Study Guide American Literature Final Exam Spring 2011 [1]
Literary Terms:
1. Allusions :
2. Onomatopoeia :
3. Hyperbole :
4. Metaphor :
5. Simile :
6. Imagery : (Be able to identify which images appeal to which sense – sound, taste, smell, sight, touch etc)
7. Symbol, Symbolism
8. (What do symbols do? What do they not do?) :
9. What does the nectar in Emily Dickinson’s “Success is counted sweetest” symbolize?
10. As used in Walt Whitman’s poem “I Hear America Singing”), what does the word singing symbolize?
11. Irony :
Verbal :
Situational :
NOTE: Be familiar with irony as used in Stephen Crane’s “Mystery of Heroism” (short story) and “War is Kind” (poem) and in Edwin Arlington Robinson’s poems “Miniver Cheevy” and “Richard Cory.”
12. Theme :

Study Guide American Literature Final Exam Spring 2011
13. What is a common theme found in Walt Whitman’s poetry?
14. Purpose :
15. Point-of-view :
First person:
16. Idiom :
17. Cliché :
18. What does this cliché mean?
“Monica fails to see that all that glitters is not gold?”
Drama
19. Theatre of the absurd :
20. Expressionist drama :
Poetry
21. Alliteration :
22. Rhyme, end :
23. Rhyme, slant :
24. Catalog :
25. In “I Hear America Singing” Whitman uses a catalog to
26. Cadence :
[2]

Study Guide American Literature Final Exam Spring 2011 [3]
27. Free verse :
Literary Periods
28. Realism :
29. Specifically: what were realistic writers doing after the Civil War?
30. Naturalism :
31. Specifically: What did Naturalists believe about human life?
Conventions:
32. Parallel structure (parallelism) :
Know the correct usage of quotation marks (direct and indirect quotations).
Be able to identify incorrect agreement in a sentence (as well as verb tenses ).
Be able to identify correct / incorrect use of semicolons.
Dangling modifiers:
Dangling modifiers are modifiers that do not clearly and sensibly modify any word or word group in the sentence.
For example: Determined,
Christy Haubegger’s plan was to publish a bilingual magazine for Hispanic women.
-The word “determined” does not actually modify a word or word group – its placement indicates that the magazine was determined. The writer wants to express the determination of Christy Haubegger, but needs to rework the sentence:
CORRECT: Determined , Christy Haubegger planned to publish a bilingual magazine for
Hispanic women.

Study Guide American Literature Final Exam Spring 2011 [4]
ALSO CORRECT: Christy Haubegger was determined to publish a bilingual magazine for Hispanic women.
Hyphens:
Don’t use hyphens if the modifier before a noun is an adverb ending in –ly:
An elegantly arranged table
A happily married couple
The reason for this is because hyphens between words “link” the words so there is no confusion about what is being modified. However, an adverb ending in –ly always modifies the word that follow it.
33. Thesis statement :
(Know how to determine what’s a good thesis statement)