Language and Literature Final Flashcards
What consequence of WWI most shook the foundations of Western civilization?
increased global poverty
What 1944 battle most damaged Germany’s plans for world domination?
Normandy
What term best describes Anna Seghers as a child?
sanguine
What theme was most prevalent in Anna Seghers’ writing?
working-class life
Which Franz Kafka parable does Transit paraphrase in the tale of a man waiting in eternity?
“Before the Law”
For what reason did the Nazi government least persecute Anna Seghers?
believing in social justice
With what person would Anna Seghers most likely argue?
a politician
Why did the French authorities detain Anna Seghers’ husband?
They considered him a foreign troublemaker
What group did the Moscow show trials most persecute?
Nazi associates
What novel did Anna Seghers publish in East Germany?
The Decision
What theme did the SED demand East German fiction reflect?
the benefits of socialism
What main obstacle impeded the Seghers family’s emigration from France to Mexico?
They needed to obtain multiple permits
Into which zones did the 1940 armistice divide France?
German-occupied and free zones
How does the narrator’s romantic quest in Transit end?
His rival defeats him
What event mentioned in Transit best exemplifies the narrator’s prophetic role?
the collapse of totalitarian rule
Why does the narrator of Transit find Achselroth “a really unpleasant guy”?
He abandons his friend.
Both Weidel and his real-life inspiration counterpart
committed suicide as the German army advanced
What term best describes Paul in Transit?
resourceful
What pretext did Germany provide for taking over France in 1942?
protecting France from the Allies
What element of the refugees’ departure process described in Transit is most Kafkaesque?
Bureaucrats lose sight of the refugees’ humanity
Achselroth first betrays his friends in Transit when he
leaves occupied France without them
The bureaucrat who refuses the Transit narrator’s visa is best described as suffering from
megalomania
What theme appears in the New Testament passage read at the Marseille church in Transit?
danger
In Transit, Anna Seghers employs the story of Sisyphus to
critique the military
What Anna Seghers work immediately preceded Transit?
The Seventh Cross
What German term best describes Transit?
exilroman
Rebecca West’s realism is best described as
psychological
What similarity does Rebecca West identify between intellectuals and house cats in “A Day in Town”?
They rely on the generosity of people they disdain
What aim does the narrator of “Thoughts on Peace in an Air Raid” have?
thinking peace into existence
Why does the narrator of “Thoughts on Peace in an Air Raid” suggest civilization requires women’s contribution?
Traditional male values glorify violence
True or False: “Thoughts on Peace in an Air Raid” says that patriarchal societies are more vulnerable because they have weaker defense systems.
False
True or False: Rebecca West’s work has not remained popular because it is not easily classified.
True
Where did the Auden Group first meet?
Oxford
What element of W.H. Auden’s writing most contributed to his reputation as an astute poet?
He accurately predicted social events
The speaker’s reference to Pericles’ funeral oration in “September 1, 1939” most likely alludes to the
meaning of democracy
Early readers of Keith Douglas’s poems most often found his work
disturbing
Which poet’s work does the theme of Keith Douglas’s “Desert Flowers” most resemble?
John McCrae
What two words best form a pararhyme in “Desert Flowers”?
“words” and “discards”
Why is the speaker of “Vergissmeinnicht” only “almost content” upon viewing his dead enemy?
He shares in the man’s humanity
Before enlisting in the military, Donald Bain was an
editor
