AP Lang/Honors American Final Exam Study Guide –Spring 2013

Note: This is not a list of the questions on your final. This is a list of the types of questions that may be on your final exam. I pulled these questions from old quizzes and tests, so some may be on here more than once. I apologize in advance!

The Research Paper

  • What is the proper format for using parenthetical documentation in your research paper?
  • When should you use block quotations in your research paper?
  • How should you format your page? Your list of works cited in your paper?
  • What is a primary source? A secondary source?
  • What should you never use in a research paper? (Hint: more than 1 thing!)

The Colonial Period: Puritans, Deists, and Rationalists

  • What is a slave narrative? Captivity narrative?
  • Literature of the pre-colonial period was usually recorded or handed down in what form?
  • The first settlement at Jamestown, Virginia was established in what year?
  • What are the dates for this time period? What events frame these dates?
  • What important event took place in the Massachusetts Bay Colonies in 1692?
  • According to the Puritans, what had damned mankind for all eternity?
  • What was the main objective for the Puritans and the main reason they established colonies in America?
  • Who, according to the Puritans, would be admitted to Heaven in the afterlife? Who would not?
  • What did the Puritans believe about the Bible?
  • What types of works comprise the majority of Puritan writings?
  • What are the 4 characteristics of Puritan writing?
  • On what did the Pilgrims blame their bad luck in the New World?
  • Who was the Indian Chief who went to war with the Puritan settlers?
  • What was William Bradford’s elected position in the Massachusetts Bay Colony?
  • What was the first thing that the pilgrims did when they hit land?
  • How many pilgrims died on the journey to the new land?
  • What happened on the journey to America that made the Pilgrims almost turn back?
  • Was their journey a direct one, or did they stop in another country on the way?
  • Events in the life of a Puritan were controlled by what?
  • What is the controlling idea of Rationalist thought?
  • What is the unquestioned literary masterpiece of America’s Age of Reason?
  • According to our text, Ben Franklin invented what?
  • Franklin’s Autobiography is the classic American ______story, and Franklin is an example of what?
  • What are some of Franklin’s aphorisms?
  • Why did Franklin create a list of virtues to follow? Which one did he have the most trouble with?
  • The Deists believed that all men, regardless of class or religion, were able to do what? This did away with what concepts/ideas?
  • What is Thomas Paine’s most important work in support of American independence?
  • Who was responsible for Paine’s success in America?
  • How does Paine argue that the British are “enslaving” the colonies?
  • How did the Deists think man could gain admittance to heaven?
  • Who was the Rationalist writer we read in this unit? The Deist? The Puritan? What are the titles of the works we read by them?

The Romantic Period

  • What are the dates for this time period? What events framed the period?
  • What did the Romantics believe about the city?
  • The Romantics equated the countryside with what?
  • What are the characteristics of modern thought?
  • What are the characteristics of the Romantic American Hero?
  • If the Rationalists valued reason above all else, then the Romantics value what most?
  • The Romantics wanted to live in a world far removed from what?
  • Who came up with the plan to build Central Park in New York City?
  • What is a tenement building?
  • What disease plagued New Yorkers? How many died each day?
  • How many homeless children roamed the streets of New York? What sort of jobs could they expect to get?
  • What were the 5 major cities in America during this period?
  • James Fenimore Cooper created the first American heroic figure, named what?
  • Longfellow and Holmes were members of a group of poets known as what? Why?
  • The Romantics tried to find truth in spite of the industrial age, and found it in what?
  • Who was considered to be the first American hero that did not have the characteristics traditionally held by an American hero?
  • Who was the first American international literary celebrity?
  • What device was Irving the first to use in his works?
  • What does the devil ask for from Tom in exchange for the treasure of Captain Kidd?
  • The trees in the forest are partially chopped down – why?
  • When Tom enters the forest to search for his wife, what does he find left behind?
  • What is the one job Tom refuses to take from the Devil? What job does he eventually take?
  • What does Tom do in hopes of “cheating” the devil and breaking their agreement?
  • When Tom proclaims “The Devil take my soul if I’ve earned a farthing” and then dies, it is an example of what literary device?
  • What is a “knickerbocker” according to our class discussion?
  • How is Longfellow remembered as a poet, according to the authors of our text?
  • What happened to Longfellow’s two wives that affected his poetry?
  • What does Longfellow use in “The Tide Rise theTideFalls” and “The Psalm of Life” to symbolize man’s “walk” through life?
  • Which poem did Longfellow write earlier in life? Which did he write later in life? What is the difference between the two?
  • What ship did Holmes save with his poem, Old Ironsides, in 1830?
  • What medical term is Holmes credited with creating?
  • What are the four (4) characteristics of the American Romantic Hero?
  • What is the meaning of the word gothic?
  • The Dark Romantics’ work focused on the blankness and horror of what?
  • What are the characteristics of the writings of the Dark Romantics?
  • Poe’s repetition of “Nevermore” in “The Raven” is an example of what literary device?
  • What is the significance of the raven landing on the bust over the door?
  • What are the main beliefs/characteristics of the transcendentalists?
  • Who is the father of transcendentalism? What did he do to model a new way of life for Americans?
  • The transcendentalists believed that ALL men must do what?
  • What did Thoreau do to show his dedication to living a simpler life? For how long?
  • Thoreau went to jail for what?
  • What type of government did Thoreau say was best for America? Why were we not ready for this type of government?

