American Literature Final Exam Test Answers – Flashcards

David Cusick

the royal chancellor of Spain who personally financed Columbus' voyage aka made the whole thing possible

-sky woman conceives twins and sinks to the dark world onto the back of a turtle which becomes earth -the good twin makes her into the sun and moon, adds vegetation, animals, and makes humans in his image -evil twin creates mts, steeps, harmful reptiles -they have a fight -good twin reveals a "fake" weakness; evil twin reveals a real weakness, so the good twin wins -evil twin becomes evil spirit and has equal power over human

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-letters written to spain detailing what he saw/encountered in america -finds islands and proclaims himself the ruler -he names the islands after spanish things/people -he asks ferdinand and isabella for permission to govern in their name -he complains about how distressed and tired he and his men are in the new world -he begs the spanish royalty to rescue him and let him go somewhere else -paints himself as good-hearted and in need -"no opposition was offered" -he stole Indians and sold them as slaves in Spain

The Relation of Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca Head of the Cow

-book about the horrible treatment of indians by the spaniards -the indians were welcoming til a european disease killed a ton of them and they blamed the spanish, and the spanish took their leader captive -he talked about how hard it was to live in an Indian community - hard work, little food -He talked about Alcaraz, the Christian slaver who tried to enslave the Indians he was with -he didn't associate himself with the Christian slavers, and the Indians found it impossible to believe that he was of the same people as them

Robert Juet -- the violent sailor

-Juet (violent sailor) tells the story as a crew member of Henry Hudson's crew when they land in NY -initially respected the Indians until they all started fighting and killing each other -Hudson got them drunk (rude) but also gave them gifts -the crew took advantage of their generosity and took all their hudson bay land -Juet eventually mutanied against Hudson and died soon after

John Heckewelder -- missionary to natives in delaware -- heart for the natives

-Heckewelder tells the story from an account he got from the natives (bias) -1790 -gives an account of Hudson's arrival from the Indians POV -they saw the european ship and thought it was god so they treated them w/ great respect -hudson gave them alcohol -the europeans soon took advantage of them by asking for land that a cowhide cover - they cut the hide into a rope and took a huge portion of land -- soon took ALL the land (jerks)

Benjamin Harris - a dissenting London printer who opened a book/coffee shop

-reveals the value PURITANS put on EDUCATION for young children -"first book" - written to teach kids how to read while simultaneously teaching RELIGION -it's a toned down version of the original anti-catholic handbook the Protestant Tutor

Roger Williams

church reformer missionary separation of church and state he founded rhode island he was banished and then rescued by natives who helped him survive

-1643 -written to understand Native culture to convert them to christianity -encouraged ppl to come to america - written to help ppl learn from his experience and mistakes -Roger Williams wrote it while he was on a ship AFTER he was banished from Puritan settlements -AUDIENCE: new/old englanders, missionaries, and people who wanted to coexist w/ natives in America

1650-1730 -a Puritan judge during Salem Witch Trials -his diary focuses on his courting/dating madame winthrop -He always waits on her but she won't agree to marry him -very religious, but it's not as apparent and dramatic in his diary as other author's

-Samuel Sewall -a pamphlet -FIRST antislavery literature in america 1700 -uses religious arguments against slavery

1637-1711 -puritan lady that gets kidnapped by indians during KING PHILIP'S WAR and tells story of her time as a captive -she watches her whole fam and town brutally murdered -quotes scripture the whole time she's in captivity - strong religious faith -she sees it as a sign from God to turn to him and refocus on him -she is constantly begging at diff wigwams for food and shelter and warmth

-for religious expression -for justification of westward expansion -they were a 19th century cultural symbol of american national heritage -they were popular literature

spanish - indians are brutish beasts french - indians are souls that need redemption english - indians are innocent exotics puritans - indians are a satanic threat to religious utopia

Thomas Jefferson

Chief Logan

He used it to show that America's not inferior to Europe (to prove the Europeans wrong) by showing the eloquent oratory of the Native Americans (Logan)

a lament talking about how he was friendly towards the Whites until they one day murdered all his friends and family. Now he's alone in the world and seeking vengeance

-speech that comes from a captivity narrative of a captive who grew up with the indians (not super reliable) -Tecumseh's giving a speech to rally another tribe to unite together to defend themselves against the Whites

a Separatist who wanted cultural separatism between Indians and whites -you're religion is fine and all, but don't make us take it up. you live your life and we'll live ours and we don't need to interact

JACOB CRAM (missionary) tries to spread gospel to Red Jacket's tribe & asks for honest feedback -RJ makes arguments against white religion -we never quarrel about religion, yet whites do -we don't wish to destroy your religion, we just want ours -if there's only 1 religion, why do whites differ so much init

jacob cram

benjamin franklin

-sarcastic list of ways Britain can do an even better job and driving America away -he's speaking in reverse to inform Britain that their actions are causing America to slowly break away, and that if they keep it up, America will separate from Britain completely

-governors are not upright -taxes are way too high -govt is slow and inefficient in helping colonists w/ complaints -govt acts like it's divinely chosen -leaders are wealthy at the expense of their citizens

a discontent colonist who is sarcastically and humorously criticizing the govt the British colonies (that eventually became america)

thomas jefferson

john adams benjamin franklin roger sherman robert livingston THOMAS JEFFERSON

SC & Penn - voted against Delaware - was split NY - wasn't allowed to vote

john dickenson of pennsylvania

1. King George won't allow governors to pass urgent laws w/o his approval (which took too long to get) 2. he paid the judge's salaries, so they judged only to please him, not for justice 3. he allowed quartering of armed troops and protected them from punishment for awful crimes

the section about abolishing the slave trade because georgia and SC wouldn't vote for it with that in there

