American Literature 1865–1914 Period Introduction Quiz

A  The United States gained access to new markets for the sale of industrially manufactured goods

B  The war gave American men a chance to prove themselves both mentally and physically

C  The pressure of immigration was reduced since migrants were sent to colonize Cuba after the war

D  The United States established itself as a legitimate rival to European imperial powers

A  Naturalist writing utilized American’s newly-acquired territories as settings more often than realist writing.

B  Naturalist writing developed characters more in-depth and included more character flaws than realist writing.

C  Naturalist writing more deeply explored the intense internal motivations of characters than realist writing.

D  Naturalist writing stressed the importance of plot and included more romance and myth than realist writing.

A  People evolved to be more concerned about their personal economic conditions, so they needed to be able to compete freely in the marketplace to accumulate wealth.

B  In order to differentiate themselves from animals lower on the evolutionary scale, people had to demonstrate the ability to generate wealth in an open economic system.

C  Economic progress could be achieved in the modern world, but only through people’s ruthless and violent competition, so a laissez-faire economic system was necessary.

D  Since evolution occurred through adaptation to one’s environment, people needed to prove that they could adjust to a modern economic system by participating in a capitalist society.

A  They allowed women to create community-based organizations for child and elder care.

B  They bequeathed small business loans to women who wanted to become financially independent.

C  They gave women the ability to discussion important cultural and political issues of the era.

D  They provided women home-based employment so women could begin to earn a wage.

A  Dialect was used as a literary method to reinforce American’s new role as a melting pot of culture and language.

B  Dialect became an accepted literary technique for expressing underlying racist attitudes about society.

C  Dialect represented the social distances among characters or between characters and audience.

D  Dialect developed out of a desire to push traditional literary boundaries towards the avant-garde.

A  Regional writers used dialect which was the literary rage of the late nineteenth century.

B  Urban audiences were interested in learning about distant peoples and their cultures.

C  Readers demanded novelty in literature, which regional writers could provide through new settings and characters.

D  Regionalism challenged society’s norms which excited middle-class reading audiences.

A  Critics derided realism for making literature too accessible to lower-class readers, which would dilute literature’s aesthetic.

B  Critics complained realism was too factual and too minutely detailed to be considered an artistic achievement.

C  Critics noted that realist writing contained too much plot and ignored the development of character and setting.

D  Critics condemned realist writers for being too focused on commercial success instead of developing their artistic craft.

A  Book reviewing became standardized and more widespread

B  Several classes of readers developed and increased across the nation

C  The publishing industry relocated to New York City from New England

D  Poetry was replaced by fiction as the most popular literary genre

A  The North realized that the money spent to rebuild the South could be spent on improving Northern industry, so Reconstruction funds were redirected to Northern manufacturing efforts.

B  Southerners voted to end Reconstruction in statewide elections because they preferred to rebuild their infrastructure and industries to their own specifications without Northern interference.

C  Northern and Southern politicians negotiated a deal where the Northern Republican Rutherford B. Hayes would be elected president in return for the end of Reconstruction policies in the South.

D  Politicians realized they needed to address the influx of migrants from Europe in Northern states rather than continuing to rebuild a portion of the country that had a smaller immigrant population.

A  It offered an apology from the United States’ government for the displacement of tribes to reservations and included reparations to Native Americans for these offences.

B  It dissolved tribal land holdings and gave smaller land parcels to individual Native Americans, which fragmented tribal property and reduced their land base.

C  It offered employment to Native Americans in the expanding factories of Midwestern cities, which resulted in a massive relocation of Indians to urban centers.

D  It provided educational grants for Native American children to attend primary and secondary schools, which weakened traditional tribal culture and practices.

A  Many American citizens had read propaganda that immigrants were carriers of disease, so citizens feared health epidemics.

B  Migrants came from repressive European political regimes, so American citizens thought immigrants would foment political unrest.

C  Few of the immigrants spoke English, so American citizens worried that English would be displaced as the national language.

D  Some white American citizens were concerned that immigrants would change the racial and religious character of the country.

A  Material prosperity

B  A national identity

C  Increasing religiosity

D  Expanded democracy

A  Scholars have discovered caches of unpublished texts by Gilded Age authors that challenge the traditional interpretation of the era’s literature.

B  Scholars have recently become concerned that prior academic analysis too narrowly defined literary movements in late nineteenth century.

C  Scholars have uncovered a concerted effort by previous researchers to marginalize many nineteenth century writers based on their political principles.

D  Scholars have determined that Gilded Age literature needs to be read through the lenses of feminist and psychoanalytic literary theory in order to be modernized.

A  Gilded Age literature was more pragmatic and less romantic than antebellum literature.

B  Gilded Age literature contained more upper-class characters than antebellum literature

C  Gilded Age literature focused more on poetry and fanciful imagery that antebellum literature.

D  Gilded Age literature utilized more dialogue and contained fewer descriptive passages than antebellum literature.

A  The term came from Mark Twain’s eponymous novel where characters chase economic success while sacrificing their principles for the pursuit of wealth.

B  The name developed out of the Populist political movement that advocated for economic regulations that would benefit lower- and middle-class citizens.

C  The expression referred to the European immigrants of the era who mistakenly believed the myth that America’s streets were ‘paved with gold.’

D  The phrase represented the new trends in fashion, art, and literature that celebrated economic status through overly ornate embellishment.