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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. 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






2. Words that carry a strong emotional overtones.






3. 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






4. Anne Bradstreet - Michael Wigglesworth - Edward Taylor






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






6. 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.






7. 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






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






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






10. 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






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






12. The process of reading a poem to figure out it's meter.






13. (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






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






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






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






17. 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'






18. A false science that argued tat different human races possessed distinguishing traits that determined their particular behavior and achievement in society.






19. 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.






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






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






22. Major theme of 20th Century literature.






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






24. 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






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






26. 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.






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






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






29. 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.






30. 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.






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






32. 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.






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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. American novelist - essayist - social critic - painter and spoken performer. Most of his works are autobiographical. Frequently experimented with drugs. He wrote the 'Naked Lunch' and the 'Cities of Red Night'






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






45. 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






46. Third US President Referred to as the 'Sage of Monticello'Drafted the Declaration of Independence.






47. 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.






48. A stanza.






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






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