Abeka American Literature
units
Unit 1: Early American Literature (Exploration to Puritanism)
Q1: What is the main theme of William Bradford's Of Plymouth Plantation?
A: God's providence and the Pilgrims' reliance on divine guidance through hardship.
Q2: How does Anne Bradstreet’s poem “To My Dear and Loving Husband” reflect
Puritan values?
A: It shows a deep emotional bond within marriage, but also expresses humility and
the hope of eternal union in Heaven, aligning with Puritan spiritual values.
Q3: What was the purpose of Jonathan Edwards’s sermon Sinners in the Hands of an
Angry God?
A: To warn unconverted people of the wrath of God and to urge repentance during
the Great Awakening.
Unit 2: Revolutionary Literature
Q4: What rhetorical strategies does Patrick Henry use in his “Speech to the Virginia
Convention”?
A: Appeals to logic (logos), emotion (pathos), and ethics (ethos); famous use of
repetition and rhetorical questions.
Q5: What was the main purpose of The Crisis, No. 1 by Thomas Paine?
A: To inspire colonists to support the American Revolution despite hardships.
, Q6: What type of literature is Benjamin Franklin’s Autobiography, and what is its key
theme?
A: Autobiography; theme of self-improvement and the American ideal of the self-
made man.
Unit 3: Romanticism and Transcendentalism
Q7: What does nature symbolize in Ralph Waldo Emerson's essay Nature?
A: A divine and spiritual force; a source of inspiration and truth.
Q8: In Henry David Thoreau’s Walden, what does the author advocate?
A: Simple living, self-reliance, and closeness to nature.
Q9: What Gothic elements are present in Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Raven”?
A: Supernatural atmosphere, dark mood, themes of death and madness.
Q10: How does Hawthorne’s The Minister’s Black Veil illustrate Romantic themes?
A: It explores inner guilt, the mysteries of the human heart, and symbolic use of the
veil.
Unit 4: Realism and Regionalism
Q11: What is the main characteristic of literary Realism?
A: A focus on ordinary people and realistic events, without romanticizing them.
Q12: How does Mark Twain use satire in The Notorious Jumping Frog of Calaveras
County?
A: By mocking human gullibility and exaggerating regional speech and characters.
Q13: What does the story “A Village Singer” by Mary E. Wilkins Freeman say about
change and tradition?
units
Unit 1: Early American Literature (Exploration to Puritanism)
Q1: What is the main theme of William Bradford's Of Plymouth Plantation?
A: God's providence and the Pilgrims' reliance on divine guidance through hardship.
Q2: How does Anne Bradstreet’s poem “To My Dear and Loving Husband” reflect
Puritan values?
A: It shows a deep emotional bond within marriage, but also expresses humility and
the hope of eternal union in Heaven, aligning with Puritan spiritual values.
Q3: What was the purpose of Jonathan Edwards’s sermon Sinners in the Hands of an
Angry God?
A: To warn unconverted people of the wrath of God and to urge repentance during
the Great Awakening.
Unit 2: Revolutionary Literature
Q4: What rhetorical strategies does Patrick Henry use in his “Speech to the Virginia
Convention”?
A: Appeals to logic (logos), emotion (pathos), and ethics (ethos); famous use of
repetition and rhetorical questions.
Q5: What was the main purpose of The Crisis, No. 1 by Thomas Paine?
A: To inspire colonists to support the American Revolution despite hardships.
, Q6: What type of literature is Benjamin Franklin’s Autobiography, and what is its key
theme?
A: Autobiography; theme of self-improvement and the American ideal of the self-
made man.
Unit 3: Romanticism and Transcendentalism
Q7: What does nature symbolize in Ralph Waldo Emerson's essay Nature?
A: A divine and spiritual force; a source of inspiration and truth.
Q8: In Henry David Thoreau’s Walden, what does the author advocate?
A: Simple living, self-reliance, and closeness to nature.
Q9: What Gothic elements are present in Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Raven”?
A: Supernatural atmosphere, dark mood, themes of death and madness.
Q10: How does Hawthorne’s The Minister’s Black Veil illustrate Romantic themes?
A: It explores inner guilt, the mysteries of the human heart, and symbolic use of the
veil.
Unit 4: Realism and Regionalism
Q11: What is the main characteristic of literary Realism?
A: A focus on ordinary people and realistic events, without romanticizing them.
Q12: How does Mark Twain use satire in The Notorious Jumping Frog of Calaveras
County?
A: By mocking human gullibility and exaggerating regional speech and characters.
Q13: What does the story “A Village Singer” by Mary E. Wilkins Freeman say about
change and tradition?
