American Literature CLEP
Muse
Anne Bradstreet's collection of poems, The Tenth ________Lately Sprung Up in America (1650), reveals her love for her husband, devotion to her family, and observations of colonial life.
The ________ Covenant (1630) established Massachusetts as a theocracy, government by God or, in this case, by officials guided by Puritan ideals.
Arbella- John Winthrop's sermon, "A Model of Christian Charity," also known as his "City Upon a Hill" sermon, includes the "Arbella Covenant," an agreement among English settlers made while on the ship the Arbella. The Mayflower Compact and the Arbella Covenant were precursors of the Constitution of the United States of America.
John Winthrop recorded daily happenings from his voyage on the Arbella in 1630 until his death in 1649 in his Journal, also called The ____ of New England.
History
Cotton Mather
Magnalia Christi Americana (1702) is _____________'s history of New England.
Jonathan Edwards' most famous sermon, " _____ in the Hands of an Angry God," (1741) vividly showcases God's justice and man's corruption.
Sinners
Occom
The Native American Presbyterian preacher Samson _____________authored many hymns, including several included in Choice Collection of Hymns and Spiritual Songs (1774), which he edited. He was the first Native American to publish works in English; in addition to religious writings, he wrote about racial inequality.
Between 1687 and 1690, Benjamin Harris published various editions of what reading textbook that taught moral lessons, the alphabet, vowels, and consonants, and contained The Westminster Shorter Catechism and/or Milk for Babes?
The New England Primer
Banner
The sight of the American flag still flying after British hostilities at Fort McHenry during the War of 1812 inspired the lawyer poet Francis Scott Key to write what we now call "The Star-Spangled _________" (1814), which became the national anthem of the United States of America in 1931.
a child
Thou ill-formed offspring of my feeble brain, Who after birth didst by my side remain, Till snatched from thence by friends, less wise than true, Who thee abroad, exposed to public view, Made thee in rags, halting to th' press to trudge, 5 Where errors were not lessened (all may judge). At thy return my blushing was not small, My rambling brat (in print) should mother call, I cast thee by as one unfit for light, The visage was so irksome in my sight; 10 Yet being mine own, at length affection would Thy blemishes amend, if so I could. I washed thy face, but more defects I saw, And rubbing off a spot still made a flaw. I stretched thy joints to make thee even feet, 15 Yet still thou run'st more hobbling than is meet; In better dress to trim thee was my mind, But nought save homespun cloth i' th' house I find. In this array 'mongst vulgars may'st thou roam. In critic's hands beware thou dost not come, 20 And take thy way where yet thou art not known; If for thy father asked, say thou hadst none; And for thy mother, she alas is poor, Which caused her thus to send thee out of door. The extended metaphor in this poem, "The Author to her Book" by Anne Bradstreet, is about . A. poverty B. cleaning C. cloth D. kidnapping E. a child
Aphorisms
"Look before, or you'll find yourself behind." "Three may keep a Secret, if two of them are dead." "There's many witty men whose brains can't fill their bellies." Witty sayings, such as those in Ben Franklin's Poor Richard's Almanac, are called . A. themes B. meter C. rules D. ballads E. aphorisms
John Alden
"Stouter hearts than a woman's have quailed in this terrible winter. Yours is tender and trusting, and needs a stronger to lean on; So I have come to you now, with an offer and proffer of marriage Made by a good man and true, Miles Standish the Captain of Plymouth!" Thus he delivered his message, the dexterous writer of letters,— Did not embellish the theme, nor array it in beautiful phrases, But came straight to the point, and blurted it out like a schoolboy; Even the Captain himself could hardly have said it more bluntly. Mute with amazement and sorrow, Priscilla the Puritan maiden Looked into Alden's face, her eyes dilated with wonder, Feeling his words like a blow, that stunned her and rendered her speechless; Till at length she exclaimed, interrupting the ominous silence: "If the great Captain of Plymouth is so very eager to wed me, Why does he not come himself, and take the trouble to woo me? If I am not worth the wooing, I surely am not worth the winning!" Then John Alden began explaining and smoothing the matter, Making it worse as he went, by saying the Captain was busy,— Had no time for such things;—such things! the words grating harshly Fell on the ear of Priscilla; and swift as a flash she made answer: _____________is the speaker in this section.
Wigglesworth
"The Day of Doom" (1662) was written by Michael .
Hester Prynne, Arthur Dimmesdale, Pearl
"Thou wilt love her dearly," repeated Hester Prynne, as she and the minister sat watching little Pearl. "Dost thou not think her beautiful? And see with what natural skill she has made those simple flowers adorn her! Had she gathered pearls, and diamonds, and rubies, in the wood, they could not have become her better. She is a splendid child! But I know whose brow she has!" "Dost thou know, Hester," said Arthur Dimmesdale, with an unquiet smile, "that this dear child, tripping about always at thy side, hath caused me many an alarm? Methought—O Hester, what a thought is that, and how terrible to dread it!—that my own features were partly repeated in her face, and so strikingly that the world might see them! But she is mostly thine!" "No, no! Not mostly!" answered the mother with a tender smile. "A little longer, and thou needest not to be afraid to trace whose child she is. But how strangely beautiful she looks, with those wild flowers in her hair! It is as if one of the fairies, whom we left in dear old England, had decked her out to meet us." Characters in this work, The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne, include which of the following? (Click all that apply.) Hester Prynne Arthur Dimmesdale Pearl Cotton Mather Roger Williams
Roanoke
. . we let fall our grapnel near the shore, & sounded with a trumpet a call, & afterwards many familiar English tunes of songs, and called to them friendly; but we had no answer, we therefore landed at day-break, and coming to the fire, we found the grass & sundry rotten trees burning about the place. From hence we went through the woods . . . until we came to the place where I left our colony in the year 1586. . . . we saw in the sand the print of the savages' feet of 2 or 3 sorts trodden the night, and as we entered up the sandy bank upon a tree, in the very brow thereof were curiously carved these fair Roman letters C R O which letters presently we knew to signify the place, where I should find the planters seated, according to a secret token agreed upon between them & me at my last departure from them, which was, that in any ways they should not fail to write or carve on the trees or posts of the doors the name of the place where they should be seated; for at my coming always they were prepared to remove from Roanoke 50 miles into the mainland. Therefore at my departure from them in An[no Domini] 1587 I willed them, that if they should happen to be distressed in any of those places, that then they should carve over the letters or name, a Cross in this form, but we found no such sign of distress. This excerpt from The Fifth Voyage of M. John White into the West Indies and Parts of America called Virginia, in the Year 1590 (1593) refers to which early colonial settlement? A. Jamestown B. Plymouth C. Roanoke D. Williamsburg E. New Amsterdam
Primer
A "primer" is a textbook designed to teach reading. The New England Primer was the first reading textbook used in the colonies; it continued to be used as an educational textbook through the early 20th century. Milk for Babes was John Cotton's shorter catechism (a catechism teaches religious doctrines through questions and answers). Since education was considered a religious responsibility, even the foundations of education, such as the letters of the alphabet, were taught through religious maxims for the purpose of religious improvement.
