Unit 3 and 4 American Literature Test
Which of the following is NOT an example of imagery from "the mother"?
"Believe that even in my deliberateness I was not deliberate."
Which of the following is "our boy"?
Death
Which of the following is NOT an ironic truth about Blanche and Stanley's conversation about astrology?
Stella is a Virgo because she and her unborn baby (though Stanley's offspring) are the most innocent in the play.
Which of the following is most likely NOT true of Sexton's "Sylvia's Death"?
The speaker notes all mourn Plath's passing including the king, moon, bar fly, sadist, and fairy.
What was Willy's twenty thousand proposition?
Willy's life insurance policy
Which of the following is NOT an example of imagery from "The Last Quatrain of the Ballad of Emmett Till"?
"after the murder/after the burial"
Which of the following is NOT an example of imagery from Hayden's poem?
"the chronic angers of that house"
Which of the following works from last week is most like one poet's work this week?
"the mother
Which of the following most likely does NOT take on another meaning isolated by itself (not read with the other lines as if a flowing "sentence") in Clifton's "wishes for sons"?
"then bring the to gynecologists"
What does the imagery suggest is the topic of the poem "the lost baby poem"?
Abortion
Which of the following does Willy want Ben to tell his boys about?
About their father
Which of the following did NOT contribute to William's declining years?
Alcoholism
Which of the following was a model and led a rock band and committed suicide (somewhat reminiscent of Willy's plan)?
Anne Sexton
Which of the following is NOT a way Blanche describes Stanley?
As an officer and a gentleman
What is the classic setting so characteristic of the South (and gossip) in Eudora Welty's short story "Petrified Man"?
At a salon
Which of the following is most likely NOT a reason Stella always seems to go back to Stanley?
Because he is the best she can do
Why does Stanley scream " STELL-LAHHHHH!"?
Because he's in agony over Stella supposedly leaving him
Why are Twyla and Roberta outcasts at St. Bonny's?
Because their parents aren't dead
Which of the following does NOT call Willy "kid" (completely patronizing him)?
Ben
Who does Willy talk to most it seems?
Biff
What does Biff admit to Happy after his meeting with Oliver?
Biff admitted he waited hours and then stole Oliver's fountain pen and ran out.
Which of the following is NOT an example of irony from Act One?
Biff has never stolen things in the past but might in the future.
What is revealed after Mitch leaves?
Blanche has lost touch with reality.
Which of the following is NOT something Arthur Miller's play Death of a Salesman and Tennessee Williams's play A Streetcar Named Desire have in common?
Both plays focus on unlikely dreams that are supported by all those around the main characters.
Which of the following most likely is NOT a way in which Billy Boy offends Mrs. Fletcher?
By making fun of her for losing her hair
Which of the following is NOT a simile in Anne Sexton's "Courage"?
Covering your sorrow with a blanket
Which of the following is NOT an allusion made in the play?
Dodge model
What does Blanche lie about?
Drinking
In "The Last Quatrain of the Ballad of Emmett Till," who is the focus?
Emmett Till's mother
Which of the following invented a Mississippi community much like fellow Mississippian William Faulkner who invented the fictional Mississippi county Yoknapatawpha?
Eudora Welty
Which of the following is considered a regionalist (from the South) but found the term condescending?
Eudora Welty
Which of the following is NOT true of the conclusion of the play?
Eunice tells Stella she is not doing the right thing because family should come first.
Which of the following would NOT be a theme for the play?
Fairy tales are possible.
Which of the following died before forty from lupus (father did as well) but was known for religious allusions, parodies, and cliches of life and death?
Flannery O'Connor
Which of the following hoped to be a successful cartoonist but captured characters with very descriptive language more successfully, especially when it came to the grotesque and deformed?
Flannery O'Connor
What does Blanche admit to doing with Stanley?
Flirting
What color does Willy and the playwright Arthur Miller often associate with Biff?
Gold
Which of the following became the first African American to receive the Pulitzer Prize for poetry?
Gwendolyn Brooks
Which of the following poets is most like Lucille Clifton?
Gwendolyn Brooks
Which of the following wrote about experience and black rage with a specific awareness of the complex lives of black women in early and late works?
Gwendolyn Brooks
Which of the following does NOT make having enough time for Willy an issue?
Happy
Which of the following does NOT describe the father in Komunyaaka's poem?
He could write Baby, Honey, Please but nothing else.
How does Stanley feel about Blanche?
He does not like how she acts like she is better than him.
