African American Literature Unit 1 & Unit 2 – Flashcards

Countee Cullen, Naomi Long Madgett, Julius Lester, Olaudah Equiano, and Derek Walcott have left a legacy through _______________.

African proverbs disclose an oral tradition of societal values that were passed on from generation to generation.

The legacies of African Americans have been presented in _________________.

In “Heritage,” the speaker uses the phrase “three centuries removed” to refer to _______________________.

By appealing to the senses, imagery creates a non-dramatic and non-realistic world for the reader.

The speakers in the “Heritage” question the ___________________.

A(n) ______ is a long narrative poem written in a keen language and recounts the deeds of a heroic character who embodies the values of a particular society or culture.

What is the intended effect of describing Soumaoro as the “king who wore robes of human skin” in “Sundiata: An Epic of Old Mali?”

One strategy to help you get more out of what you read is by asking

What is the main idea in the following proverb: “Indecision is like the stepchild; if he doesn’t wash his hands, he is called dirty; if he does, he is wasting water.”?

What does the lump on the crocodile’s snout symbolize in the following proverb: “Only when you have crossed the river, can you say the crocodile has a lump on his snout”?

Because Ananse in the African proverb was so angry that his son was right, he threw the pot down. It broke. As a result, wisdom escaped and spread throughout the world, some of it appearing in the proverbs passed down by African societies.

An archetypal figure that appears in folklore all over the world is called a __________________.

Ananse transported the python to Nana Nyamee by convincing Python to let Ananse tie him to a stick which made it easy to carry him.

In “Spider’s Bargain with God,” Ananse cleverly manipulates creatures around his home to fulfill his goal of having all stories in the world told __________.

A griot is a storyteller.

For how long did Soumaoro’s tribal chief believe they could wait out Sundiata in “Sundiata: An Epic of Old Mali”?

One strategy to help you get more out of what you read is by asking questions.

Sundiata in “Sundiata: An Epic of Old Mali” is the son of the ___________.

In “Spider’s Bargain with God,” Ananse cleverly manipulates creatures around his home to fulfill his goal of having all stories in the world told about him.

According to Alfred W. Tatum, Africans and African Americans have ___________________.

An ancient epic draws you in to the heroic exploits ________________.

Mainu the Frog and Ananse the Spider are ___________ characters in “Spiders Bargain with God” and “The Son of Kim-ana-u-eze.”

Most African folk tales involve _________________________.

A proverb is a short statement that expresses a common truth or experience.

Frog seems to think that strength was like a daisy among the many varieties of flowers possible in the garden, only one of many __________.

A trickster is a mischievous figure in myth or folklore who typically makes up for physical limitation with slyness and rebellious humor.

What is the son’s goal in “The Son of Kim-ana-u-eze”

What are the subjects of the griot’s prophetic song in “Omeros?”

Paraphrase the following lines 13-19 on page 58:

“…changed from snakes into currents. When inspected, our eyes showed dried fronds in their brown irises and from our curved spines, the rib-cages radiated.”

At the end of the poem “Omeros” the Ashanti, the Mandingo, the Ibo, and the Guinea are forced to separate.

What is the type of writing that ridicules the shortcomings of a person or place in an attempt to bring about change?

After gathering information in the prewriting process, you then have to write a thesis in the last step of drafting your analysis.

What is the conclusion of a story, when all or most of the conflicts have ended or settled?

When you analyze a writer’s argument, you are looking for opinions that are stated.

To what does Benjamin Banneker attribute his success in life?

Benjamin Banneker was a major intellectual of the ________________.

In his conclusion, what does Benjamin Banneker say will help Jefferson and others to know what to do?

Benjamin Banneker cites lines from the Declaration of Independence in order to ______________________.

Benjamin Banneker wants to ignore the issue of slavery and influence others to do the same.

In “To his Excellency General Washington,” which of the following is personified as a glorious and warlike goddess?

Phillis Wheatley is one of the earliest American poets and the _______________.

Personification is giving human traits such as feelings, action, or characteristics to non-living objects such as things, colors, qualities, or thoughts.

to regret deeply

of or suitable for war

not objective; prejudiced

showing contempt or disdain

not Christian, Muslim or Jewish

A statement of fact expresses only what truly happened, or what could be proven to have happened.

Why does Sojourner Truth feel that slavery is only partially destroyed?

“It cuts like a knife” would be an example of:

The girl to be known as Phillis Wheatley was taken __________________________.

A word that has a similar meaning or nearly the same meaning is considered a(n) ____________.

An argument is a form of persuasion that appeals to reason rather than emotion.

In her poems, Phillis Wheatley feels that ____________________.

of the Devil

Showing contempt or disdain

What is the main idea of the letter that Benjamin Banneker wrote to Thomas Jefferson?

No one really is impressed with Phillis Wheatley as far as Charles Johnson is concerned because she is from .

Douglass evokes the harsh and brutal existence of an enslaved African. At the same time, he conveys a message of survival and hope that transcends his narrative’s historical context.

Who is coming to carry the speaker home in “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot”?

How long had Douglass been at Covey’s before the incident that he narrated?

Harriet Jacobs was born __________________.

In the tradition of Olaudah Equiano and Frederick Douglass, Harriet Jacobs builds a vague portrayal of the society that perpetuated the slave system. The details in her account enable readers to see how whites used their power to dominate and abuse the Africans, who had no rights or protection.

What is the most reasonable inference about the end of Harriet Jacob’s excerpt when the slaveholders won’t allow visiting on the plantation?

Which of these words best describes Harriet Tubman?

An author’s purpose is the intent he or she has in writing the particular work.

Which of these words is not a reference to Harriet Tubman?

The prewriting process includes which of the following?

One good way to organize your essay is to write ___________,

One should never use sensory details when writing a personal narrative.

Harriet Jacobs wrote “Incidents in the Life of a Salve Girl” to _________________.

Ann Petry mentions the Fugitive Slave law because ____________________.

In a personal narrative, you use the first person pronoun “I” to identify yourself.

Phillis’s conflict in “Poetry and Politics” is a(n) ______________.

A refrain is a word, phrase, line, or group of lines that is repeated for effect several times in a poem. Refrains are often used in ballads and other narrative poems.

Narratives include only nonfiction, true stories.

Biographers often key in on remarkable aspects of their subjects’ lives.

What was a function of the spirituals?

An idiom is an expression of a given language that is peculiar to itself grammatically.

Synonyms are words that have nearly the same meaning.

A statement of opinion expresses a position toward something. It makes a judgment, view, or conclusion.

What does Douglass mean when he says that in future “the white man who expected to succeed in whipping, must also succeed in killing me”?

In the poem “On Being Brought from Africa to America,” which word describes the speaker’s soul before coming to America?