American Lit Midterm/Final Exam
K-mart Realism is characterized by which of the following? Select all that apply. Focus on working classes or lower middle classes Attention to surface details, especially brand names Surreal descriptions of (post)modern life Spare, unadorned prose
Focus on working classes or lower middle classes Attention to surface details, especially brand names Spare, unadorned prose
Leslie Marmon Silko's "Yellow Woman" takes place where?
near the Laguna pueblo Done
What is the term for a story of a character's gradual decline into degradation or death?
plot of decline
Bobbie Ann Mason's fiction takes place mostly in what geographic area? central Pennsylvania Tennessee undefined midwestern towns western Kentucky
western Kentucky
What is the setting for "A Good Man is Hard to Find"? Alabama, 1960s New York, 1950 Georgia, 1950s Florida, 1960s
Georgia, 1950s
How does Daisy presumably catch the fever?
Going out to the Coliseum with Mr. Giavonelli
What is the setting for "Sonny's Blues"? Harlem, late 1940s/early 1950s Boston, late 1940s Chicago, late 1940s/early 1950s Greenwich Village, 1953-1955
Harlem, late 1940s/early 1950s
Why does the narrator of "Roughing It" decide not to argue against Mormon polygamy?
He decides that Mormon women are so unattractive that a man marrying multiple such women is doing them a kindness.
What is Mr. Winterbourne doing in Europe?
He is "a student."
Why does the young ornithologist in "The White Heron" want to find the heron?
He wants to shoot it, stuff it, and add it to his collection.
Which of the following is most likely to be true of a character is a Naturalist text? He will be depicted as an insignificant, powerless figure pitted against an uncaring world. He will lose. He will be depicted as struggling to survive, saved only by his inner heroic spirit. His actions and character will determine his fate in his struggle against an uncaring world. If he fails in imagination or courage, he will lose. He will be depicted as the only civilized, educated, cultured man, struggling against the brutality of an uncivilized world. He will lose.
He will be depicted as an insignificant, powerless figure pitted against an uncaring world. He will lose.
Which of the following best describes the poetry of Robert Frost? Inverted grammar or word play Short poems narrowly focused on imagery, sometimes with multiple interpretations Often traditional Petrarchan form, sometimes with unexpected content or turns (voltas). Identifiable meter and rhyme, often focused on nature
Identifiable meter and rhyme, often focused on nature
In James Baldwin's "Sonny's Blues," what meaning might we ascribe to the "cup of trembling" hovering over Sonny's head at the end? It is a symbol of the impending Civil Rights movement in America. It signifies that Sonny is about to die. It is a symbol of the uncertainty of Sonny's future, in that we do not know whether it will pass from him or to him. It signifies (by its "trembling") that Sonny has gone back to using heroin.
It is a symbol of the uncertainty of Sonny's future, in that we do not know whether it will pass from him or to him.
Which of the following is typical of Robert Frost's poetry? Select all that apply. It often includes allusion to other poets and mythology. It often includes imagery that is concrete but may be ambiguous. It often follows conventional poetic form with definable meter and rhyme schemes. It often features an internal monologue.
It often includes imagery that is concrete but may be ambiguous. It often follows conventional poetic form with definable meter and rhyme schemes
Which of the following best describes the significance of this quote from "The Open Boat": "Shipwrecks are apropos of nothing. If men could only train for them and have them occur when the men had reached pink condition, there would be less drowning at sea."
It shows the ultimate inability to adequately plan for shipwrecks.
Which of the following is not generally true of local color? It includes details about local dialect and customs. It usually has a twist or surprise ending. It is most commonly short prose. It is usually humorous or satirical.
It usually has a twist or surprise ending.
What was one common criticism of Realism in the late 19th century?
It was boring.
What characteristic of the following poem would make it most easily identifiable as an Edna St. Vincent Millay poem?
It's a Petrarchan sonnet, and Millay was known for her mastery of this form.
Which of the following is a common critique of Local Color? Its characters are superficially written, almost to the point of caricature. Local Color writers were almost all white men from the northeastern US, giving us a less diverse view of the places and cultures depicted. Settings are often inaccurately depicted by writers who have never actually visited the location. The stories are too long and detailed to hold a reader's attention.
