List of Authors and Texts:

*Franklin, Benjamin
*Thoreau, Henry David
*Hawthorne, Nathaniel
*Edgar Allan Poe
*Twain, Mark
*Kate Chopin

1. Multiple Choice and Identification: (30 pts)

Example: All of the following are characteristics of Transcendentalism EXCEPT:

A) An intimate connection between man and nature

B) The sanctity of the individual

C) Self-reliance and independence of spirit

Example: Emerson appeals to all these romantic notions in his essay EXCEPT:

A) A view that man is inherently capable of doing good and should trust the intuition

to determine right and wrong

B) Individualism over conformity

C) The exaltation of passion and emotion over reason and stoicism (not showing

emotion)

2. Short Answer: Application of Terminology (i.e., literary periods): (30 pts)

Examples:

A. Give one specific example from The Scarlet Letter by Hawthorne which

would show that he was not especially favorable to Hester Prynne's

rebellion. OR

B. Give one specific example from The Scarlet Letter which would show that he

was favorable toward Hester's rebellion.

C. List one of the characteristics of American transcendentalism, and give a

specific example that identifies this feature in Emerson's "Self-

Reliance."

D. list one of the characteristics of "romanticism," and give a specific example

that identifies this feature in The Scarlet Letter.

3. Explication & Quotations: (40 pts)

You will be given a series of significant passages from each of the literary works. You are to

identify the text and author of the quote, and convey the significance of each passage to the

individual work in approximately 1-2 paragraphs. Be as detailed and specific as possible. Out of 6,

you choose 4—for ten points apiece, you should devote most of your time to this portion of

the test; as responses should be generally well thought out and written in clear, precise prose. Here

is an example:

Response:

This passage, taken from Mark Twain's Huckleberry Finn, is a pivotal moment in the character and

life of Huck Finn. Inasmuch as this novel traces the transformation of the young protagonist and

his views on slavery, this passage marks the culmination of Huck's moral progress and

enlightenment This moment reveals Huck torn between his "inner man"—his loyalty, love, and

admiration for Jim, a man, not an object—and his "social conscience" by which he subscribes—

however unconsciously—to societal views of the time which justified slavery as a moral and

ethical social practice. Huck's inner struggle, highlighted in this passage, points to a crucial irony:

he is more "sivilized" than he wants to admit The fact that Huck sees himself "going to hell" for

escaped skve. The fact that he considers it "wickedness" to help Jim is doubly loaded with irony

since, we, as an audience, view it as the morally right thing to do! Contemporary readers admire

Huck all the more, then, for going against the social mores of his time, and for assuming the

consequences of that decision (in his mind, going to hell). As Thoreau and Emerson themselves

point out, not all social practices are good; and what society deems as "moral" cannot always

justified by man's private self or conscience. In this scene, Huck rages against the system, and

we, as readers, applaud him for doing it.