AMERICAN LITERATURE

Name:
Date:
Graded Assignment
Semester Test, Part 2
The semester test has two parts. Part 1 has 45 online, computer-scored questions. Part 2 has 3 offline, teacher-scored questions. Complete the offline portion of the Semester Test now. Read each question carefully. Answer in the space provided.
When you finish, submit it to the teacher. Remember: You need to complete both parts of the test by the due date to receive full credit.
Total score: ____ of 40 points
(Score for Question 1: ___ of 10 points)
Over the course of the semester, you have seen how literature can be used for a variety of purposes. Choose a work from the semester that serves each of these purposes—helping readers survive in a new land, contributing to the creation of a new nation, and developing a national literature—and explain briefly how the work you chose serves its purpose.
The piece chosen for this question is The Declaration of Independence. Thomas Jefferson is the main author of this historical piece of literature. He was a prolific author who wrote from the heart. His service to America as the third president chose to write how budding nation created a new form of government called Democracy (BIO, 1). Americans will have the right to a government that bases itself in the freedom that comes from the right to govern by committee and system of check and balances. This document is non-fiction literature at its best. It set the ground rules for America. Historical literature is crucial for all Americans to understand the concept of American Democracy (Jefferson, 1).

The Declaration of Independence is critical literary work for all Americans to understand because it sets the backbone of the United States. Jefferson’s writing was educated and elegant and written in a form that all of his compatriots truly understood what was meant by freedom, and the introduction of a Democratic government where all men are equal. The settlers created a new way of living in a new environment and a fledgling government unlike any other. Jefferson pioneered American Literature that documents the great history of the United States. (Score for Question 2: ___ of 10 points)
In America, the movement known as romanticism took two forms: Bright Romanticism, or Transcendentalism, and Dark Romanticism. How is Henry David Thoreau’s Walden, from which you read an excerpt, a good example of a Bright Romantic work? How is Nathaniel Hawthorne’s story “The Birthmark” a good example of Dark Romanticism? Refer to specific details from the works as you respond.
Thoreau wrote about being in tune with nature. Nature in itself is neutral and exhibits both sides of the spectrum. Thoreau had simple tastes that enabled him to live off the land and respect it at the same time. He wrote about the upside of nature by using imagination and emotion. His writing epitomized Bright Romanticism. He wrote about how nature made him feel. It is a true example of Bright Romanticism where literary descriptions look toward the positive aspects of nature. He practiced what he preached by living simply, without the amenities of city life. He wrote in the romantic sense of loving the land and treating it respectfully. Thoreau wrote this book as a project to test his premise about nature and his own self-reliance (Thoreau, 18). In this book, Thoreau laments the wastefulness of the town folk, and how they are soft, and lived a too easy a life.
Hawthorne writes about being a scientist who falls in love with Georgiana and marries her. Over time, he becomes obsessed with the birthmark on her cheek. He begins to experiment with trying to remove the mark. He makes her inhale chemical and apply a chemical to her face. This is where the Dark Romanticism shows up, because, in his efforts to remove the mark, he ends of killing her in the process (Hawthorne, 318). He removes the blemish. His arrogance destroyed his marriage and his wife.
(Score for Question 3: ___ of 20 points)
Nick Carraway is readers’ guide through the events of The Great Gatsby. In some ways, he is a good guide, and readers benefit from hearing his observations. In others, he is a faulty guide. Analyze the pros and cons of Nick’s narration. Cite specific examples from the novel in your response.
The Carraway character that Fitzgerald used as the narrator is the correct choice because he was a quiet and unassuming country boy. His initial bias and distrust are apparent at the beginning when he first meets Daisy’s husband and then Gatsby. This is his first trip to the flashiness and depravity of New York. As the story unfolds, Carraway experiences all the good and bad about that great city. The tragedies that make the bulk of this book play a large role in Caraway’s mental stability (Fitzgerald, 190). When Carraway came to Long Island he was quiet and unassuming, when he left after the funeral, spent some time with a therapist getting a handle of what he just lived through. The trip changed his outlook on life and family. He expresses shock by the decadence of city life and returns wiser to human nature. He is reliable as the narrator because he was on the outside looking in. that quickly changed after the sequence of events that ended in Gatsby’s murder. Here was a man that lived through serving in the war, but it was the insincerity of the people in New York, that sent him over the edge of reality.
Works Cited
Jefferson, Thomas, the Declaration of Independence 1776 National Archives 1776 Web
https://www.monticello.or/site/jefferson/declaration-independance
Fitzgerald, F. Scott, the Great Gatsby Ebook 1925
http://www.planetebook.com/ebooks/The-Great-Gatsby.pdf
Hawthorn, Nathaniel the Birthmark 1843 Ebook
http://www.freepopularbooks.com/search.htm?landing=2&no_ads=1&r=1&terms=Ebooks+Nathaniel+Hawthorne%E2%80%99s+story+%E2%80%9CThe+Birthmark%E2%80%9D
Thoreau, Henry David, Walden 1854 Ebook
http://manybooks.net/pages/thoreauhetext95waldn10/0.html