Literature: Selections Flashcards
Who is the author of “The World is Too Much With Us”?
William Wordsworth
Where in England was William Wordsworth born (it is also known as the Lake District)?
Cumberland
Where did William Wordsworth attend college?
St. John’s College
- he became disenchanted by the competitive nature of his studies here, and instead found solace in an extended summer walking tour of Revolutionary France in 1790
What major world event had an enormous impact on William Wordsworth’s early work?
the French Revolution
To what historical movement did William Wordsworth contribute to?
the Romantic movement
What was the name of the group of English poets that William Wordsworth was a part of?
the Lake Poets
What was unique about the group of English poets that William Wordsworth was a part of, the Lake Poets?
they were grouped together by geographic residence and the subject of their poetry and prose (the surrounding lakes and the relationship between man and nature in general)
What was a main feature of William Wordsworth’s poems that contradicted the popular poetry of the preceding periods?
his
- focus on representing common folk as his subjects
- and using vernacular language
William Wordsworth criticized what revolution for its treatment of workers and its despoliation of nature?
the Industrial Revolution
Famous poems such as “The Prelude” and “Michael” were written by who?
William Wordsworth
William Wordsworth’s “The World Is Too Much With Us” is in what form of poem?
sonnet
What defines an English sonnet?
14 lines written of iambic pentameter
What defines a Petrarchan sonnet?
the last 6 lines (sestet) provide a response or answer to the first 8 lines (octave)
What is distinctive about a Shakespearian sonnet?
features 3 quatrains and a rhyming couplet to “answer” or provide a solution to, the problem introduced in the earlier lines
What is an overarching theme of William Wordsworth’s “The World Is Too Much With Us”?
humanity’s alienation from nature
During what period of time is “The World Is Too Much With Us” situated?
the Industrial Revolution
The speaker appealing to God in line 9 of “The World Is Too Much With Us” is an example of what kind of literary device?
apostrophe
The speaker’s reference to Greek gods associated with the sea in “The World Is Too Much With Us” is an example of what kind of literary device?
allusion
Who is the author of “Freeway 280”?
Lorna Dee Cervantes
What year was Lorna Dee Cervantes born?
1954
Where was Lorna Dee Cervantes raised?
San Jose, California
Lorna Dee Cervantes is of Mexican and ________ _________ descent.
Native American (Chumash)
How did Lorna Dee Cervantes’s childhood affect the themes she expresses in her poetry?
She was strictly forbidden from speaking any language but English in her home because her parents were concerned with prejudice against Spanish-speaking citizens in the US
- she includes themes in her poetry surrounding identity, feminism, cultural heritage, social justice, and capturing the complex experiences of Lantinx communities
What was the name of the 2007 interview in which Lorna Dee Cervantes explained that Pablo Neruda’s poetry was a strong influence in her life, as well as that of Maya Angelou, Phillis Wheatley, Gwendolyn Brooks, and other Black women poets?
“Poetry Saved My Life”
How is Lorna Dee Cervantes’s approach and relationship with poetry similar to that of William Wordsworth’s?
they were both greatly concerned with class-consciousness, and deliberately writing in an accessible style
- Lorna Dee Cervantes writes in a style accessible for bilingual speakers
What two languages does Lorna Dee Cervantes mix in her poem “Freeway 280”?
English and Spanish
What two elements are juxtaposed in “Freeway 280”?
the colorful, rioting embrace of “wild roses and man-high red geraniums” against the stark, desolate imagery of the manmade freeway that cuts across the land like a gash
What kind of diction is “Freeway 280” described to have?
dreary
What is the speaker’s relationship with the freeway in “Freeway 280”/why is it complicated?
- speaker used to remember wishing that the freeway would take her away, and used to represent freedom in that sense
- now, searches to reconnect with their history and home, searches for the grassy fields outside of the city (kind of like Lorna Dee Cervantes’s struggle with being forced to only speak English as a child, and then finding her roots again!!)
Who is the author of “Different Ways to Pray”?