The Moderns

  • What are the three central ideas of the American Dream?
  • What name did F. Scott Fitzgerald give to the Roaring Twenties?
  • What was the major theme in the literature of this time period?
  • Many writers of this period saw America as another example of what?
  • What was the name of Fitzgerald’s wife?
  • In Winter Dreams, how does Dexter earn his fortune?
  • What does Dexter do in the hopes of getting over Judy Jones?
  • What goal or ambition is Dexter unable to obtain?
  • How is Winter Dreams similar to The Great Gatsby? How does it differ?
  • When was The Great Gatsby published?
  • According to the text, what is the central triumph of The Great Gatsby?
  • In Fitzgerald’s Winter Dreams, how did Dexter earn his fortune?
  • After Dexter becomes rich and successful, what dream does he have left to fulfill?
  • To who was Dexter engaged?
  • After the woman of his dreams breaks her engagement to him, what does Dexter do in hopes of getting over the pain of his rejection?
  • What does Dexter learn has happened to Judy Jones at the end of the story?
  • In Gatsby, What does Nick’s family history tell us about his upbringing and social status?
  • When Jordan tells Nick “You live in West Egg,” he feels she says it with contempt. Why would she have contempt for where he lives?
  • Why is the town half-way between West Egg and NYC described as a “town of ashes” by Nick?
  • What is significant about Gatsby’s library?
  • Who is Wolfsheim? What does he do for a living, and for what is he most famous?
  • What did Gatsby seem to be offering Nick in return for having Daisy over for tea?
  • There are two fantastical rumors circulating about Gatsby near the end of the summer. What are they?
  • What does Gatsby say about repeating the past?
  • What does Gatsby finally notice about Daisy’s voice?
  • What is ironic about the lack of people who come to Gatsby’s funeral?

The Devil in the WhiteCity

  • What changes in American society were brought about as a result of the fair?
  • When was the fair held?
  • What exhibit at the fair foreshadowed the changes in the world that would soon come?
  • What was the biggest money maker at the fair?
  • Why was Holmes able to commit his crimes without being noticed?
  • Why was the fair held?

Modes of Discourse/Literary Terms

  • What is an aphorism?
  • What is setting?
  • What is extended metaphor?
  • What is a symbol?
  • What is point of view?
  • What is regionalism? It can also be described as what?
  • What is personification?
  • What is motivation?
  • What is stream of consciousness?
  • What is the difference between an Italian (Petrarchan) sonnet and an English (Shakespearean) sonnet?
  • What is an epistolary novel?
  • What is a refrain?
  • What is onomatopoeia?
  • What is tone?
  • What is theme?
  • What is alliteration?
  • What is an aubade?
  • What is an epigram?
  • What is figurative language?
  • What is Ethos? Pathos? Logos?
  • What is propaganda?
  • What are the characteristics of descriptive writing?
  • What are the characteristics of narrative writing?
  • What is parallelism?
  • What is anaphora?
  • What is antimetabole?
  • What is archaic language?

You will also have a discussion question over What is the What, and you will most definitely have a practice/sample AP Language multiple choice question section on this test. Be prepared!

TPCAST anyone?