1. Elements of free verse used in “Song of Myself:” “I, now thirty-seven years old in perfect health begin, / Hoping to cease not till death” are
a. exact rhyme, natural speech cadence, irregular line length.
b. irregular meter, exact rhyme, irregular line length.
c. irregular meter, natural speech cadence, irregular line length.
2. In “The Fall of the House of Usher,” we clearly learn that Roderick had attempted to kill Madeline by burying her alive.
a. true
b. false
3. Frederick Douglass wrote, “Seized with a determination to learn to read, at any cost, I hit upon many expedients to accomplish the desired end. The plea which I mainly adopted, and the one by which I was most successful, was that of using my young white playmates, with whom I met in the street, as teachers.”
a. true
b. false
4. The literary device of __________ is found in teaching about the human tendency to scapegoat others in “The Minister’s Black Veil.”
a. onomatopoeia
b. parable
c. alliteration
5. Which of the following is one of the central themes in Moby-Dick?
a. Human understanding is limited.
b. Only the strongest survive.
c. Whaling is indefensible.
6. “Recollections of a Private,” Goss says he stood before the recruiting office and reread the recruiting advertisement. He says, “I thought I might have made a mistake in considering war so serious after all.” Goss is making a comment on war based on the advertisement that it is
a. a deadly business.
b. an unrewarding experience.
c. a good opportunity.
7. What is the paradox from Douglass’ efforts to educate himself?
a. Forbidden to read as a child, he grows up to be an important writer.
b. The more he learns, the more unhappy with his situation as a slave he becomes.
c. Even as he accumulates more facts, he is more uncertain of his principles.
8. “Go Down, Moses” and “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot” contain Biblical allusions and allegory.
a. true
b. false
9. Who wrote the following: “One of the phantasmagoric conceptions of my friend, partaking not so rigidly of the spirit of abstraction, may be shadowed forth, although feebly, in his words. A small picture presented the interior of an immensely long and rectangular vault or tunnel, with low walls, smooth, white and without interruption or device. Certain accessory points of design served well to convey the idea this excavation lay at an exceeding depth below the surface of the earth”?
a. Edgar Allan Poe
b. Walt Whitman
c. Herman Melville
10. Which of the following adjectives describes Hawthorne’s view of human nature in “The Minister’s Black Veil?”
a. naive
b. uncaring
c. pessimistic
11. One of the most successful strategies Frederick Douglass used for learning to read was
a. memorizing books read by Mrs. Auld.
b. having his white playmates to teach him in exchange for biscuits.
c. buying books from Mr. Knight on Thames Street.
12. Herman Melville often makes it difficult to determine if his characters are good or evil.
a. true
b. false
13. “Soon his steady, ivory stride was heard, as to and fro he paced his old rounds, upon planks so familiar to his tread, that they were all over dented, like geological stones, with the peculiar marks of his walk. Did you fixedly gaze, too, upon that ribbed and dented brow; there also, you would see still stranger footprints–the footprints of his one unsleeping, ever pacing thought” was written by
a. Walt Witman.
b. Herman Melville.
c. Edgar Allan Poe.
14. This line contains a slant rhyme: “Between the light–and me . . . I could not see to see–“
a. true b. false
15. In Moby-Dick, Captain Ahab’s motivation for wanting to kill the whale is revenge.
- true b. false.
16. The following quote, “It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us–that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion–that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain–that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom–and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from this earth” is attributed to
a. Frederick Douglass.
b. Abraham Lincoln.
c. Edgar Allan Poe.
17. “On they pressed to within about twenty or thirty paces of the works–a small but gallant band of heroes daring to attempt what could not be done by flesh and blood.” This quote, taken from “A Confederate Account of the Battle of Gettysburg” is saying
a. Randolph McKim is ashamed of his troops.
b. the brigade was attempting an impossible mission.
c. the brigade succeeded in its original goal.
18. Who wrote the following, “The Americans of all nations at any time upon the earth have probably the fullest poetical nature. The United States themselves are essentially the greatest poem. In the history of the earth hitherto the largest and most stirring appear tame and orderly to their ampler largeness and stir.”
a. Herman Melville
b. Walt Whitman
c. Mary Chenut
19. Starbuck feels it is illogical to blame the whale for the loss of Ahab’s leg in Moby-Dick.
a. true
b. false
20. The author of “We paused before a House that seemed/A Swelling of the Ground–/ The Roof was scarcely visible–/ The Cornice–in the Ground/ Since then–’tis Centuries–and yet / Feels shorter than the Day / I first surmised the Horses Heads / Were toward Eternity–” is
a. Walt Whitman.
b. Emily Dickinson.
c. Mary Chesnut.
21. Human limitations are often a focus in Anti-Transcendentalist literature.
a. true
b. false
22. Poetic sound devices are found in “The Raven.”
a. true
b. false
23. McKim’s brigade lost the skirmish, based on the excerpt from “A Confederate Account of the Battle of Gettysburg” because the
a. opposing army was much larger.
b. attack was poorly planned.
c. soldiers were poorly equipped.
24. Which of the following does Frederick Douglass mean in “My feelings were not the result of any marked cruelty in the treatment I received; they sprung from the consideration of my being a slave at all. It was slavery–not its mere incidents–that I hated”?
a. Douglass was a proud man who believed himself entitled to freedom.
b. Douglass hated the day-to-day aspects of his life as a slave.
c. Douglass was treated badly by his owners.