do good
A RECEIPT to make a New-England Funeral ELEGY. For the Subject of your Elegy. Take one of your Neighbours who has lately departed this Life; it is no great matter at what Age the Party dy'd, but it will be best if he went away suddenly, being Kill'd, Drown'd, or Froze to Death. Having chose the Person, take all his Virtues, Excellencies, &c. and if he have not enough, you may borrow some to make up a sufficient Quantity: To these add his last Words, dying Expressions, &c. if they are to be had; mix all these together, and be sure you strain them well. Then season all with a Handful or two of Melancholly Expressions, such as, Dreadful, Deadly, cruel cold Death, unhappy Fate, weeping Eyes, &c. Have mixed all these Ingredients well, put them into the empty Scull of some young Harvard; . . . which take out, and having prepared a sufficient Quantity of double Rhimes, such as, Power, Flower; Quiver, Shiver; Grieve us, Leave us; tell you, excel you; Expeditions, Physicians; Fatigue him, Intrigue him; &c. you must spread all upon Paper, and if you can procure a Scrap of Latin to put at the End, it will garnish it mightily; then having affixed your Name at the Bottom . . . you will have an Excellent Elegy. N.B. This Receipt will serve when a Female is the Subject of your Elegy, provided you borrow a greater Quantity of Virtues, Excellencies, &c. Sir, Your Servant, The colonial "receipt" is today's "recipe." The supposed author of this letter is Silence______, a pseudonym for Benjamin Franklin.
First
About two hours (according to my observation, in that amazing time) they had been about the house before they prevailed to fire it . . . . Some in our house were fighting for their lives, others wallowing in their blood, the house on fire over our heads, and the bloody heathen ready to knock us on the head, if we stirred out. Now might we hear mothers and children crying out for themselves, and one another, "Lord, what shall we do?" Then I took my children (and one of my sisters', hers) to go forth and leave the house: but as soon as we came to the door and appeared, the Indians shot so thick that the bullets rattled against the house, as if one had taken an handful of stones and threw them, so that we were fain to give back. . . . No sooner were we out of the house, but my brother-in-law (being before wounded, in defending the house, in or near the throat) fell down dead, whereat the Indians scornfully shouted, and hallowed, and were presently upon him, stripping off his clothes, the bullets flying thick, one went through my side, and the same (as would seem) through the bowels and hand of my dear child in my arms. One of my elder sisters' children, named William, had then his leg broken, which the Indians perceiving, they knocked him on [his] head. Thus were we butchered by those merciless heathen, standing amazed, with the blood running down to our heels. This excerpt, from A History of the Captivity and Restoration of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson, is written from the _________-person point of view.
Poor Richard's ____ (1733-1758), a collection of practical information and proverbs, and Benjamin Franklin's Autobiography (1790), are some of this statesman's best-known contributions to American literature.
Almanac
A carriage driver
Because I could not stop for Death, He kindly stopped for me; The carriage held but just ourselves And Immortality. We slowly drove, he knew no haste, 5 And I had put away My labor, and my leisure too, For his civility. We passed the school, where children strove At recess, in the ring; 10 We passed the fields of gazing grain, We passed the setting sun. Or rather, he passed us; The dews grew quivering and chill, For only gossamer my gown, 15 My tippet only tulle. We paused before a house that seemed A swelling of the ground; The roof was scarcely visible, The cornice but a mound. 20 Since then 'tis centuries, and yet each Feels shorter than the day I first surmised the horses' heads Were toward eternity. This poem, called "Because I could not stop for death," was written by Emily Dickinson. In the poem, to what is death metaphorically compared? A. The setting sun B. An evil creature C. A carriage D. A carriage driver E. A thin scarf F. A swelling of the ground
William Hill ____ wrote what is considered the first American novel, The Power of Sympathy (1789), a fictitious romance based upon the contemporary scandal between Perez and Sarah Morton and Sarah Morton's sister.
Brown
Thomas Morton humorously satirized the rigidity of the New England Separatists in New England _______ (1637). His licentious settlement was called Merry Mount.
Canaan
The literary period of American poetry, prose, and non-prose fiction from the earliest days of American colonization through 1830 is known as the ______ and Early National Period.
Colonial -Literature from the Colonial and Early National Period (Beginnings-1830) focused on religion during the 1600s, political freedom during the 1700s, and individual freedom during the 1800s. The purpose for writing during the colonial era was instruction, religious (1600s) and secular (1700s). Living conditions became less harsh as third- and fourth-generation colonists adapted to life in the New World, and the purpose for writing evolved to include entertainment (1800s).
