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American Literature
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LESSON ASSIGNMENTS
11
EXAMINATIONLESSON 1
31
35
EXAMINATIONLESSON 2
55
59
EXAMINATIONLESSON 3
77
81
EXAMINATIONLESSON 4
107
111
EXAMINATIONLESSON 5
125
LESSON 6: NONFICTION
129
EXAMINATIONLESSON 6
147
LESSON 7: DRAMA
151
EXAMINATIONLESSON 7
167
SELF-CHECK ANSWERS
171
Contents
INSTRUCTIONS
iii
YOUR COURSE
You probably already have some idea of what it means to be
an American. But as you read the selections that make up
this course, youll find that American has meant many things
to many people. What it means to be an American changes
with time. It changes in different regions, and people have
defined it differently based on their race and gender and
class and occupation and religion and nation of origin and
political views andwell, you get the picture. One of the purposes of this course, then, is to provide you with a broad
overview of the way in which these people have used the art
of the written word to express their sense of what it means to
be an American.
In this course, youll be introduced to writers from a variety
of backgrounds. As Americans, they represent the views of
others like them. As individual authors, they bring their own
unique perspectives as wellalong with their special ability
to entertain and amuse, to make you laugh, weep, think, and
feel more deeply.
America is a young countryvery young. American literature
begins in 1620 with the Mayflower Compact, the first document the Pilgrims drew up to govern the Massachusetts Bay
Colony. Thats less than 400 years ago. Although 400 years
may seem like a long time, consider that some Italian literature dates back to the early 1200s. People in England have
poems that are 1,300 years old. And Hebrew literature goes
back to the Bible.
What this means is that other countries have had a lot more
time to create a national identity. They can look back over
centuries of recorded history and literature and have a pretty
good sense of what it means to be Italian or English or
Hebrew. In addition, most nations, at one time or another,
have had an established religion. This religion has had a
great influence on creating a sense of national identity.
Instr uctions
Instructions to Students
Instructions to Students
COURSE MATERIALS
This course includes the following materials:
1. This study guide, which contains an introduction to
your course, plus
Instructions to Students
COURSE PLAN
For most assignments, you must complete three steps:
1. Read the background material and analysis for each
work. This includes some details about each authors life
and some useful background material.
2. Read the assigned piece itself.
3. Complete the Self-Check at the end of the assignment.
Its very important that you follow this plan!
Instructions to Students
OBJECTIVES
When you complete this course, youll be able to
Instructions to Students
Assignment 1
Pages 1113
Assignment 2
Pages 1423
Read in the
textbook:
Assignment 3
Pages 2430
Examination 00779800
Material in Lesson 1
Read in the
study guide:
Read in Great
American Short Stories:
Assignment 4
Pages 3539
Pages 171178
Assignment 5
Pages 4045
Pages 1848
Assignment 6
Pages 4648
Pages 104114
Assignment 7
Pages 4953
Pages 115129
Examination 00779900
Material in Lesson 2
Read in the
study guide:
Assignment 8
Pages 5962
Assignment 9
Pages 6372
Pages 171
Assignment 10
Pages 7375
Pages 73122
Examination 00760100
Read in
O Pioneers!:
Material in Lesson 3
Assignments
For:
Read in the
study guide:
Assignment 11
Pages 8186
Assignment 12
Pages 8898
Read in 101
Great American Poems:
Assignment 13
Pages 100104
Examination 00760200
Material in Lesson 4
Lesson Assignments
Read in the
study guide:
Read in 101
Great American Poems:
Assignment 14
Pages 111117
Assignment 15
Pages 118123
Examination 00760300
Material in Lesson 5
Lesson 6: Nonfiction
For:
Read in the
study guide:
Read in the
textbook:
Assignment 16
Pages 129135
Assignment 17
Pages 136141
Pages 138
(The Story of My Life)
Assignment 18
Pages 142145
Pages 3875
(The Story of My Life)
Examination 00760400
Lesson Assignments
Material in Lesson 6
Lesson 7: Drama
For:
Read in the
study guide:
Read in Beyond
the Horizon:
Assignment 19
Pages 151159
Pages 133
Assignment 20
Pages 161164
Pages 3589
Examination 00760500
10
Material in Lesson 7
Lesson Assignments
ASSIGNMENT 1
Read the following introductory material. Then take SelfCheck 1, which follows the introduction.
Reading Levels
During this course in American literature, youll be reading
a variety of types of literary genres. As you read the assignments, you may find yourself reading on several different
levels.
1. The literal level refers to the point at which you grasp
the essential facts of a story. You can usually determine
the characters and plot while reading at this level.
2. The inferential level refers to the point at which you use
your analytical skills to pick out the authors implied
intentions, such as the storys theme. To read on the
inferential level requires you to read a story at least a
second time. This second reading is especially important
for stories written in the 1800s or early 1900s, because
the English language used at that time was different
from the English language of today.
3. The critical level refers to reading in which you combine
the work of the first two levels. At the critical level, you
arrive at a judgment of how well the author has succeeded in achieving his or her intentions. To do this, you
must evaluate the authors stylefor example, the way
in which he or she uses figurative language.
Lesson
11
Vocabulary
As you read, youll probably encounter words you dont
understand. Dont just skip over them. Take time to reread
the context to determine the meaning. (Some of the works
youll read contain words or phrases common to an earlier
historical period. In such cases, the uncommon words are
defined and/or explained for you in footnotes.)
Context refers to
the words and sentences surrounding
a particular word or
phrase.
A Reading Procedure
As you read, ask yourself questions and write answers to
them in a study notebook that you keep throughout the
course. Here are some examples of the types of questions
you should be thinking about:
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American Literature
Asking questions as you read and making sure you understand the words used will help you to read closely and critically and therefore get the most from each story. In the end,
youll enjoy your reading more thoroughly.
Before you go on to Assignment 2, please take a few
moments to review what youve just read by completing the
following Self-Check.
Lesson 1
13
Self-Check 1
At the end of each section of American Literature, youll be asked to pause and check your
understanding of what youve just read by completing a Self-Check exercise. Answering
these questions will help you review what youve studied so far. Please complete Self-Check 1
now.
Indicate whether each of the following statements is True or False.
______ 1. American literature helps us understand what it means to be an American.
______ 2. Inferential reading includes critiquing the writers style.
______ 3. Categories of literature are called genres.
______ 4. Making predictions and asking questions while reading increases the readers
understanding.
______ 5. America is an old country.
______ 6. The literal meaning of a word tells exactly what the word means.
Check your answers with those on page 171.
ASSIGNMENT 2
Read the following Introduction to the Short Story and the
background information on Washington Irving. Then slowly
read The Legend of Sleepy Hollow on pages 149 in The
Legend of Sleepy Hollow and Rip Van Winkle. As you read,
mark up your textunderline examples that provide clues
about the setting. Identify key points in the plot. Look for the
climax. Indicate any things or actions that you think might be
symbols. When youve finished reading the story, return to
this study guide and read the story analysis. In your notebook,
jot down answers to the questions listed in Assignment 1.
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American Literature
Lesson 1
15
Each advancement in the plot serves to move the conflict further and eventually carry it to some sort of conclusion. The
will of the protagonist moves the story. He or she wants
something, struggles for something, and at the end of the
story, wins, loses, or ends up back where he or she started.
The basic plot structure includes exposition, rising action,
climax, falling action, and resolution.
1. The first part of a story, called exposition, is basically a
storys introduction. It establishes the setting (time and
place), gives any necessary history of events that happened before the story opens, and introduces the characters. This important background information helps
readers understand the situation or context of the story.
For example, in the boy-meets-girl plot, the exposition
could show that the two had lived on the same floor of a
large apartment building in the Bronx in the 1980s and
were close friends until age 10, when the girls family
moved to California. The boy goes to Columbia
University in New York City where he enters his
American literature class to find, seated near the back,
a shy young woman whose faint, rather sad smile is
hauntingly familiar.
Consider what expectations a reader would have after
reading this exposition. Would these expectations be different if the exposition were the following? Boy meets girl
in 1730. Hes the country village schoolmaster who, in
order to earn extra money, teaches lessons in singing
hymns to the village young folk. One of his pupils is an
18-year-old farm girl who is quite fetching and rather
flirtatious.
Often during the exposition (and sometimes in the rising
action as well), an author uses foreshadowing to hint or
suggest to the reader whats ahead for the conflict and
characters. For example, suppose the schoolmaster
believes in ghost stories, one in particular about a headless horseman that haunts his countryside. Alert readers will begin to sense that this interest in ghost stories
will be important to the outcome of the story. In fact,
this fact plays a key role in the climax of the story.
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American Literature
2. The rising action works from the information in the exposition to develop the conflict in a series of complications
faced by main characters. Its composed of events that
build one to the next. The rising action usually makes
up the lengthiest portion of a story.
For example, in the first boy meets girl scenario, the boy
introduces himself to the vaguely familiar classmate and
they discover they used to be friends and neighbors.
They have several chats over coffee after class. Two
months later, the boy sees her having dinner at a local
restaurant with one of the boys from his dorm. And so it
goes.
Complications are
the sequence of
new difficulties that
arise from the main
conflict faced by
the protagonist.
Lesson 1
17
The climax for the scenario with the college woman and
man occurs when she explains to her childhood friend
that she cares for him only as a friend. The falling action
involves his walking away from her dorm, his eyes
openwide openand his fists clenched to keep from
weeping and from looking back.
The climax for the schoolmaster occurs when hes
chased by the headless horseman. The falling action
involves the search for his body.
5. The resolution is a bit like the conclusion of a story. The
loose ends left from the climax are tied up (unless the
author wishes to cause the readers to ponder a question
to underscore his or her theme).
For example, after the antagonist wins the girl, the
author of the story about the schoolmaster chooses to
leave unanswered questions. However, he does provide
some hints regarding the resolution in terms of who may
have acted as the horseman.
Point of View
Point of view refers to the perspective from which a story is
told. It involves the narrator of the storythat is, the person
telling the story. All stories are written from a certain point of
view, and the readers see the action occur from that point
of view.
Lets say youre describing the creek that runs through your
backyard. You could write that description from various
points of view. One might be your own personal point of view
as you sit in a lawn chair beside the creek bank. Another
might be from your bedroom on the second floor. You could
also write it from the point of view of one of the minnows in
the creek or from each of your family members over the
course of a day. The point of view you choose impacts the
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American Literature
way in which you describe the creek and what type of information you include. The same applies to any type of writing.
Authors deliberately choose a particular point of view based
on what they want to convey about the characters, the conflict, and the theme of the story.
