AMERICAN LITERATURE CLEP |
COMPREHENSIVE Q&A FOR CERTIFICATION
SUCCESS
Metaphysical Poetry - correct-answer -Uses conceits and uses intellectual and
philosophical language. Makes abstract comparisons using conceits. ie. John
Donne.
Michael Wigglesworth - correct-answer -Clergyman who wrote "Day of Doom"
and "Meat out of the Eater". He wrote lyrical, theological poems. Puritan.
Connotation - correct-answer -the feelings or emotions surrounding a word. (ie.
home = pleasant haven)
motif - correct-answer -Phase, image, action, that unifies a work of literature by
recurring throughout it. A theme or idea in a work of art or literature that is
developed or repeated.
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Theme - correct-answer -central idea of a work of literature, general topic or
subject.
Apostrophe - correct-answer -A figure of speech in which one directly addresses
an absent or imaginary person, or some abstraction. Often used to address deep
emotion.
Philip Freneau - correct-answer -Transitional poet. Between Enlightenment and
the Romantic age. " "The Wild Honeysuckle". Published National Gazette that
promoted anti-federalism. Considered "the poet of the American Revolution."
picaresque - correct-answer -novel about lower-class character who triumphs
through wit instead of hard work. Usually autobiographical and in the first person.
J. Hector St. John Crevecoeur - correct-answer -•French-born American who
wrote "Letters from an American Farmer". First successful American author. First
to examine the idea of the "American Dream" and attempted to explain what an
"American" was.
Concepts by him that influenced America culture.
• American Adam - uniqueness of new people called "Americans".
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•Melting Pot - America's uniqueness transcends ethnic, religious, cultural
backgrounds.
Huswifery - correct-answer -by Edward Taylor. "Make me, O Lord, thy Spinning
Wheele compleat"
W.E.B. DuBois - correct-answer -Opposite of B.T. Washington. Black should engage
in higher education. Challenges Washington's inability to see complete integration
in America. Not only work for freedom but demand rights and participation in
office. Disagrees on how "liberation" should be defined.
Alliteration - correct-answer -Repetition of consonant sounds.
Stephen Crane - correct-answer -A "realistic" writer. Wrote The Red Badge of
Courage.
Irony: Henry's only wound comes from retreat, not battle.
-Humans are left on this world to fend for themselves without help from divine
creator.
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Heroic Couplet - correct-answer -a couplet consisting of two rhymed lines of
iambic pentameter (ie. aa, bb, cc) and written in an elevated style. (tradition of
the epic form)
imagery - correct-answer -The use of language to evoke a picture or a concrete
sensation of a person, thing, place, or experience.
Edward Taylor - correct-answer -Wrote Preparatory Meditations. God's
Determinations touching His Elect. His work not meant for publication. Uses
conceits and unusual images. Inspired metaphysical poets like Ezra Pound. T.S.
Eliot.
Metonymy - correct-answer -One word or phrase is substituted for another with
which is closely associated.
"crown → royalty",
"ring →marriage"
"heart→love"
Bluest Eye - correct-answer -Pecola wants_____________ to be beautiful.
-She is considered a scapegoat because her ugliness has made the towns people
beautiful, her suffering made them feel lucky, her silence, their chatter.