American Literature I Final Exam 2017 | Short Essay Answers exam with correct answers 2024
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Course
American Literature I
Institution
American Literature I
1. Discuss several of the masters and/or overseers Frederick Douglass describes in his narrative, and how he seems to feel about each of them. correct answers Captain Anthony was Douglass's first master and probably his father. Anthony was not considered a wealthy slave owner and his roughly 30 sl...
American Literature I Final Exam 2024 |
Short Essay Answers
1. Discuss several of the masters and/or overseers Frederick Douglass describes in his
narrative, and how he seems to feel about each of them. correct answers Captain
Anthony was Douglass's first master and probably his father. Anthony was not
considered a wealthy slave owner and his roughly 30 slaves were under the care of an
overseer by the name of Plummer.
Colonel Edward Lloyd - Captain Anthony's boss and Douglass's first owner. Colonel
Lloyd is an extremely rich man who owns all of the slaves and lands where Douglass
grows up. Lloyd insists on extreme subservience from his slaves and often punishes
them unjustly. Colonel Lloyd behaved almost like a feudal lord of the region.
Edward Covey was considered a "slave breaker" and Douglass was sent to work for
him for one year. It was Covey's job to break the slaves and return them "trained and
docile." He is described as being both deceptive and sneaky, often sneaking up on the
slaves at various times to give the illusion that he was omnipotent. Covey was important
in Douglass's life. Covey also was responsible for turning a "slave into a man" as
Douglass physically stood up for himself for the first time under Covey and gained self
confidence and hope.
2. Discuss what Emerson means when he states, "No law can be sacred to me but that
of my nature." How does this fit in with the rest of his philosophy in "Self-Reliance"? As
a governing principle, how useful do you believe this statement to be? correct answers
-Emerson really believed in trusting his own instincts and having his own thoughts. This
quote could show his belief that he governs himself and that he only trusts his own
judgment, rather than that of society's. It fits into his philosophy in "self-reliance"
because he can't seem to emphasize enough how important independence is being
able to care for yourself and do things without the help of anything and anyone. This
might be very useful in Emerson's choices and the way he analyzes his decisions.
3. One of the most quoted lines of Thoreau's work occurs in "Economy": The mass of
men lead lives of quiet desperation." Discuss this statement and Thoreau's observation
that desperation is found in the city, the country, and even in our "games and
amusement." correct answers Thoreau suggests that people spend their entire lives
acquiring houses, land, and debt, and then they have to spend their entire lives
desperately trying to dig themselves out. A lot of people believe moving to the country
will be the answer--a slower pace of life, and all that--but Thoreau thinks the problem of
modern life in his era is the same in the country as it would be in the city. Even
, inheritance is a bad thing, in Thoreau's opinion; the man who has inherited a farm has
to spend the rest of his life maintaining it.
4. Analyze any three important symbols in the work of Nathaniel Hawthorne and
Herman Melville (at least one symbol must come from each writer's work). correct
answers -The most important symbol in Hawthorne's "The Minister's Black Veil" is the
Black Veil itself. The veil symbolizes the sin of the Reverend Hooper, and the sin of
mankind. By wearing the veil, he is showing his congregation and his town that even a
godly man like him sins. The veil is important because it symbolizes sin and the shame
associated with it. The 2 most important symbols used by Melville are Paradise and
Tartarus. Paradise literally and metaphorically symbolizes the lavish life of the
bachelors. The bachelors are the wealthy and powerful of society. The paradise of the
bachelors is a party with food, drinks, and music. The Tartarus of the maids is certainly
hellish. Tartarus is a place of torture in the afterlife for the sinful. The maids are the poor
working class of society. They are trapped toiling in their own personal hell, the Paper
mill. Melville wrote the story of "The Paradise of Bachelors and the Tartarus of Maids" to
show the drastic differences between the working class and the rich after the industrial
revolution. He uses paradise and Tartarus to symbolize these tremendous differences.
5. Discuss the sexual symbolism in "The Paradise of Bachelors and the Tartarus of
Maids." How does the bachelors' paradise symbolize sterility and insensitivity? How
does the maids' Tartarus symbolize oppression and the denial of human love, fertility,
and creativity? correct answers -In the bachelors' paradise, it is said that a man is more
free to enjoy the luxuries of life when he is not constrained to domestic duties, such as a
wife and children. The men seem to be devoted to one another, but they are insensitive
to anyone else that is not considered a part of their "band of brothers". There is no talk
of sexual encounters, because the men are focused on the decadent food and drink, not
on women. The Tartarus shows the denial of human love, fertility, and creativity by
showing the monotony of the maids' lives in the factories. There are women from all
ages working in the paper mill, but they are all referred to as "girls". This term really
dehumanizes the women by summing them all up in one simple term with no regard for
their diversity. The maids just sit at the same machine for 12 hours a day, with no
opportunity to be creative or individual
6. & 11. Summarize any poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and any poem by John
Greenleaf Whittier. correct answers Longfellow's Poem "The Day is Done" starts out
with the speaker telling us he's worn out after a long day and feeling a little down. All he
wants is a poem read to him but not just any poem. He wants a poem that is soothing,
quiet, and full of emotion that will make him forget his long day. He wants it to be
something familiar read by someone he cares about. Whittier's poem "Ichabod!" is an
attack on Daniel Webster, who "proudly" wrote the Fugitive Slave Bill. The poem
describes to the readers what life was like during these times as a slave. Whittier was a
huge supporter of the abolition of slavery and it shows strongly in this poem.
7. Discuss "The Paradise of Bachelors and the Tartarus of Maids" as an indictment of
social conditions in the 19th Century. correct answers The maids faced long hours of
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