A Literature of Place

What does the author of “A Literature of Place” most clearly feel that a sense of place helps a person develop? Choose two options.

• e. a sense of identity

• a. a feeling of belonging

• c. a spirit of rebellion

• b. a feeling of anxiety

• d. a need to conform

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As the author of “A Literature of Place” suggests, how do sensory perceptions help a person understand a particular landscape?

• Perceptions involving sight, sound, smell, and touch all provide different understandings of a landscape.

• Visual perceptions are the best way to gain an understanding of a particular landscape.

• Perceptions of a particular landscape grow much stronger as a person grows older.

• Changes over time rarely affect perceptions of a particular landscape.

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In “A Literature of Place,” what aspect of language seemed most magical to the author as a child?

• the humor of writers like Mark Twain

• the discovery that words could be written down

• the vivid images that could be used to describe nature

• the descriptions of nature in the literature of other cultures

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According to “A Literature of Place,” what is one key way in which being close with the landscape benefits human beings?

• It helps them develop strong survival skills.

• It gives them the strength to face danger.

• It encourages them to welcome change.

• It makes them feel less lonely.

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Near the end of “A Literature of Place,” what view does the author most clearly express about humanity’s survival?

• It depends on reading literature about lost landscapes.

• Its chances have been improved by modern science.

• It depends on a relationship with the natural world.

• Its chances are being harmed by climate change.

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If you discern something on the horizon, what must be true?

• You decide to ignore it.

• You recognize it clearly.

• You try to hide it from others.

• You fail to grasp its importance.

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Which of these types of measurement could best be described as temporal?

• a. a weight, given in pounds

• b. a length, given in inches

• c. a cost, given in dollars

• d. a time, given in hours

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Which of these factors is most clearly a spatial aspect of a painting?

• the colors the artist uses

• the ideas the artist tries to convey

• the distances between the items depicted

• the time it takes to complete the painting

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The following question has two parts. Answer Part A first, and then Part B.

Part A: In “A Literature of Place,” what relationship does the author suggest between modern life and nature writing?

• The further people live from nature, the less they want to read about it.

• The more people learn about nature, the happier they are with modern life.

• The true subject of modern nature writing is the loss of connection with nature.

• Modern nature writing focuses not on the natural world but on human nature.

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Part B. Which of these excerpts from “A Literature of Place” best supports the answer to Part A?

• In the United States in recent years, a kind of writing variously called “nature writing” or “landscape writing” has begun to receive critical attention, leading some to assume that this is a relatively new kind of work.

• If there is anything different in this area of North American writing—and I believe there is—it is the hopeful tone it frequently strikes in an era of cynical detachment, and its explicitly dubious view of technological progress, even of capitalism.

• The real topic of nature writing, I think, is not nature but the evolving structure of communities from which nature has been removed, often as a consequence of modern economic development.

• Another way critics describe nature writing is to call it “the literature of place.” A specific and particular setting for human experience and endeavor is, indeed, central to the work of many nature writers.

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