Generally, authors write in either the first person or the third
person. The first person includes the pronouns I and we. The
third person refers to he, she, it, and they. (Authors can write
stories in the second person using the word you. In such situations, the reader becomes a character in the book. As you
walk down the hall, you see a shadowy figure disappear into
a bedroom. Writing in the second person, however, is difficult to sustain.)
First Person
The first-person point of view is easy to recognize because
the storytellers refer to themselves as I (the first-person singular pronoun). In the first-person point of view, the storyteller may be the protagonist, the antagonist, an observer, or
only a minor character. You might even discover a story told
in the first-person plural, or we. The first-person point of
view can be divided as follows:
Third Person
The third-person point of view is also easy to identify
because it uses the pronouns he, she, it, and they. However,
this point of view can also be divided as follows:
Lesson 1
19
thoughts of the characters, but they can make inferences based on how the author reports the actions of
the characters. For example, suppose the author writes,
She stared wishfully at the beautiful gown displayed in
the store window. From this statement, you can determine that the girl or woman would like to have the gown
for her own and maybe even is hoping to be asked to a
particular party or dance (narrator of Part I of An
Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge).
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American Literature
Lesson 1
21
22
American Literature
Lesson 1
23
Self-Check 2
Match the names in the left-hand column below with their descriptions in the right-hand
column.
Descriptions
Names
______ 1. Ichabod Crane
______ 4. Katrina
______ 7. Gunpowder
ASSIGNMENT 3
Read the following information on symbolism and the background to Edgar Allan Poe and The Tell-Tale Heart. Then
read the classic story on pages 1317 in Great American Short
Stories. When you finish the story, study the analysis that follows.
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American Literature
Characterization
Characterization is the writers art of creating characters who
jump off the page. When writing a story, authors can simply
tell us about characters. For example, Katrina in The
Legend of Sleepy Hollow is described as a blooming lass of
fresh eighteen; plump as a partridge; ripe and melting and
rosycheeked as one of her father's peaches . . . (14). This
type of description is called direct presentation. Irving relies
heavily on this method since his narrator is an observer who
is thinking back to a previous time.
However, authors are generally careful not to overuse the
direct method. Instead, they work hard to create a situation
in which they can show how a character acts. Then they let
the readers decide on the character for themselves. This
method is called indirect presentation. For example, again
in The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, Irving shows how Brom
Bones and his gang persecuted Ichabod: They smoked out
his singing school, by stopping up the chimney; broke into
the schoolhouse at night . . . and turned every thing topsyturvy: so that the poor schoolmaster began to think all the
witches in the country held their meetings there (24). Notice
that this presentation reveals something about each character
and also works toward the climax and theme. When characters are dramatized, the author allows the readers to see for
themselves what the character is like as a person.
The protagonist and antagonist usually have motivation, or
reasons for their actions. Ichabod is motivated by his dreams
of prosperity and of getting the girl as well as by his superstitions. Brom is motivated to win the girl and make a fool of
Ichabod. In Shakespeares Romeo and Juliet, the protagonist
Romeo risks his life to enter his enemys house to see and
speak to the girl he loves. The father who breaks into a drugstore to get medicine for his child isnt out to make trouble.
A noble motivation for a character often makes him or her
sympathetic to a reader.
As you read, pay attention to what you learn about the characters. Youll find that there are many types.
Lesson 1
25
Symbolism
Simply put, a symbol is something that stands for something
else. Symbolism, or the use of symbols, involves using an
object, a person, a place, or an action to represent a quality,
an attitude, a belief, or a value. Symbolism takes something
ordinary or basic and makes it more than what it is in reality. A symbol has both a literal meaning (what it really is)
and a symbolic meaning (what it represents).
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American Literature
Lesson 1
27
28
The Tell-Tale Heart is one of Poes masterpieces. Its narrated in the first-person singular (I). Its up to you, the
reader, to determine how trustworthy this narrator is. As you
read, look for indications of the narrators state of mind.
American Literature
Lesson 1
29
Self-Check 3
1. Who is the protagonist of The Tell-Tale Heart? Do you know if this character is male or
female?
__________________________________________________________________________
2. What excuse does the narrator give for murdering the old man?
__________________________________________________________________________
3. To what does the narrator compare the old mans eye?
__________________________________________________________________________
4. What causes the narrator to confess to the crime?
__________________________________________________________________________
5. True or False? The real reason the narrator murdered the old man was to inherit his
fortune.
Check your answers with those on page 171.
30
American Literature
EXAMINATION NUMBER:
00779800
Whichever method you use in submitting your exam
answers to the school, you must use the number above.
For the quickest test results, go to
http://www.takeexamsonline.com
When you feel confident that you have mastered the material in
Lesson 1, complete the following examination. Then submit only
your answers to the school for grading, using one of the examination
answer options described in your Test Materials envelope. Send
your answers for this examination as soon as you complete it. Do
not wait until another examination is ready.
Questions 120: Select the one best answer to each question.
1. The label horror story is an example of
A. a character study.
B. informational reading.
C. a genre.
D. a universal truth.
C. resolution.
D. climax.
C. vanity.
D. superstition.
Examination
Lesson 1
Introduction and the Short Story, Part 1
31
4. Which one of the following words is an example of a literal meaning for the noun dog?
A. Mutt
B. Hound
C. Cur
D. Canine
The
The
The
The
7. Brom Van Brunt received the nickname Brom Bones because of his
A. horsemanship.
B. arrogance.
C. large size.
D. intelligence.
ill-gotten gains.
good detective work.
the desire of the dead for vengeance.
guilt.
C. Brom Bones.
D. Katrina Van Tassel.
Washington Irving
Edgar Allan Poe
The narrator of The Tell-Tale Heart
The narrator of The Legend of Sleepy Hollow
12. New York state is the _______ for The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.
A. setting
B. climax
32
C. plot
D. conflict
Examination, Lesson 1
13. What reason does the narrator of The Tell-Tale Heart give for killing the old man?
A.
B.
C.
D.
14. In The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, part of the exposition includes describing the legend
behind
A. Major Andrs tree.
B. Galloping Hessian of the Hollow.
15. Why do the police visit the narrator of The Tell-Tale Heart?
A.
B.
C.
D.
16. How does the narrator of The Tell-Tale Heart kill the old man?
A.
B.
C.
D.
He
He
He
He
stabs him.
suffocates him under the bed.
cuts his heart out.
scares him to death.
He
He
He
He
19. Which one of the following words best describes Ichabod Crane?
A. Handsome
B. Superstitious
Examination, Lesson 1
C. Brave
D. Heavyset
33
20. What does Washington Irving introduce first in The Legend of Sleepy Hollow?
A.
B.
C.
D.
34
The region
The character of Ichabod Crane
The legend of the headless horseman
Ichabod Cranes teaching style
Examination, Lesson 1
ASSIGNMENT 4
Read the following information on theme and the background
to An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge by Ambrose Bierce.
Then read the story on pages 171178 in Great American
Short Stories. When you finish the story, study the analysis
that follows.
Theme
Authors usually try to convey some point about life and what
that may mean to you or other readers. This point, which
can usually be summarized in one sentence about the storys
main idea, is the theme of a story.
A theme is different from a moral, which is a lesson taught
by a story. The fables of the Roman author Aesop are stories
that illustrate a moral. For example, in his fable The Ant
and the Grasshopper, a grasshopper plays all summer long
and then suffers from hardship in the winter because he has
stored away no food. He asks an ant, who has spent all summer working, to help him. The ant refuses and responds with
this moral: It is best to prepare for the days of necessity.
The sole purpose of a story with a moral is to teach people
how to behave. In contrast, other stories present believable
people acting in many different ways and asks the readers to
consider the results of their actions.
Some short stories may have no theme at all; others may
have more than one theme. In fact, the main theme of many
stories is often developed and reinforced by minor themes.
Lesson
35
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American Literature
Lesson 2
37
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American Literature
Self-Check 4
1. A still image of a scene is called a _______.
2. List some of the words Ambrose Bierce uses to describe how Peyton Farquhar felt as
he was awakened after he fell from the bridge.
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
3. What is the purpose of the vivid description of the riverbank (177)?
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
4. What bridge was Farquhar supposed to destroy? Can you see any irony in that?
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
Check your answers with those on page 172.
Lesson 2
39
ASSIGNMENT 5
Read the following background to Bartleby by Herman
Melville. Then read the story on pages 1848 in Great
American Short Stories. When you finish the story, study the
analysis that follows.
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American Literature
Structure of Bartleby
Herman Melvilles Bartleby was first published in 1853.
Although the setting is the New York City of 150 years ago,
it could easily be transposed to the office life of today. The
furnishings and the equipment and the clothing would be
different, but what remains constant is the description of
odd habits of individuals who work together, the repetitive
nature of work, and the oddity of human nature.
The basic plot description of Bartleby could be simply
stated as a stranger comes to town. In this case, the town is
the office of the narrator, and the stranger is Bartleby, who
works as a scrivener, or copyist.
It might be helpful as you reread this story to imagine a contemporary office setting. The cartoonist who draws Dilbert,
Scott Adams, makes fun of the current corporate office with
its cubicles, each filled with an individual who toils away
at a computer terminal. Bartlebys job, like that of his fellow
scriveners, was to copy by hand long, boring legal documents
or other such papers. In todays office, Bartlebys job would
be done by a photocopy machine.
The importance of the storys characters lies in the type of
individual each is. Bartleby, a static character, embodies a
pessimism that recoils before a universe he cant and wont
accept. The narrator, on the other hand, is willing to accommodate himself to the world, as evidenced by his comfortable
position in conventional society. The narrator (Bartlebys
employer) would seem to be a dynamic character, since his
Lesson 2
41
Analysis of Bartleby
The name of the story is Bartleby, and it tells the story of a
very unusual man. However, the story is as much about the
narrator as it is about Bartleby. In fact, as readers, we never
come to truly understand Bartleby, but the more we read,
the more we come to understand what kind of man the narrator is. The narrator is the Master in Chancery for the State
of New York. Thus, hes a government employee. The office of
Chancery is a branch of law that deals with disputes over
property.
The first two lines tell something about the narrator. Note his
very old-fashioned, very formal diction (word choice). He
doesnt say, Im an old guy, but calls himself a rather
elderly man (18). We sense immediately that hes a rather
careful, polite, cautious, formal person. In other words, the
narrator is a man to whom doing things the right way is
probably very important. His tone is that of a man set in his
ways, who likes things done in a traditional, ordered fashion.
