AMERICAN LITERATURE
FINAL EXAM STUDY GUIDE
Literary Texts: Native American myths, The Crucible, seminal US documents, the poetry of
Emily Dickinson, “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow,” the poetry of Langston Hughes, A Raisin in the
Sun, The Great Gatsby, “The Ballot or the Bullet,” “My First Conk” from Autobiography of
Malcolm X, Malcolm X (movie)
Grammar: commas, capitalization, hyphens, colons, semi-colons, active and passive voice
Writing: traditional format of a five-paragraph essay including format of introduction (e.g.
thesis), body paragraph (e.g. key points), and conclusion
Research: different reference materials and their purposes (e.g. thesaurus, atlas, encyclopedia,
scholarly article/journal, etc.), abstracts, credibility of sources, works cited page purpose and
formatting, in-text/parenthetical citation purpose and formatting, MLA formatting, primary vs.
secondary sources
Literary Time Periods in American Literature: Native American, Colonial, Revolutionary,
Romanticism/Transcendentalism, Realism, Naturalism, Modernism, Harlem Renaissance
Literary Terms: alliteration, anaphora, anecdote, assonance, autobiography, biography,
characterization (direct and indirect), chiasmus, chronological/chronological order, comedy,
conflict (internal and external; different types of each), connotation, credibility, dialogue, diary,
diction, dictionary, dramatic irony, ethos, logos, pathos, encyclopedia, end rhyme, epistolary,
euphemism, expository text, fixed form poetry, frame narrative, free verse, hyperbole, idiom, in
media res, infer, internal monologue, internal rhyme, metaphor, mood, personification, point of
view (first-person, second-person, third-person limited, third-person omniscience), reliable vs.
unreliable narrator, rhetoric, rhyme scheme, sarcasm, satire, setting, simile, slant rhyme,
sonnet, stream of consciousness, symbolism, textual evidence, theme, tone, tragedy
SAMPLE QUESTIONS
Which of the following is NOT a trait of Native American myths?
In Act II of The Crucible, what is implied by John Proctor’s statement to his wife when he says “You ought to bring
in some flowers….it is winter in here yet?”
What can the audience infer from the brief scene involving Tituba, Sarah Good, and Herrick
that opens The Crucible, Act IV?
What is ironic about calling the confessions of witchcraft “coming to God” in The Crucible, Act IV ?
By Act IV of The Crucible what lesson has Elizabeth Proctor learned during her three months’ imprisonment?
The phrase “jumbo shrimp” is an example of what literary device?
From where does A Raisin in the Sun get its name?
Where does A Raisin in the Sun take place?
How could you describe Ruth and Walter’s relationship at the beginning of the play?
How does Mama act when the check comes?
What is Mama’s motive for buying a house in the all-white community of Clybourne Park?
What decade is the setting for The Great Gatsby?
The Great Gatsby is an example of a literary text from which period?
What did Nick’s father always tell him?
Why did Gatsby throw such huge parties?
Who said, "An Oxford man! … Like hell he is! He wears a pink suit"?
What happened to Malcolm X’s father?
A prominent theme in the excerpt “My First Conk” from The Autobiography of Malcolm X is…
What was the main purpose of Malcolm X’s speech “The Ballot or the Bullet”?
Identify the type of rhetorical device contained in this quote from “The Ballot or the Bullet”: “America today finds
herself in a unique situation.”
A narrator who knows everything about everybody is said to be written in…
The repetition of consonant sounds at the beginning of nearby words is…
Identify the point of view of this sentence: “As I looked out the window, I saw Ben slowly approaching.”
How many lines are in a sonnet?
Writing that makes fun of or criticizes society in the hope that it will cause people to make a change for the better
is….
If a commercial on TV was trying to persuade you to adopt a neglected animal from the humane society by
showing you sad pictures of crippled and sad-looking puppies and kittens, which type of persuasive appeal
would be used?
Another name for an extended metaphor is…
A story with more than one layer of meaning is…
To be polite, some people say “breaking wind” or “passing gas” instead of “farting.” What literary device is this?
The beat of a poem is…
Which sentence contains an UNNECESSARY hyphen?
A poet is working to create a consistent meter in his poem, but he isn't sure where the stresses fall in a long word
he's planning to use. What source should he use to find this information?
Which sentence contains a correctly used semicolon?
The purpose of a thesis statement is to…
In what order should sources be listed on a Works Cited page?
The purpose of an abstract is to…