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CLEP COLLEGE AMERICAN LITERATURE
EXAM PREP STUDY GUIDE WITH VERIFIED
ANSWERS| 100% CORRECT
Who is Harry Angstrom?
Answer: Main character, Harry "Rabbit" Angstrom in "Rabbit,
Run" by John Updike
What is "Pnin" about and who wrote it?
Answer: "Pnin" About a Russian professor. Written by Vladimir
Nabokov
What is "Grendal" and who wrote it?Answer: "Grendal" Retelling of "Beowolf" from the perspective of the monster, Grendal. Written by John Gardner.
Who is Holden Caulfield?
Answer: Protagonist in J.D. Salinger's "Catcher in the Rye"
Who is Milkman Dead?
Answer: Protagonist of Toni Morrison's "Song of Solomon"
What is "Battle Royal" about and where does it appear?
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Answer: "Battle Royal" in "Invisible Man" by Ralph Ellison.
Battle of blindfolded young African-American boys, staged by whites for their entertainment.
What is "Adventures of Augie March" about and who wrote it?
Answer: "Adventures of Augie March" Written by Saul Bellow.
Follows Augie's childhood in Chicago during the great depression.
Who is George Babbitt?
Answer: Protagonist in "Babbitt" by Sinclair Lewis. Babbitt is a
Midwestern real estate salesman struggling with his inner restlessness.
What is "Long Day's Journey into Night" about and who wrote it?
Answer: "Long Day's Journey into Night" Play by Eugene
O'Neill - recounts his own troubled family and father's alcoholism
What is "A Streetcar Named Desire" about and who wrote it?
Answer: "A Streetcar Named Desire" Play by Tennessee
Williams. About the conflicts that arise between the old and new South.
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What is "All the King's Men" about and who wrote it?
Answer: "All the King's Men" By Robert Penn Warren. Tells of
the rise and fall of a mythical Southern politician, closely based on Huey Long.
What characterizes Langston Hughes' poetry?
Answer: Langston Hughes' poetry Rhythms in his poetry
inspired by African-American jazz music.
What is the "Valley of Ashes" in "The Great Gatsby"?
Answer: The "Valley of Ashes" In "The Great Gatsby," is a
dumping of industrial ashes. Represents the moral and social decay of a society corrupted by mindless pursuit of wealth.
What is "Paterson" about and who wrote it?
Answer: "Paterson" By William Carlos Williams about his
hometown of Paterson, NJ. His work often describes everyday beauty of average Americans.
What is an Imagist poem and how does it relate to William Carlos Williams?
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Answer: Imagist Poems with very strong visual images. Inspired
by photographs. William Carlos Williams called his style "Imagist"
What was WEB Du Bois critical of and how did he view Booker T Washington?
Answer: WEB Du Bois Critical of Booker T Washington for
what he felt was over-accommodating posture toward racism in America. He derided Washington's vision for black-America for "creating second class citizens."
What is "The Jungle" about and who wrote it?
Answer: "The Jungle" by Upton Sinclair. Portrays the difficult
conditions faced by workers in meat packing industry in late 1800's.
What is Muckraking?
Answer: Muckraking Offshoot of Realist tradition that focused
on the plight of the poor, disenfranchised Americans, particularly those in urban squalor.
Where is "Ethan Frome" set and who wrote it?
Answer: "Ethan Frome" by Edith Wharton. Set in Starkfield,
western Massachussets.