We can draw these conclusions from his tone, but he also
states them outright: All who know me consider me an eminently safe man. The late John Jacob Astor, a personage little given to poetic enthusiasm, had no hesitation in
42
American Literature
Lesson 2
43
The narrator finds himself becoming considerably reconciled to Bartleby (30). He praises his punctuality and his
honesty, and he sees what good he can in him. Then, one
Sunday, the narrator arrives at the office and discovers
Bartleby there. He eventually discovers that Bartleby is living
in the office. He is at first sympathetic (32), but his pity
turns into repulsion (33), and he determines to speak with
Bartley. If Bartleby wont answer a few questions, hell fire
him (33). Bartleby, of course, refuses to say anything.
The narrator realizes that he and the other clerks are starting to use Bartlebys word prefer and that Bartleby is having
far too much influence on them: I thought to myself, surely
I must get rid of a demented man, who already has in some
degree turned the tongues, if not the heads, of myself and
clerks (35). He fears that Bartleby will drive them all crazy.
At this point Bartleby stops working altogether, and the narrator fires himor at least he assumes he has. He wonders
whether Bartleby understands that he has in fact been fired.
The narrator writes sarcastically, He [Bartleby] was more a
man of preferences than assumptions (37). This means that
Bartleby sees the world as he wishes to, not as it is.
The narrator himself is flabbergasted and doesnt know how
to respond when Bartleby refuses to leave. After others begin
to notice that hes employing a nonworking man and that
all through the circle of my professional acquaintance a
whisper of wonder was running round, having reference to
the strange creature I kept at my office (41). The narrator
wonders where this may lead and considers that Bartleby
may one day actually take over his office:
And as the idea came upon me of his possibly turning
out a longlived man, and keep occupying my chambers,
and denying my authority; and perplexing my visitors;
and scandalizing my professional reputation; and
casting a general gloom over the premises; keeping
soul and body together to the last upon his savings
(for doubtless he spent but half a dime a day), and in
the end perhaps outlive me, and claim possession of
my office by right of his perpetual occupancy . . . (41).
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The story becomes even more comic when the narrator actually moves his staff to a new office to escape Bartleby! The
new tenants feel that the narrator is still responsible and
they insist that he remove Bartleby. When Bartleby still
refuses to leave, hes arrested and taken to the Tombsthe
New York City prison system. Surprisinglyor maybe not so
surprisinglythe narrator visits Bartleby in prison and tries
to arrange to see that hes well taken care of.
After Bartleby dies in prison, the narrator discovers that he
had once worked for the Dead Letter Office in Washington,
D.C., where undeliverable mail is opened and reviewed before
being destroyed. The narrator reflects on what effect this
might have had on Bartleby and what effect reading all these
sad letters might have on any person:
Dead letters! does it not sound like dead men?
Conceive a man by nature and misfortune prone to a
pallid hopelessness, can any business seem more fitted to heighten it than that of continually handling
these dead letters, and assorting them for the flames?
For by the cartload they are annually burned.
Sometimes from out the folded paper the pale clerk
takes a ringthe finger it was meant for, perhaps,
moulders in the grave; a bank note sent in swiftest
charityhe whom it would relieve nor eats nor hungers
any more; pardon for those who died despairing; hope
for those who died unhoping; good tidings for those
who died stifled by unrelieved calamities. On errands of
life, these letters speed to death (48).
Having read so many of these letters, Bartleby seems to have
fallen into a state of total despair over humanitys condition.
He has simply given up on life itself. As foreign as this idea
might have sounded to the narrator at one time, he seems to
have learned something from Bartleby. Although Bartleby is
a static character and his decline is a naural result of his
basic personality, the narrator is dynamic. His own perspective has changed, and hes unlikely to ever see the world
again as the pleasant, well-ordered place he once did.
Lesson 2
45
Self-Check 5
1. What kind of an office does the narrator run?
__________________________________________________________________________
2. What kind of employee is Bartleby initially?
__________________________________________________________________________
3. What is the significance of the wall?
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
4. What element (plot, setting, character) is most important in the story?
__________________________________________________________________________
5. Glance over the story again and find at least five words the narrator uses to describe
Bartleby.
__________________________________________________________________________
Check your answers with those on page 172.
ASSIGNMENT 6
Read the following background to A New England Nun by
Mary Freeman. Then read the story on pages 104114 in Great
American Short Stories. When you finish the story, study the
analysis that follows.
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American Literature
Lesson 2
47
A metaphor is a
figure of speech
that presents an
implied comparison
of two normally
different things.
For example, a
relatively modern
metaphor is to
call the Internet
an information
superhighway.
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American Literature
Self-Check 6
In your own words, briefly describe the three characters in A New England Nun.
1. Louisa Ellis
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
2. Joe Dagget
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
3. Lily Dyer
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
Check your answers with those on page 172.
ASSIGNMENT 7
Read the following background to The Yellow Wallpaper by
Charlotte Perkins Gilman. Then read the story on pages
115129 in Great American Short Stories. When you finish the
story, study the analysis that follows.
Lesson 2
49
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Lesson 2
51
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What is it, little girl? (122) and Bless her little heart!
said he with a big hug, she shall be as sick as she
pleases! But now lets improve the shining hours by
going to sleep, and talk about it in the morning! (123).
Gilman uses such remarks to show that men often treat
women as silly children.
Finally, the narrator goes berserk. She gnaws at the bed and
throws away the key to her room. When John finds her, shes
crawling around on the floor with a rope tied around her,
surrounded by the sticky shreds of wallpaper she has torn
off in a rage. This condition symbolizes the idea that women
experience a kind of insanity when theyre treated this way
for a while. In other words, going mad would be a sane
reaction to that kind of treatment.
Lesson 2
53
Self-Check 7
1. What does the husband John do for a living?
__________________________________________________________________________
2. What does he give as his wifes diagnosis?
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
3. What does the narrator see behind the wallpaper?
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
4. How is this vision similar to her own situation?
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
Check your answers with those on page 173.
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American Literature
EXAMINATION NUMBER:
00779900
Whichever method you use in submitting your exam
answers to the school, you must use the number above.
For the quickest test results, go to
http://www.takeexamsonline.com
When you feel confident that you have mastered the material in
Lesson 2, complete the following examination. Then submit only
your answers to the school for grading, using one of the examination
answer options described in your Test Materials envelope. Send
your answers for this examination as soon as you complete it. Do
not wait until another examination is ready.
Questions 120: Select the one best answer to each question.
1. Of the following characters, the one you learn the most about in
Bartleby is
A. the narrator.
B. Nipper.
C. Gingernut.
D. Turkey.
Examination
Lesson 2
The Short Story, Part 2
55
C. A Union soldier
D. An English soldier
5. When Joe Dagget visits Louisa in A New England Nun, what does he rearrange?
A.
B.
C.
D.
6. The narrator of Bartleby says his own two chief characteristics are
A. wealth and fame.
B. prudence and method.
7. Which one of the following statements accurately expresses the theme of The Yellow
Wallpaper?
A.
B.
C.
D.
hes shot.
another man is hanged instead.
his wife is dead.
he swims to shore.
10. How does Bartleby explain his refusal to perform certain tasks?
A.
B.
C.
D.
56
He
He
He
He
doesnt.
becomes angry.
blames it on his work at the Dead Letter Office.
blames Turkey and Nipper for annoying him.
Examination, Lesson 2
C. 20
D. 22
limited omniscient
dramatic/objective
omniscient
first-person
C. relief.
D. consternation.
In prison
In the Dead Letter Office
On the street outside the narrators previous office
In the narrators arms
Examination, Lesson 2
57
19. In The Yellow Wallpaper, the woman that the narrator sees in the wallpaper is
A.
B.
C.
D.
58
C. a character study.
D. escapist literature.
Examination, Lesson 2
ASSIGNMENT 8
Read the following introductory material. Then take SelfCheck 8, which follows the introduction.
Plot
Short stories tend to focus on one particular episode. For
example, Ichabod Crane met the Headless Horseman in The
Legend of Sleepy Hollow, and a man is hanged during the
Civil War in An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge. Novels, on
the other hand, include many such episodes.
Novels may also include subplots, which are like stories
within the novels. For example, if the short story The
Legend of Sleepy Hollow were a novel, Washington Irving
might have written a long biography of Ichabod Cranes
father, he could have devoted chapters to describing
Katrinas childhood, and so forth.
Each episode in a novel can be described in infinitely greater
detail as well. For example, in A New England Nun, Freeman
devotes just a few paragraphs to explain how Louisa and Joe
had become engaged. The freedom offered by a novel might
have inspired her to devote a whole chapter to their courtship.
Like the short story, the novel is made up of exposition, rising action, a climax, falling action, and resolution. But to
sustain interest over so many pages, most novels usually
have a number of climaxes, or subclimaxes. Each of these
subclimaxes is followed by falling action, which is actually
the rising action to the next climax. To help you understand
the difference, think about short stories and novels like
waves rolling in at the beach. A short story is like one wave
Lesson
THE NOVEL
59
Character
Short stories generally include a limited number of characters, and the protagonists are often present in each scene, or
at least theyre the subject of each scene. Novels usually
include many more characters than short stories, and
each of these characters tends to be more fully developed.
Characters in novels may have lives and stories of their own.
Setting
Most short stories have only one or two settings. Novels often
have many more. As you read novels, think about each setting. Try to determine why the author is using each one.
Youll find that setting is extremely important in O Pioneers!
In fact, some of the settings and what they represent are as
important as the characters themselves.
Theme
Like short stories, novels contain themes, which are the
authors reflections on their subjects or their point. These
themes are often bigger and grander than those of short
stories.
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Novel Genres
Although the novel is itself a literary genre, it can be broken
into subgenres, such as horror fiction, fantasy, romance,
mystery, and comedy. The list goes on and on. Each genre
has certain conventions that allow readers to recognize it as
a certain type of story soon after they begin reading it. These
conventions involve both content and style. For example, if
you read a story that begins It was a dark and stormy
night, you immediately develop certain expectations. You
assume that the book is probably a work of mystery or suspense. However, if a book begins with The sun danced on
the wildflowers on this beautiful June morning, you develop
a very different set of expectations.
Lesson 3
61
Plot
Adventures
Love stories
War novels
Audience
Childrens novels
Adult novels
Country of Origin
France
Germany
Russia
Period
Early modern
Victorian
Postwar
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American Literature
Self-Check 8
1. The word novel means _______.
2. True or False? Short stories include much more detail than novels.
3. True or False? Novels may have more than one climax.
4. What narrative point of view is used in a novel that uses the pronoun I?
__________________________________________________________________________
5. The ability of an author to describe the feelings and thoughts of a character is called
_______.
6. A mimetic novel is one that imitates _______.
Check your answers with those on page 173.
ASSIGNMENT 9
Read the following background to O Pioneers! by Willa Cather.
Then read pages 171 in the novel. When you finish your reading, study the analysis that follows. If you prefer, read the
analysis of each chapter as you complete your reading of it.
