“American Literature: A Series of Movements”

Honors English III: Final Exam

Explanation: This is a practice test based off of Mr. Steigleder’s “Honors American Literature: Semester Final
Study Guide.” This test will follow his description of the final. Thus, the majority of this test will be
short answer (i.e. “put the correct word or phrase on the line”). There will be a brief matching section to
test your knowledge of chronology (i.e. “put these events in order”). There will be a total of around 75-
100 questions. Expect one or two “passage identifications.” Also expect a brief essay question based off
of American exceptionalism. I recommend taking this test after studying for at least a couple of hours.
See Katie Schmarr’s Facebook Wall for an excellent study guide. Good luck.

Directions: Fill in the blank with the correct word or phrase.

IN GENERAL: For questions 1-7, identify as 1. ________________________________________

specifically as possible the movement of which the
writer, author, poet, or artist is a part. 2. ________________________________________
1. Jonathan Edwards 3. ________________________________________
2. Henry David Thoreau 4. ________________________________________
3. John Winthrop 5. ________________________________________
4. Benjamin Franklin
6. ________________________________________
5. Herman Melville
7. ________________________________________
6. Edgar Allan Poe
7. Thomas Paine
8. ________________________________________
CONTEXT: England has had a major influence on 9. ________________________________________
American literature. For questions 8-15, fill in the
blank with the correct word or phrase. 10. _______________________________________
8. In 1527, Henry VIII (in)famously married who 11. _______________________________________
after the Vatican denied his requests for a 12. _______________________________________
divorce from Catherine of Aragon?
13. _______________________________________
9. In response to the Vatican’s unfavorable
decision, Henry VIII did what? 14. _______________________________________
10. During Queen Mary’s reign, which individual 15. _______________________________________
famously nailed “theses” to a door?
11. Which person within the Protestant camp
stressed the ideas of predestination, grace,
and the “Elect”?
12. Complete the following phrase: “the sun never
sets on the…”
13. During the period of American colonization, the
English government gave what to many
different types of settlements?
14. Where did John Smith land in America?
15. This movement within Protestantism is based
off of the idea that “faith alone saves.”

continued on the following page…

THE MOVEMENT: For questions 16-25, fill in 16. _______________________________________
the blank with the correct word or phrase.
17. _______________________________________
16. Nathaniel Hawthorne wrote about a society
based on which movement in his piece 18. _______________________________________
entitled The Scarlet Letter? 19. _______________________________________
17. Who wrote “in Plaine style, with singular regard 20. _______________________________________
unto the simple truth in all things”?
21. _______________________________________
18. Who declared his settlement to be “as a city
upon a Hill”? 22. _______________________________________
19. In what work is a group of settlers saved from 23. _______________________________________
sure death due to kidnapping? The settlers
connect their fate with God’s divine 24. _______________________________________
providence. 25. _______________________________________
20. Who saved the settlers mentioned in previous 26. _______________________________________
question?
27. _______________________________________
21. What work implored people to live by the rules
of justice and mercy?
22. According to John Winthrop, human condition 28. _______________________________________
is what?
29. _______________________________________
23. What work presents a personal journal of events
that occur in a settler’s community? 30. _______________________________________
24. Which poet looks upon the burning of his/her 31. _______________________________________
house as the will of God and quickly
dismisses it as if it is not a big deal?
25. Who said that “God’s altar needs not our
polishings”?
26. Who says that “there is nothing between you
and hell but the air; it is only the power and
mere pleasure of God that holds you up”?
27. Of which specific movement is the author
described in number 26 a part?

CONTEXT: The Scarlet Letter takes place in

Puritan New England. For questions 28-31,
fill in the blank with the correct word or
phrase.
28. Though The Scarlet Letter was written about a
community in Puritan New England, it was
written during a very different time period.
Of which movement is the novel a part?
29. What is the title of the prologue to the novel?
30. Who wrote The Scarlet Letter?
31. According to the novel’s mythology, the
feminine main character’s ancestors were
responsible for what controversial actions?

