Modern American
Literature
Final Exam
Study Guide
4 Sections
A. Literature Comprehension (20 points)
B. Quote ID and Significance (20 pts.)
C. Semester Reading (20 pts.)
D. Essays (40 pts)
Section A – Literature
Comprehension
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20 multiple choice questions
Streetcar Named Desire
The Grapes of Wrath
Snow Falling on Cedars
She’s Come Undone
• “Barn Burning”
• “The Man That Corrupted Hadleyburg”
• Ethan Frome
Part B – Quote Identification
& Significance
• 4 easily identifiable quotes from literature we
have read
• For each quote, identify the speaker and the
plot situation (2 points) and the thematic
significance (3 points).
Part C – Semester Reading
• Here is your last crack at that ever-popular
quiz format where you are given a word bank
and must fill in the blank.
• Excerpts will cover all the literature we have
read this semester.
• 20 blanks to fill
Part D - Essays
• You have to write 2 essays and they are
prescribed.
• In other words, you don’t choose two to
answer from a long list…there are ONLY two
questions, and you must answer both.
• Think about themes.
• Think about the conclusion to She’s Come
Undone.
Themes - …Streetcar
• Class Conflict
• Sex Roles
• Violence and Cruelty
• Madness
Themes – Grapes…
• Hope
• Class Conflict
• Fanaticism
• Individual vs. Society
• Commitment
Themes - …Cedars
• Interracial Love
• Guilt
• Prejudice
Themes - …Undone
• Coming of Age
• The Quest for Happiness
• The Quest for Acceptance
Themes – “Barn Burning”
• Alienation and Loneliness
• Anger and Hatred
• Loyalty and Betrayal
• Morals and Morality
• Order and Disorder
Themes – “…Hadleyburg”
• Hypocrisy
• Morality, Ethics and the
Innateness of Human
Sinfulness
• The Eden Myth and the
“Fortunate Fall”
• Individual versus Society
Themes – Ethan Frome
• Frustration
• Individual Responsibility
• Loneliness