Which of the following is TRUE of Happy?
He encourages his brother to help lift their father's spirits
Which of the following is TRUE of Tennessee Williams?
He fell in love with Frank Merlo after his Pulitzer-Prize winning "A Streetcar Named Desire."
Which of the following is NOT true of Willy?
He is disgusted with his wife and dreams of another woman.
Which of the following is NOT a compliment Linda gives Willy?
He is so sweet to buy her such expensive stockings on his trips.
Which of the following is NOT a way Stella and Stanley make up after their fight?
He picks up all the broken bottles
Which of the following is NOT a reason Willy is angered by his son Biff?
He really thinks Biff is a lazy bum.
What is the irony in Blanche's baths?
Her name may symbolize purity and innocence, but her past is dirty and no bath will ever cleanse her.
Which of the following is TRUE of the conversation between Willy and Howard?
His boss calls him "kid" (completely patronizing and degrading him).
Which of the following was NOT true of playwright Tennessee Williams?
His sister was mentally unstable but cured after a prefrontal lobotomy
Which of the following would NOT be a theme in Plath's "Mirror"?
Hope
Which of the following is NOT true of "For the Union Dead"?
It colorfully praises the evolution of American ideals and what is to come in the future.
Which of the following is NOT an example of personification from Sexton's "Courage"?
It is in the small things we see it.
What is NOT true of Blanche's encounter with the "Young Man" selling newspapers?
It makes you realize how innocent Blanche is after the young man seduces her before Mitch (her "knight in shining armor") arrives.
Which of the following most likely would NOT be "We"?
Jazz and June
Which of the following is NOT ambiguous in regards to race in Morrison's short story?
Jimi Hendrix
Which of the following is NOT an allusion made in Sylvia Plath's "Lady Lazarus"?
Judgment in Heaven
What does Blanche tell Stella is the reason she stays with Stanley?
Just brutal desire
Which of the following is NOT a concern of Ben's in the end?
Ladies
Where are Blanche and Stella from?
Laurel, MS
Which of the following is TRUE of "Petrified Man"?
Leota likes to gossip with her clients
Upon reconciling, how are Stanley and Stella described?
Like animals
Which of the following is NOT true toward the closing of Act One?
Linda reveals that Willy has another woman on the side.
What situational irony shifts to dramatic irony at the beginning of Act Two?
Linda thinks that Willy got rid of the rubber tube he was most likely planning to use to commit suicide only to find out Biff removed the hazard.
Which of the following was compared to William Carlos Williams and Langston Hughes for frankness/directness, did not get recognized for poetry until in that individual's thirties, and even sent one of her early poems to Robert Hayden (who had actually left the National Endowment for the Arts at the time but thankfully had left someone behind that recognized talent)?
Lucille Clifton
Which of the following is TRUE of playwright Arthur Miller?
Miller was convicted of contempt for refusing to name suspected Communists in America as a part of McCarthyism (Red Scare).
Which of the following is NOT true of characters introduced at the beginning of a Streetcar Named Desire?
Mitch is described as a contradiction- a "Mama's boy" and a peacock among hens.
Who does Leota expose "revealed" the "truth" of Mrs. Fletcher's "condition" in Welty's "Petrified Man"?
Mrs. Pike
Which of the following is NOT something "the mother" says she will never get to do?
Never regret her decisions
Which of the following is TRUE of Willy's funeral?
No one really shows up besides his wife, sons, and Charley
Which of the following is most likely TRUE about the father in "Those Winter Sundays"?
Not only did he work until his hands ached all week, but he also worked on what most set aside for a day of rest (warming the house and polishing shoes) for his child.
When Stella and Blanche come back from the show, what are Stanley and his friends doing?
Playing poker
Which of the following was a teacher and critic who was fascinated with popular culture and fairy tales?
Randall Jarrell
Which of the following was trained as an Army Air Force pilot, considered a "master of everyday heartbreak" and identified with "ordinary forms of loneliness" - a "a dailiness of life" but unfortunately had a nervous breakdown, went back to teaching, and died after being struck by a car?
Randall Jarrell
Which of the following incorporates a "collage-style" of fragmentation in poetry and has been compared to modernists T.S. Eliot and William Carlos Williams?
Robert Hayden
Which of the following worked at Fisk University and the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor and was the first African American appointed poetry consultant to the Library of Congress (now known as the poet laureate of the United States)?
Robert Hayden
Which of the following led Vietnam War protestors against the Pentagon was considered the dominant and most honored poet of the generation at the time of death?
