american literature Mcqs
201. Which of the following describes the precolonial eras literature styles ?
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A. Novels, poetry, dramas, histories

B. Narratives and poetry

C. Pamphlets, poetry, novels, short stories

D. Literary magazines, poetry, novels, short stories

202. How does St. Clare die ?
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A. He suffers a heart attack

B. He drowns

C. He is poisoned

D. He is stabbed
203. This quote comes from what writing: God holds you over the pit of Hell much as one holds a spider over the fire________________?
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A. Spiders of the World

B. Hell and Salem

C. Sinners in the Hand

D. Hands of Satan

204. Black Boy is an autobiographical account of whose Southern boyhood ?
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A. Saul Bellow

B. Thomas

C. John Dos Passos

D. Pynchon
205. What does George Harris master demand of him that prompts him to plan his escape ?
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A. Marry another woman

B. Abandon his faith

C. Punish another slave

D. Relocate to Louisiana

206. In the enthusiasm of my confidence, I brought chairs into the room, and desired them here to rest from their fatigues; while I myself, in the wild audacity of my perfect triumph, placed my own seat upon the very spot beneath which reposed the corpse of the victim. What is the meaning of the word audacity ?
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A. Authority

B. Auditory city

C. Fearless daring or aggressive boldness

D. Insanity or dementia

207. Who is Elizas mother ?
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A. Aunt Chole

B. Mrs.Legree

C. Mrs.Shelby

D. Cassy
208. This checkmark diagram represents the plot structure for what genre of early American writing ?
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A. Slave narrative

B. Trancendentalism

C. Sermon

D. Indian autobiography

209. The first stanza of the poem provides an idea that it is______________?
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A. a revenge story

B. not a happy story

C. a deterministic poem

D. a metaphysical poem

210. Thoreau was part of the Transcend lists, which were founded by________________?
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A. Mark Twain.

B. Walt Whitman.

C. Herman Melville.

D. Ralph Waldo Emerson.
211. The process of passing on sayings, songs and tales ?
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A. Narration

B. History

C. Oral Tradition

D. Persuasion

212. The now ghastly pallor of the skin, and the now miraculous luster of the eye, above all things startled and even awed me. The silken hair, too, had been suffered to grow all unheeded, and as, in its wild gossamer texture, it floated rather than fell about the face, I could not, even with effort, connect its arabesque expression with any idea of simple humanity. The character described in this passage ?
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A. Buries someone alive

B. Devours a heart

C. Commits suicide

D. Meets the devil

213. Who inherits ownership of Tom when St. Clare dies ?
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A. Marie

B. Eva

C. George Shelby

D. Haley

214. What statement below best sums up the literary significance of Samuel Sewall ?
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A. Father of american poetry

B. Pro Slavery

C. Father of American Liteature

D. Anti-Slavery
215. I have said that the sole effect of my somewhat childish experimentthat of looking down within the tarnhad been to deepen the first singular impression. There can be no doubt that the consciousness of the rapid increase of my superstition for why should I not so term it?served mainly to accelerate the increase itself. Such, I have long known, is the paradoxical law of all sentiments having terror as a basis. This work exemplifies ?
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A. Ratiocinactive effect

B. Cataleptic effect

C. Unity of effect

D. Didactic effect

216. _____________the eyes of all people are upon us; soe that if wee shall deale falsely with our god in this worke wee have undertaken and soe cause him to withdrawe his preent help from us, wee shall be made a story and a by-word through the world, wee shall open the mouthes of enemies to speake evill of the ways of god and all professours for Gods sake; wee shall shame the faces of many of gods worthy servants, and cause theire prayers to be turned into Cursses upon us till we be consumed out of the good land whether wee are going ?
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A. Fredrick Douglass

B. John Winthrop

C. Benjamin Franklin

D. William Apess

217. Maria Steward believe that black woman are crucial to the uplift of black Americans. Why ?
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A. They have the power to fix things themselves

B. Men are more powerful

C. Both are correct

D. None of the above

218. I took my visitors all over the house. I bade them search search well. I led them, at length, to his chamber. I showed them his treasures, secure, undisturbed. The narrator is________________?
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A. Leading the police to the scene of a crime

B. Helping the police to look for a letter

C. A detective

D. Helping Robin to search for his uncle

219. Who is addressed as you in the poem ?
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A. an accomplished royal

B. a romantic achiever

C. an under achiever

D. a frustrated romantic idealist
220. Of the two, reverend Sir, said the voice like the deacons, I had rather miss an ordination-dinner than to-nights meeting. They tell me that some of our community are to be here from Falmouth and beyond, and others from Connecticut and Rhode-Island; besides several of the Indian powows, who, after their fashion, know almost as much deviltry as the best of us. A powow in this context is___________?
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A. An apples-salesman

B. A boxer

C. A devil-worshipper

D. A medicine man

221. About Cotton Mather _______________?
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A. Wrote about the trial of Martha Carrier

B. B and C

C. Belonged to the Delaware tribe

D. Fasted 450 times for sins he committed

222. A good definition of American Realism is________________?
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A. A romantic portrayal of life.