Lesson 3
63
Analysis of O Pioneers!
Part I
Chapter I. The novel opens with a description of the landscape. In O Pioneers!, the land itself is practically a character.
In fact, in the opening line, the land is personifiedthat is,
its given human characteristics: One January day, thirty
years ago, the little town of Hanover, anchored on a windy
Nebraska tableland, was trying not to be blown away.
Look at the opening sentences, especially at Cathers use of
descriptive words (shown in bold type):
One January day, thirty years ago, the little town of
Hanover, anchored on a windy Nebraska tableland,
was trying not to be blown away. A mist of fine
snowflakes was curling and eddying about the cluster of low drab buildings huddled on the gray prairie,
under a gray sky. The dwelling-houses were set about
haphazard on the tough prairie sod; some of them
looked as if they had been moved in overnight, and
others as if they were straying off by themselves,
headed straight for the open plain. None of them had
any appearance of permanence, and the howling wind
blew under them as well as over them. The main
street was a deeply rutted road, now frozen hard,
which ran from the squat red railway station and the
grain elevator at the north end of the town to the
lumber yard and the horse pond at the south end. On
either side of this road straggled two uneven rows of
wooden buildings; the general merchandise stores, the
two banks, the drug store, the feed store, the saloon,
the post-office. The board sidewalks were gray with
trampled snow, but at two oclock in the afternoon
the shopkeepers, having come back from dinner, were
keeping well behind their frosty windows.
This description tells us a good deal about the appearance
of the town. But it suggests something about the people that
live there, what their lives are like, and the degree to which
their lives are shaped by their environment. It also suggests
that a major conflict of the novel will be people vs. nature.
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American Literature
Lesson 3
65
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Lesson 3
67
Part II
Chapter I. Cather begins Part II in the same way as she did
Part Iwith an extensive description of the land. But look at
the diction she uses now:
It is sixteen years since John Bergson died. His wife now
lies beside him, and the white shaft that marks their
graves gleams across the wheat-fields. Could he rise
from beneath it, he would not know the country under
which he has been asleep. The shaggy coat of the prairie,
which they lifted to make him a bed, has vanished forever. From the Norwegian graveyard one looks out over
a vast checker-board, marked off in squares of wheat
and corn; light and dark, dark and light. Telephone
wires hum along the white roads, which always run
at right angles. From the graveyard gate one can
count a dozen gayly painted farmhouses; the gilded
weather-vanes on the big red barns wink at each other
across the green and brown and yellow fields. The
light steel windmills tremble throughout their frames
and tug at their moorings, as they vibrate in the wind
that often blows from one weeks end to another
across that high, active, resolute stretch of country.
The Divide is now thickly populated. The rich soil
yields heavy harvests; the dry, bracing climate and
the smoothness of the land make labor easy for men
and beasts. There are few scenes more gratifying than
a spring plowing in that country, where the furrows of
a single field often lie a mile in length, and the brown
earth, with such a strong, clean smell, and such a
power of growth and fertility in it, yields itself eagerly
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American Literature
to the plow; rolls away from the shear, not even dimming the brightness of the metal, with a soft, deep
sigh of happiness. The wheat-cutting sometimes goes
on all night as well as all day, and in good seasons
there are scarcely men and horses enough to do the
harvesting. The grain is so heavy that it bends toward
the blade and cuts like velvet (29).
Obviously things have changed from the hard, gray scene
with which Part I opened. As a reader, you become eager to
read on to discover more about these changes.
Chapter I ends with an interesting description of Alexandras
own house and yard. Reread the last two paragraphs. Compare the care taken in furnishing the house with that taken
in tending the gardens. You feel that, properly, Alexandras
house is the big out-of-doors, and that it is in the soil that
she expresses herself best (32). Cather uses a description of
things here to tell us something about character.
Chapter II. This chapter describes Alexandras household.
In addition to servants, Ivar lives with them. Since he dislikes human habitation, he lives in the barn. Alexandra
herself is also described in terms that show her innate connection to the natural world she loves: But she still has the
same calmness and deliberation of manner, the same clear
eyes, and she still wears her hair in two braids wound round
her head. It is so curly that fiery ends escape from the braids
and make her head look like one of the big double sunflowers that fringe her vegetable garden (34).
On page 36, Ivar makes an important speech in which he
summarizes his philosophy. The speech is interesting in that
it shows two different American attitudes. It summarizes the
conflict between the natural and the urban, the primitive and
the sophisticated, the wild and the civilized. This is an ongoing theme in American literature. In this case, Ivars fear is
that the country he loves will eventually want to lock up
everyone who thinks or behaves differently.
Chapter III. Some of the elements of civilization Ivar loathes
are described in this chapter. Note how the description of
Lous wife Annie tells us something about her:
Lous wife, formerly Annie Lee, has grown to look curiously like her husband. Her face has become longer,
Lesson 3
69
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American Literature
Chapter VI. Carl expresses to Alexandra some of the feelings he has for her. She, on the other hand, seems to largely
ignore his advances. Carl is also charmed by Maries vitality
and energy and comments, What a charming creature; I
dont wonder that her husband is jealous (53). As Carl and
Alexandra visit with Marie, they spend some time talking
over events of the past.
Chapter VII. Cather briefly interrupts the narrative to give
readers flashbacks into the histories of Frank and Marie.
Such information gives you, as a reader, a better idea of the
type of people involved in the story.
Chapter VIII. The story starts to become Frank and Maries
story. We learn a little more about Frank Shabata when he
becomes outraged about the newspaper account of two
wealthy peoples divorce. Marie and Emil are flirting again,
but they recognize that theyre treading on dangerous ground
and agree that they cant play as innocently as they once
did without becoming romantically entangled. This will be
the impetus for Emils leaving for Mexico.
Chapter IX. Emil reflects on the difference between his love
life and that of Amde. Amde has a fortunate marriage.
Emil feels unlucky in love (since hes in love with a married
woman). In the last paragraph of the chapter (63), Cather
uses a natural metaphor (two ears of corn) to compare the
states of the two young men:
A flashback is a
device used by an
author to present
events that happened before the
current time in the
piece of fiction.
Lesson 3
71
Self-Check 9
1. The narrative point of view from which O Pioneers! is written is called _______.
2. The major conflict in the novel is people vs. _______.
3. Which one of Alexandras brothers is scatterbrained and unfocused?
__________________________________________________________________________
4. Part II of O Pioneers! begins _______ years after John Bergsons death.
5. Who is described as one of these wild fellows?
__________________________________________________________________________
6. An interruption to a narrative in which the author talks about something that happened
prior to the narrative itself is called a/an _______.
Check your answers with those on page 173.
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American Literature
ASSIGNMENT 10
Read pages 73122 in the novel O Pioneers! by Willa Cather.
When you finish your reading, study the analysis that follows.
If you prefer, read the analysis of each chapter as you complete your reading of it.
Analysis of O Pioneers!
(Continued)
Part III
Chapter I. Cather starts this part with another description
of the landscape in winterthe season in which Nature
recuperates (73). Chapter I then focuses on Marie. The
discovery of Franks old yellow cane leads to a discussion
between Marie and Alexandra about Maries marriage problems. It becomes evident that Marie is in love with Emil.
The chapter concludes with a description of the winter that
mirrors how Marie feels inside (79).
Chapter II. Cather describes Alexandra as having a blind
side. Shes not aware of her own personal needs and is
therefore not aware of the needs of others. However, the
underground stream was there (79). In other words, she
had needs, but they were generally pushed back. Only occasionally did they come to the surface.
This chapter also reveals Alexandras recurring vision of
being swept up by a kind of nature-god.
Part IV
Chapter I. Emil returns from Mexico and Alexandra once
again feels that her efforts had been worth while, both Emil
and the country had become what she had hoped (84). The
country had provided the opportunity for Emil to escape
from it. In making the land successful, Alexandra had
ensured that there was one of the family who had not been
tied to the plow, and who had a personality apart from the
soil (84).
Emil and Marie rekindle their old romance, and have their
first kiss in the dark (88).
Lesson 3
73
Part V
Chapter I. The beginning of this chapter details some of the
suffering that Alexandra has had since the murder of Emil
and Marie. Then, one rainy evening, she visits the graveyard
where Emil is buried. When Ivar comes to take her home,
she explains, I think it has done me good to get cold clear
through like this, once. I dont believe I shall suffer so much
any more . . . .
Alexandra once again has one of her dreams, a dream of a
fertility god of the soil who makes things grow.
Chapter II. Alexandra determines to visit Frank in prison.
The meeting causes her to ponder the roles each person
plays in the lives of others and how mysterious life is (117).
Shes capable of taking a psychological approach to Frank,
not blaming him entirely for what happened.
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American Literature
Lesson 3
Foreshadowing is
the introduction
early in a story of
hints that suggest
what is to come
later.
75
Self-Check 10
1. What does Cather mean when she says that Alexandra has a blind side?
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
2. Where does Emil go to get away from Marie for a while?
__________________________________________________________________________
3. What possession of Franks leads to a discussion between Marie and Alexandra about
Maries marriage problems?
__________________________________________________________________________
4. True or False? Cather presents Frank as a hardened criminal.
5. True or False? Alexandra is never able to forgive Frank for killing Emil.
6. True or False? Although Alexandra has managed a farm for many years, Carl is still able
to teach her about people.
Check your answers with those on page 174.
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American Literature
EXAMINATION NUMBER:
00760100
Whichever method you use in submitting your exam
answers to the school, you must use the number above.
For the quickest test results, go to
http://www.takeexamsonline.com
When you feel confident that you have mastered the material in
Lesson 3, complete the following examination. Then submit only
your answers to the school for grading, using one of the examination
answer options described in your Test Materials envelope. Send
your answers for this examination as soon as you complete it. Do
not wait until another examination is ready.
Questions 120: Select the one best answer to each question.
who love it and understand it are the people who own itfor
a little while (122). This statement represents one of the
main themes in the novel.
1. When Cather describes the town as trying not to be blown
away, shes using a technique known as
A. foreshadowing.
B. flashbacks.
C. narration.
D. personification.
Examination
Lesson 3
The Novel
77
C. John Bergson
D. Emil
5. After the death of Mr. Bergson, who takes over the planning of the farm?
A. Alexandra
B. Lou
C. Oscar
D. Emil
7. When Carl says, We are all alike; we have no ties, we know nobody, we own nothing, hes
describing
A.
B.
C.
D.
C. foreshadowing.
D. falling action.
9. From two ears that had grown side by side, the grains of one shot up joyfully . . . and the
grains from the other lay still in the earth. What two characters does this quote describe?