Freneau
Considered "the poet of the American Revolution," Philip_________________ wrote The Rising Glory of America (1771), General Gage's Soliloquy (1775), General Gage's Confession (1775), and The British Prison Ship (1781).
Bradstreet's
Consistent with the poetry of the era, Anne _________________'s poems, such as "Here Follows Some Verses upon the Burning of Our House, July 10, 1666," and "In Reference to Her Children, 23 June 1659," offered moral interpretation of events through imagery and allusion to the classics and the Bible.
Confident that he could write a better book than the English novel he was reading to his wife, James Fenimore______ accepted her challenge with Precaution (1820), a society novel, and The Spy (1821), an instant success about the American Revolution.
Cooper
The best glimpse into daily colonial life comes from the detailed account of Samuel Sewall's _____, which spans the years from 1674 through 1729.
Diary
The surveyor William Byrd published accounts of his expeditions to Virginia and North Carolina in History of the _____ Line (1841).
Dividing
Literature in the Colonial and Early National Period (Beginnings-1830) imitated the style of popular _____ literature of the time.
English
The first slave narrative, Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah , or Gustavus Vassa, the African, Written by Himself (1789), was a horrific true account of slavery from a first-person perspective. It was the most powerful abolitionist voice against inhumanity until Frederick Douglass's Narrative (1845).
Equiano
Strength
Every man has got a Fort. It's sum men's fort to do one thing, and some other men's fort to do another, while there is numeris shiftliss critters goin' round loose whose fort is not to do nothin'. Shakspeer rote good plase, but he wouldn't hav succeeded as a Washington correspondent of a New York daily paper. He lackt the rekesit fancy and immagginashun. That's so! . . . . Twict I've endevered to do things which thay wasn't my Fort. The fust time was when I undertuk to lick a owdashus cuss who cut a hole in my tent & krawld threw. Sez I, "My jentle Sir, go out or I shall fall on to you putty hevy." Sez he, "Wade in, Old wax figgers," whereupon I went for him, but he cawt me powerful on the hed & knockt me threw the tent into a cow pastur. He pursood the attack & flung me into a mud puddle. As I arose & rung out my drencht garmints I koncluded fitin wasn't my Fort. In the section "On Forts" in Artemus Ward, His Book (1862), the term "Fort" is synonymous with . A. strength B. shelter C. standard D. servant E. snake
James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, and John Jay sought colonists' support for ratification of the Constitution of the United States of America through a series of articles known as The ______ Papers (1787-1788).
Federalist
American literature is comprised of poetry, prose, and non-prose fiction, including essays, autobiographies, and drama. American literature is usually categorized into _____ literary periods ranging from the early colonial era through the present.
Five. The five literary periods are generally categorized with the following dates: the Colonial and Early National Period (Beginnings-1830), the Romantic Period (1830-1870), the Realism and Naturalism Period (1870-1910), the Modernism Period (1910-1945), the Contemporary Period (1945-Present).
Judgment Day
For at midnight brake forth a Light, which turn'd the night to day, And speedily an hideous cry 35 did all the world dismay. Sinners awake, their hearts do ake, trembling their loynes surprizeth. Amaz'd with fear, by what they hear, each one of them ariseth.40 [ 6 ] They rush from Beds with giddy heads, and to their windows run, Viewing this light, which shines more bright then doth the Noon-day Sun. Straightway appears (they see't with tears) 45 the Son of God most dread. Who with his Train comes on amain To Judge both Quick and Dead. These stanzas from "The Day of Doom" by Michael Wigglesworth refer to which occurrence? A. Christmas Day B. The Emancipation Proclamation C. Judgment Day D. Daybreak E. E. The Immaculate Conception
As a teenager, Founding Father Benjamin _______ created the fictitious character "Mrs. Silence Dogood," the widow of a preacher, whose humorous outlook on life was published in The New England Courant (1722), his brother's newspaper, which was the first newspaper to include amusing writing.
Franklin
Thanatopsis
His poem entitled "_________________" and the publication of Poems (1821), a collection of blank-verse meditations on nature and death, earned William Cullen Bryant international recognition as America's first major poet.
The narrator
I celebrate myself, and sing myself, And what I assume you shall assume, For every atom belonging to me as good belongs to you. I loafe and invite my soul, I lean and loafe at my ease observing a spear of summer grass. My tongue, every atom of my blood, form'd from this soil, this air, Born here of parents born here from parents the same, and their parents the same, I, now thirty-seven years old in perfect health begin, Hoping to cease not till death. Creeds and schools in abeyance, Retiring back a while sufficed at what they are, but never forgotten, I harbor for good or bad, I permit to speak at every hazard, Nature without check with original energy. This is section I of the poem "Song of Myself" from Whitman's Leaves of Grass. In this section, what does the narrator hope will "cease not till death"? A. The narrator B. The narrator's parents C. Summer D. Original energy
Walt Whitman
I celebrate myself, and sing myself, And what I assume you shall assume, For every atom belonging to me as good belongs to you. I loafe and invite my soul, I lean and loafe at my ease observing a spear of summer grass. My tongue, every atom of my blood, form'd from this soil, this air, Born here of parents born here from parents the same, and their parents the same, I, now thirty-seven years old in perfect health begin, Hoping to cease not till death. Creeds and schools in abeyance, Retiring back a while sufficed at what they are, but never forgotten, I harbor for good or bad, I permit to speak at every hazard, Nature without check with original energy. ______________________is the author of this lengthy poem.
character
I heartily accept the motto,—"That government is best which governs least"; . . . . Carried out, it finally amounts to this, which also I believe,—"That government is best which governs not at all"; and when men are prepared for it, that will be the kind of government . . . they will have. Government is at best but an expedient; but most governments are usually, and all governments are sometimes, inexpedient. The objections which have been brought against a standing army . . . may also . . . be brought against a standing government. The standing army is only an arm of the standing government. The government itself, which is only the mode which the people have chosen to execute their will, is equally liable to be abused and perverted before the people can act through it. . . . This American government—what is it but a tradition, though a recent one, endeavoring to transmit itself unimpaired to posterity, but each instant losing some of its integrity? . . . . Governments show thus how successfully men can be imposed on, even impose on themselves, for their own advantage. It is excellent, we must all allow. Yet this government never of itself furthered any enterprise, but by the alacrity with which it got out of its way. It does not keep the country free. It does not settle the West. It does not educate. The character inherent in the American people has done all that has been accomplished; and it would have done somewhat more, if the government had not sometimes got in its way. According to Thoreau's essay, the ____________of the American people accomplished all changes.
