from Nature 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 Crossing a bare common, in snow puddles, at twilight, under a clouded sky, without having in my thoughts any

y occurrence of a special good fortune, I have enjoyed perfect exhilaration. I am glad to the brink of fear. In the woods, too, a man casts off his years, as the snake his slough, and at what period soever of life, is always a child. In the woods is perpetual youth. Within these plantations of God, a decorum and sanctity reign, a perennial festival is dressed, and the guest sees not how he should tire of them in a thousand years. In the woods, we return to reason and faith. There I feel that nothing can befall me in the life, -no disgrace, no calamity (leaving me my eyes), which nature cannot repair. Standing on the bare ground, -my head bathed by the blithe air, and uplifted into infinite space, -all mean egotism vanishes. I become a transparent eyeball; I am nothing; I see all; the currents of the Universal Being circulate through me; I am part and parcel of God. The name of the nearest friend sounds then foreign and accidental; to be brothers, to be acquaintances, -master or servant, is then a trifle and a disturbance. I am the lover of uncontained and immortal beauty. In the wilderness, I find something more dear and connate than in the streets or villages. In the tranquil landscape, and especially in the distant line of the horizon, man beholds somewhat as beautiful as his own nature

from The Over-Soul 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 The Supreme Critic on the errors of the past and the present, and the only prophet of that which must be, is that great nature in which we rest, as the earth lies in the soft arms of the atmosphere; the Unity, that Over-Soul, within which every mans particular being is contained and made one with all other; that common heart, of which all sincere conversation is the worship, to which all right action is submission; that overpowering reality which confutes our tricks and talents, and constrains every one to pass for what he is, and the speak from his character and not his tongue, and which evermore tends and aims to pass into our thought and hand, and become wisdom, and virtue, and power, and beauty. We live in succession, in division, in parts, and particles. Meantime within man is the soul of the whole; the wise silence; the universal beauty, to which every part and particle is equally related; the eternal One. And this deep power in which we exist, and whose beatitude is all accessible to us, is not only selfsufficing and perfect in every hour, but the act of seeing and the thing seen, the seer and the spectacle, the subject and object, are one. We see the world piece by piece, as the sun, the moon, the animal, the tree; but the whole, of which these are the shining parts, is the soul. Only by the vision of that Wisdom can the horoscope of the ages be read, and by falling back on our better thoughts, by yielding to the spirit of prophecy which is innate in every man, we can know what it saith.

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SURVEY OF AMERICAN LITERATURE PART III Directions: Read the following letter that Herman Melville wrote to Nathaniel Hawthorne. Carefully read the questions, and then darken the correct letter on your scantron.

June, 1851 My Dear HawthorneI should have been rumbling down to you in my pine-board chariot a long time ago, were it not that for some weeks past I have been more busy than you can well imagine, -- out of doors, -- building and patching and tinkering away in all directions. Besides, I had my crops to get in, -- corn and potatoes (I hope to show you some famous ones by and by), -- and many other things to attend to, all accumulating upon this one particular season. I work myself; and at night my bodily sensations are akin to those I have so often felt before, when a hired man, doing my day's work from sun to sun. But I mean to continue visiting you until you tell me that my visits are both supererogatory and superfluous. With no son of man do I stand upon any etiquette or ceremony, except the Christian ones of charity and honesty I began by saying that the reason I have not been to Lenox is this, -- in the evening I feel completely done up, as the phrase is, and incapable of the long jolting to get to your house and back. In a week or so, I go to New York, to bury myself in a third-story room, and work and slave on my "Whale" [the original title of Moby-Dick] while it is driving through the press. That is the only way I can finish it now, -- I am so pulled hither and thither by circumstances. The calm, the coolness, the silent grassgrowing mood in which a man ought always to compose, -- that, I fear, can seldom be mine. Dollars damn me; and the malicious Devil is forever grinning in upon me, holding the door ajar. My dear Sir, a presentiment is on me, -- I shall at last be worn out and perish, like an old nutmeg-grater, grated to pieces by the constant attrition of the wood, that is, the nutmeg. What I feel most moved to write, that is banned, -- it will not pay. Yet, altogether, write the other way I cannot. So the product is a final hash, and all my books are botches. I'm rather sore, perhaps, in this letter, but see my hand! four blisters on this palm, made by hoes and hammers within the last few days. It is a rainy morning; so I am indoors, and all work suspended. I feel cheerfully disposed, and therefore I write a little bluely... If ever, my dear Hawthorne, in the eternal times that are to come, you and I shall sit down in Paradise, in some little shady corner by ourselves; and if we shall by any means be able to smuggle a basket of champagne thereand if glasses and our heads together, till both musically ring in concert, -- then, O my dear fellow-mortal, how shall we pleasantly discourse of all the things manifold which now so distress us, -- when all the earth shall be but a reminiscence, yea, its final dissolution an antiquity. Then shall songs be composed as when wars are over; humorous, comic songs, -- "Oh, when I lived in that queer little hole called the world," or, "Oh, when I toiled and sweated below," or, "Oh, when I knocked and was knocked in the fight" -- yes, let us look forward to such things. Let us swear that, though now we sweat, yet it is because of the dry heat which is indispensable to the nourishment of the vine which is to bear the grapes that are to give us the champagne hereafter. But I was talking about the "Whale." As the fishermen say, "he's in his flurry" when I left him some three weeks ago. I'm going to take him by his jaw, however, before long, and finish him up in some fashion or other. What's the use of elaborating what, in its very essence, is so short-lived as a modern book? Though I wrote the Gospels in this century, I should die in the gutter. -- I talk all about myself, and this is selfishness and egotism. Granted. But how help it? I am writing to you; I know little about you, but something about myself so I write about myself, -- at least, to you - H. Melville