Its characters are superficially written, almost to the point of caricature.
Which of the following locations are settings for scenes in "The Passing of Grandison"? Select all that apply Missouri Kentucky New York Georgia Boston Canada
Kentucky New York Boston Canada
Beat poetry is characterized by which of the following? Select all that apply Repetition of stanzas Loose rhythms and free verse Self-consciously formal language Focus on oppressed classes or those who defy social convention
Loose rhythms and free verse Focus on oppressed classes or those who defy social convention
Which of the following are common characteristics of postmodernism? Select all that apply. Metafiction and self-reflexivity Blurring of genres and forms Irony Verisimilitude
Metafiction and self-reflexivity Blurring of genres and forms
"The Wife of His Youth" bears similarities to stories of "passing," which are common around the same time period. Which of the following aspects of that story most closely resemble those other "passing" stories?
Mr. Ryder has taken advantage of his light skin to enter the highest tier of African American society in his town, leaving behind his past as an enslaved man and modeling himself instead as a cultured man in the European tradition.
What is the setting for "The White Heron"?
New England
What is the setting for Tennessee Williams' A Streetcar Named Desire? Chicago in the 1940s New York in the 1930s Mississippi in the 1930s New Orleans in the 1940s
New Orleans in the 1940s
What is the setting for Toni Morrison's "Recitatif"? Philadelphia, 1960s Atlanta, 1970s New York, 1960s and '70s New York, 1950s
New York, 1960s and '70s
Which of the following best describes the poetry of Edna St. Vincent Millay?
Often traditional Petrarchan form, sometimes with unexpected content or turns (voltas).
In "A Good Man is Hard to Find," what meaning might we take from the line, "'She would have been a good woman...if it had been somebody there to shoot her every minute of her life.'" The only way humanity will ever be good is if all the evil people are executed. The only good person is a dead person. Only in that moment of extremity could the grandmother find her innate humanity. The grandmother needed constant punishment to behave appropriately.
Only in that moment of extremity could the grandmother find her innate humanity.
The rise of Realism in American literature corresponds to the rise of what technology?
Photography
What is Confessional Poetry? Poetry that mirrors the structure of a Catholic confession, including the voice of both one confessing and one receiving the confession Poetry that emphasizes the depravity of humanity Poetry that deals with guilt and shame. Poetry that discusses matters related to the poet's private life, often using psychoanalytic terms
Poetry that discusses matters related to the poet's private life, often using psychoanalytic terms
Imagist poetry seeks to do which of the following? Select all that apply. Present surreal or absurdist narratives, so readers imagine the story behind them Present a concrete image of a familiar object or scene, so readers can see it anew Present an imaginative perspective of an inchoate idea, explaining reality through fantastic elements Present a lengthy and detailed description of a scene or object, so that readers get a complete and concrete image of it
Present a concrete image of a familiar object or scene, so readers can see it anew
In Jack London's "To Build a Fire," how does the protagonist's relationship with his dog conform to typical ideas in Naturalism?
The dog and the man see each other as means to specific ends. The man is not sentimental toward the dog and cares for the dog only insofar as the dog can help him survive. Likewise, the dog sees the man only as a provider of food and warmth and has no interest in the man beyond the man's contributions to the dog's own survival.
The rise of local color corresponds to what other developments in American history? Select all that apply. The end of the Civil War and the Reconstruction era Increasing westward expansion Increasing urbanism The establishment of the US postal system
The end of the Civil War and the Reconstruction era Increasing urbanism
The Native American Renaissance was in part a reaction to what? The forced assimilation of Native Americans during the 19th and early 20th centuries The war in Vietnam The closing of the American frontier The increasing presence of Native Americans in publishing and broadcasting
The forced assimilation of Native Americans during the 19th and early 20th centuries
Which of the following is a characteristic of Modernism? Sense of alienation Questioning of prevailing narratives Idea that the present is cut off from history all of the above
all of the above
Which of the following is generally accepted as a starting point for Modernism?
