Final Flashcards
Where was the first permanent settlement in the new world?
Jamestown, Virginia (1607)
What sustained the pilgrims through the hardships of their first years in New England?
Will to succeed
Confidence in God’s providential care
What was the cause of puritanism’s decline?
Secular values replaced religious ones
Spiritual fervor declined
Material prosperity brought worldly interest and goals
Because colonial literature naturally reflected the interests and concerns of its writers, it is not surprising that the earliest authors wrote mostly about -
Adversity because of environmental threats
Once he colonists had established permanent settlements, the subject matter of literature predominately concerned -
Religion
Underlying the literary romanticism of the period of national optimism was -
National mood of optimism
A spirit of confidence in the econo,y, political system, and the citizenry of the nation
Literary romanticism was a revolt against the literary values of -
The previous age
As romanticism brought respectability to American letters, American writers made important contributions to what two genres?
Short story
Novel
The crucial turning point in our national spirit came thus during -
American romanticism
What event brought more at tanks against the bible than did any other source?.
The publication of Darwin’s “Origin of species”
The new literary spirit of romanticism dominate American literature during what years?
1820-1865
Realism and naturalism appeared on the literary scene in the period -
1865-1914
The three major groups of writers during this period were -
Regionalists
Realists
Naturalists
The three writers who are considered the “masters of realism” are -
Howells
James
Clemens
How are naturalists best described? What is their belief?
They believed that life was controlled by inexplicable forces
The Regionalists served as the transition between what two groups of writers?
Major romantics and major realists
What event in 1914 makes the end if the literary period characterized by the emergence of realism and naturalism?
Beginning of World War I
What spirit of literary force did each of the following authors embody?
Howells, James, Clemens
Howells - middle class spirit James - cosmopolitan / international spirit Clemens - frontier spirit
At the end of the literary period of realism and naturalism, what was the prevailing spirit?
Pessimism
What publication gained Bret Harte fame?
“The Luck of the Roaring Camp”
Ambrose Bierce was regarded by many as the first American writer to use what?
Black humor
What is Hamlin Garland’s grams of realism described as and what does it mean?
Vertism : truth
What literary element do Sarah Orne Jewett’s short stories emphasize?
Characterization
What type of people did Sarah Orne Jewett write about?
Simple country people of Maine
Why did Dickinson say that she rejected Christ?
“It is hard to give up the world”
How did Dickinson dress and when ?
She dressed in all white during the last years of life.
What did William Dean Howells bring respectability to?
Realism
In The American, how is Christopher Newman described?
Determined, intelligent, and resourceful (not sophisticated)
What is Henry James noted for?
His psychological realism
What did Henry James develop through his characters?
“International theme”
What did Henry James react against in fiction
Didactism
In The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, what does Samuel Longhorns Clemens use to tie the episodes together?
Common setting
What did Samuel Langhorne Clemens make into an artistic form?
Colloquial speech of the frontier
From your notes, what two things is Samuel Langhorne Clemens described as?
Humanist and satirist
What made Samuel Langhorne Clemens famous?
A tall tale
In God Fashioned the Ship of the World Carefully, the ship travels on the sea with
No direction
In what poem does Crane show the futility of man’s pursuit of happiness?
“I Saw a Man Pursuing the Horizon”
Crane’s writings probed the inner workings of what?
A young soldier’s mind
What is the theme of The Bride Comes to Yellow Sky?
The conflict between civilization and rugged individualism is exemplified in the clash between the settled east and the uncivilized west
What is the theme of God Fashioned the Ship of the World Carefully?
Both God and the world are responsible for the world”s directionless course
What is the theme of I Saw a Man Pursuing the Horizon?
The pursuit of happiness is absurd
This poem shows the futility of man’s pursuit of happiness.
What is the theme of A Man Said to the Univese?
Whatever controlling over may exist feels no sense of obligation to man
What is the theme of Should the Wide World Roll Away?
The ultimate values are only human values
As a naturalist, what did London seem to believe regarding humans and animals?
There is no essential difference
What is the theme for The Law of Life?
Man’s life is no different from that of the animals
In order for the species to remain strong, the weak and the ill are weeded out by nature
What does The Law of Life show regarding get the continuation of the race?
It’s more important than the individual
Jack London’s writings reveal his deep interest in what?
Evolution
Norris’ works stress the importance of what forces in shaping one’s life?
Social and economic forced
Who greatly influenced Frank Norris?
Emile Sola and Theodore Dreiser
What is the theme of The Octopus?
Man is trapped by economic and social forces
Markham’s basic philosophy reflects what?
Although man’s plight is at times tragic, it is not completely hopeless
Man is capable of solving his own problems
Man in his fullest potential can be “godlike”
What is the dominant tone of The Man With the Hoe? AND what is the one optimistic implication?
Melancholic
One optimistic implication is the poem’s warning implies that a solution to the problem presented is at least possible
What is Porter’s trademark in his writing ?
Surprise ending
What is the literary element porter focuses most on?
Plot
What is the definition of situational irony?
A contrast between supposition and reality
What does literature of the 1930s, like John Steinbeck’s Grapes of Wrath, generally emphasize?
Social issues
What primarily characterizes the Modern Era?
Pessimism
According to Freud, what is conscience a result of?
Social conditioning
What author and book h age had the most significant lasting effects on the modern debasement of man?
Charles Darwin and “Origin of Species”
What are the two contrasting and erroneous views of man that have affected the American thought since World War I?
Man is merely an animal
Man is his own God
What is the name of the substitute religion that defies man, rejects God and advocates a one-world system?
Humanism
Liberalism attempts to reconcile what two entities?
Traditional Christianity
Modern world view
In what region of the South is most of Welty’s fiction set?
Mississippi Delta Country
Where have her short stories regularly appeared?
National Magazines
What did Eudora Welty win?
Pulitzer Prize
Despite the win, what did Eudora Welty choose regarding where she wanted to live?
She chose not to move from her home region
What is the major theme of August 2026: There Will Come Soft Rains?
Mankind will wait too long to take action to stop its own destruction
What did Ray Bradbury do while he was in high school?
Founded and adores a small, informal literary publication called Futura Fantasia
Before settling on writing, what did he Rat Bradbury do?
Briefly tried acting
How is Stockdale’s love of freedom beat explained?
An understanding that stems from knowledge of its rarity
What had to occur before a distinctly American literature could exist?
Early writers had to cast off their child like dependence on English literature
