Contemporary American

In The Grapes of Wrath, what symbolizes both hope and futility for the Joad family?

• The lush Californian orchards described in detail

• The broken-down truck they attempt to repair

• The turtle crossing the road with determination

• The flooded riverbank that halts their journey

Robert Frost’s Mending Wall uses the repeated phrase “Good fences make good neighbors” to explore:

• The destructive power of isolation and distance

• The necessity of tradition and maintaining order

• The tension between connection and separation

• The importance of shared values and communal living

Langston Hughes’s poem Harlem addresses the impact of deferred dreams on:

• An individual’s aspirations to achieve artistic goals

• The collective struggles of African American society

• The internal conflict of identity and belonging

• The disintegration of traditional values and norms

William Carlos Williams’s emphasis on Imagism is most evident in his focus on:

• Rigid adherence to traditional poetic structures

• Precise imagery capturing everyday mundane moments

• Overarching philosophical themes and arguments

• Abstract symbolism used in surrealistic expressions

T.S. Eliot’s use of the epigraph from The Divine Comedy in The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock emphasizes:

• Prufrock’s moral clarity and straightforwardness

• His internalized sense of damnation and anxiety

• His resolute and firm sense of overarching purpose

• The poem’s subtle critique of romantic conventions

Which Hemingway novel introduces a group of expatriates traveling from Paris to Pamplona to watch the bullfights?

• The Sun Also Rises and its modernist themes of loss

• The Old Man and the Sea with its allegorical story

• A Farewell to Arms with themes of love and war

• For Whom the Bell Tolls on Spanish resistance

F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby employs the green light as a symbol of:

• Environmental preservation in the Jazz Age narrative

• The unattainable American Dream of the protagonist

• Gatsby’s lost innocence and the corruption of love

• Wealth as a corrupting force in American society

Zora Neale Hurston’s narrative technique in Their Eyes Were Watching God includes:

• A third-person omniscient perspective throughout

• Dialect-heavy dialogue and framed narration style

• A linear and straightforward chronological plotline

• Satirical commentary on the hypocrisy of Southern life

Ezra Pound’s In a Station of the Metro exemplifies Imagism through its:

• Lengthy descriptions of urban life and its impact

• Minimalist juxtaposition of two vivid clear images

• Focus on classical mythology through visual symbols

• Complex metaphysical themes and layered meanings

Steinbeck’s depiction of the Dust Bowl migrants in Of Mice and Men demonstrates:

• The romantic idealization of rural life and nature

• The harsh realities of economic inequality for all

• The glorification of individualism over community

• The rejection of personal responsibility and effort