A. Ivar and Signa
B. Alexandra and Otto
78
C. Maries helplessness.
D. Carls sickliness.
Examination, Lesson 3
11. The branches had become so hard that they wounded your hand if you but tried to break
a twig. And yet, down under the frozen crusts, at the roots of the trees, the secret of life
was still safe, warm as the blood in ones heart; and the spring would come again! This
quote (page 79) is a metaphor for
A. Alexandras dreams.
B. Maries soul.
C. Emils career.
D. Carls heart.
C. Frank
D. Emil
13. I carefully walked across the floor. Suppose this is a quote of the narrator in a novel
youre reading. What can you determine about the novel?
A.
B.
C.
D.
Its
Its
Its
Its
a tragedy.
a comedy.
written in the first-person narrative point of view.
written in the third-person narrative point of view.
15. She was a good girl, not to suffer. What does this quote refer to?
A.
B.
C.
D.
16. When Alexandra leaves Frank in prison, she says she will
A.
B.
C.
D.
17. When Alexandra says, And the people who love it and understand it are the people who
own it, shes referring to
A. the hammock.
B. the land.
Examination, Lesson 3
C. an education.
D. independence.
79
18. Of the following points of view, which one gives a reader the most insight into the minds of
the characters?
A.
B.
C.
D.
C. Swedish
D. Mexican
80
C. Nellie.
D. Milly.
Examination, Lesson 3
ASSIGNMENT 11
Read the following introductory material. Then take SelfCheck 11, which follows the introduction.
Lesson
Poetry, Part 1
81
the poem. He or she may be, but sometimes isnt. Poets can
write in voices of an older man or woman, a teen, a child, or
perhaps an animal or inanimate object.
What Is Poetry?
Poetry was traditionally composed to be spoken aloud or to
be sung to the accompaniment of a musical instrument. Our
earliest ancestors sat together around campfires, then later
at feasts to pass on their history by telling stories. Some of
these stories have come down to us through many, many
generations.
The earliest poems are the epic poems. Epics are long narrative poems recounting the deeds of legendary or historical
heroes. The oldest epic in English is Beowulf, the story of
an Anglo-Saxon hero who defeats a man-eating monster. The
oldest epic from the Middle East is Gilgamesh, which tells
the story of a man who loved his friend so much that he
went to search for him in the land of the dead. Greek epics
tell the story of the Trojan War in the Iliad and of Odysseus
journey homeward from that war, the Odyssey. Some of
these epics are still used for the basis of modern plays,
dramas, and films.
Because poetry is meant to be spoken aloud, the poet pays
a great deal of attention to how the poem will sound. Poets
use tools like rhyme, alliteration (as well as assonance and
consonance), and meter to make poems sound meaningful
when spoken.
Lets examine each one of these tools. Rhyme is the use of
words that sound alike, such as sound and round, say and
neigh, and size and rise. Alliteration is the use of words that
begin with the same consonant sound, such as clear, clatter,
and clasp or Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers (p
sound). Assonance is the repetition of a vowel sound, as in
mad as a hatter. Consonance is the repetition of a final consonant, as in stroke of luck. Meter is a method the poet uses
to make each line of the poem have a pleasing rhythm. Again,
because sound and rhythm are so important in poetry, you
should read each poem aloud several times to understand
and appreciate it to the fullest extent. Allow the sounds of
the words to create images as well as feelings in your head.
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American Literature
Figurative Language
One of the differences between poetry and prose is that
poetry relies heavily on the use of figurative language.
Youve already learned the difference between denotation
(dictionary definition) and connotation (what a word suggests). Connotative usage is a type of figurative language.
When authors wish to use figurative language, they deliberately choose words for both their denotative and connotative
meaning. The connotative meaning, or figurative meaning,
refers to the mental or emotional image the author is trying
to create in his or her readers mind. Think of it as a word
picture.
Figurative language uses figures of speech. Simply put, a
figure of speech is the use of a word or words to create a
certain effect by using the words in ways other than their
usual meaning.
The two most common figures of speech are simile and
metaphor. Both of these figures of speech compare two
things that are essentially unlike each other.
Lesson 4
83
Types of Poetry
Poetry, like other literary genres, can be divided into subgenres. Here are some categories of poetry:
Time Period
Elizabethan
Eighteenth century
Romantic
Modern
Sonnet
Blank verse
Free verse
Purpose
Meter
Meter is the Greek word for measure. Meter is used to
measure the number and kind of feet in a line of poetry.
Meter is determined by the pattern of stressed (accented) and
unstressed syllables in a line of poetry. Probably the most
common type of foot is the iamb. An iamb consists of an
unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable. Here are
some examples. (Note: The stressed syllable is in bold capital
letters.)
de LIGHT
84
com PARE
Ma RIE
American Literature
Verse Forms
Many poems follow strict patterns. Such poems are called
formal poetry, since they follow a specific form that evolved
over the years. A sonnet is one such form. A sonnet is a
poem that
1. Has 14 lines
2. Is composed in iambic pentameter
3. For the English sonnet, contains three quatrains (groups
of four lines) and a couplet (two lines)
4. For the Italian sonnet, contains one octet (group of eight
lines) and one sestet (group of six lines)
5. Has a specific rhyme scheme
The rhyme scheme of a poem shows which lines end in the
same sound. Letters of the alphabet are used to represent a
scheme. The ending sound of the first line of a poem is
always represented with the letter A. If the next line ends in
the same sound, its also represented with A to show it has
Lesson 4
85
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Self-Check 11
1. A comparison using like or as is called a/an _______.
2. Beowulf is an example of a/an _______.
3. The most common meter used in English verse is _______.
4. A group of two lines in a poem is called a/an _______.
5. The phrase The day is done, and the darkness falls is an example of what poetic
technique?
__________________________________________________________________________
6. A line of poetry that contains three feet is known as _______.
7. A sonnet has _______ lines.
8. What is the meter in the following line of poetry?
We wear the mask that grins and lies.
__________________________________________________________________________
9. What is the rhyme scheme of the following lines?
Whenever Richard Cory went down town,
We people on the pavement looked at him:
He was a gentleman from sole to crown,
Clean favored, and imperially slim.
__________________________________________________________________________
Check your answers with those on page 174.
Lesson 4
87
ASSIGNMENT 12
Read the poems listed below. Read them to yourself; then read
them aloudslowly. As you do, look for examples of figurative
language, especially metaphors and similes. Determine what
the poet is doingreflecting, telling a story, making a point.
Identify the meter and rhyme scheme. Look for examples of
alliteration, assonance, and consonance. After youve read
each poem several times, return to this study guide and read
the analyses that follow.
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American Literature
The poetry of e. e. cummings can be difficult at first. He creates new words as he sees fit. He blends different forms
just when you think youre about to read a sonnet, he might
break off into free verse. His grammar is ungrammatical, he
punctuates when he wants to, not according to standard
rules. In other words, he pretty much makes up the rules as
he goes along.
In his poems, form follows function. That is, the form of his
poems depends on what hes trying to say. In the case of
e. e. cummings, the form is very individual. Likewise, the
content of his poetrywhat hes sayingis all about the need
to be an individual in a world that demands conformity. He
celebrates manic exuberance in a world that asks people to
be quiet and polite, and he celebrates sexuality in an America
thats often uncomfortable with open talk about such things.
In the poem since feeling is first, cummings uses syntax
that is, conventional rules for writing sentencesas a
metaphor for romance. The opening four lines mean that
anyone who pays attention to rules and regulations cant
really let go and experience a true kiss. In other words, passion isnt bound by any rules or laws.
Note that form follows function here. Cummingss own
poems break all the rules. They dont adhere to any rhyme
scheme or pattern at all. And they dont follow the rules of
punctuation and capitalization. For example, look at the
syntax of these lines:
wholly to be a fool
while Spring is in the world
my blood approves,
In orderly English, these lines would read, My blood says its
okay to be a total fool in springtime. Cummings deliberately
mangles the syntax to show the disordered mind of a person
in love. A fool in spring doesnt care about order and logic.
Cummings continues to criticize rationality in saying that
kisses are better than wisdom and that the flutter of an
eyelidpure instinct, but so attractive!means more than
anything his intellect can come up with. And he swears by
all flowers, which are natural and organic.
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largely to help from important friends in Britain. She corresponded with General George Washington during the
Revolutionary War and met him in Cambridge in 1776.
Her later career wasnt so successful, and she died in poverty
in 1784. Her philosophy can be summed up in a line she
wrote to a friend that was reprinted in many colonial newspapers when the colonists were clamoring for freedom from
England in 1774: in every human Breast, God has implanted
a Principle, which we call Love of Freedom; it is impatient of
Oppression, and pants for Deliverance.
Lets begin by looking once again at the meter and rhyme
scheme of Wheatleys poem. Its meter is iambic pentameter.
That is, each line consists of five iambs:
Should YOU, / my LORD, / while YOU / per USE / my SONG,
Notice that the first two lines rhyme, then the next two, and
so on. Therefore, the rhyme scheme is AA BB CC DD and so
on.
Because it was written so long ago, the diction used by
Wheatley might sound strange or old-fashioned to you. When
you encounter such a poem, its a good idea to paraphrase
the poemthat is, to rewrite it in your own, up-to-date language. If you were to do that with Wheatleys poem, you
might arrive at something like this:
If, while you listen to this poem,
You wonder why I love freedom,
And you wonder about the source of my wish for
everyones good,
That only feeling people can understand
Well, when I was young, my cruel destiny was
To be taken away from Africa, my happy birthplace.
What pain that caused!
How much suffering do you think that caused my
parents?
Somebody would have to have a heart of iron
To have taken a loved child from her father.
Thats what happened to me. So, how can I not pray
That other people never suffer from that or any other
kind of tyranny?
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Analysis of Misgivings
Youve already read a little about Herman Melville. (See
Assignment 5 in this study guide.) Now youll discover that
the author of the great novel Moby Dick and the famous
short story Bartleby was also a noted poet.
The poem Misgivings was written in 1860just months
before the start of the American Civil War. While it seems at
first glance to be about natural disaster, the poem is actually
a metaphor for wartime.
The title, Misgivings, indicates that something is wrong,
that something bad is going to happen. Melville contrasts his
own sense of impending disaster with the optimist-cheer,
the idea that things will be fine, which he says will be
flown.
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Analysis of I, Too
Langston Hughes (19021967) was born in Joplin, Missouri.
He grew up in Kansas and attended Columbia University in
New York City.
Hughes came from a militant African American family. His
grandmothers two husbands were both militant abolitionists, meaning that they were prepared to use violence to end
slavery.
