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UA: EN 210: American Literature,
Instructor: James Crank Final Exam
Review (2) 2025-2026. Questions &
Correct Answers. Graded A
"I am not a spook like those haunted Edgar Allan Poe; nor am I one of your Hollywood-movie ectoplasms. I am a man of substance, of flesh and bone, fiber and liquids -- and I might even be said to possess a mind." – ANS Author: Ralph Ellison Title: "Invisible Man" Explanation: This is a form of confessional poetry, although it may sound as though the narrator is anonymous, in my opinion, he is describing himself as a black man in society. He feels invisible to white people, meaning that, in his experience, whites see him first and foremost as a black man, rather than seeing him for the person he truly is, on the inside. "Let be be finale of seem" - ANSAuthor: Wallace Stevens Title: "The Emperor of Ice-Cream" Explanation: (Opinion) In other words, this line is saying "Let life (be-ing) be the end (finale) of superficial appearances (seem)." He's saying let's be real. Let's not seem to be anything. Let's be exactly what we are. Let's be true to our being.
Be who you are. "The age demanded an Image Of its accelerated grimace, Something for the modern stage." - ANSAuthor: Ezra Pound Title: Hugh Selwyn Mauberly Explanation: Hugh is the main character and Pound's Alter-ego. Pound is telling us about what "the age demanded" of Hugh, who felt out of place. Hugh wanted to revive a sense of classic beauty through poetry. But if the modern age demands "an image/ Of its accelerated grimace," it seems like they're not interested in beauty at all, only conflict. In my opinion, Pound is talking about how modernism is no longer using the traditional subject matter, but moving on to more disturbing things. "The highway dust is over all" - ANSAuthor: Robert Frost Title: "The Oven Bird" Explanation: The highway dust is disintegrated leaves, etc, so means that fall is falling/leaving. Can extend it to the fall of paradise, or something being diminished "What law is there that says I got to like you?" - ANSAuthor: August Wilson Title: "Fences"
Example: Sylvia Plath utilized confessional poetry often, and wrote about her desire for acceptance. In her work, "Lady Lazarus" she talks in this narrator POV style, and talks about how she wanted, and continues to try, to commit suicide. She compared herself to a cat because she felt like she had 9 lives and kept being reborn again. This poem is about her experience, and her actions become a spectacle to those around her. Harlem Renaissance - ANS1920's and 30's Flourishing of African American culture in the literary, musical, theatrical, and visual arts. Based on the progressive "New Negro Movement" in African American life and culture. Authors: Claude McKay, Langston Hughes, Zora Neale Hurston Imagism - ANSExplanation: Emphasis on using imagery and clear, sharp language that contributes to the presentation of the work. Examples: Ezra Pound, one of the creators of imagism, wrote a poem called "In a Station of the Metro." This poem is only 14 words long, "The apparition of these faces in the crowd; petals on a wet, black bough." He first describes seeing the image of the faces from a crowd of people at a metro or subway station (in Paris). Then he goes on to say they basically look like black leafs from a tree, and because of that it is clear that it is dark
and possibly raining. The image might even be from the reflection of these people's faces in a puddle. Long Day's Journey Into Night - ANSAuthor: Eugene O'Neal Summary: This is a play is a drama about a single day during August 1912, on the Connecticut shore. It tells the story of a family in turmoil, consisting of two parents and two sons. The sons' love for one another is brotherly indeed, they resent each other and often fight for their parents attention. The mother is addicted to drugs, and the family is a bunch of drunks. The play is repetitive, but shows how this family is filled with bitterness, fighting, and an underlying love for one another. Theme: It is a drama and a tragedy. It shows a glimpse of the everyday life of a broken family. Magical Realism - ANSExplanation: Adding fictional or supranational elements into realistic stories. Often common in Latin American Literature. Borges (Jorge Luis Borges) was the founder of magical realism. Example: "Slaughterhouse Five" by Kurt Vonnegut is a postmodernist and magical realism text. Basically the main character, Billy, is in WW2, at a certain point he and other Allied soldiers are help captive in "Slaughterhouse Five" in Dresden. He has kids and on his daughters wedding night is "captured by aliens." He claims that he was held on a alien zoo, and that he traveled through time.