around 1910 or 1914: start of the first World War
Which of the following is the best example of Tennessee Williams' use of expressionism in A Streetcar Named Desire? The "blue piano" The loss of Belle Reve Stanley's lower-class status The recurring poker games
The "blue piano'
Which of the following events had the most direct and significant impact on the Harlem Renaissance? The Great Migration, which led to an increase in the Harlem population from 14,000 to 175,000 in a little more than a decade The bread riots of 1931, which gave rise to the street art of Harlem that then led to the establishment of art institutions and magazines The publication of Langston Hughes's manifesto, "The Negro Artist and the Racial Mountain" in the Nation in 1926 The creation of the National Endowment for the Arts and the Center for the Study of African American Culture at Columbia University, both in 1918
The Great Migration, which led to an increase in the Harlem population from 14,000 to 175,000 in a little more than a decade
What is the general time period for the era of Realism in America?
1870-1910
Naturalist literature appears mostly during which time period?
1890-1914
Jack London's "To Build a Fire" is set in which of the following times and places?
1890s in a Yukon gold mining region
When was the Harlem Renaissance? 1920 - late 1930s 1920 - 1945 late 1920s - 1945 early 1910s - late 1940s
1920 - late 1930s
What is a trickster figure?
A character who uses guile and cleverness to subvert authority or cause disorder
What is a frame narrative?
A story that encompasses another story within it
How do Realist novels typically treat their characters? They focus on true-to-life individuals, rather than idealized heroes. They focus on issues of ethical conduct, with attention to actions and their consequences. They consider complex psychology of their characters. All of the above
All of the above
What is the origin of the name of the Blue Vein Society in Chesnutt's "The Wife of His Youth"?
All the members had light skin.
T. S. Eliot's "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" exhibits which of the following common Modernist characteristics? Select all that apply. War imagery Allusion to historical or literary texts Sense of alienation Rejection of poetic form or "rules" of language
Allusion to historical or literary texts Sense of alienation
What is the common definition of passing in literature?
An African American character living as white
What is the form of T. S. Eliot's "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock"?
Dramatic monologue in free verse
American Romanticism is characterized by which of the following? Select all that apply; partial credit will be given for each correct identification.
Emphasis on emotion and intuition over logic and reason Emphasis on the natural world Focus on the ideal rather than everyday reality Belief in humanity's inherent goodness
Tennessee Williams most often blends dramatic realism with what other dramatic style? Absurdism Expressionism Surrealism Pantomime
Expressionism
What do we call the movement in drama that rejects realism in favor dream-like scenes, disjointed structures, and evocation of intense emotion through music, lighting, and stage settings? Expressionism Surrealism Absurdism Naturalism
Expressionism
Postmodern literature is influenced by which of the following changes in American society? Select all that apply. Increasing affluence following World War II The closing of the American frontier The rise of automobile culture The increase in industrialization following World War I
Increasing affluence following World War II The rise of automobile culture
Zora Neale Hurston's writing is marked by which of the following characteristics? Influence of anthropology and folk studies Overt political messages, often anti-white Educated, urban, often professional-class women characters Use of poetic interludes within fictional narratives
Influence of anthropology and folk studies
Which of the following is true of Zora Neale Hurston's "Sweat"? The characters are nuanced, with no clear villain or hero. It contains poetic lines interspersed with the narrative text. It contains fantastical elements typical of the folklore that influenced her, like voodoo and spirits taking the forms of animals. It contains elements for which Hurston's fiction was criticized, including depictions of rural, laboring-class African Americans and negative portrayals of African American men.
It contains elements for which Hurston's fiction was criticized, including depictions of rural, laboring-class African Americans and negative portrayals of African American men.
Which of the following are typical characteristics of Naturalism? Select all that apply. It depicts a harsh world where individuals struggle to survive largely on their own. It exposes the more unpleasant parts of society and humanity. It focuses on the middle classes. It is generally optimistic. It depicts nature as the sole refuge of the individual.
It depicts a harsh world where individuals struggle to survive largely on their own. It exposes the more unpleasant parts of society and humanity.
What aspects of "The Storm" are characteristic of local color? Select all that apply. It depicts the Acadian and Creole dialects. It includes a trickster figure. It describes a rural scene with distinctive local landscape and architecture. It is a brief, sketch-style story.
