Midterm Flashcards
Where was the first permanent settlement in the new world?
Jamestown, Virginia
What was main motivation for migration to the new world?
Religion, adventure
The two things that sustained the pilgrims through hardship was their will to succeed and their confidence……..
In god’s providential care
During the seventeenth century, the meaning of the term Puritan broadened to include virtually all English Protestants who did not support the Church of England
True
What were the causes of Puritanism’s decline?
With natural prosperity had come worldly interests and goals. Secular values were replacing religious ones. As a result, church membership had fallen
The halfway covenant
Attempted to build up church membership
Deism maintained that the solution to man’s problems lies in human reason rather than in the supernatural revelation of the bible
True
What were three things the deist a believed?
- God created us and is all powerful but doesn’t intervene in man’s affairs
- Man gets better through education
- Man is not flawed, through works we will please God
What had to occur before a distinctly American literature could exist?
Dependence on English literature had to be abandoned
Because colonial literature naturally reflected the interests and concerns of its writers, it is not surprising that the earliest author wrote mostly about…….
Adversity
Once the colonists had established permanent settlement, the subject matter of literature predominantly concerned……..
Religion
Toward the end of the eighteenth century, most writers………..
Presented a secular view of life
In arguing for the worthiness of colonization, smith lists responsibilities to four powers from most to least important. Which order is correct?
God, King, country, ourselves
Bradford began writing of Plymouth plantation in 1630, perhaps because
He was afraid that the Massachusetts bay colony would overshadow the Plymouth colony
Winthrop’s journal primarily focuses on……
God’s providential care for the colonists
According to Winthrop, which type of Liberty does man have in common with animals?
Natural
The primary purpose of literature in early America was entertainment
False, it as instruction
For the most part, early Puritan writers imitate the ornate writing style of popular English authors
False, it was a plain writing style
Modern critics have unjustly criticized the writing of Puritan authors as lacking artistry
True
What are three aspects of Puritan influence?
- work ethic
- goal-centeredness
- the subservience of pleasure to duty
Mrs. Rowlandson’s account of her Indian captivity was one of the most representative works of the seventeenth century in its portrayal of each of the following except
The need to preach the gospel to the Indians
The Puritan diary is considered the basis of what genre of literature?
Biographical or autobiographical
William’s belief about what principle has been influential among religious and political conservatives since his day?
Separation of church and state
What does Bradstreet accomplish more effectively than any other Puritan writer?
The touchingly human feeling of human life
In “upon the burning of our house”, what reason does Bradstreet cite for determining that God is just?
All her goods belong to God
In addition to being a pastor, what other services did Taylor provide for his town?
Physician, and organizer for the defense against the Indians
In “meditation 1.6” what does Taylor want God to be his “spectacles”?
Taylor can examine himself from god’s perspective to see if he indeed had god’s image
What is the theme of edward’s writings?
That religious knowledge must be in the heart not just in the head
Critics agree that Paige’s genius is in his style rather than in his thought
True
Edward Taylor’s view of man’s corrupt nature later influenced authors such as…….
hawthorne and Melville
What were Benjamin Franklin’s religious views?
- God exists and created the world governed by his providence
- the soul is immortal
- crime will be punished and virtue rewarded either her or here after (this life or the next)
- the most acceptable service of God is doing good to man
- he did not accept that Jesus lived, died, and resurrected
What did Paine serve as?
The major spokesman for rationalism
What providentially hindered the immediate effects of the popularity/publication of “the age of reason”?
It was published during america’s second major revival
What made “travels” significant?
Specific observation and literary merit
What was Philip’s frenetic called?
Early america’s first truly American poet
Freneau’s poetry reflects a shift in the literary emphasis from when? And what?
18th century neoclassic style to 19th century romantic style
Freneau’s poetry compared to the puritans show a………
Fundamental shift in the view of God and man
What was the years of the literary spirit of romanticism?
1820-1865
When was the time when American literature matured and the U.S. Won literary independence from England?
The time of American romanticism
Underlying the literary romanticism of this period of national optimism was:
- A national/word of optimism
- A spirit of confidence in the economy, political system, and the citizenry of the nation
American literature seemed what even to Americans (besides being commercially or military equal)
Culturally inferior, especially to England’s
What are the four key elements of American romanticism?