Robert Lowell
Which of the following obsessively revised poetry even after publication?
Robert Lowell
Which of the following is NOT true of "Recitatif?
Roberta and Twyla kicked Maggie (a bow-legged, deaf and mute lady at St. Bonny's) and felt guilty about it.
While the lack of capitalization is common in Lucille Clifton's poetry, what could it most likely signify in "the lost baby poem"?
Shame
Which of the following is NOT true of Blanche's fears after Stanley questions her about Shaw?
She fears Stella leaving her alone, so when Stanley calls for Stella, Blanche begs her to stay.
Which of the following is NOT a fear of Linda's in the opening scene, which already sets the reader up to expect the worst in regards to Willy?
She fears he will lose his job if he does not stay on the road working.
Why are there spaces in the poem "the lost baby poem"?
She has lost her baby, a piece is missing
Which of the following is TRUE of Blanche's exit from the play?
She has lost touch with reality and says she's always depending on the kindness of strangers (most likely seeing the doctor as one of her suitors).
How does Linda know Willy is not coming to bed?
She hears the car start and speed off.
What is ironic about what Blanche is including in her letter?
She is lying about aristocratic-like cocktail parties and social events she has been attending when, in reality she has been repulsed by the lower class, vulgar society she has been exposed to lately
What is ironic about Blanche the night Mitch confronts her?
She is wearing a red satin robe, a symbolic color of passion, lust, and lust as opposed to the "innocent" white she has worn for most of the play, when he arrives.
Which of the following is TRUE of Willy and Linda's relationship?
She sings/hums her husband to sleep lovingly.
Which of the following is NOT true of the play?
She tells Mitch she was a math teacher back home.
How does Stella defend her sister?
She tells Stanley that Blanche is fragile and has been abused throughout her life.
Which of the following is NOT true of Linda's last words to her husband?
She tells him good-bye.
Which of the following is NOT a way in which the grandmother deceives in O'Connor's short story?
She tells the family that she was wrong about the location of the house she got them to turn around for.
When scene five opens, who is Blanche writing?
Shep (an old college boyfriend) with TX oil money
Which of the following best describes June Star and John Wesley?
Spoiled brats
Which of the following is NOT true of the events that end Willy's "big dinner" with Happy and Biff?
Stanley takes a tip from Willy even though Willy really cannot afford to tip him.
Why does Mitch not attend Blanche's birthday dinner?
Stanley told him about Blanche.
Which of the following was the first to be awarded the Pulitzer posthumously after committing suicide in the kitchen?
Sylvia Plath
What news does Stanley reveal to Blanche?
That Stella is pregnant
Which of the following does Blanche NOT reveal to Mitch on their second date?
That he needs to ask permission before kissing her
Which of the following does Stanley NOT reveal to Stella before Blanche arrives for her birthday dinner?
That he wants to Blanche to have a good birthday dinner but then she needs to leave
Which of the following does Steve and Eunice's fight NOT reveal to the reader?
That the cops will be called because Eunice is done being cheated on
Which of the following is TRUE before Mitch leaves Blanche?
The Hispanic woman selling "selling flowers for the dead" reminds Blanche of her deceased husband.
Which of the following is NOT true of "Petrified Man"?
The Petrified Man from the freak show was the actual father of Mrs. Fletcher's baby.
Which of the following is NOT true of the climax of the play?
The animalistic Stanley breaks a bottle to threaten Blanche ultimately to carry her to the bed and rape her.
Which of the following is most likely NOT symbolic in Act One?
The ceiling fan
Which of the following makes Stanley suspicious of Blanche's intentions?
The furs and costume jewelry he finds in her trunk
Which of the following is TRUE of the conclusion of O'Connor's short story?
The grandmother never pleads for her family's lives but only her own.
Which of the following is NOT true from the stage directions in the opening of the play?
The many trophies Willy has displayed in his humble apartment symbolize his obsession with the past as opposed to his current reality.
Who is the speaker in Plath's "Mirror"?
The mirror
Who are the liars in Plath's "Mirror"?
The moon and candles
Which of the following is NOT true of "The Last Quatrain of the Ballad of Emmett Till"?
The mother is confident in the justice system
Which of the following is NOT true of Randall Jarrell's "The Death of the Ball Turret Gunner"?
The poem is in third person to separate the speaker from the needless death of the gunner.
Which of the following is most likely TRUE about "We Real Cool"?
The repetition of "We" emphasizes life and how it can be "all fun and games" until you die.