Bradford
I shall a litle returne backe and begine with a. combination I made by them before they came ashore, being the first foundation of their govermente in this place; occasioned partly by the discontented and mutinous speeches that some of the strangers amongst them had let fall from them in the ship-That when they came a shore they would use their owne libertie; for none had power to command them, the patente they had being for Virginia, and not for New-england, which belonged to an other Goverment, with which the Virginia Company had nothing to doe. And partly that shuch an acte by them done (this their condition considered) might be as firme as any patent, and in some respects more sure. In his book, Of Plymouth Plantation (1651), William ______ records why he wrote the forerunner of the United States' Constitution, The Mayflower Compact.
Invisible
In The Wonders of the _____ World (1693), the scholarly theologian Cotton Mather explores the 1692 Salem witch trials, when 150 colonists were imprisoned, 55 tortured, and 19 killed because they were believed to be possessed by evil spirits.
"To a Waterfowl"
In addition to his political writings, Philip Freneau sought to create a distinctively American style of poetry. Which was NOT one of Freneau's poems? A. "The British Prison Ship" B. "The Wild Honey Suckle" C. "To a Waterfowl" D. "The Indian Burying Ground" E. "The House of Night"
Independence
In the following pages I offer nothing more than simple facts, plain arguments, and common sense: . . . no other preliminaries to settle with the reader, than that he will divest himself of prejudice and prepossession, and suffer his reason and his feelings to determine for themselves that he will put on, or rather that he will not put off, the true character of a man, and generously enlarge his views beyond the present day. Volumes have been written on the subject of the struggle between England and America. Men of all ranks have embarked in the controversy, from different motives, and with various designs
Common
In the following pages I offer nothing more than simple facts, plain arguments, and common sense: . . . no other preliminaries to settle with the reader, than that he will divest himself of prejudice and prepossession, and suffer his reason and his feelings to determine for themselves that he will put on, or rather that he will not put off, the true character of a man, and generously enlarge his views beyond the present day. Volumes have been written on the subject of the struggle between England and America. Men of all ranks have embarked in the controversy, from different motives, and with various designs; but all have been ineffectual, and the period of debate is closed. Arms as the last resource decide the contest; the appeal was the choice of the King, and the Continent has accepted the challenge. . . . The Sun never shined on a cause of greater worth. 'Tis not the affair of a City, a County, a Province, or a Kingdom; but of a Continent—of at least one-eighth part of the habitable Globe. 'Tis not the concern of a day, a year, or an age; posterity are virtually involved in the contest, and will be more or less affected even to the end of time, by the proceedings now. . . . The least fracture now will be like a name engraved with the point of a pin on the tender rind of a young oak; the wound would enlarge with the tree, and posterity read in it full grown characters. The excerpt of this persuasive appeal is from Thomas Paine's pamphlet, ___________Sense (1776).
Thomas Jefferson, author of The Declaration of _________(1776), identified how the rights of the colonists had been ignored by the government of England.
Independence
Under the pseudonym Geoffrey Crayon in The Sketch Book (1819-1820), Washington _______ published essays on English life and Americanized European folk tales in the short stories "Rip Van Winkle" and The Legend of Sleepy Hollow."
Irving
This arrogant explorer was known for colorful travel narratives, such as A Description of New England (1616) and The Generall Historie of Virginia, New England, and the Summer Isles (1624).
John Smith
Considered one of the most influential and well-read woman of her day, First Lady Abigail Adams expressed intelligent political opinions and lively accounts of life during the Revolutionary War in her Familiar _____ of John Adams and His Wife (1876).
Letters
J. Hector St. John de Crevecoeur's essays on rural American life, ________ from an American Farmer (1782), explored the qualities that make Americans distinct, regardless of ethnic or religious upbringing, and sought to answer the question, "What is an American?"
Letters
a spinning wheel
Make me, O Lord, thy Spinning Wheele compleat
Spinning wheel
Make me, O Lord, thy Spinning Wheele compleat; Thy Holy Worde my Distaff make for mee. Make mine Affections thy Swift Flyers neate, And make my Soule thy holy Spoole to bee. My Conversation make to be thy Reele, 5 And reele the yarn thereon spun of thy Wheele. What conceit does Edward Taylor use in "Huswifery" to represent his yearning to be God's tool? A. Bible B. Spinning wheel C. Reels D. Talking E. Flying
Huswifery
Make me, O Lord, thy Spinning Wheele compleat; Thy Holy Worde my Distaff make for mee. Make mine Affections thy Swift Flyers neate, And make my Soule thy holy Spoole to bee. My Conversation make to be thy Reele,5 And reele the yarn thereon spun of thy Wheele. The title of this devotional poem by Edward Taylor is "___________________."
In 1620, William Bradford, the first governor of Plymouth Colony, created The _____ Compact to recognize England's authority over English colonists; the social contract established the power for colonists to make and enact laws for the good of the settlement.