Individualism
Imagination
Nature
The distant
Tell me a little bit about the element of American romanticism which is individualism
Romantic individualism regarded man as a individual superior to man in the mass
Tell me a little bit about the element of American romanticism which is called imagination
- romantics considered the imagination to be of primary importance in literary creation
- romantics favored experimentation
Tell me a little bit about the element of American romanticism which is called nature
- nature provided romantics both the means of knowing truth and the actual subject matter of their literature
- they believed God is understandable only through nature
Tell me a little bit about the element of American romanticism which is called the distant
The two aspects of the sense of distance employed by the romantic writers were space and time
What element of American romanticism is least objectionable to the puritans?
The distant
The publication of darwin’s “origin of species” was the event that brought more attacks against what then any other source
The bible
The crucial turning point in our national spirit came during which period?
American romanticism
The recurrence of consonant sounds at the beginning of nearby stressed syllables is called?
Alliteration
The recurrence of vowel sounds in nearby stressed syllables
Assonance
The recurrence of consonant sounds in nearby stressed syllables
Consonance
One of of the things a complete metrical analysis of a poem that includes identification of a major pause within the poem’s lines is what?
Caesura
A poem consisting of his life speech by a character addressing an audience at a moment in the story is called what?
Dramatic monologue
The use of words that sound like what they mean is called what?
Onomatopoeia
A word or phrase that conveys an impression appealing to one of the five senses is called what?
Image
Narrative perspective. The way a story is told is called what?
Point of view
The manner of expression in prose or verse, in written or oral disease is called what?
Style
Irving was the first American writer to Emphasize what purpose of writing?
Entertainment
Compared to the other New England poets, what made Longfellow different?
He used the greatest variety of genres and verse forms
What is an aspect of cooper’s work that has special interest to the Christian?
The Christian values of Natty Bumpo’s character
One of the dominant themes of the novel James fenimore cooper wrote is?
Initiation (for example the introduction of an untried youth the harsh realities of life)
Bryant’s poetry was classic in style but what in content?
Romantic
Henry wadsworth Longfellow compared to the other New England poets what made him different?
He used the greates variety of genres and verse forms
Line 12 of “Divina Commedia” which says “the tumult of the time disconsolate” refers to what rather then personal grief?
The civil war
John green leaf whittiers poetry presents a detailed picture of what?
Rural life
What is a aspect that causes problems from a biblical standpoint?
The idea that a person’s spiritual intuition has authority equal to or greater than the bible
James Russell Lowell was not the first American poet who makes a living primarily from his poetry
True
“The lesson” is not antholigized very often in secular collections because why?
Because of clear moral emphasis on god’s superiority to man
Which poem launched Holmes’s literary career?
Old Ironsides
Transcendentalism originated with which German philosopher?
Immanuel Kant
Where does transcendentalism come from?
It comes from German idealism, eastern and western mysticism, Hinduism, and Neoplatonism
Transcendentalism masqueraded as a what?
Religion (fundamentally anti-christian)
In transcendentalism, the true God is who?
The over-soul
Transcendentalism lead to what religion?
Pantheism ( the worship of the universe as God)
The chief literary spokesman of transcendentalism was who?
Emerson
Who was a pivotal figure in American literature?
Emerson
Who defined poetry a “meter making argument”?
Emerson
Emerson was described as what?
As the 19 century arch-heretic
What is the theme/central idea of emerson’s self-reliance?
Man should be a passive receiver of present truth
What following ideas represents thoreau’s view?
- The individual is above the state
- Ideally, citizens should be neighbors to the state rather then subjects
- A person is justified in breaking any law he considers bad
What did Thoreau apply to politics?
Transcendental principles
Tell me a little bit about Walt Whitman.
- he extended Emerson’s ideas to their logical outcomes
- his most harmful long-range effect has been to encourage freedom in poetic content style
- he has a strong influence on modern American poetry
What does whitman’s work reveal?
- self worship
- sexual explicitness
- unity with nature
What three dominant symbols are in the poem “when lilacs in the dooryard bloom’d”?
Lilac, star, and thrush
“Dark mother” and “strong deliveress” refers to what?
A song of praise to death
What is a thrush?
A thrush is a bird