VOCABULARY: Each of the following underlined words has also been underlined in the selection. Use the context clues in the selection to help you determine each words meaning. Fill in the correct letter on your answer sheet. 31. A visit is superfluous if it is A. beyond what is required B. welcome and pleasing C. emotional 32. A presentiment is a A. a ceremonial gift B. fearful anticipation C. happy recollection 33. Attrition of an object occurs when the object is A. connected to a crime B. lost because of carelessness C. worn away by friction 34. Things or circumstances are manifold when they are A. of many, varied kinds B. obvious to all beholders C. designed to mislead 35. In the selection, the dissolution of earth refers to the earths A. cruel indifference B. basic evil C. final extinction COMPREHENSION: Fill in the letter of the selection which BEST answers each of the following questions. 36. Melvilles main excuse for not visiting Hawthorne recently is that he A. has been working on his book B. is envious of Hawthorne C. has been occupied with farm and household work D. is convinced that he has a fatal disease

37. Melville is discouraged about writing because

A. he is at a loss for a subject B. his past mistakes torment him C. his publisher has refused to read his manuscript D. he cannot sell what he would like to write 38. Melville feels that the best environment for a writer is A. the excitement of a big city B. a workshop with other writers C. a lively, party-like atmosphere D. an atmosphere of peace and calm 39. In speaking of the Whale, Melville said, Whats the use of elaborating what, in its very essence, is so short-lived as a modern book? From a contemporary perspective, what is ironic about Melvilles comment? A. Melville spends a great deal of time writing his book B. The book has become a long-lived classic C. Much popular fiction is soon forgotten D. Moby-Dick is an extremely long and complex book 40. What sort of friendship does Melville have with Hawthorne? From the following options, choose the one you think is the best response to this question. A. He enjoys writing letters to Hawthorne, but does not have time for a real friendship B. Although he is cordial to Hawthorne, there is an underlying jealousy which colors everything about their relationship C. He is close enough to Hawthorne to be completely honest with him D. He needs Hawthorne to give him encouragement and financial support and therefore must maintain the friendship at any cost

POETRY DIRECTIONS: Read the following poems and then answer the questions that follow.

Daybreak in Alabama By Langston Hughes When I get to be a composer I'm gonna write me some music about Daybreak in Alabama And I'm gonna put the purtiest songs in it Rising out of the ground like a swamp mist And falling out of heaven like soft dew. I'm gonna put some tall tall trees in it And the scent of pine needles And the smell of red clay after rain And long red necks And poppy colored faces And big brown arms And the field daisy eyes Of black and white black white black people And I'm gonna put white hands And black hands and brown and yellow hands And red clay earth hands in it Touching everybody with kind fingers And touching each other natural as dew In that dawn of music when I Get to be a composer And write about daybreak In Alabama.

The Planet on the Table By Wallace Stevens

Ariel was glad he had written his poems. They were remembered of a time Or of something seen that he liked. Other makings of the sun Were waste and welter And the ripe shrub writhed. His self and the sun were one And his poems, although makings of his self, Were no loss makings of the sun. It was not important that they survive. What mattered was that they should bear Some lineament or character. VOCABULARY: Select the letter of the word or phrase that BEST completes each sentence. 41. A composer is a A. trumpet player B. painter C. songwriter D. collector 42. Welter could be A. a disordered jumble B. rich growth C. brightly colored D. useful products 43. A snake that writhed probably A. became stronger B. twisted and turned C. grew heartily D. stood out

44. Lineament is best described as A. type of cloth B. muscle pain C. healing balm

D. distinctive feature 45. Affluence refers to the planets A. abundance B. rivers C. land mass D size COMPREHENSION: Choose the best answer to each of the following items. Fill in the correct letter on your answer sheet. 46. In Hughess poem, which of the following things is NOT something the composer says he is going to put into his music? A. tall trees B. swamp mist C. the smell of red clay after rain D. the scent of pine needles 47. To what does Hughes compare the color of peoples faces? A. daybreak B. music C. clay D. poppies 48. In Hughess poem, to what could daybreak in Alabama refer? A. a beautiful sunset B. westward migration C. a natural disaster D. change for the better 49. The subject of Stevenss poem is A. writing poetry B. solar system C. speakers disillusionment D. richness of language 50. In The Planet on the Table, which of the following statements is NOT true about the poems that Ariel writes? A. It is not essential that they survive B. They were of a forgotten time C. Ariel is happy that he wrote them

D. They were creations of the sun