25. In “Water, is taught by thirst,” the final image of the birds being taught by snow most likely refers to
a. birds enjoying winter and playing in the snow.
b. realizing how much one appreciates birds when they are gone in wintertime.
c. hunting birds for food in winter because crops cannot be planted in the snow.
26. Which of the following describes the larger theme in Moby-Dick when, as the ship is sinking, Ahab’s flag is nailed to the mast by one of the crew members?
a. nature’s essential evil
b. the futility of human efforts to dominate nature
c. America’s loss of innocence
27. Macabre events are typical of Gothic literature.
a. true
b. false
28. Supernatural overtones are typical of Gothic literature.
a. true
b. false
29. “The Gettysburg Address” is a persuasive speech that relies on political ideology.
a. true
b. false
30. Moby-Dick suggests that human beings can control nature through force of will.
a. true
b. false
31. A Romantic interpretation of “The Raven” is that nature, as represented by the Raven helps the speaker cope with his loss.
a. true
b. false
32. Which of the following is true in “The Minister’s Black Veil” of a parable showing the characters, events, and details of setting?
a. being historical in nature.
b. being simplified to teach a moral lesson.
c. being described in realistic detail.
33. A central theme in “The Raven” is
a. people look in vain for solace.
b. hard times will pass.
c. the dead return from their grave in one way or another.
34. The human potential for evil as the main idea in “The Minister/’s Black Veil” is an example of the literary element of
a. plot.
b. theme.
c. allegory.
35. Anti-Transcendentalist literature often shows people as trapped between goodness and evil.
a. true
b. false
36. “Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal” was written by
a. Abraham Lincoln.
b. Frederick Douglas.
c. Warren Lee Goss.
37. Captain Ahab being shown as a proud and stubborn man in Moby-Dick is using the literary element of
a. characterization.
b. point of view.
c. theme.
38. What is the best way to express the meaning of the following sentence from “The Raven,” “But the Raven, sitting lonely on the placid bust, spoke only / That one word, as if his soul in that one word he did outpour.”
a. The Raven expresses all his thoughts with one word.
b. The Raven has no feelings.
c. The Raven is afraid to speak to the narrator of the poem.
39. Using third-person accounts of characters and situations such as those found in Moby-Dick uses the literary element of
a. theme.
b. characterization.
c. point of view.
40. Nature is portrayed as __________ in Moby-Dick.
a. foolish and vengeful
b. violent but tamable
c. majestic and elusive
41. “The South, in my opinion, has been aggrieved by the acts of the North, as you say. I feel the aggression and am willing to take every proper step for redress. It is the principle I contend for, not individual or private benefit. As an American citizen, I take great pride in my country, her prosperity and institutions, and would defend any state if her rights were invaded” is by
a. Robert E. Lee.
b. Abraham Lincoln.
c. Frederick Douglass.
42. Based on what you know about “The Minister’s Black Veil,” what can you infer from the following passage: “When the friend shows his inmost heart to his friend, the lover to his best beloved; when man does not vainly shrink from the eye of his Creator, loathsomely treasuring up the secret of his sin, then deem me a monster, for the symbol beneath which I have lived and die! I look around me, and lo! on every visage a Black Veil.”
a. It is sometimes good to hide secrets from other people.
b. Each person hides his or her darkest secrets from others for fear of what others will think.
c. Love is something not to be valued.
43. “These men all talked so delightfully. For once in my life I listened. That over, business again, In earnest, Governor Means rummaged a sword and red sash from somewhere and brought it for Colonel Chesnut, who has gone to demand the surrender of Fort Sumter” was written by
a. Emily Dickinson.
b. Walt Whitman.
c. Mary Chesnut.
44. A Romantic interpretation of “The Raven” is that the Raven is a good omen who has come to kill the speaker for his mistakes.
a. true
b. false
45. Determine what Hawthorne is saying in the following passage: “The next day, the whole village of Milford talked of little else than Parson Hooper’s black veil. That, and the mystery concealed behind it, supplied a topic of discussion between acquaintances meeting in the street, and good women gossiping at their open windows, It was the first item of news that the tavern keeper told his guests. The children babbled of it on their way to school.”
a. Hawthorne thinks people should talk about what is happening in their community.
b. Hawthorne thinks children are the worst gossipers.
c. Hawthorne thinks most human beings gossip too much.
46. Gothic literature often uses grotesque gloomy settings.
a. true
b. false
47. Who wrote, “Presently my soul grew stronger; hesitating then no longer, / ‘Sir,’ said I, ‘or Madam, truly your forgiveness I implore: / But the fact is I was napping and so gently you came rapping, / And so faintly you came tapping, tapping at my chamber door, / That I scarce was sure I heard you?’–here I opened wide the door, / Darkness there and nothing more”?
a. Warren Lee Goss
b. Edgar Allan Poe
c. Robert E. Lee
48. The use of the Pequod to represent the human race throughout Moby-Dick is the literary device of
a. allegory.
b. aphorism.
c. anecdote.
49. Walt Whitman is saying ______________ in the lines, “I celebrate myself, and sing myself / And what I assume you shall assume, / For every atom belonging to me as good belongs to you.”
a. He cares only about himself.
b. celebrating life benefits everyone.
c. He thinks he is an epic hero.
50. “A letter, however, had lately reached me in a distant part of the country–a letter from him–which, in its wildly importunate nature, had admitted of no other than a personal reply” by Edgar Allan Poe is best paraphrased as
a. “His letter, which was distant in tone, concerned an unfortunate occurrence.”
b. “I had received a letter so insistent that I had to send a personal reply.”
c. “I wrote him a friendly letter, to which he immediately replied.”