-Caroline Kirkland -upperclass white woman who moves west (michigan) and writes a non-glamorous account of town and western life -she did not try to romanticize it -realism

-Caroline Kirkland gives a realistic portrayal of settlement life in the West -calls it a MUD HOLE -she complained about the landscape looking the same -she subtly alludes to drunkeness in men & how it caused them to be abusive - motif against alcohol -her cousin Fanny visited -the who family got ague - a fever w/ dizziness -motif: being nice to your neighbors so you can rely on them for help when needed

Black Hawk -indian's account of indian removal on the trail of tears due to jackson passing the indian removal act -american soldiers massacred 300+ of black hawk's band and he was imprisoned -recounts how he signed away his village w/o being informed that's what he was signing for -theme - land can't be SOLD -whites sold the indians whisky to make them drunk and cheat them out of their things -black hawk says he "never did anything to the whites", yet they stole their fields and corn and land -the story is a critique of Americans and reveals his strong ties to his people

Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave, Written by Himself

-shows the road from slavery to freedom -He was born in Maryland - mom was a slave, dad was white & he didn't know who he was -sees his Aunt Hester beaten, but he's too young to be whipped -his mom dies & he doesn't get to go to funeral; but he didn't really know her anyway -He worked as a house servant in Baltimore where his master's wife started to teach him how to read - he found out education is a HUGELY important factor in freedom -gets lessons from the poor street kids -he's sent to slavebreaker Mr. Covey who he fights back w/ FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER and gains his MASCULINITY -his first attempt at running away failed -fled to NY then Mass at age 20 -1841 started giving speeches about his life at antislavery conventions & became an abolitionist

Harriet Jacobs Linda Brent

-Harriet Jacobs lived an easy life at first; didn't know she was a slave until 6 yrs old bc she lived in her own house w/ her parents & her dad hired himself out -when mom died, she got a mistress who was very nice -mistress died & she was given to a relative (Jacobs was MAD her mistress didn't set her free) -new master = dr. flint who sexually harasses her & his wife is horrible to her b/c she's jealous -Flint won't let her marry the free black man she loves -flint builds a secluded house for Jacobs to live in -Jacobs gets pregnant by Mr. Sands (white gentleman) so Flint can't rape her -Her grandmother rejects her b/c of this and Flint is furious -she gets pregnant again -she runs away and hides in crawlspace of grandmother's attic for 7 YEARS w/ only a hole of light and the sound of her kids to keep her going -she escapes to Philly and works for the Bruce family who are kind and help her hide from her previous master. -Mrs. Bruce paid Jacob's "owners" for her freedom and she eventually got her kids back (she still hated that she had to be paid for though)

herman melville

-set on wall street -the Lawyer is a man who'd rather be "just okay" then put effort in to be "great" (but he is a little full of himself) -his copyists are Gingernut (kid who gets snacks), turkey (old guy who's grumpy in the afternoon), and Nippers (young guy who's grumpy in the morning). -Bartleby shows up and works well until he randomly says he prefers not to (do anything ever again) -the lawyer is so perplexed he just lets it go on until he finds out Bartleby's living there -he tries to fire him but he won't leave so he moves practices -the new owners of the building ask the lawyer to get rid of him, and he can't, so they send Bartleby to jail where he doesn't eat, and dies. -he used to work w/ lost letters (addressed to the deceased) which may explain why he was so dejected and depressed and crazy -motif: alienation

rebecca harding davis

-Deborah (narrator & hunchback) comes home from work, late and tired, but still takes dinner to Hugh wolfe (who she loves) at the iron mills where he's working as a puddler -she loves Hugh but Hugh likes Janey better b/c she's prettier -3 affluent men (Kirby, Mitchell, Dr. May) show up and are talking about the mills and how awful it is ppl work there (yet they don't do anything to fix it) -they see the KORL WOMAN (white statue) that Hugh sculpted that shows hunger (for something/life) -they tell Hugh he could be a sculpter, but they won't help him -deborah steals Mitchell's wallet, and later gives it to Hugh who decides to keep it after much inner strife/debate -he gets caught and goes to jail for 19 years (deborah gets 3) and he slits his wrists and dies there

1885 NOT AN ANTISLAVERY NOVEL - slavery already abolished -Samuel Clemens

-huck's from hannibal -Judge Thatcher -Cairo -Colonel Sherburn -Huck decides to escape to the West rather than be "civilized" again

edgar allen poe

edgar allen poe

-the speaker gets a letter from his boyhood friend (roderick usher) asking him to visit and cheer him up -the house is super creepy and gloomy -Roderick usher thinks he has an evil force in his house -he has oversensitive senses and is paranoid/terrified -the speaker reads & plays music to cheer him up but it doesn't work -Lady Madeline (Usher's sister) dies & they immediately put her in a coffin in a vault -Usher is crazy and superstitious - thinks he hears his sister trying to get out of the vault -on a stormy night, a door opens and lady madeline is standing there all bloody, and she attacks her twin brother Roderick Usher and they both die -the speaker flees the house and the house sinks into the ground

-set in paris -the narrator and Dupin are smoking when police officer G-- tells them a mystery about the queen who asked him to get a letter back from Minister D -as long as he has the letter, the Minister has power over the Queen -the officer searches the minister's place constantly and thoroughly and never finds it -he offers $50,000 to anyone who knows anything about it, and Dupin shockingly hands him the letter for the money -he explains that he visited the minister, stole the letter, and replaced it with a similar one, way before the police started looking -he talks about how he's so much smarter and tells officer G-- that he shouldve assumed it was simpler than it seemed