American Literature Test Review #1

American Literature Test #1

Puritans/Revolutionary War Literature

Our first test will be a paragraph response test: it will be much like an essay test, though your answers will each be one well-developed paragraph. The test will not be open book, but you may have a 3x5 note card with you when you take the test. Use your paragraph responses to demonstrate your understanding of the literary, theological, philosophical, and historical aspects of the question. Use specific examples from our reading to support your responses. A good study strategy would be to write out the answers to your questions before the test, though you won’t be able to have them with you. This test will be handwritten.

1. What is Aristotle’s rhetorical triangle? How was it used in one of the readings we did during this unit?

2. What literary and rhetorical techniques did Jonathan Edwards use in “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God”? Give some examples.

3. Name and explain at least three tenets of Calvinism. Discuss how one of the tenets was present in either “SitHoaAG,” The Crucible, or “The Minister’s Black Veil.”

4. Explore symbolism in “The Minister’s Black Veil.” What does the black veil represent, to either/both Reverend Hooper and Nathaniel Hawthorne? Why did Hawthorne choose a veil as the symbol?

5. Discuss the political philosophy behind The Declaration of Independence. Give examples from the document.

6. How is The Crucible an allegory for the Red Scare? What similarities did Arthur Miller find between the two?

7. Identify one character in The Crucible who went through a transformation. What caused the transformation? What was the result for this character and for the plot of the play? Mr. Hale, Mary Warren, John Procter, and Giles Corey would be good choices for this question.