American Literature Exam Review 2014

1. American LiteratureExam Review 2014 HayesProductions

2. Vocabulary • 40 @ ¼ point each = 10 points • 40 words chosen from the 10 lists • Lists are all on Quizlet • 20 definitions • 20 fill in sentences with words

3. Quotations • 2 @ 10 points each = 20 points • You will be given a choice of quotes (with characters and title) and you will write about two of them. For each quote you will answer two questions: • What exactly is going on in the text at the particular time the quote is stated? You know who is speaking to whom – but what is happening in the plot at this moment? • Explain how this quote is representative of one of the larger themes the piece of literature addresses. Consider what ideas the quote references based on the situation, word choice, etc.

4. Sample Quote The Great Gatsby, Nick repeating what George Wilson says: “Maybe you got some friend that I could telephone for, George?” This was a forlorn hope—he was almost sure that Wilson had no friend: there was not enough of him for his wife.  Wilson’s glazed eyes turned out to the ash heaps, where small gray clouds took on fantastic shape and scurried here and there in the faint dawn wind.     “I spoke to her,” he muttered, after a long silence.  “I told her she might fool me but she couldn’t fool God.  I took her to the window”—with an effort he got up and walked to the rear window and leaned with his face pressed against it—” and I said ‘God knows what you’ve been doing, everything you’ve been doing.  You may fool me, but you can’t fool God!’ ”      Standing behind him, Michaelis saw with a shock that he was looking at the eyes of Doctor T. J. Eckleburg, which had just emerged, pale and enormous, from the dissolving night.      “God sees everything,” repeated Wilson.

5. Passage Analysis : Fiction • Short passage • Two questions @ 10 points each = 20 points • You will read a short passage from a work of American fiction. Then you will answer two questions, just like you have done before in a formative assessment. • Describe in detail the central meaning of the passage. (What is the author’s purpose? What is the author trying to convey to the reader?) • Identify at least one method the author uses to convey that meaning. (Humor, metaphor, figurative language, symbolism, dialogue, characterization.)

6. Sample passage To begin at the beginning, the airplane from Minneapolis in which Francis Weed was traveling east ran into heavy weather. The sky had been a hazy blue, with the clouds below the plane lying so close together that nothing could be seen of the earth. Then mist began to form outside the windows, and they flew into a white cloud of such density that it reflected the exhaust fires. The color of the cloud darkened to gray, and the plane began to rock. Francis had been in heavy weather before, but he had never been shaken up so much. The man in the seat beside him pulled a flask out of his pocket and took a drink. Francis smiled at his neighbor, but the man looked away; he wasn't sharing his pain killer with anyone. The plane began to drop and flounder wildly. A child was crying. The air in the cabin was overheated and stale, and Francis' left foot went to sleep. He read a little from a paper book that he had, bought at the airport, but the violence of the storm divided his attention. It was black outside the ports. The exhaust fires blazed and shed sparks in the dark, and, inside, the shaded lights, the stuffiness, and the window shades gave the cabin an atmosphere of intense and misplaced domesticity. Then the lights flickered and went out. "You know what I've always wanted to do?" The man beside Francis said suddenly. "I've always wanted to buy a farm in New Hampshire and raise beef cattle." The stewardess announced that they were going to make an emergency landing. All but the children saw in their minds the spreading wings of the angel of death. The pilot could be heard singing faintly. There was no other sound.

7. Essay = 50 points You will write a 5 paragraph essay addressing a single theme/idea that relates to many of the works of American Literature we have studied throughout the year. You will be asked to use 3 major texts OR 3 major characters from different pieces of writing. Introduction should explain the idea in general. Body paragraphs should explore how the text or character demonstrates the theme/idea. Conclusion asks you to relate the idea to yourself.

8. Sample Themes for Essay topic • You may use the piece of dramatic literature you read in your small group. • You may substitute a character from a short story or film for one of the paragraphs Roles of Men and Women Role of Family The American Dream The Role of Race and Racism Socio-economic status and its role

9. Rubric for Essay

10. Texts, stories, film TEXTS FOR CONSIDERATION: The Great Gatsby, F. Scott FitzgeraldA Streetcar Named Desire, Tennessee WilliamsThe Things They Carried, Tim O’Brien DRAMATIC LIT CHOICES: Fences A Raisin in the Sun American Dream/Zoo Story A View from the Bridge All My Sons The Glass Menagerie Death of a Salesman FILM: Blue Jasmine SHORT STORIES “Memorial Day” “Reunion” “The Raft” “Rules of the Game” “A & P”

11. Literary terms • Metaphor • Simile • Irony • Symbolism • Foreshadowing • Imagery/figurative language • Point of view (of the speaker in a piece of writing) • Juxtaposition