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THE NOVEL: The Scarlet Letter takes place in
Puritan New England. For questions 32-41,
fill in the blank with the correct word or
phrase.
32. The novel’s protagonist, this character is the
wearer of the scarlet letter.
33. For what word does the scarlet letter “A” stand?
34. The young theologian who becomes, in a lapse
of judgment, the lover of the novel’s
protagonist.
35. This character is actually a witch.
36. This character arrives belatedly after being
kidnapped by Native Americans.
37. To where is the novel’s protagonist taken to be
publicly humiliated?
38. What shape becomes visible on Arthur’s chest?
39. Arthur attempts to punish himself for his sin.
Name one of the methods which he
attempts.
40. To whom does Roger leave his inheritance?
41. To where does the novel’s protagonist after the
events of the story?
32. _______________________________________
33. _______________________________________
34. _______________________________________
35. _______________________________________
36. _______________________________________
37. _______________________________________
38. _______________________________________
39. _______________________________________
40. _______________________________________
41. _______________________________________
42. _______________________________________
43. _______________________________________
44. _______________________________________
45. _______________________________________
46. _______________________________________
47. _______________________________________

CONTEXT: In keeping with the idea that

American literature has followed a series of
movements, we now move on to the reaction
to Puritanism. For questions 42-47, fill in
the blank with the correct word or phrase.
42. The Latin term for Locke’s concept of the
“blank slate.”
43. Sir Isaac Newton, one of the most brilliant
scientists of his age, proposed a novel
concept of all being. What was it?
44. The religion of this movement was
characterized by a “clockmaker” God who
did not take an active role in people’s lives.
What was it?
45. This movement believed that history advances
to achievements of human progress resting
on “individual…” what?
46. What individual implored others to “know then
thyself, presume not God to scan” and that
“the proper study of mankind is man”?
continued on the following page…
47. What movement is being described here?
THE MOVEMENT: The Enlightenment was
typified by a variety of writers. For
questions 48-56, fill in the blank with the
correct word or phrase.
48. Who said that “a penny saved is a penny
earned”?
49. What is another name for the Enlightenment?
50. Who wrote Poor Richard’s Almanack?
51. What type of art moved beyond the biblical and
the mythological to still life, landscape, and
subjects from everyday life?
52. In what piece did Benjamin Franklin implore
readers to “be industrious and free; be frugal
and free”?
53. What work played an essential role in
convincing ordinary American colonists to
support the cause of independence?
54. Who wrote “On the Religion of Nature”?
55. What movement responded unfavorably to the
Enlightenment?
56. Name one of the thirteen virtues which
Benjamin Franklin vowed to follow.
48. _______________________________________
49. _______________________________________
50. _______________________________________
51. _______________________________________
52. _______________________________________
53. _______________________________________
54. _______________________________________
55. _______________________________________
56. _______________________________________
57. _______________________________________
58. _______________________________________
59. _______________________________________
60. _______________________________________
61. _______________________________________
62. _______________________________________
63. _______________________________________
64. _______________________________________