Mayflower
Doom
Most famous for his long ballad poem, The Day of _______________ (1662), which details the judgment awaiting sinners, clergyman and physician Michael Wigglesworth also wrote the lyrical theological poems Meat Out of the Eater (1670) and "God's Controversy With New England" (written in 1662, but published in 1873).
Dedication, Non-Compliance, Passivity
Now my original business—that of a conveyancer and title hunter, and drawer-up of recondite documents of all sorts—was considerably increased by receiving the master's office. There was now great work for scriveners. Not only must I push the clerks already with me, but I must have additional help. In answer to my advertisement, a motionless young man one morning, stood upon my office threshold, the door being open, for it was summer. I can see that figure now—pallidly neat, pitiably respectable, incurably forlorn! It was Bartleby. . . . At first Bartleby did an extraordinary quantity of writing. As if long famishing for something to copy, he seemed to gorge himself on my documents. There was no pause for digestion. He ran a day and night line, copying by sun-light and by candle-light. I should have been quite delighted with his application, had been cheerfully industrious. But he wrote on silently, palely, mechanically. It is, of course, an indispensable part of a scrivener's business to verify the accuracy of his copy, word by word. Where there are two or more scriveners in an office, they assist each other in this examination, one reading from the copy, the other holding the original. It is a very dull, wearisome, and lethargic affair. . . . Nothing so aggravates an earnest person as a passive resistance. . . . The passiveness of Bartleby sometimes irritated me. In "Bartleby, the Scrivener: A Story of Wall Street," a short story by Herman Melville, Bartleby demonstrates which of the following qualities? (Click all that apply.) A. Dedication B. Enthusiasm C. Non-Compliance D. Passivity E. Anger
Foreboding
Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary, Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore— While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping, As of some one gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door. "'Tis some visitor," I muttered, "tapping at my chamber door— Only this and nothing more." Ah, distinctly I remember it was in the bleak December; And each separate dying ember wrought its ghost upon the floor. Eagerly I wished the morrow;—vainly I had sought to borrow From my books surcease of sorrow—sorrow for the lost Lenore— For the rare and radiant maiden whom the angels name Lenore— Nameless here for evermore. These are the first two stanzas of The Raven (1845), a poem by Edgar Allan Poe. In this part of the poem, what atmosphere is created for readers? A. Relaxing B. Foreboding C. Angry D. Humorous E. Quaint
"On the Death of the Reverend Mr. George Whitefield" "To the King's Most Excellent Majesty" "On Being Brought from Africa to America"
Phillis Wheatley wrote which of the following poems? (Check all that apply.) "To My Dear and Loving Husband" "On the Death of the Reverend Mr. George Whitefield" "To the King's Most Excellent Majesty" "Ain't I A Woman" "On Being Brought from Africa to America"
The Declaration of Independence
Prudence, indeed, will dictate that governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shown that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such government, and to provide new guards for their future security.—Such has been the patient sufferance of these colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former systems of government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute tyranny over these states. To prove this, let facts be submitted to a candid world. The excerpt is from which of the following documents? A. The Constitution of the United States of America B. Common Sense C. Letters from an American Farmer D. Federalist No. 10 E. The Declaration of Independence
The Age of ____(1680-1800) emphasized man's ability to decipher by observation the laws of the universe, nature, and society. The ideas of natural rights and social contracts with a government that existed to protect the rights and property of its citizens fueled the American colonists' quest for revolution.
Reason
had been resting
Rip Van Winkle, however, was one of those happy mortals, of foolish, well-oiled dispositions, who take the world easy, eat white bread or brown, whichever can be got with least thought or trouble, and would rather starve on a penny than work for a pound. If left to himself, he would have whistled life away, in perfect contentment, but his wife kept continually dinning in his ears about his idleness, his carelessness, and the ruin he was bringing on his family. Morning, noon, and night, her tongue was incessantly going, and everything he said or did was sure to produce a torrent of household eloquence. Rip had but one way of replying to all lectures of the kind, and that, by frequent use, had grown into a habit. He shrugged his shoulders, shook his head, cast up his eyes, but said nothing. This, however, always provoked a fresh volley from his wife, so that he was fain to draw off his forces, and take to the outside of the house—the only side which, in truth, belongs to a henpecked husband. In this short story, "Rip Van Winkle" by Washington Irving, the Dutch-American protagonist awakes after an evening in the woods to find that he ________for 20 years.
Dame Van Winkle's criticism
Rip Van Winkle, however, was one of those happy mortals, of foolish, well-oiled dispositions, who take the world easy, eat white bread or brown, whichever can be got with least thought or trouble, and would rather starve on a penny than work for a pound. If left to himself, he would have whistled life away, in perfect contentment; but his wife kept continually dinning in his ears about his idleness, his carelessness, and the ruin he was bringing on his family. Morning, noon, and night, her tongue was incessantly going, and everything he said or did was sure to produce a torrent of household eloquence. Rip had but one way of replying to all lectures of the kind, and that, by frequent use, had grown into a habit. He shrugged his shoulders, shook his head, cast up his eyes, but said nothing. This, however, always provoked a fresh volley from his wife, so that he was fain to draw off his forces, and take to the outside of the house—the only side which, in truth, belongs to a henpecked husband. In this passage from "Rip Van Winkle," a short story by Washington Irving, a "torrent of household eloquence" refers to: A. sage deliberation at the village inn B. Wolf's "yelping precipitation" C. village children's joyful shouts D. Dame Van Winkle's criticism E. Rip Van Winkle's peaceful home
One of the best-known examples of 17th-century American prose, A History of the Captivity and Restoration of Mrs. Mary _____(1682), features a realistic and unadorned style and exhibits the early colonists' reliance on God and their interpretation of events through a moral framework.
Rowlandson
Vision
Sir Launfal awoke, as from a swound:— "The Grail in my castle here is found! Hang my idle armor up on the wall, Let it be the spider's banquet-hall; He must be fenced with stronger mail Who would seek and find the Holy Grail." This excerpt is from The __________of Sir Launfal (1848), by James Russell Lowell.