Which of the following is NOT true of Plath's "Lady Lazarus"?
The speaker calls herself a miracle
Which of the following is TRUE of Plath's "Lady Lazarus"?
The speaker describes those around her like people at a circus - "peanut-crunching crowd."
Which of the following is most likely NOT true of Clifton's "homage to my hips"?
The speaker is insecure about men being attracted to her
Which of the following is NOT true of the father in Yusef Komunyaaka's "My Father's Love Letters"?
The speaker's father is a laboring man who struggles in his love life, family life, and occupational life.
Which of the following did NOT foreshadow the death of Willy?
The washing machine needing to be replaced
Which of the following is NOT a way Blanche and Stanley reveal themselves to be alike by the tenth scene?
They are both compulsive liars.
How do the Roberta and Twyla most likely feel about their mothers?
They are embarrassed by them.
What is another commonality of A Streetcar Named Desire and Death of a Salesman in the scene between Willy, Ben, and Charley (or so it would seem)?
They are playing cards.
How did Twyla and Roberta meet in Morrison's "Recitatif"?
They met at an orphanage.
Which of the following would most likely NOT be a reason Stanley slap Stella's thigh?
To hurt her
What does Willy decide to do after the "big dinner"?
To plant a garden
Which of the following was the Nobel Laureate in literature in 1993 and has taught at colleges that include but are not limited to Howard University, Texas Southern University, Yale University, and Bard College?
Toni Morrison
Whose fiction serves as a model for reconstructing a culturally empowering past, is known for narrative voices, and won the Pulitzer Prize for Beloved?
Toni Morrison
What does Stella say causes her to cry?
When Stanley goes out of town for a long period of time
Which of the following is NOT true of the significance of music in regards to Blanche in the play?
While it "ain't over until the fat lady sings," Blanche cannot and refuses to hear the music no matter the circumstances.
Which of the following is NOT true of Sexton's "Courage"?
While the majority of the poem is positive, the last hour is bitter as suggested by her intentional diction.
Which of the following is NOT true of the morning of Act Two?
Willy and Linda are supposed to meet their sons for dinner that night.
What does Willy ironically do for Howard that he told his son not to do as an "office boy"?
Willy finds Howard's lighter and hands it to him.
What happened to the diamond watch fob that Ben gave Willy?
Willy pawned it for money to pay for Biff's radio correspondence course.
Which of the following is NOT true of the play?
Willy's memories haunt him but confirm that his reality are all a part of the "bigger picture" because each decision he's made has led him to inevitable success.
How does the woman reward the lake?
With tears and an agitation of hands
Which of the following is NOT a concern of both Willy's sons?
Women
Which of the following grew up in the "Jazz City," which became the title of a book of poetry, but actually served in the Vietnam War as a war correspondent and editor for military newspapers and actually did not start writing poetry until after war experience?
Yusef Yomunyakaa
In "We Real Cool," what most likely is the Golden Shovel?
a pool hall
No matter how much time passes, what do Roberta and Twyla always end their meetings with?
asking about each other's moms
Which of the following is most likely NOT a tone in Sexton's poem "Sylvia's Death"?
celebratory
Which of the following would NOT describe Hayden's "Those Winter Sundays"?
couplets
What does "i wish them one week early/and wearing a white skirt" most likely symbolize in "wishes for sons"?
embarassment
In Clifton's "homage to my hips," which of the following is NOT a way the speaker describes her hips?
enslaved
Which of the following is NOT a theme in Hayden's poem?
freedom
Who is the speaker addressing in Brooks's "the mother"?
her aborted children
Which of the following is NOT a theme of Robert Lowell's "For the Union Dead"?
justice
Which of the following is NOT a theme in Flannery O'Connor's "A Good Man is Hard to Find"?
mercy
What does Charley tell Willy his problem is?
pride
After Biff and Willy's argument, what does Willy realize?
that Biff loves him
What is a fear Linda has about her husband?
that he has been trying to kill himself
What does Biff confess to his father at the "big dinner"?
that he stole the balls years ago
What did Biff discover after flunking math and traveling to Boston to tell his father?
that his father was having an affair
What irony does Linda reveal to Biff in the early call in Act Two?
that the son she put the responsibility on in Act One is, in fact, saving his father's life
Which of the following does the speaker NOT wish "them" in Clifton's "wishes for sons"?
to be men and gynecologists
Which of the following is NOT a metaphor in Sexton's "Courage"?
you'll bargain with the calendar