CONTEXT: In keeping with the idea that

American literature has been simply
following a series of movements, we now
move on to the reaction to the
Enlightenment. For questions 57-63, fill in
the blank with the correct word or phrase.
57. What movement was a concentrated form of
Romanticism?
58. Emerson proposed that humanity and nature
share a universal creative force called what?
59. What word literally means “to go beyond” or
“to cross a threshold”?
60. Emerson and his followers felt that Locke’s
theory of what and of knowledge being
acquired from the outside through the senses
was insufficient?
61. The modernizing, machine-driven revolution
which so troubled the Romantics?
62. The “I” of Romanticism that indicates who is
important.
63. Literary Romanticism originated in the country
and then “moved” to America.
64. Transcendentalist attempt at a pastoral, Utopian
community. continued on the following page…
THE AUTHORS: For questions 65-71, identify the 65. _______________________________________
writer of the following pieces.
66. _______________________________________
65. Rip Van Winkle
67. _______________________________________
66. Walden
67. Anabel Lee 68. _______________________________________
68. Fall of the House of Usher 69. _______________________________________
69. Self-Reliance 70. _______________________________________
70. Rappaccini’s Daughter 71. _______________________________________
71. I Sing the Body Electric
72. _______________________________________
73. _______________________________________
THE MOVEMENT: For questions, 72-85, fill in
the blank with the correct word or phrase. 74. _______________________________________
72. Who said, “simplicity, simplicity, 75. _______________________________________
simplicity!;…I say, let your affairs be two or
three, and not a hundred or a thousand”? 76. _______________________________________
73. The single word repeatedly uttered by the raven 77. _______________________________________
in Poe’s poem of the same name. 78. _______________________________________
74. This character’s senses are so acute that he hears
79. _______________________________________
his sister in her tomb.
75. Rappaccini’s daughter 80. _______________________________________
76. One of the two ancient civilizations which so 81. _______________________________________
heavily influenced the Romantics 82. _______________________________________
77. Gangly teacher who meets the Headless
Horseman 83. _______________________________________
78. The Massachusetts town that apparently 84. _______________________________________
exhibited a “genius cluster” 85. _______________________________________
79. The sibling in one of Poe’s stories who is 86. _______________________________________
artistically sensitive
80. Whitman’s continuously-revised life’s work 87. _______________________________________
81. The Romantic piece utilized by Gandhi in the
fight for Indian independence
82. Bryant’s poetic meditation on death
83. The brand of Romanticism typified by Poe
84. In one of Poe’s works, this character is one of
Roderick’s best childhood friends.
85. The schoolteacher and singing master in one of
Irving’s works
86. Melville’s grand whaling tale, considered by
many to be the quintessential American
novel.
87. In Romantic literature, the Individual screams
his uniqueness; at the end of Song of Myself,
Whitman sounds his barbaric…what?

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QUOTATION IDENTIFICATION: For 88. _______________________________________
questions 88-94, you will be given a quote. 89. _______________________________________
Please fill in the blank with the correct 90. _______________________________________
writer of the work specified.
91. _______________________________________
88. “Madman! I tell you that she now stands
without that door!” 92. _______________________________________
89. “The virtue in most request is conformity.”; 93. _______________________________________
“Whoso would be a man must be a 94. _______________________________________
nonconformist.” 95. _______________________________________
90. “There is no good on earth; and sin is but a 96. _______________________________________
name. Come, devil! For to thee is this world 97. _______________________________________
given.”
98. _______________________________________
91. “TRUE—NERVOUS—VERY, very dreadfully
99. _______________________________________
nervous I had been and am; but why will
you say that I am mad?...Hearken! And
observe how healthily—how calmly I can
tell you the whole story.”
92. “My Faith is gone!’ cried he, after one stupefied
moment.”
93. “Art is long, and time is fleeting, and our hearts,
though stout and brave, still, like the
muffled drums are beating, funeral marches
to the grave.”
94. “And so, all the night-tide, I lie down by the
side of my darling—my darling—my life
and my bride, in the sepulcher there by the
sea—in her tomb by the sounding sea.”

DATES/CONTEXT: When attempting to

understand American literature, context is
critical. For questions 95-99, fill in the
blank with the correct response.
95. Around what date did the Pilgrims land at
Plymouth?
96. “It is their right; it is their duty to abolish such
government, and provide new guards for
their future security.” Around when were
these words agreed upon among the thirteen
American colonies?
97. In what document are these words held?
98. After Romanticism/Transcendentalism peaked,
it faded quite quickly after Walt Whitman.
What event facilitated this rapid change?
99. Around when did it occur?

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PASSAGE IDENTIFICATION: After naming the writer and the work in which this line appears, please
explain the importance of this piece. Consider its relevance to a movement, a time in the country’s
history, the philosophy and psychology of the country, and other aspects which you consider to be
significant.

“Insist on yourself; never imitate. Your own gift you can present every moment with the cumulative force of a
whole life’s cultivation; but of the adopted talent of another, you have only an extemporaneous, half-
posession.”

Writer: ___________________________________ Piece: __________________________________________

SHORT RESPONSE/ESSAY: In Hector St. John de Crevecoeur’s essay entitled “What is an American,” de
Crevecoeur expresses his belief that America is “the most perfect society now existing in the world.”
John Winthrop believed that his colony would be “as a city upon a hill” to other nations. Throughout
history, American writers have had a history of exalting the nation as a nation above all other nations.
In other words, American exceptionalism. Where in the literature that we have studied has this idea
been exhibited? In what ways could you say that exceptionalism, one of the key tenets of modern
political movements such as the Tea Party, has been present from the outset of American society?