Hughes enjoyed the poetry of Walt Whitman and Carl
Sandburg. In the 1930s, he visited the Soviet Union and
became something of a Communist. In 1938, he staged a
play called Do You Want to Be Free? which combined jazz,
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Self-Check 12
1. Of the poets youve read in Assignment 12, which one uses syntax as a metaphor?
__________________________________________________________________________
2. Which of the poets says that a poem doesnt have to mean anything at all?
__________________________________________________________________________
3. In Melvilles Misgivings, the description of a coming storm is used as a/an _______
for war.
4. Emphasizing passion, emotion, and individuality is characteristic of _______ artists.
5. What situation in the United States caused Archibald MacLeish to think about social
problems?
__________________________________________________________________________
6. Which one of the poets that youve read in Assignment 12 suggests that America has
something to be ashamed of?
__________________________________________________________________________
7. What first does Phillis Wheatley have to her credit?
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
8. Which one of the poets do many people consider to be the greatest American poet?
__________________________________________________________________________
Check your answers with those on page 174.
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ASSIGNMENT 13
Read the poems listed below. Read them to yourself; then read
them aloudslowly. As you do, look for examples of figurative
language and poetic techniques. Determine what the poet is
doingreflecting, telling a story, making a point. After youve
read each poem several times, return to this study guide and
read the analyses that follow.
The Underground
Railroad was a
system of helping
escaped black
slaves successfully
move to free areas
in the North.
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American Literature
the lash
Drinking her blood at each fearful gash,
Analysis of Chicago
Carl Sandburg (18781967) was born in Illinois. He served
as a soldier in the Spanish-American War and then returned
to work for the Social Democratic Party in Wisconsin. He first
became popular in 1914 when he published the poem
Chicago in Poetry magazine.
Sandburg was very much a populist writer. That is, he
celebrates the lower classes and the working class and their
contributions to America. His populism is also demonstrated
by his interest in American folklore. Sandburg was a promoter of folk art as opposed to that produced by so-called
professional artists, whether in painting or music or literature. He compiled collections of American folk tunes, and
folklore was the basis of his famous stories for children,
the Rootabaga Stories. Sandburg also wrote a scholarly
six-volume biography of Abraham Lincoln.
In Chicago, Sandburg conducts an imaginary conversation
with the city of Chicago. To do this, he has to personify the
citygive it human characteristics. This process is called
personification.
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A lament is a sad
song in which the
writer expresses
some grief or
sorrow.
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104
Maya Angelou
LeRoi Jones
Africa Bambaata
Ishmael Reed
American Literature
Self-Check 13
1. True or False? Frances Harper was sold into slavery when she was 10 years old.
2. What technique does Frances Harper use to make the horrors of slavery clear?
__________________________________________________________________________
3. What kind of people did Carl Sandburg write about?
__________________________________________________________________________
4. To whom or what is Sandburg speaking in his poem Chicago?
__________________________________________________________________________
5. A sad song in which the writer expresses some grief or sorrow is called a/an _______.
6. In The Negro Speaks of Rivers, what do the three rivers have in common?
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
Check your answers with those on page 175.
Lesson 4
105
NOTES
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American Literature
EXAMINATION NUMBER:
00760200
Whichever method you use in submitting your exam
answers to the school, you must use the number above.
For the quickest test results, go to
http://www.takeexamsonline.com
When you feel confident that you have mastered the material in
Lesson 4, complete the following examination. Then submit only
your answers to the school for grading, using one of the examination
answer options described in your Test Materials envelope. Send
your answers for this examination as soon as you complete it. Do
not wait until another examination is ready.
Questions 120: Select the one best answer to each question.
1. Walt Whitmans excerpt from Song of Myself can be considered
an expression of
A. populism.
B. romanticism.
C. imagism.
D. conventionalism.
Examination
Lesson 4
Poetry, Part 1
107
5. Syntax refers to
A.
B.
C.
D.
C. paradox.
D. irony.
7. Of the poets you read in this lesson, which one believed in nature without check?
A. Robinson Jeffers
B. e. e. cummings
C. Frances E. W. Harper
D. Walt Whitman
8. Which poet in this lesson called human cities thickening center; corruption?
A. Robinson Jeffers
B. Frances E. W. Harper
C. Carl Sandburg
D. e. e. cummings
108
C. blank verse.
D. free verse.
Examination, Lesson 4
C. narrative
D. descriptive
C. narrative.
D. discourse.
C. I, Too
D. Bury Me in a Free Land
15. Which one of the following dramatic poems is answering someone elses question?
A.
B.
C.
D.
C. Carl Sandburg
D. Robinson Jeffers
C. women.
D. cities.
18. What does the speaker in From Song of Myself sit and observe?
A.
B.
C.
D.
Examination, Lesson 4
C. a paraphrase.
D. irony.
109
110
Examination, Lesson 4
Diction: What words and phrases does the poet use and
why?
Meter: What is the meter, and why do you think the poet
utilizes that metrical form?
Sound: How does the poet use rhyme, assonance, consonance, alliteration, and rhythm?
Tone: Is the tone of the poem cheerful, angry, deliberative, melancholy, hopeful, or something else?
Think about these elements for each poem you read, and
youll soon find that you start identifying these elements
automatically.
Lesson
Poetry, Part 2
ASSIGNMENT 14
Read the poems listed below. Read them to yourself; then read
them aloudslowly. As you do, look for examples of figurative
language, and take notes on the above questions. After youve
read each poem several times, return to this study guide and
read the analyses that follow.
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Lesson 5
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Lesson 5
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Self-Check 14
1. Describe what it means for a poem to be called ambiguous.
__________________________________________________________________________
2. What made Ezra Pound write In a Station of the Metro?
__________________________________________________________________________
3. Which poet in this assignment was also a physician?
__________________________________________________________________________
4. True or False? In Fire and Ice, Frost prefers the world to end with a fire.
5. What are the two levels of meaning in The Road Not Taken?
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
Check your answers with those on page 175.
Lesson 5
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ASSIGNMENT 15
Read the poems listed below. Read them to yourself; then read
them aloudslowly. As you do, look for examples of figurative
language and answer the questions given earlier. After youve
read each poem several times, return to this study guide and
read the analyses that follow.
Analysis of Sympathy
Paul Laurence Dunbar (18721906) was born in Dayton,
Ohio. He penned a large body of dialect poems, standard
English poems, essays, novels, and short stories before he
died at the age of 33. His work often addressed the difficulties encountered by members of his race and the efforts of
African Americans to achieve equality in America.
Dunbar moved to Toledo, Ohio, in 1895, with help from
attorney Charles A. Thatcher and a psychiatrist. In 1902,
Dunbar and his wife separated. Depression stemming from
the end of his marriage and declining health drove him to a
dependence on alcohol, which further damaged his health.
He continued to write, however. He ultimately produced 12
books of poetry, four books of short stories, a play, and five
novels. His work appeared in Harpers Weekly, the Sunday
Evening Post, the Denver Post, Current Literature, and a number of other magazines and journals. He traveled to Colorado
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Lesson 5
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Lesson 5
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In the narrators eyes, people are just the sum total of what
they own, where they work, and whether theyre married.
Furthermore, this bureaucrat represents a state in which
individuals count only in terms of their value to the community. Citizens in this state arent expected to have feelings or
spiritual longings. He doesnt mention desire or hate, love or
lust, art or passion. No, its a drab account, and the speaker
could just as easily be talking about a robot.
The state that Auden is describing is totalitarian. Its in total
control of subjects. But the speaker obviously doesnt understand people, either. He suggests that since this unknown
citizen had everything the state thinks he needs, therefore
he must be happy!
Auden is satirizing state bureaucracies and totalitarian
states, suggesting that they crush the human spirit. But hes
also suggesting that maybe theres hopethat the human
longing for freedom and happiness endures, and that states
that try to crush it are doomed.
A totalitarian state
is one that has a
central leader who
dictates to his or
her subjects.
Self-Check 15
1. In your own words, tell what the line I know why the caged bird sings means.
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
2. Who rides in the carriage in Because I could not stop for Death?
__________________________________________________________________________
3. What words does Emily Dickinson use to describe Death?
__________________________________________________________________________
(Continued)
Lesson 5
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Self-Check 15
4. What does the purple host refer to in Success is counted sweetest?
__________________________________________________________________________
5. The person described in The Unknown Citizen is a symbol for _______.
Check your answers with those on page 175.
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EXAMINATION NUMBER:
00760300
Whichever method you use in submitting your exam
answers to the school, you must use the number above.
For the quickest test results, go to
http://www.takeexamsonline.com
When you feel confident that you have mastered the material in
Lesson 5, complete the following examination. Then submit only
your answers to the school for grading, using one of the examination
answer options described in your Test Materials envelope. Send
your answers for this examination as soon as you complete it. Do
not wait until another examination is ready.
Questions 120: Select the one best answer to each question.
1. In Fire and Ice, Frost compares fire to
A. hate.
B. desire.
C. bureaucracy.
D. plums.
C. flowers on a branch.
D. a fork in the road.
Examination
Lesson 5
Poetry, Part 2
125
5. In Because I could not stop for Death, Dickinson says the horses heads were pointing
toward
A. the schoolyard.
B. the graveyard.
C. eternity.
D. her past.
6. How often does the speaker of Mending Wall meet his neighbor?
A. Every Saturday
B. Once a year
C. Once in a lifetime
D. Every time he goes outside
wild horses.
a caged bird.
a petal on a black bough.
a nameless citizen.
C. metaphor.
D. allegory.
12. Which one of the following poems describes the experience of being African American?
A.
B.
C.
D.
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Examination, Lesson 5
C. satiric
D. dramatic
14. How many of Dickinsons poems were published during her lifetime?
A. 0
B. 2
C. 10
D. 1,800
15. Whom does the narrator of Mending Wall want to blame for the walls destruction?
A. Elves
B. Neighbors
C. Cows
D. Hooligans
16. At what time of day is the narrator of The Road Not Taken making his choice?
A. Morning
B. Noon
C. Evening
D. Night
17. Of the following statements, which one best describes the theme of Success is counted
sweetest?
A.
B.
C.
D.
a newspaper obituary.
inscribed on a monument by the state.
found scribbled on a napkin in a dead mans pocket.
a translation of an ancient poem.
C. song of joy.
D. prayer.
20. Which one of the following statements best describes the job of repair in Mending Wall?
A.
B.
C.
D.
Examination, Lesson 5
127
NOTES
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ASSIGNMENT 16
Read the following Introduction to Nonfiction and the background information on W. E. B. Du Bois. Then read Of the
Meaning of Progress (pages 3745) and The Sorrow Songs
(pages 155164) in The Souls of Black Folk by W. E. B. Du Bois.
