Lesson C02.1.1

C02.1.1 American Literature 1880–1940: contexts and themes Quiz: OCR English Literature, Unit 2

20 questions

Written by Revision Ninja · Last reviewed 11 October 2026

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Lesson C02.1.1, American Literature 1880–1940: contexts and themes: 20 multiple choice questions for the OCR English Literature (H472), Unit 2: Component 02: Comparative and contextual study, written with Revision Ninja.

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The 20 questions

  1. Which literary movement is associated with determinism and the influence of environment on human behaviour?

    • Realism
    • Romanticism
    • Naturalism
    • Transcendentalism

  2. Which historical era in 1920s America is characterised by economic prosperity and jazz culture?

    • The Gilded Age
    • Reconstruction Era
    • The Progressive Era
    • The Roaring Twenties

  3. What major economic crisis began in 1929 and heavily influenced 1930s American literature?

    • Wall Street Boom
    • The Dust Bowl
    • Panic of 1893
    • The Great Depression

  4. Which African American cultural movement flourished in New York during the 1920s?

    • Harlem Renaissance
    • Beat Generation
    • Transcendentalism
    • Southern Gothic

  5. Which literary term describes non-linear narratives and fragmented perspectives used by 1920s writers?

    • Realism
    • Romanticism
    • Naturalism
    • Modernism

  6. Who coined the term "The Jazz Age" to describe the 1920s cultural atmosphere?

    • John Steinbeck
    • Ernest Hemingway
    • Edith Wharton
    • F. Scott Fitzgerald

  7. What concept describes the belief that anyone in America can achieve success through hard work?

    • The American Dream
    • Determinism
    • Social Darwinism
    • Manifest Destiny

  8. Which 19th-century socio-economic period was named by Mark Twain for its corrupt, gilded surface?

    • The Progressive Era
    • The Jazz Age
    • The Gilded Age
    • The New Deal

  9. A novel detailing a rural family fleeing environmental devastation to seek agricultural work reflects what event?

    • The Gold Rush
    • The Civil War
    • The Great Migration
    • The Dust Bowl

  10. A story depicting high society's strict moral codes in late 19th-century New York features what setting?

    • Old New York
    • The Deep South
    • The Dust Bowl
    • The Wild West

  11. A narrative showing a protagonist helpless against harsh nature and instinctual forces illustrates what literary style?

    • Satire
    • Naturalism
    • Romanticism
    • Transcendentalism

  12. A novel about a bootlegger recreating his past in 1920s Long Island explores what primary theme?

    • Religious Orthodoxy
    • Environmental Collapse
    • Southern Gothicism
    • The American Dream

  13. A narrative depicting African Americans moving from the rural South to Northern cities portrays what demographic event?

    • The Dust Bowl
    • Trail of Tears
    • Manifest Destiny
    • The Great Migration

  14. A character whose rise in urban society is driven by ruthless ambition without moral reflection illustrates what concept?

    • Southern Gothicism
    • Pastoralism
    • Transcendentalism
    • Social Darwinism

  15. A text using stream of consciousness to explore post-war psychological trauma reflects which literary movement?

    • Modernism
    • Romanticism
    • Naturalism
    • Realism

  16. A portrait of impoverished migrant workers forming unions against corporate landowners in 1930s California represents which political ideology?

    • Fascism
    • Feudalism
    • Imperialism
    • Socialism

  17. Which literary movement explicitly rejected 19th-century Victorian sentimentality in favour of unvarnished social observation?

    • Romanticism
    • Surrealism
    • Transcendentalism
    • Realism

  18. Which 1890s historical thesis posited that westward expansion formed the core of American democratic identity?

    • The New Deal
    • The Frontier Thesis
    • Social Darwinism
    • The Monroe Doctrine

  19. What literary motif uses decaying plantation mansions to symbolise the collapse of the Old South?

    • Beat Generation
    • Transcendentalism
    • Harlem Renaissance
    • Southern Gothic

  20. Which 1920s literary group, including Gertrude Stein and Ernest Hemingway, felt disillusioned by World War I?

    • Beat Generation
    • The Lost Generation
    • The Knickerbockers
    • The Transcendentalists

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