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GRE Literature: African American Lit

Subjects : gre, literature
Instructions:
  • Answer 22 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. James Baldwin. Self-destructive vision - USA is another country. Rufus Scott- a bisexual jazz drummer who has an affair w/ Leona - a white woman whom he brutalizes before he commits suicide by jumping off the George Washington Bridge. Other character






2. Richard Wright (1908-1960) - the grandson of slaves - in this novel tells the story of Bigger Thomas - an African-American of the poorest class - struggling to live in the Chicago - Illinois of the 1930s. His life - however - is doomed from the outse






3. Langston Hughes - the title work of a book length poem suite in a jazzy - almost improvisational style. Hughes was influenced by Walt Whitman and Carl Sandburg among others

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4. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. Writes of her early years from age 3-16. Keywords/events: Stamps - Arkansas - Annie Henderson (her grandmother) - rape by her mother'S live in love at age of 8 - moving to California at age 13 - giving birth out of we






5. A series of essays by WEB Du Bois focusing on racial and social issues in America.






6. (1903-46) An American poet - one of the finest of the Harlem Renaissance. His most famous poems are 'Yet Do I Marvel' and 'Incident' - the latter of which describes a childhood trip to Baltimore marred by a racial slur. Countee Cullen was raised and






7. James Baldwin - 1955. The volume collects ten of Baldwin'S essays - which had previously appeared in such magazines as Harper'S Magazine - Partisan Review - and The New Leader. The essays mostly tackle issues of race in America and Europe.






8. Booker T. Washington - 1901 - autobiography detailing his work to rise from the position of a slave child during the Civil War - to the difficulties and obstacles he overcame to get an education at the new Hampton University - to his work establishin






9. (September 4 - 1908 - November 28 - 1960) An African-American author of sometimes controversial novels - short stories - poems - and non-fiction. Much of his literature concerns racial themes - especially those involving the plight of African America






10. Another Country - Notes of a Native Son - Go Tell It on the Mountain - Blues for Mister Charlie. Focus: racial prejudice - sex - sexist attitudes - poverty - alienation from family (especially men from their fathers) - bisexuality. Hatred often destr






11. An American poet - social activist - novelist - playwright - and columnist. He was one of the earliest innovators of the then-new literary art form jazz poetry. Hughes is best known for his work during the Harlem Renaissance. Poems: 'Theme for Englis






12. (February 18 - 1931) An American novelist - editor - and professor. Her novels are known for their epic themes - vivid dialogue - and richly detailed characters. Among her best known novels are The Bluest Eye - Sula - Song of Solomon and Beloved.






13. (1871-1938) Leading African American author - poet - early civil rights activist - and prominent figure in the Harlem Renaissance. Born in Jacksonville - Florida - he was the first African American accepted to the Florida bar. He served in several pu






14. (January 7 - 1891 - January 28 - 1960) An American folklorist - anthropologist - and author during the time of the Harlem Renaissance. Of her four novels and more than 50 published short stories - plays - and essays - she is best known for her 1937 n






15. Play by James Baldwin. White man murders a black man - then throws his body in the weeds. Reflection upon racism in US. Characters: Lyle Britten - Richard Henry






16. (March 1 - 1914 - April 16 - 1994) An American novelist - literary critic - scholar and writer. He was born in Oklahoma City - Oklahoma. Best known for his novel Invisible Man - which won the National Book Award in 1953. He also wrote Shadow and Act






17. Ralph Ellison (1952). The work explores the theme of man'S search for his identity and place in society - as seen from the perspective of a black man in the New York City of the 1940'S. In contrast to his contemporaries such as Richard Wright and Jam






18. A term invented by WEB Du Bois to describe an individual whose identity is divided into several facets. African Americans in particular struggle with a multi-faceted conception of self. This results from African slaves being torn away from their home






19. American sociologist - historian - civil rights activist - Pan-Africanist - author and editor. Du Bois and his supporters opposed the Atlanta Compromise - an agreement crafted by Booker T. Washington which provided that Southern blacks would work and






20. (February 9 - 1944) An American author - poet - and activist. She has written both fiction and essays about race and gender. She is best known for the critically acclaimed novel The Color Purple (1982) for which she won the National Book Award and th






21. James Baldwin. 1953. The novel examines the role of the Christian Church in the lives of African-Americans - both as a source of repression and moral hypocrisy and as a source of inspiration and community. It also - more subtly - examines racism in t






22. (April 5 - 1856 - November 14 - 1915) Representative of the last generation of black American leaders born in slavery - he spoke on behalf of the large majority of blacks who lived in the South but had lost their ability to vote through disfranchisem