Naomi Shihab Nye
What year was Naomi Shihab Nye born?
1952
Where was Naomi Shihab Nye born?
St. Louis, Missouri
Where did Naomi Shihab Nye move as a teenager, only to leave after one year?
West Bank, Palestine
Naomi Shihab Nye has spent much of her life where, and even teaches creative writing there?
Texas, teaches creative writing at Texas State University
In 2013, Naomi Shihab Nye received what award?
Neustadt Prize for Children’s Literature
How many Pushcart prizes has Naomi Shihab Nye won?
4
About how many volumes of poetry has Naomi Shihab Nye written?
over 20 volumes of poetry
What does Naomi Shihab Nye’s poems advocate for?
Arab Americans, particularly in the wake of the discriminatory backlash against Muslims, Arabs, Sikhs, South Asians, and other individuals perceived to be from Middle Eastern backgrounds that followed the 9/11 terrorists attacks.
Where was Heather McHugh raised?
Virginia
What author do these awards correspond to?
chancellor of the Academy of American Poets, Guggenheim fellow, and the recipient of a MacArthur Genius Award, Pushcart Prize for poetry, and the Griffin Prize, shortlisted for the Pulitzer Prize in 2004
Where did Heather McHugh earn a BA from in 1970?
Harvard
Where did Heather McHugh earn her Master’s degree?
University of Denver (1972)
What was the name of the nonprofit organization that Heather McHugh managed after retiring from teaching at the University of Washington?
CAREGIFTED
What is something ironic about Heather McHugh’s “Webcam the World”?
her poem asks people to use technologies to document the world that is being ravaged by the existence of those same technologies
What word does “Webcam the World” give a double-meaning to to play on the poem’s irony?
“save”: we can save documents or files to a computer, but saving the world through documentation isn’t the same as saving or protecting species of plants and animals, their habitats, and humankind
Who is the author of “The Blue”?
Camille T. Dungy
Where did Camille T. Dungy receive her BA?
Stanford University
Where did Camille T. Dungy receive her MFA (master in fine arts)?
University of North Carolina Greensboro
Camille T. Dungy’s collection “Smith Blue” (2011) was the winner of what award?
2010 Crab Orchard Open Book Prize
True or False: Camille T. Dungy was the recipient of a Guggenheim fellowship for poetry.
true
What did Camille T. Dungy have to do with an anthology of African-American environmental poetry titled “Black Nature: Four Centuries of African American Nature Poetry”?
she was the editor of the anthology
Where does Camille T. Dungy teach?
Colorado State University
The resource guide mentions that in addtion to poetry, Camille T. Dungy is a prolific _________ at her home in Colorado.
gardener
The resource guide mentions that Camille T. Dungy includes the garden as a site of _________ ___________.
poetic vision
Whose influences include Robin Wall Kimmerer, Jamaica Kincaid, Barbara Kingslover, and Aimee Nezhukumatahil?
Camille T. Dungy
What was the name of the person whom the Smith’s Blue butterfly was named after?
Claude I. Smith
Who was the person who discovered the Smith’s Blue butterfly and named it after his friend?
Rudi Mattoni
What is the plant that the Smith’s Blue butterfly depends on for food and where they lay their eggs?
buckwheat
What has the Smith’s Blue butterfly’s buckwheat been replaced with along the coast?
invasive ice plant
Where does Rudi Mattoni finally discover the source of his friend’s pleasure (the Smith’s Blue butterfly)?
in the manzanitas near Dolan Creek
Where was Oliver Baez Bendorf born and raised?
Iowa
What is the name of Oliver Baez Bendorf’s upcoming poetry book?
“Consider the Rooster” (2024)
What was the name of Oliver Baez Bendorf’s book that received the 2019 CSU Poetry Center Open Book Prize?
“Advantages of Being Evergreen”
What are the two institutions that the resource guide says Oliver Baez Bendorf has taught at?
