EH 231-01 American Literature I Final Exam Review

The essay portion of your final exam will count as 40% of your final exam grade. The final represents 20% of your grade for the semester, so I encourage you to outline and practice writing five-paragraph responses to AT LEAST TWO of the prompts below. (One of the prompts will be randomly removed from the list to curtail cheating.) Furthermore, I recommend that you reread works you intend to write about, and work together in small groups to develop significant responses. Underdeveloped essays will receive the grades they deserve.

A. Citing at least three works from the semester, discuss the role of the written word to affect lasting social change.

B. Discuss the significance of science in “When I Heard the Learn’d Astronomer,” “The Birth-Mark,” and “Self Reliance.”

C. Using “Rip Van Winkle” and at least two of Poe’s works, fully explore and define the American Gothic.

D. Explain the evolving view of religion as shown through the works of Edwards, Franklin, Hawthorne, Emerson, and Whitman. (Use at least three diverse authors in your response.)

E. Discuss the significant tenets of Transcendentalism as demonstrated in works by Emerson and Thoreau.

The remaining portion of your exam will consist of two parts: a short answer section worth 20%, and a quotation identification section worth 40%. Partial credit will be awarded as merited. Answering some or all of the journalist’s questions (who, what, where, when, why, and how) will ensure a thoughtful—yet succinct—response.

Issues and definitions that may or may not appear on the exam:

Be able to define American Gothic literature.

Define Transcendentalism and gives examples from your readings.

Know significant biographical information on authors covered since the second exam.

Be able to give the rhyme scheme for specific lines of poetry.

Define trochaic octameter and iambic pentameter, and be able to relate to examples.

Recognize alliteration, assonance, and internal rhyme.

Define “free verse,” and be able to explain how it liberated modern poetry.

Explain the significance of the Preface to Leaves of Grass.

Be able to discuss how Whitman uses all fives senses in his poetry.