It depicts the Acadian and Creole dialects. It describes a rural scene with distinctive local landscape and architecture. It is a brief, sketch-style story.
What traits of postmodernism are evident in Toni Morrison's "Recitatif"? Select all that apply. It emphasizes the inability of narrative to represent an external reality. It is highly satirical. It eschews punctuation. It leads the reader to think about and question their own reading.
It emphasizes the inability of narrative to represent an external reality. It leads the reader to think about and question their own reading.
Which of the following is not a typical descriptor of a Realist novel? It focuses on the lower classes and downtrodden. It strives for verisimilitude. It has a setting that readers would likely recognize. It takes place in contemporary times.
It focuses on the lower classes and downtrodden.
How would you know the following poem is by Emily Dickinson? Select all that apply; partial credit is given for each correct selection. I dwell in Possibility - A fairer House than Prose - More numerous of Windows - Superior - for Doors - Of Chambers as the Cedars - Impregnable of eye - And for an everlasting Roof The Gambrels of the Sky - Of Visitors - the fairest - For Occupation - This - The spreading wide my narrow Hands To gather Paradise -
It has a controlled meter (the pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables) that matches many of her other poems It has a distinctive use of dashes and capital letters, which is evident in almost all Dickinson poems. Google.
Which of the following distinguishes Whitman's "Oh Captain! My Captain!" from his other poetry we read?
It has a specific meter and rhyme scheme.
What meaning does the narrator in Alice Walker's "Everyday Use" ascribe to her daughter's birth name? It represents her daughter's mischievous spirit. It honors her sister, and by extension, their grandmother and other female ancestors. It is a relic of their past, before they became aware of their own oppression. It is the only remaining tie to her daughter's father, who died in a house fire when Dee was twelve.
It honors her sister, and by extension, their grandmother and other female ancestors.
How does Naturalism differ from Realism? Select all that apply. Realism tends to focus on middle class life and settings, whereas Naturalism looks at the downtrodden or characters reduced to their basest forms in extreme or gritty settings. Realism seeks to describe the here and now, whereas Naturalism focuses mostly on the future. Realism is generally inoffensive, whereas Naturalism presents unpleasant, sordid subjects of life. Realism depicts characters' circumstances as being a result of their actions, whereas Naturalism depicts characters' circumstances as being subject to natural or societal forces that are largely out of their control.
Realism tends to focus on middle class life and settings, whereas Naturalism looks at the downtrodden or characters reduced to their basest forms in extreme or gritty settings. Realism is generally inoffensive, whereas Naturalism presents unpleasant, sordid subjects of life. Realism depicts characters' circumstances as being a result of their actions, whereas Naturalism depicts characters' circumstances as being subject to natural or societal forces that are largely out of their control.
Which of the following did Realists commonly avoid? Use of vernacular language and dialect Sentimentality Detailed descriptions Objective narrative viewpoint
Sentimentality
When Daisy takes her leave at Mrs. Walker's party, what does Mrs. Walker do?
She gives Daisy "the cold shoulder."
In "The White Heron," for how long has Sylvia lived at the small farmstead in the woods?
She moved there about a year ago, after living in an unspecified manufacturing town.
Why does Wangero/Dee in Alice Walker's "Everyday Use" value the quilt? She values it as a piece of art and for its preservation of scraps from her family's past. She values it as functional art: beautiful, but meant for everyday use. She values it as a remembrance of her grandmother and great-grandmother. She values it because she can use it to learn the old, nearly forgotten quilting methods.
She values it as a piece of art and for its preservation of scraps from her family's past.
Which of the following best describes the poetry of William Carlos Williams? Inverted grammar or word play Short poems narrowly focused on imagery, sometimes with multiple interpretations Identifiable meter and rhyme, often focused on nature Often traditional Petrarchan form, sometimes with unexpected content or turns (voltas).
Short poems narrowly focused on imagery, sometimes with multiple interpretations
Your textbook includes a version of Emily Dickinson's "Because I could not stop for death" that omits three stanzas that appear in other versions. Read the full version that follows, which also includes some alternate formatting, below. Dickinson writes elsewhere of her "dread" of eternity. Which lines from the entire poem best exemplify that dread?
