Test your basic knowledge |

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. Wrote 'The House of Mirth -' and 'The Age of Innocence' most famous for 'Ethan Frome' Noted use of indirection and allusion. First women to win a Pulitzer for 'The Age of Innocence' Main themes were upper-class life and the constraints it placed on b






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






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






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






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






6. 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.






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






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






9. Wrote 'Uncle Tom's Cabin' - first American novel to sell a million copies. The most influential book of the 19th century. Credited with starting the Civil War. Most famous American woman of her day.






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






11. 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.






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






13. Major theme of 20th Century literature.






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






15. 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.






16. 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.






17. Wrote 'The Call of the Wild -' 'White Fang -' ' Sea Wolf -' and 'To Build a Fire.' Socialist. Naturalist






18. 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






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






20. Anne Bradstreet - Michael Wigglesworth - Edward Taylor






21. Recluse - agoraphobic - Didn't title her poems. All are designated by numbers. Paved the way for the Imagist movement of the 1920s. Considered on of the founders of Modern American Poetry. Concrete imagery - forceful language - and unique style usher






22. Prose - Poetry - Drama






23. (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






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






25. (Colonial Period) Began 'The History of New England' aboard the Arbella in 1630. Lead 2 -000 English emigrant to Massachusetts Bay. Made daily journal-style entries until his death. Intended it to be an account of his long governorship. Style is pla






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






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






28. Unrhymed poetry Captures natural rhythm of speech.






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






30. A regular pattern of words that end with the same sound.






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






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






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






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






35. 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.






36. 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.






37. Well-known humorists.






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






39. First Black woman to win the Nobel Prize for literature. Novel focus on black cultural identity in contemporary America. Wrote 'The Bluest Eye -' 'Tar Baby -' and 'Beloved'






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






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






42. 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






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






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






45. Movement in the early part of the 20th Century where writers experimented with new themes such as fragmentation - stream of consciousness - and imagery.






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






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






48. Words that carry a strong emotional overtones.






49. 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






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







Sorry!:) No result found.

Can you answer 50 questions in 15 minutes?


Let me suggest you:

Browse all subjects

Browse all tests

Most popular tests



Major Subjects

Tests & Exams


AP
CLEP
DSST
GRE
SAT
GMAT

Browse all subjects

Browse all tests

Most popular tests