Questions
1. From the introductory lecture, the definitions of romanticism, transcendentalism, realism, Southwest humor, and local color writing.
Show how a certain piece of literature demonstrates one of these philosophies or schools of writing.
2. Emily Dickinson’s attitude toward religion and toward death as revealed in her poetry.
3. The Bierce story as an exercise in a post-mortem consciousness.
4. “The Notorious Jumping Frog of Calaveras County” as an example of Southwest humor.
5. The contrast between Huck and Tom, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn as a character’s search for identity, and the novel as social commentary.
6. “The Luck of the Roaring Camp” as an example of local color writing.
7. “Editha” as an example of realistic writing and Editha as a character who “unknows reality.”
8. The art vs. reality theme in “The Real Thing.”
9. “The Beast in the Jungle” as a psychological ghost story and a comparison of Editha and John Marcher.