When youve finished reading the essays, return to this study
guide and read the analyses.
Introduction to Nonfiction
Thus far in your American Literature course, youve discovered two types of writing: fiction and poetry. Now youll take
a close look at nonfiction.
Fiction and poetry use the art of creating stories from the
writers imagination. He or she may base a story or a poem
on something that really happened, but the author makes
changes to the facts to make the story more exciting.
Nonfiction is different than either fiction or poetry in that it
deals with facts. When we read nonfiction, we expect that
the author is telling us the truth. He or she is telling us what
really happened, not something that has been altered to make
it sound better. Nonfiction is literature about real people and
events.
A reporter who writes about sports, for example, must stick
to the facts. Some team lost; some team won. Someone
scored; someone blocked a punt. Sportswriting is an example
of nonfiction. It may tell an exciting storythe game may
have been won or lost in the last few minutes of playbut it
still sticks to the facts. Notice as you read, however, that
nonfiction writers use the same tools of the trade as fiction
writers and poets, such as figurative language and irony.
Lesson
Nonfiction
6
129
History
Biography
Geography
Current events
Technical Nonfiction
Biology
Chemistry
Yoga
Cooking
Auto repair
Personal Nonfiction
Memoirs
Meditations
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might describe some of the dinners he enjoyed while romancing a lovely jeune fille (young girl), or he might describe the
effect of a hearty breakfast in the Provenal countryside. If
his writing is of a certain quality, if his themes are universal
(and love and food are certainly universal themes), if he
can capture the smells and tastes of eating in Paris in his
memoirs, then his cookbook might continue to educate and
entertain readers for years to come. And it may earn the title
literature.
The selections youll read for this lesson fall into the following categories:
1. Memoirs and essaysthe thoughts of W. E. B. Du Bois
expressed in essay form, based on his recollections. (The
word essay comes from the French jessai, which means
I try. When an author writes an essay, he or she is trying to express an idea, support an opinion, or defend a
theory. Sometimes a writer writes to figure out how he
or she feels, not knowing where the writing will lead.)
2. Autobiographythe story of a womans life, expressed in
chronological order (that is, the order in which things
happened over time)
Despite the different categories, these examples have something in common. All are personal writing. The writers speak
from their hearts and describe their own personal experiences
and deep emotions. They care deeply and passionately about
the subjects they discuss.
Writers of literary nonfiction go beyond simply informing.
That is, they dont seek to simply pass on information.
Instead, they try to touch the readers or listeners hearts as
well as their minds. They create a mood. Theyre emotional,
and theyre able to communicate those emotions to their
readers as well. The critical reader who pays attention, who
reads passages aloud, is able to experience similar emotions.
And that, in short, is what turns nonfiction into literature.
Lesson 6
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Lesson 6
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Self-Check 16
1. Writing thats based on fact, not imagination, is called _______.
2. W. E. B. Du Bois attended _______ University.
3. Laws segregating black and white people were called _______ laws.
4. What article does Du Bois use to symbolize the unwritten laws that separate blacks and
whites?
__________________________________________________________________________
5. Of the Meaning of Progress takes place in the state of _______.
6. How does Du Bois think that American music differs from that of European countries?
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
7. What challenge does Du Bois give his readers near the end of his essay?
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
Check your answers with those on page 176.
Lesson 6
135
ASSIGNMENT 17
Read the following background information on Helen Keller.
Then read pages 138 in The Story of My Life by Helen Keller.
When youve finished reading the assignment, return to this
study guide and read the analysis.
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Sensory details
are those that
appeal to the five
sensestaste,
touch, sight, smell,
and hearing.
Lesson 6
137
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Lesson 6
139
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Plagiarism refers to
the act of copying
or rewording someone elses actual
words or ideas and
presenting them as
if they were your
own. Its an illegal
offense thats punishable by law.
Lesson 6
141
Self-Check 17
1. A history of a persons life written by that person is called a/an _______.
2. Details that appeal to a readers sight, taste, hearing, touch, and smell are called
_______ details.
3. What senses did Helen Keller lose?
__________________________________________________________________________
4. What was Helen Kellers teachers name?
__________________________________________________________________________
5. The seashell Keller describes, which shares the name of a famous poem, is called
a/an _______.
6. Finding out that things a person once thought were true arent true at all is called
_______.
7. In what city were the Perkins School for the Blind and Radcliffe College?
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
Check your answers with those on page 176.
ASSIGNMENT 18
Read pages 3875 in The Story of My Life by Helen Keller.
When youve finished reading the assignment, return to this
study guide and read the analysis.
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Lesson 6
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books not only for pleasure and for the wisdom they bring to
all who read, but also for that knowledge which comes to
others through their eyes and their ears (5556).
Chapter 22. As you read Chapter 22, remember that Helen
is both blind and deaf and yet she enjoys a wide variety of
amusements. In this chapter, she mentions her love of being
outdoors, swimming, boating, canoeing, and sailing. Pay particular attention to her description of how she feels the differences between things, such as the difference between the
country and the city (66).
Would you think a blind and deaf girl would enjoy museums
and art stores and the theater? As you read her telling of visiting such places, try to imagine what it would be like to do
those things without the senses of sight and hearing.
Chapter 23. If Chapter 23 had a title, it would probably be
Friends. Helen closes her autobiography by describing her
association with a variety of peoplefamous people and ordinary peopleand what she learned from them.
Self-Check 18
1. With whom did Helen go to the Worlds Fair in 1893?
__________________________________________________________________________
2. What are some of the languages that Helen studied?
__________________________________________________________________________
3. For what particular reason did Helen attend the Wright-Humason School for the Deaf in
New York City?
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
(Continued)
Lesson 6
145
Self-Check 18
4. True or False? Helen didnt enjoy mathematics.
5. What book did Helen love above all others?
__________________________________________________________________________
6. True or False? Because of her limitations, Helen wasnt able to enjoy outdoor activities.
Check your answers with those on page 176.
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EXAMINATION NUMBER:
00760400
Whichever method you use in submitting your exam
answers to the school, you must use the number above.
For the quickest test results, go to
http://www.takeexamsonline.com
When you feel confident that you have mastered the material in
Lesson 6, complete the following examination. Then submit only
your answers to the school for grading, using one of the examination
answer options described in your Test Materials envelope. Send
your answers for this examination as soon as you complete it. Do
not wait until another examination is ready.
Questions 120: Select the one best answer to each question.
1. When W. E. B. Du Bois uses the Veil as a symbol, he means
A.
B.
C.
D.
racism.
the poor conditions of the people he was teaching.
the difference between whats expected and what happens.
education.
Examination
Lesson 6
Nonfiction
147
4. In Of the Meaning of Progress, what does Du Bois suggest most strongly creates the
sense of community among African Americans?
A. Desire for education
B. Anger at racism
C. Shared suffering
D. Foods they share with others
6. The bits of song that precede each essay in The Souls of Black Folk are called
A. anecdotes.
B. biographies.
C. epigraphs.
D. epiphanies.
7. What does Du Bois say are the unique characteristics of American art (including music)?
A. Beauty and peace
B. Vigor and ingenuity
10. The woman paints the childs experiences in her own fantasy is an example of
A.
B.
C.
D.
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Examination, Lesson 6
12. The book that began Helen Kellers lifelong love of reading was
A. the Bible.
B. The Scarlet Letter.
C. the Iliad.
D. Little Lord Fauntleroy.
13. How old is Keller when she first meets Anne Sullivan?
A. 3
B. 5
C. Almost 7
D. Almost 10
C. Helen
D. Anne
16. Keller compares the way one gathers and absorbs knowledge and makes it part of
oneself to
A.
B.
C.
D.
C. a simile.
D. sensory detail.
18. When Helen Keller discovers that the Pilgrims werent as noble as she had been taught,
she experiences
A. brainwashing.
B. true happiness.
Examination, Lesson 6
C. disillusionment.
D. a loss of faith in Anne Sullivan.
149
C. I like water.
D. I love Anne.
20. In Kellers opinion, the colleges of her day focused too much on
A.
B.
C.
D.
150
Examination, Lesson 6
ASSIGNMENT 19
Read the following information on drama and the background
information on Eugene ONeill. Then read pages 133 in
Beyond the Horizon. As you read the play, refer to the analysis
that follows.
Lesson
Drama
History of Drama
151
Nature of Drama
An audience watching a film understands that filmmakers
use special effects. Films are often judged by how realistic
in appearance the special effects are. We know that when the
car explodes, the stuntman driving the car has safely exited
the vehicle; we know that when the rockets battle each other,
were really seeing computer animation or drawings of some
kind.
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Lesson 7
153
Then do the same with each speech. What tone is the character using? Is he whispering or shouting? Speaking clearly
or mumbling? Talking quickly or slowly? What else is he
doing? Is he tying his shoes, looking out the window, taking
his love in his arms, making threatening gestures?
Then, do the same with the setting. In Beyond the Horizon,
allow yourself time to conjure up visions of each setting.
What does the farmhouse look like? The landscape?
Also pay attention to the following points:
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Lesson 7
155
What old gods are dying or dead in this play? That is,
what things did the people worship and find meaningful
in the past?
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Lesson 7
157
158
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Lesson 7
159
Self-Check 19
1. Of what literary genre is Beyond the Horizon?
__________________________________________________________________________
2. How are drama and poetry similar?
__________________________________________________________________________
3. Why is context important in drama?
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
4. Who is James Mayo?
__________________________________________________________________________
5. At the start of the drama, where is Robert planning to go?
__________________________________________________________________________
6. How are Robert and Andrew rationalizing their actions?
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
Check your answers with those on page 177.
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ASSIGNMENT 20
Read pages 3589 in Beyond the Horizon. As you read, refer to
the analysis that follows.
(Continued)
Act Two
Scene One. The room from Act One, Scene Two, the image
of cheerful order, has changed, reflecting a change in the
characters own lives. Read carefully ONeills description of
the room and compare it with what you saw before.
This scene takes place three years later. James Mayo is now
dead. When the scene opens, Mrs. Atkins and Mrs. Mayo are
discussing the situation. Mrs. Atkins believes that God took
Mr. Mayos life because he was a godless blasphemer. Mrs.
Atkins is blaming Robert for the poor condition of the farm,
but Mrs. Mayo defends him.
Ruth and Robert seem to fight constantly, and they use their
daughter against one another (42). Every little thing sparks a
battle. Ruths only consolation seems to be reading Andrews
letters, which Robert sneers at, saying, sarcastically, that
she probably knows them by heart by this time (41).
Ruth finally cracks and tells Robert how disgusted she is
with him:
What do you thinkliving with a man like youhaving to suffer all the time because youve never been
man enough to work and do things like other people.
