of Walter Mitty.'






22. 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






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






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






25. 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.






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






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






28. Prose - Poetry - Drama






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






30. The repeated use of identical sounds.






31. She holds a unique place in American history as both the wife of one president and the mother of another. In her own right - she was an ardent American patriot. Her perseverance during the American Revolution kept her family together and enabled her






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






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






34. Wrote Catcher in the Rye






35. 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






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






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






38. Pattern of five feet (groups of syllables) - each having one unstressed syllable and one stressed syllable.






39. The idea that there is something different - unique and special about Americans.






40. (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






41. All events follow natural laws.






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






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






44. 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






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






46. Created the first American adventure story. First successful American novelist. 'Father of the American novel.' Very litigious - cranky and vain. Most famous for the 'Leatherstocking Tales': A series of five novels about the frontiersman - Natty Bump






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






48. Ezra Pound and T.S Eliot






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






50. Local Colorist Wrote 'The Awakening' Writing is memorable for its : Vivid and economical style - Rich Local Dialect - and Penetrating view of the culture of South Louisiana.