To convert people who were unconverted to Christianity and save them from going to hell
So that thus it is, that natural men are held in the hand of God over the pit of hell; they have deserved the fiery pit, and are already sentenced to it; and God is dreadfully provoked, his anger is as great towards them as to those that are actually suffering the executions of the fierceness of his wrath in hell, and they have done nothing in the least to appease or abate that anger, neither is God in the least bound by any promise to hold 'em up one moment; the devil is waiting for them, hell is gaping for them, the flames gather and flash about them, and would fain lay hold on them and swallow them up; the fire pent up in their own hearts is struggling to break out; and they have no interest in any Mediator, there are no means within reach that can be any security to them. In short they have no refuge, nothing to take hold of; all that preserves them every moment is the mere arbitrary will, and uncovenanted, unobliged forbearance of an incensed God. The use may be of awakening to unconverted persons in this congregation. This that you have heard is the case of every one of you that are out of Christ. That world of misery, that lake of burning brimstone, is extended abroad under you. There is the dreadful pit of the glowing flames of the wrath of God; there is hell's wide gaping mouth open; and you have nothing to stand upon, nor any thing to take hold of. There is nothing between you and hell but the air; 'tis only the power and mere pleasure of God that holds you up. The excerpt displays the vivid imagery of Jonathan Edwards' Puritan sermon, "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God" (1741). According to this passage, what is the purpose of his sermon? A. To scare members of the congregation into faithfully following the government B. To convert people who were unconverted to Christianity and save them from going to hell C. To demonstrate that there was no way for anyone to avoid going to hell D. To show that God was polite and rather timid
They died to leave their children free.
Spirit! who made those freemen dare To die, or leave their children free, Bid Time and Nature gently spare 15 The shaft we raise to them and Thee. This is one of Ralph Waldo Emerson's most popular poems, "Concord Hymn." According to the fourth stanza, for what reason did the heroes die? A. They died to make the conqueror sleep. B. They died to help maintain British control of America. C. They died to help the embattled farmers' crops thrive. D. They died to leave their children free.
Gratitude
TWAS mercy brought me from my Pagan land, Taught my benighted soul to understand That there's a God, that there's a Saviour too: Once I redemption neither fought now knew, Some view our sable race with scornful eye, 5 "Their colour is a diabolic die." Remember, Christians, Negroes, black as Cain, May be refin'd, and join th' angelic train. What is the tone (attitude toward a subject/an audience) of Phillis Wheatley's poem, "On Being Brought from Africa to America"? A. Bitterness B. Indifference C. Arrogance D. Gratitude E. Desperation
the difference between how the "Red Death" affects Prince Prospero and how it affects his subjects
The "Red Death" had long devastated the country. No pestilence had ever been so fatal, or so hideous. Blood was its Avatar and its seal—the redness and the horror of blood. There were sharp pains, and sudden dizziness, and then profuse bleeding at the pores, with dissolution. The scarlet stains upon the body and especially upon the face of the victim, were the pest ban which shut him out from the aid and from the sympathy of his fellow-men. And the whole seizure, progress and termination of the disease, were the incidents of half an hour. But the Prince Prospero was happy and dauntless and sagacious. When his dominions were half depopulated, he summoned to his presence a thousand hale and light-hearted friends from among the knights and dames of his court, and with these retired to the deep seclusion of one of his castellated abbeys. This is the beginning of the short story by Edgar Allan Poe entitled "The Masque of the Red Death. What is the main contrast shown in this excerpt? A. the difference between Prince Prospero's kingdom and other surrounding kingdoms B. the difference between other symptoms of other diseases and symptoms of the "Red Death" C. the difference between how the "Red Death" affects Prince Prospero and how it affects his subjects D. the difference between Prince Prospero and his friends in terms of personality, demeanor, and interests
What are Thomas Paine's main pamphlets?
The Age Of Reason Common Sense The American Crisis Common Sense (1776) and The American Crisis (16 essays written between 1776 and 1783) argued the colonists' right to achieve independence from England. The Rights of Man (1791-1792) contends against hereditary monarchy. The Age of Reason (1794-1796) promotes Deism (God's indifference to the world he created). John Jay, James Madison, and Alexander Hamilton wrote The Federalist Papers (1787-1788) to promote favor among colonists for the ratification of the Constitution of the United States of America.
Blatant intimidation
The God that holds you over the pit of hell, much as one holds a spider or some loathsome insect over the fire, abhors you, and is dreadfully provoked; his wrath towards you burns like fire; he looks upon you as worthy of nothing else, but to be cast into the fire; he is of purer eyes than to bear to have you in his sight; you are ten thousand times so abominable in his eyes, as the most hateful and venomous serpent is in ours. You have offended him infinitely more than ever a stubborn rebel did his prince: and yet it is nothing but his hand that holds you from falling into the fire every moment. 'Tis ascribed to nothing else, that you did not go to hell the last night; that you was suffered to awake again in this world after you closed your eyes to sleep; and there is no other reason to be given why you have not dropped into hell since you arose in the morning, but that God's hand has held you up. There is no other[Pg 89] reason to be given why you han't gone to hell since you have sat here in the house of God, provoking his pure eyes by your sinful wicked manner of attending his solemn worship. Yea, there is nothing else that is to be given as a reason why you don't this very moment drop down into hell. In this excerpt from his sermon "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God," what did Jonathan Edwards use to persuade his audience? A. Unconditional love B. General neutrality C. Gentle persuasion D. Violent threats E. Blatant intimidation
Washington Irving, James Fenimore Cooper, and William Cullen Bryant
The Knickerbockers, a literary group in New York City (named after Washington Irving's fictional character Diedrich Knickerbocker) whose members modeled their often imaginative and superficially sophisticated work on the literary Enlightenment journals The Tatler and The Spectator, consisted of which writers?