University of Wisconsin and Kalamazoo College (in Michigan)
What does the resource guide says that Oliver Baez Bendorf describes poems as?
“bodies on the page”
What are two main ideas that Oliver Baez Bendorf’s poems explore?
becoming and transformation
Who wrote a review of Baez Bendorf’s “The Advantages of Being Evergreen” and noted that his poems engage with despair?
Luiza Flynn-Goodlet
What year was “Evergreen” written (not the same as when it was published!)?
2016
What is the symbolism behind winter woods in “Evergreen”?
a solitary place that beckons and calls for quiet introspection
What helps break the speaker’s reverie in “Evergreen”?
the scent of basil
When a plant is an evergreen, what does it indicate?
that the plant retains its green leaves all year round
Who is the author of “The Air Smelled Dirty”?
Marge Piercy
What is Marge Piercy’s ethnicity?
Jewish-American
Where was Marge Piercy born?
Detroit, Michigan
Who does Marge Piercy credit with instilling in her a passion for poetry and Judaism?
her mother
Who is Marge Piercy’s husband?
Ira Wood
What is the name of the publishing company that Marge Piercy and her husband Ira Wood founded in 1993?
Leapfrog Press
Where did Marge Piercy attend school for her undergrad and then her master’s degree?
University of Michigan and then Northwestern University
How many honorary doctorates has Marge Piercy been awarded?
four
How many volumes of poetry has Marge Piercy published?
over 20
What was Marge Piercy’s father’s occupation?
he grew up in a soft coal mining town in Pennsylvania and later became a heavy machinery repairman
Piercy’s reference to her cousins being _______ signifies the difficult kinds of labor that were afforded to immigrants in the early 20th century, and even now.
Welsh
What are clinkers?
waste caused by combustion and heating of coal
What was the name of Amanda Gorman’s poem that she read at the 2021 presidential inauguration?
“The Hill We Climb”
Amanda Gorman was the nation’s first…?
National Youth Poet Laureate
Why did Amanda Gorman start writing and reciting poetry?
she had a speech impediment when she was younger, and used poetry to help her find her voice as a young girl
Who is cited as one of Amanda Gorman’s influences to become a delegate for the United Nations?
Malala Yousafzai
When did Amanda Gorman become a delegate for the United Nations?
2013
Amanda Gorman earned a degree in sociology from what university?
Harvard
What was the name of Amanda Gorman’s children’s book?
“Change Sings: A Children’s Anthem” (2021)
What was the name of Amanda Gorman’s collection of poetry that she authored in 2021?
“Call Us What We Carry”
How old was Amanda Gorman when she performed “Earthrise”?
20 years old
What was the organization that initiated Amanda Gorman’s performance of “Earthrise” in 2018?
Climate Reality Leadership Corps
What NASA space mission does “Earthrise” reference?
1968 Apollo 8 mission
Who were the astronauts that comprised NASA’s Apollo 8 mission crew?
Frank Borman, William (Bill) Anders, and James A. Lovell, Jr.
Who was the author of “The Machine Stops”
E.M. Forster
E.M. Forster was a prolific writer during what era?
the Edwardian era
The Edwardian period occurred between the __________ age and World War I?
Victorian
What was the collection of English intellectuals, artists, philosophers, and writers that EM Forester was a part of?
Bloomsbury Group
The Bloomsbury Group contributed to what in literature, philosophy, and art?
modernism
What is the name of the main character in “The Machine Stops”?
Vashti
What is the name of the main character’s son in “The Machine Stops”?
Kuno
Where do people live in the dystopian world of “The Machine Stops”?
underground
What do the people in “The Machine Stops” say about nature?
“it gives no ideas”
Why does Vashti become infuriated at the flight attendant?
the flight attendant reaches out and tries to save Vashti from falling
What is “homelessness” in “The Machine Stops”?
being put outside of the Machine to live on the surface of the Earth
considered equivalent to death
The second section of “The Machine Stops” highlights what theme in highlighting competing philosophies about the nature of life and the value of technological advancement among members of the Machine’s society?