Since then - 'tis Centuries - and yet Feels shorter than the Day
Which of the following late 19th-century theories most influence Naturalism? Select all that apply. Radical empiricism: the idea that completely objective analysis is never possible, because the act of observing will have an effect on whatever is being observed. Social Darwinism: the idea that the strong will prosper and grow more powerful, while the weak will struggle to survive. Darwinian natural selection: the idea that nature selects for the strongest and the fittest, so that the most favorable traits proliferate and less favorable traits are eventually bred out of existence. Malthusian catastrophe: the idea that unchecked population growth will trigger a catastrophic event causing mass death, reducing the population to sustainable levels
Social Darwinism: the idea that the strong will prosper and grow more powerful, while the weak will struggle to survive. Darwinian natural selection: the idea that nature selects for the strongest and the fittest, so that the most favorable traits proliferate and less favorable traits are eventually bred out of existence.
What is one reason writers like Kate Chopin or Sarah Orne Jewett were classified as Local Color writers rather than Regionalists or Realists?
Their stories dealt primarily with domestic issues and themes related to American womanhood, which were not considered universal or serious.
"To Build a Fire" begins with a description of a landscape in which the sun is never visible and the surrounding land is "all pure white, rolling in gentle undulations where the ice-jams of the freeze-up had formed. North and south, as far as his eye could see, it was unbroken white, save for a dark hair-line that curved and twisted from around the spruce- covered island to the south." "The Open Boat" begins with a similar description of a landscape: "None of them knew the color of the sky. Their eyes glanced level, and were fastened upon the waves that swept toward them. .... As each salty wall of water approached, it shut all else from the view of the men in the boat ...." How do these two descriptions fit with our understanding of Naturalism?
They both depict an impersonal, uncaring nature and the insignificance of a single human being within that nature. The characters are at the mercy of an uncaring world that makes no accommodation for their needs or values.
How do Charles Chesnutt's stories subvert the local color plantation tradition?
They depict enslaved characters with more intelligence and humanity than the slaveholders have.
What does the following passage from "Sonny's Blues" mean in the context of the postmodern text: "All I know about music is that not many people ever really hear it. And even then, on the rare occasions when something opens within, and the music enters, what we mainly hear, or hear corroborated, are personal, private, vanishing evocations. But the man who creates the music is hearing something else, is dealing with the roar rising from the void and imposing order on it as it hits the air. What is evoked in him, then, is of another order, more terrible because it has no words, and triumphant, too, for that same reason. And his triumph, when he triumphs, is ours." This describes the typical postmodern use of music in literature. This describes the sense of being cut off from history. This describes the overall meaninglessness of existence. This describes the difficulty of making and conveying meaning
This describes the difficulty of making and conveying meaning
Which of the following traits are typical of Langston Hughes's poetry? Select all that apply. Use of identifiable rhyme schemes Use of free verse Use of structures borrowed from jazz and/or the blues Use of identifiable forms such as the sonnet
Use of free verse Use of structures borrowed from jazz and/or the blues
Which of the following traits are typical of Countee Cullen's poetry? Select all that apply. Use of structures borrowed from jazz and/or the blues Use of identifiable rhyme schemes Use of identifiable forms such as the sonnet Use of free verse
Use of identifiable rhyme schemes Use of identifiable forms such as the sonnet
In what two cities is Daisy Miller primarily set?
Vevey and Rome
Allen Ginsberg's poetry is most obviously influenced by which of the following American poets? Emily Dickinson Countee Cullen Sylvia Plath Walt Whitman
Walt Whitman
"Roughing It" represents a kind of travel writing for which Mark Twain is known, which emphasizes cultural differences for humorous effect. In these selections, where is our narrator traveling?
Western U.S.
Which of the following is Jim Smiley said to have placed a bet on in "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County"? Select all that apply. Whether the parson's wife would recover from her illness A jumping contest between two frogs Hot air balloon races Dog fights
Whether the parson's wife would recover from her illness A jumping contest between two frogs Dog fights