James Fenimore Cooper romanticized the American frontier through the adventures of the woodsman, Natty Bumppo, in Cooper's most well-known books, The Leather-Stocking Tales. Which ones are in his series?
The Pioneers The Deerslayer The Prairie The Pathfinder Last Of The Mohicans
Wheatley
The first published female black poet in America, Phillis _________________was educated in the Bible, Latin, Greek, classic literature, and mythology. This poet's work Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral (1773) reflected the style of Alexander Pope, a neoclassical British poet.
Bartram
The naturalist William ________________ achieved popularity in Europe, where his book (which included accurate drawings of plants), Travels Through North and South Carolina, Georgia, East and West Florida (1791), was translated into German, Dutch, and French.
individualism
There is a time in every man's education when he arrives at the conviction that envy is ignorance; that imitation is suicide; that he must take himself for better, for worse, as his portion; that though the wide universe is full of good, no kernel of nourishing corn can come to him but through his toil bestowed on that plot of ground which is . . . [his] to till. The power which resides in him is new in nature, and none but he knows what that is which he can do, nor does he know until he has tried. Not for nothing one face, one character, one fact, makes much impression on him, and another none. This sculpture in the memory is not without preestablished harmony. The eye was placed where one ray should fall, that it might testify of that particular ray. . . . Trust thyself: every heart vibrates to that iron string. Accept the place the divine providence has found for you, the society of your contemporaries, the connection of events. Great men have always done so, and confided themselves childlike to the genius of their age, betraying their perception that the absolutely trustworthy was seated at their heart, working through their hands, predominating in all their being. And we are now men, and must accept in the highest mind the same transcendent destiny; . . . not minors . . . in a protected corner, not cowards fleeing before a revolution, but guides, redeemers, and benefactors, obeying the Almighty effort, and advancing on Chaos and the Dark. "Self-Reliance" (1841), by Ralph Waldo Emerson, promotes the concept of______ , which became a staple facet of American identity. A. individualism B. obesity C. plagiarism D. slavery E. war
Pathfinder, Hawkeye, Deerslayer, Natty Bumppo
There was a peculiarity in the manner of the hunter that attracted the notice of the young female, who had been a close and interested observer of his appearance and equipments, from the moment he came into view. He was tall, and so meagre as to make him seem above even the six feet that he actually stood in his stockings. On his head, which was thinly covered with lank, sandy hair, he wore a cap made of fox-skin, resembling in shape the one we have already described, although much inferior in finish and ornaments. His face was skinny and thin almost to emaciation; but yet it bore no signs of disease—on the contrary, it had every indication of the most robust and enduring health. The cold and exposure had, together, given it a color of uniform red. . . . his scraggy neck was bare, and burnt to the same tint with his face; though a small part of a shirt-collar, made of the country check, was to be seen above the overdress he wore. A kind of coat, made of dressed deer-skin, with the hair on, was belted close to his lank body by a girdle . . . . On his feet were deer-skin moccasins, ornamented with porcupines' quills, after the manner of the Indians, and his limbs were guarded with long leggings of the same material as the moccasins, which, gartering over the knees of his tarnished buckskin breeches, had obtained for him among the settlers the nickname of Leather-Stocking. The excerpt describes which famous character? (Check all names that apply to this character.) A. Pathfinder B. Hawkeye C. Chingachgook D. Deerslayer E. Natty Bumppo
Her book of poetry
Thou ill-formed offspring of my feeble brain, Who after birth didst by my side remain, Till snatched from thence by friends, less wise than true, Who thee abroad, exposed to public view, Made thee in rags, halting to th' press to trudge,5 Where errors were not lessened (all may judge). At thy return my blushing was not small, My rambling brat (in print) should mother call, I cast thee by as one unfit for light, The visage was so irksome in my sight. 10 Yet being mine own, at length affection would Thy blemishes amend, if so I could. I washed thy face, but more defects I saw, And rubbing off a spot still made a flaw. I stretched thy joints to make thee even feet, 15 Yet still thou run'st more hobbling than is meet. In better dress to trim thee was my mind, But nought save homespun cloth i' th' house I find. In this array 'mongst vulgars may'st thou roam. In critic's hands beware thou dost not come, 20 And take thy way where yet thou art not known; If for thy father asked, say thou hadst none. And for thy mother, she alas is poor, Which caused her thus to send thee out of door. Anne Bradstreet wrote this poem, "The Author to Her Book," in response to the unexpected publication of her collection of poetry, The Tenth Muse (1650). What does "My rambling brat" in line 8 refer to? A. Her unwise friends B. Her disobedient pet C. Her talkative child D. Her book of poetry
Nature, death, blank verse
To him who in the love of Nature holds Communion with her visible forms, she speaks A various language; for his gayer hours She has a voice of gladness, and a smile And eloquence of beauty, and she glides 5 Into his darker musings, with a mild And healing sympathy, that steals away Their sharpness, ere he is aware. When thoughts Of the last bitter hour come like a blight Over thy spirit, and sad images 10 Of the stern agony, and shroud, and pall, And breathless darkness, and the narrow house, Make thee to shudder, and grow sick at heart;— Go forth under the open sky, and list To Nature's teachings, while from all around— 15 Earth and her waters, and the depths of air— Comes a still voice—Yet a few days, and thee The all-beholding sun shall see no more In all his course; nor yet in the cold ground, Where thy pale form was laid, with many tears, 20 Nor in the embrace of ocean, shall exist. William Cullen Bryant used and/or referred to which of the following in this excerpt from his poem "Thanatopsis"? (Check all that apply.) A. scandal B. nature C. death D. blank verse E. free verse
Nature
To him who in the love of Nature holds Communion with her visible forms, she speaks A various language; for his gayer hours She has a voice of gladness, and a smile And eloquence of beauty, and she glides 5 Into his darker musings, with a mild And healing sympathy, that steals away Their sharpness, ere he is aware. When thoughts Of the last bitter hour come like a blight Over thy spirit, and sad images 10 Of the stern agony, and shroud, and pall, And breathless darkness, and the narrow house, Make thee to shudder, and grow sick at heart;— Go forth under the open sky, and list To Nature's teachings, while from all around—15 Earth and her waters, and the depths of air— Comes a still voice—Yet a few days, and thee The all-beholding sun shall see no more In all his course; nor yet in the cold ground, Where thy pale form was laid, with many tears, 20 Nor in the embrace of ocean, shall exist. In "Thanatopsis," ________________is personified.