CARTESIAN DUALISM (AKA the division between subject and object, the thinking mind, and the mechanical world, mind vs body)
What are some famous children’s books that EB White wrote?
“Stewart Little” and “Charlotte’s Web”
What year did EB White win the Pulitzer Prize?
1978
What magazine was EB White an essayist and editor for after his short career in working in newspapers?
The New Yorker
Who co-authored “The Elements of Style” with EB White?
William Strunk Jr.
Where was “Once More to the Lake” first published?
in Harper’s Magazine in 1941
EB White’s essay “Once More to the Lake” takes place on a lake in what state?
Maine
EB White uses the metaphor of what to enhance the image of the sanctity the narrator felt as he communed with the water?
cathedral
Who was the author of “The Toxic Donut”?
Terry Bisson
What was the name of the memoir that Terry Bisson co-authored with his aunt?
“A Green River Girlhood”
What did Terry Bisson originally begin his career as?
an auto mechanic
Terry Bission self-identified himself as a member of what political movement in the 1960s in which activists took on “anti-Establishment” views and sought free speech and academic freedom on college campuses, civil rights, gay rights, and the rejection of gender roles, and drug policy reform?
the “New Left”
“The Toxic Donut” was originally published in what 1993 collection?
“Bears Discover Fire and Other Stories”
What was the name of the US federal housing project established on Chicago’s Southside in the 1940s for African-American veterans of WWII?
Altgeld Gardens
Who is credited with coming up with the name “Toxic Donut” in reference to Altgeld Gardens after the area occupied by the public housing project has for decades been a dumping ground for toxic waste?
Hazel Johnson
What company dumped their toxic waste at the site of Altgeld Gardens?
Pullman Palace Car Company
For “The Toxic Donut” Terry Bisson writes from the perspective of what?
environmental justice
What are the names of the two videos that are supposed to air during the show in “The Toxic Donut”?
- “Evils of Science”
- “glad video”
Who is the author of “Epiphany in the Beans”?
Robin Wall Kimmerer
Where was Robin Wall Kimmerer born?
New York
Robin Wall Kimmerer is an enrolled member in what tribe?
the Potawatomi Tribe
What is Robin Wall Kimmerer’s position at the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry?
SUNY Distinguished Teaching Professor
- she teaches environmental and forest biology and directs the Center for Native Peoples and the Environment
Robin Wall Kimmerer is a ________ by training.
botanist
What is the indigenous creation story of Skywoman?
Skywoman buried her daughter in the ground and plants grew from her body–signifying interdependent relationship between body and earth
How does Robin Wall Kimmerer believe the land loves us back?
through providing gifts and teaching us how to cultivate the plants
What is Robin Wall Kimmerer’s remedy for the restoration of the land?
people should grow gardens: “once you develop a relationship with a little patch of earth, it becomes a seed itself”
Who is the author of “Space Leek”?
Chen Qiufan
How many Nebula awards has Chen Qiufan received for his Chinese science fiction works?
12
What is the name of Chen Qiufan’s novel that depicts humans as cyborgs working in e-waste recycling plants in China
“The Waste Tide” (2013)
Where was Chen Qiufan born?
Shantou, Guangdong Province
Where did Chen Qiufan receive his degree in literature and film?
Peking University
After Chen Qiufan received his degree, where did he work?
briefly in real estate and then for Google China
What was unique about the time period that Chen Qiufan grew up in in China?
1980s brought about a cultural shift, where China become more open, and state control over culture loosened, and Western ideas flowed freely into the country
What is the nickname for the Yutu-3 space station?
Roast Garlic
Where did the narrator’s partner in “Space Leek” grow up?
metropolis of Shenzhen
Where did the narrator in “Space Leek” grow up?
Shandong
What is the narrator’s name in “Space Leek”?
Shengnan
What is the name of Shengnan’s partner in “Space Leek”?
Jing
The Yutu-3 space station is shaped like what?
a mortar and pestle