But no! You never own up to that. You think youre so
much better than other folks, with your college education, where you never learned a thing, and always
reading your stupid books instead of working. I spose
you think I ought to be proud to be your wifea poor,
ignorant thing like me! [Fiercely.] But Im not. I hate it!
I hate the sight of you! Oh, if Id only known! If I hadnt been such a fool to listen to your cheap, silly,
poetry talk that you learned out of books! If I could
have seen how you were in your true selflike you are
Lesson 7
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162
American Literature
Act Three
Scene One. This is the third time youve been in the Mayo
parlor. In the beginning, it was well ordered. The second look
showed a little change, mostly in the atmosphere. Now,
things are quite different. Carefully read the description on
page 67. Its five years since the end of Act Two.
Mary is dead. Robert is very sick. And Ruth has given up
hope. Robert, on the other hand, sounds something like his
earlier self. He fantasizes about starting a new life in the city.
His words sound like the excitement he expressed about the
future back in Act One: After all, why shouldnt we have a
future? Were young yet. If we can only shake off the curse of
this farm! Its the farm thats ruined our lives, damn it! And
now that Andys coming backIm going to sink my foolish
pride, Ruth! Ill borrow the money from him to give us a good
start in the city. Well go where people live instead of stagnating, and start all over again (72).
But to Ruth, his speech sounds like he used to talkonly
mad, kind of (73). Ruth herself is beyond any enthusiasm.
When Andrew arrives, she tells him, Theres a time comes
when you dont mind anymoreanything (77).
Robert was planning to borrow money from Andrew, but it
turns out that Andrew has failed at business. To Robert,
though, Andrews real failure isnt his failure at business
its what he has become:
Youa farmerto gamble in a wheat pit with scraps
of paper. Theres a spiritual significance in that picture, Andy. [He smiles bitterly.] Im a failure, and
Ruths anotherbut we can both justly lay some of
the blame for our stumbling on God. But youre the
deepest-dyed failure of the three, Andy. Youve spent
Lesson 7
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164
American Literature
Self-Check 20
1. What difference occurs in the Mayos parlor in the three years between Act One and
Act Two?
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
2. In Act Two, Scene One, what does Ruth tell Robert about her feelings?
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
3. Where is Andrew going to make his fortune?
__________________________________________________________________________
4. True or False? When Andrew returns in Act Three, Scene One, hes a millionaire.
5. True or False? Ruths mother, Mrs. Atkins, has secretly helped with expenses.
6. What did Andrew want Ruth to tell Robert before he died?
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
Check your answers with those on page 177.
Lesson 7
165
NOTES
166
American Literature
EXAMINATION NUMBER:
00760500
Whichever method you use in submitting your exam
answers to the school, you must use the number above.
For the quickest test results, go to
http://www.takeexamsonline.com
When you feel confident that you have mastered the material in
Lesson 7, complete the following examination. Then submit only
your answers to the school for grading, using one of the examination
answer options described in your Test Materials envelope. Send
your answers for this examination as soon as you complete it. Do
not wait until another examination is ready.
Questions 120: Select the one best answer to each question.
1. What is Robert doing when you first meet him in Beyond the
Horizon?
A.
B.
C.
D.
he
he
he
he
Examination
Lesson 7
Drama
167
3. When Andrew tells his father that hes going to sea, what does his father tell him?
A.
B.
C.
D.
That
That
That
That
4. In Act One, Scene One, Robert claims that he can be a farmer and Andrew says he has
actually always hated farming. What are both men guilty of?
A.
B.
C.
D.
5. At the end of Act One, the image of the two brothers stumbling towards the door in the
dark is symbolic of
A.
B.
C.
D.
6. The sprouting seeds of rye at the beginning of Act One, Scene One symbolize
A.
B.
C.
D.
C. New York
D. Buenos Aires
168
Examination, Lesson 7
never telling Andrew that he knew Ruth loved Andrew and not Robert.
not borrowing money in Act 2.
not telling his father that Andrew loved Ruth.
letting him go to sea in his place.
11. What does Robert tell his daughter Mary about fairies?
A.
B.
C.
D.
That
That
That
That
C. Mayo
D. Majorca
13. When Andrew tells Ruth he never really loved her, Ruth is
A. hurt.
B. angry.
C. relieved.
D. unmoved.
15. Why does Mrs. Atkins say that Mr. Mayo died?
A.
B.
C.
D.
Because
Because
Because
Because
16. Why does Ben tell Robert and Ruth hes quitting the farm?
A.
B.
C.
D.
17. Both Robert and Andrew end up doing whats not natural for them. This situation is an
example of
A. pantheism.
B. irony.
Examination, Lesson 7
C. epiphany.
D. rising action.
169
18. Sometimes authors use characters to talk about something that has happened previously.
This technique is an example of
A. exposition.
B. epiphany.
C. allegory.
D. mimetics.
C. satire.
D. novel.
170
C. Mr. Mayo.
D. Andrew.
Examination, Lesson 7
Self-Check 1
2. False
3. True
4. True
5. False
6. True
Self-Check 2
1. d
2. f
3. b
4. e
5. a
6. g
7. h
8. c
Self-Check 3
1. The murderer is the protagonist. No, Poe doesnt say
whether the individual is a male or a female.
2. He doesnt like the look in the old mans eye.
3. He compares the old mans eye to that of a vulture.
4. It seems that guilt gets the better of him and he feels
forced to confess.
5. False
Answers
1. True
171
Self-Check 4
1. tableau
2. Some of the words Bierce uses are sharp pressure, sense
of suffocation, keen, poignant agonies, pulsating fire, and
intolerable temperature.
3. It illustrates Farquhars added appreciation of those
things he thought he wouldnt see anymore.
4. The bridge Farquhar was to destroy was the Owl Creek
Bridge. Its ironic that the very bridge he was to destroy
became the gallows for his hanging.
Self-Check 5
1. The narrator operates an office in which the employees
copy legal documents.
2. Initially, Bartleby works very fast and accurately.
3. This question may be answered differently by different
people. Certainly, one possibility is that the wall symbolizes the lack of future that Bartleby had. That is, it represents the dead end he sees in his life.
4. The most important element in Bartleby is character
(or characters)both Bartleby and the narrator.
5. Some words and phrases that the narrator uses to
describe Bartleby are pallidly neat, incurably forlorn,
silent, respectable, honest, poor, pale, passive, eccentric,
and deranged. You may have found some others.
Self-Check 6
Your answers will differ from those given here, but theyll
probably be similar in nature.
1. Louisa Ellis is a neat, overly methodical person who has
very particular ways of doing things. Shes unable to
change her way of living.
2. Joe Dagget is a kind, honest, and loyal person.
172
Self-Check Answers
Self-Check 7
1. John is a physician of high standing.
2. He says theres really nothing the matter with his wife
except a temporary nervous depression, a slight hysterical tendency.
3. She sees a woman behind bars.
4. She feels imprisoned because shes a woman being controlled by her husband.
Self-Check 8
1. new
2. False
3. True
4. First-person point of view
5. negative capability
6. reality, or real life
Self-Check 9
1. third-person omniscient
2. the environment or nature
3. Lou
4. 16
5. Frank Shabata
6. flashback
Self-Check Answers
173
Self-Check 10
1. Shes not aware of her own personal needs or the needs
of others.
2. Mexico
3. Franks yellow cane
4. False
5. False
6. True
Self-Check 11
1. simile
2. epic
3. iambic pentameter
4. couplet
5. alliteration
6. trimeter
7. 14
8. We WEAR / the MASK / that GRINS / and LIES.
The meter is iambic tetrameter.
9. ABAB
Self-Check 12
1. e. e. cummings
2. Archibald MacLeish
3. metaphor
4. Romantic
5. Great Depression
6. Langston Hughes
7. She was the first African American to publish a book in
the American colonies.
8. Walt Whitman
174
Self-Check Answers
Self-Check 13
1. False
2. Imagery
3. Carl Sandburg wrote about the lower classes and the
working class.
4. Hes speaking to the city of Chicago.
5. lament
6. All three rivers are related to the history of Langston
Hughess ancestors.
Self-Check 14
1. An ambiguous poem is one for which people cant agree
on its meaning.
2. He saw a number of beautiful faces in a Metro station.
3. William Carlos Williams
4. False
5. One level of meaning is that the poem is about a person
taking a walk and having to decide which way to go
when he comes to a fork in the road. A second level is
that the poem refers to a persons life and the decisions
he or she must make at various times.
Self-Check 15
1. It means that the poet is like the caged bird and has
similar feelings.
2. Death, Emily Dickinson, and Immortality
3. Emily Dickinson describes Death with words such as
kindly, slowly, and civility.
4. The purple host refers to the side that won the battle.
5. a totalitarian state
Self-Check Answers
175
Self-Check 16
1. nonfiction
2. Harvard
3. Jim Crow
4. Veil
5. Tennessee
6. Du Bois says that American music has vigor and ingenuity rather than the beauty of European music.
7. He asks them to think about where America would be
without her Negro people.
Self-Check 17
1. autobiography
2. sensory
3. Helen Keller lost both her sight and her hearing.
4. Anne Sullivan
5. Nautilus
6. disillusionment
7. Boston
Self-Check 18
1. Helen went to the Worlds Fair with Miss Sullivan and
Dr. Alexander Graham Bell.
2. Helen studied German, French, Latin, Greek, and, of
course, English.
3. She went there for the purpose of obtaining the highest
advantages in vocal culture and training in lip reading.
4. True
5. The Bible
6. False
176
Self-Check Answers
Self-Check 19
1. Beyond the Horizon is a drama.
2. Both drama and poetry are meant to be heard and seen.
3. The readers or viewers dont have an author who can
explain things. Therefore, they must carefully glean
information from context.
4. James Mayo is a farmer in his 50s. Hes married, has
two sons, and loves the life of farming.
5. Hes going on a sea voyage with his uncle, who is a
captain.
6. Robert rationalizes his actions by explaining that hell
learn farming, will do it well, and will grow to love it.
Andrew rationalizes by saying that he hates farmingis
sick of itand needs to get away.
Self-Check 20
1. The room was originally extremely neat and well kept.
However, as Act Two opens, ONeill describes a room
that gives evidence of carelessness, of inefficiency, and
of industry gone to seed. There are shabby chairs, holes
in the curtains, and things out of place.
2. She tells Robert that she discovered soon after their
marriage that she doesnt love him. Instead, she says
that she has always loved Andrew.
3. Buenos Aires, Argentina
4. False
5. True
6. Andrew wanted Ruth to lie to Robertto tell him that
she never loved Andrew and that she had said so only
because she was mad and didnt know what she was
saying.
Self-Check Answers
177