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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. 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.






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






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






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






5. Prose - Poetry - Drama






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






7. Wrote 'Richard Cory' - Created poems dealing with historic myths and characters. Known primarily for short - ironic characteristics of ordinary individuals. Won 3 Pulitzers : 'Collected Poems -' 'The Man Who Died Twice -' and 'Tristram'






8. Wished to return to more primitive principles - to simplicity - sobriety - religious earnestness - and personal self-control. Aim was to purify church of England from 'Popery' - Persecuted harshly by Charles I and Archbishop of Canterbury William Lau






9. 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.'






10. Typically referred to as the greatest American novelist (next to Mark Twain) of the second half of the 19th century. Main theme of his work was the innocence and exuberance of America compared to the corruption and wisdom of Europe. Wrote 'The Portra






11. 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






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






13. Famous for writing - marriages - divorces and media hype. Wrote 'The Executioner's Song.'






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






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






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






17. The belief that 'true' Americans were those of earlier Anglo-Saxon descent - and that this 'race' was under threat from the growing influx of Central European and Asian immigrants.






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






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. 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






21. Applying the evolutionary 'survival of the fittest' concept to a world marked by struggle and competition. (Promulgated by Herbert Spencer - a best-selling sociologist of the late 19th Century.






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






23. 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






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






25. 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






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






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






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






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






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






31. Anne Bradstreet - Michael Wigglesworth - Edward Taylor






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






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






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






35. Literary movement of the 19th century that traced the effects of heredity and environment on people who ere helpless to change their situations. Also called Determinism for its belief in the effects of environment - heredity - and chance on human fat






36. 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.






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






38. Imagist Poet - Wrote 'In a Station of the Metro -' ' The Pisan Cantos -' 'Hugh Selwyn Mauberly -' and 'Mauberly.' Modeled 'Cantos' after Whitman's 'Leaves of Grass' - Infamous traitor; Staunch supporter of Mussolini during WWII. Didn't speak for the






39. A group of stressed and unstressed syllables in a line of poetry.






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






41. 'The Old Man and the Sea -' 'The Sun Also Rises -' 'A Farewell to Arms -' and 'For Whom the Bell Tolls.' Writing style emphasizes: Short sentences - brief paragraphs - active verbs - authenticity - compression - clarity - and immediacy. Produced some






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






43. A stanza.






44. Writings portray the lives of poor - oppressed black women in the early 1900s.






45. All events follow natural laws.






46. First vice president and second president. Member of the First and Second Continental Congresses. Helped draft the Declaration of Independence. Husband of Abigail Adams.






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






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






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






50. 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