Nature
To him who in the love of Nature holds Communion with her visible forms, she speaks A various language; for his gayer hours She has a voice of gladness, and a smile And eloquence of beauty, and she glides 5 Into his darker musings, with a mild And healing sympathy, that steals away Their sharpness, ere he is aware. When thoughts Of the last bitter hour come like a blight Over thy spirit, and sad images 10 Of the stern agony, and shroud, and pall, And breathless darkness, and the narrow house, Make thee to shudder, and grow sick at heart;— Go forth under the open sky, and list To Nature's teachings, while from all around—15 Earth and her waters, and the depths of air— Comes a still voice—Yet a few days, and thee The all-beholding sun shall see no more In all his course; nor yet in the cold ground, Where thy pale form was laid, with many tears, 20 Nor in the embrace of ocean, shall exist. The "voice" mentioned in line 17 of "Thanatopsis" by William Cullen Bryant refers to: A. A spirit B. The sun C. Death D. The pale form E. Nature
A woman
To him who in the love of Nature holds Communion with her visible forms, she speaks A various language; for his gayer hours She has a voice of gladness, and a smile And eloquence of beauty, and she glides Into his darker musings, with a mild And healing sympathy, that steals away Their sharpness, ere he is aware. away Their sharpness, ere he is aware. In this excerpt from the opening lines of "Thanatopsis," a poem by William Cullen Bryant, nature is personified, compared metaphorically to: A. a language. B. an ocean. C. a woman. D. a tree.
Uncle Tom's Cabin
To you, generous, noble-minded men and women, of the South,—you, whose virtue, and magnanimity and purity of character, are the greater for the severer trial it has encountered,— to you is her appeal. Have you not, in your own secret souls, in your own private conversings, felt that there are woes and evils, in this accursed system, far beyond what are here shadowed, or can be shadowed? Can it be otherwise? Is man ever a creature to be trusted with wholly irresponsible power? And does not the slave system, by denying the slave all legal right of testimony, make every individual owner an irresponsible despot? Can anybody fail to make the inference what the practical result will be? If there is, as we admit, a public sentiment among you, men of honor, justice and humanity, is there not also another kind of public sentiment among the ruffian, the brutal and debased? And cannot the ruffian, the brutal, the debased, by slave law, own just as many slaves as the best and purest? Are the honorable, the just, the high-minded and compassionate, the majority anywhere in this world? The slave-trade is now, by American law, considered as piracy. But a slave-trade, as systematic as ever was carried on . . . the coast of Africa, is . . . [a] result of American slavery. And its heart-break and its horrors, can they be told? The writer has given only a faint shadow, a dim picture, of the anguish and despair that are . . . shattering thousands of families . . . . The excerpt is the conclusion to which famous anti-slavery novel? A. Clotel; or, The President's Daughter B. An Appeal in Favor of That Class of Americans Called Africans C. Uncle Tom's Cabin D. The Liberator E. Iola Leroy; or, Shadows Uplifted
Availability Of English Literature Low Demand For American Literature High Mortality
What contributed to the lack of American literature produced during the Colonial and Early National literary period (Beginnings-1830)?
Carriage
What do you think the parson found, When he got up and stared around? The poor old chaise in a heap or mound, As if it had been to the mill and ground! You see, of course, if you're not a dunce,114 How it went to pieces all at once,— All at once, and nothing first,— Just as bubbles do when they burst. The word "chaise" in line 112 means: . A. Pursuit B. Road C. Horse D. Carriage E. Sermon
Plymouth
William Bradford wrote Of ____ Plantation, which is considered one of the most authoritative accounts of the Pilgrims' experiences in the Netherlands, their journey on The Mayflower, and American colonization through 1647.
Preparatory
Written to aid introspection of his relationship with God and not intended for publication, Edward Taylor's _________________Meditations (written in 1682) and God's Determinations Touching His Elect (written in 1682) identify him as the finest colonial metaphysical poet.
Rejecting a career in law, Washington Irving earned international acclaim as the Father of American Literature when he created a fiction of distinctively American characters in American settings. Washington Irving introduced the comic fictional character of Dutch-American scholar Diedrich Knickerbocker in the satire called "the first great book of comic literature written by an American," the History of New ______(1809).
York
During the 1800s, literature focused on _____ freedom; the purpose of literature included entertainment.
individual
The first governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony (elected to this post 12 times), John Winthrop is known for his "City Upon a Hill" sermon, which is just one example of the early colonists' assumed ______ to promote God's mission as a shining example to the world.
mandate
During the 1700s, literature focused on _____ freedom; the purpose of literature was secular instruction.
political
During the 1600s, literature focused on ____ ; the purpose of literature was religious improvement.
religion
Promotion
tracts, such as Thomas Heriot's A Briefe and True Report of the New Found Land of Virginia (1588) and John Smith's A True Relation of such occurrences and accidents of noate as hath hapned in Virginia since the first planting of that Collony (1608), were real-estate brochures that advertised opportunities in the New World. They told of vast commodities and potential for profit.