Engl 2013: Introduction to American Literature

Examination 1 C

Write short essay answers of at least 150 words for the first five questions below and at least 250 words to question six. Use specific references to the literature to support your opinions. Of course, be careful to write correctly and check your spelling. Questions 1-5 are worth 8 points each. Question 6 is worth 10 points.


What does Thoreau mean when he writes at the conclusion of Walden that "There is more day to dawn. The sun is but a morning star."


Why do the men in the mill think of Hugh as "one of the girl-men" ? What distinguishes him from the others?


In lines 6-8 of "Chicago" Carl Sandburg affirms the "wicked," "crooked," and "brutal" nature of Chicago. On what basis does he then go on to celebrate his city?


Does Ginsberg's poem "Howl" suggest that the repressive atmosphere of the 1950s drove homosexuals and others who had to hide their true identities insane?


How does the behavior of the dog in London's story "To Build a Fire" underscore London's naturalistic view of the world?


In section 2 of Whitman's "Crossing Brooklyn Ferry" Whitman writes : "The simple, compact, well-join'd scheme, myself disintegrated, every one disintegrated yet part of the scheme" (l. 7). In "Nature" Emerson writes: "Standing on the bare ground … all mean egotism vanishes. I become a transparent eye-ball. I am nothing. I see all. The currents of the Universal Being circulate through me; I am part and particle of God" (p.494)? What is similar about the way in which these authors describe their relationship to the world around them?

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updated June 11, 2012