B. An examination of the countryside versus the city.

C. An examination of life as it actually is.

D. A sad and depressing view of reality.

223. About Christopher Columbus_______________?
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A. Kept a journal of the First Voyage to America

B. Arrived on the Mayflower

C. B and C

D. Mistook Bahama Islands for India

224. Who was Fuseli ?
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A. British painter

B. French guitarist

C. An Italian-born doctor

D. Swiss-bom painter

225. What animal is personified as the trickster in the Winnebago tale ?
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A. Hare

B. Coyote

C. Bear

D. Snake

226. What statement below best sums up the literary significance of William Bradford ?
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A. Created spiritual Diary

B. Non-Separating puritan

C. Separating puritan

D. both A and C
227. Why do we call Ralph Waldo Emerson the Father of American Literature ?
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A. Mentor to other writers

B. None of the above

C. First native american to publish life writing

D. Literary Maverick

228. How does Hare outsmart Sharp-elbow to retrieve his stolen arrow ?
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A. He sends a young man to retrieve it

B. He takes a whetstone with him to retrieve the arrow and when Sharp-elbow attacks he uses the whetstone for protection against the attack

C. He lights four prayersticks and asks the gods to retrieve it for him

D. He sends his grandmother to cast a spell on him that causes Sharp-elbow to consent to anything asked of him

229. This is a system of fundamental laws governing a society______________?
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A. Discourse

B. Constitution

C. Language

D. Connotation

230. Who is the representative figure of the Jazz Age ?
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A. Wallace Stevens

B. Saul Bellow

C. F. Scott Fitzgerald

D. Sherwood Anderson

231. What lesson does Hares adventure involving a tall man with a cane attempt to teach the Winnebago people ?
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A. Dont put of for tomorrow what you can do today

B. Boasting shows weakness and will lead to bad things

C. Flattery will get you no where

D. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you

232. The Cycle of American Literature was written by ?
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A. Gustave Falubert

B. Robert E. Spiller

C. Thoruau

D. Ralph Waldo Emerson

233. The two main characters in The Pearl are______________?
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A. Juan Tomas and his wife.

B. The doctor and the priest.

C. Kino and his wife Juana.

D. None of the above

234. About Johnathan Edwards____________?
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A. Wrote the Mayflower Contract

B. Was a Puritan preacher and writer

C. When he spoke, audiences rose to their feet and cheered

D. B and C
235. Whitman uses line length and word choice to represent________________?
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A. His style of writing

B. a feeling of excitement

C. a wide range of emotion from joy to sorrow

D. the joyous moment

236. He had heard this destruction of the original possessors of the soil described, as we find it in the history of the times, where, we are told, the number destroyed was about four hundred; and it was a fearful sight to see them thus frying in the fire, and the streams of blood quenching the same, and the horrible scent thereof; but the victory seemed a sweet sacrifice, and they gave the praise thereof to God. This work is___________?
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A. A historial novel

B. Gothic fiction

C. A hortatory sermon

D. A narrative frame

237. What did John Smith write ?
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A. Declaration of Independence

B. Jason and Isolde

C. Journal of an Expedition

D. General History of Virginia
238. The lesson the young man teaches Dorothy is_________________?
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A. to fight with people

B. to live and enjoy her life

C. to hide here emotion

D. not to lodge a complaint

239. According to the tale, what horrible crime did the ucle commit ?
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A. He killed all of the women

B. He killed all of the old people

C. He killed all of the female children

D. He killed all of the male children
240. Which of the following is true about the target audience for John Saffins pamphlet ?
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A. African Americans

B. Native Americans

C. White public of Massachusetts

D. White public of Plymouth

241. What invention won George Harris the respect of his factorys proprietor ?
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A. A hemp cleaning machine

B. A bread slicing machine

C. A hemp twines

D. A cotton ginning machine

242. What statement below best sums up the literary significance of John Saffin ?
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A. Pro Slavery

B. Father of american poetry

C. Father of American Liteature

D. Anti-Slavery

243. The American Renaissance overlapped the time period, in which American writers were trying to____________?
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A. Modernism; end individualism.

B. Romanticism; define themselves and their writing style as independent from England.

C. Colonial; end patriotism for England.

D. Postmodern; end slavery.

244. Over which river does Eliza make her miraculous crossing ?
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A. The Colorado

B. The Ohio

C. The Danube

D. The Mississippi

245. Name the ship that brought the first Pilgrims to the New World______________?
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A. HMS Bounty

B. Titanic

C. Santa Maria

D. Mayflower
246. But for many minutes the heart beat on with a muffled sound. This, however, did not vex me; it would not be heard through the wall. At length it ceased. The old man was dead. I removed the bed and examined the corpse. Yes, he was stone, stone dead. This victim is killed because of_____________?
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A. His clouded eye

B. A letter

C. His loud heart beat

D. His pact with the devil

247. American Civil War was fought in_______________?
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A. 1825-1833

B. 1830-1840

C. 1861-1865

D. 1815-1820

248. Which of the following is NOT a feature of the Enlightenment ?
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A. Deism

B. Political

C. Reason

D. Skepticism

249. To which country do George and Eliza plan to immigrate ?
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A. Liberia

B. Nigeria

C. Algeria

D. France

250. Which of the following is NOT a feature or characteristics of Emily Dickinsons poetry ?
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A. True Rhymes

B. Slant Rhymes

C. Mysterious

D. No titles