Focus on Religious and Philosophical Writing of the Era
1. Who wrote A Model of Christian Charity aboard the Arbella?
A) Roger Williams
B) William Bradford
C) John Winthrop
D) Cotton Mather
Answer: C) John Winthrop
2. What central theme defines much religious and philosophical writing of colonial New England?
A) Romanticism
B) Rationalism
C) Predestination
D) Social reform
Answer: C) Predestination
3. Anne Bradstreet’s poetry blends Puritan values with:
A) Deist thought
B) Scientific observation
C) Personal reflection
D) Political rebellion
Answer: C) Personal reflection
4. Which minister was known for Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God?
A) Increase Mather
B) Jonathan Edwards
C) George Whitefield
D) Samuel Danforth
Answer: B) Jonathan Edwards
5. The Great Awakening emphasized:
A) Free will and human rights
B) Enlightenment skepticism
C) Personal piety and emotional experience
D) Separation of church and state
Answer: C) Personal piety and emotional experience
6. What role did sermons play in early American communities?
A) Entertainment
B) Social regulation and spiritual instruction
C) News updates
D) Literary education
Answer: B) Social regulation and spiritual instruction
7. Who promoted religious tolerance in Rhode Island?
A) Thomas Hooker
B) John Eliot
C) Roger Williams
D) John Winthrop
Answer: C) Roger Williams
8. The Puritans believed God’s will could be known through:
A) Nature only
B) Scripture and providence
C) Reason and logic
D) Church councils
Answer: B) Scripture and providence
9. Mary Rowlandson’s captivity narrative emphasized:
A) Cultural exchange
B) Humanist values
C) Religious faith under trial
D) Social satire
Answer: C) Religious faith under trial
10. What defines the style of much Puritan prose?
A) Ornate and poetic
B) Plain and didactic
C) Ironic and skeptical
D) Emotional and romantic
Answer: B) Plain and didactic
Here are questions 11–50 of Quiz Test-9: Religious and Philosophical Writing (1607–1830), with answers.
11. What literary form did Puritans often use for spiritual reflection?
A) Epic poetry
B) Captivity narratives
C) Personal diaries
D) Political essays
Answer: C) Personal diaries
12. Cotton Mather is most closely associated with:
A) Deism
B) Revolutionary politics
C) Salem witch trials
D) Indian relations
Answer: C) Salem witch trials
13. Which of the following was not a goal of Puritan writing?
A) Glorify God
B) Promote self-expression
C) Examine sin
D) Interpret providence
Answer: B) Promote self-expression
14. The idea of the “City upon a Hill” signifies:
A) Separation of church and state
B) Religious persecution
C) Moral example for others
D) Rebellion against monarchy
Answer: C) Moral example for others
15. What made Jonathan Edwards’ sermons influential?
A) Legal reasoning
B) Dramatic style and vivid imagery
C) Scientific facts
D) Use of humor
Answer: B) Dramatic style and vivid imagery
16. Which Enlightenment idea conflicted most with Puritan theology?
A) Predestination
B) Divine wrath
C) Human reason
D) Original sin
Answer: C) Human reason
17. Religious writing during the Great Awakening focused on:
A) Political resistance
B) Economic growth
C) Personal conversion
D) Satirical criticism
Answer: C) Personal conversion
18. Which of the following is most reflective of Deist belief?
A) God governs directly through revelation
B) Reason reveals divine order
C) Only Puritans are elect
D) Salvation comes through sacraments
Answer: B) Reason reveals divine order
19. What is significant about William Bradford’s Of Plymouth Plantation?
A) It celebrates Native culture
B) It’s the first American play
C) It records divine providence in colonial survival
D) It critiques Puritan leaders
Answer: C) It records divine providence in colonial survival
20. Why did Puritans value literacy?
A) Entertainment
B) Political participation
C) Reading Scripture
D) Writing poetry
Answer: C) Reading Scripture
21. The “plain style” refers to writing that is:
A) Rhetorically complex
B) Free from ornamentation
C) Influenced by Latin syntax
D) Philosophically obscure
Answer: B) Free from ornamentation
22. Samuel Sewall’s The Diary of Samuel Sewall records:
A) Slave narratives
B) The Revolutionary War
C) Personal and moral experiences
D) Court sermons
Answer: C) Personal and moral experiences
23. The belief in God’s direct involvement in daily life is called:
A) Transcendence
B) Providence
C) Redemption
D) Enlightenment
Answer: B) Providence
24. What genre did many 17th-century ministers use to express faith and warning?
A) Letters
B) Fables
C) Sermons
D) Memoirs
Answer: C) Sermons
25. In Puritan thought, the elect are:
A) Church leaders
B) Politicians
C) Those predestined for salvation
D) Citizens who vote
Answer: C) Those predestined for salvation
26. What emotional appeal did Edwards often use in his sermons?
A) Hope
B) Humor
C) Fear
D) Doubt
Answer: C) Fear
27. In religious writing, nature was often viewed as:
A) A distraction
B) Evil
C) A reflection of God’s order
D) Politically symbolic
Answer: C) A reflection of God’s order
28. Who was known as the “Last American Puritan”?
A) John Woolman
B) Cotton Mather
C) Jonathan Edwards
D) William Byrd
Answer: C) Jonathan Edwards
29. How did Enlightenment thinking influence American religious writers?
A) They rejected all faith
B) They emphasized emotional revival
C) They integrated reason with belief
D) They attacked Puritan history
Answer: C) They integrated reason with belief
30. The theological movement behind much Great Awakening writing was:
A) Catholicism
B) Anglicanism
C) Calvinism
D) Methodism
Answer: C) Calvinism
31. Which group opposed the emotional revivalism of the Great Awakening?
A) Baptists
B) Presbyterians
C) Old Lights
D) New Lights
Answer: C) Old Lights
32. What is a “jeremiad”?
A) A joyful hymn
B) A historical narrative
C) A sermon warning of moral decline
D) A conversion story
Answer: C) A sermon warning of moral decline
33. Benjamin Franklin’s Autobiography reflects:
A) Puritan guilt
B) Religious mysticism
C) Enlightenment self-discipline
D) Revolutionary violence
Answer: C) Enlightenment self-discipline
34. Which writer’s journal mixed business with moral observation?
A) Jonathan Edwards
B) William Byrd II
C) Thomas Hooker
D) Anne Hutchinson
Answer: B) William Byrd II
35. What makes Edward Taylor’s poetry unique in this period?
A) It avoids religion
B) It’s political satire
C) It blends complex metaphysical style with Puritan devotion
D) It’s based on Greek myths
Answer: C) It blends complex metaphysical style with Puritan devotion
36. Roger Williams argued for:
A) Witch trials
B) Slavery
C) Separation of church and state
D) British monarchy
Answer: C) Separation of church and state
37. John Eliot is remembered for:
A) Founding a colony
B) Captivity narratives
C) Translating the Bible into a Native language
D) Leading a rebellion
Answer: C) Translating the Bible into a Native language
38. How did many Puritans view suffering?
A) As punishment only
B) As meaningless
C) As divine testing
D) As poetic inspiration
Answer: C) As divine testing
39. What feature dominates Edwards’ Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God?
A) Calm logic
B) Optimistic tone
C) Vivid imagery of hell and judgment
D) Philosophical detachment
Answer: C) Vivid imagery of hell and judgment
40. The key purpose of most early American religious writing was to:
A) Spread Enlightenment ideals
B) Entertain readers
C) Teach moral and spiritual truths
D) Argue legal principles
Answer: C) Teach moral and spiritual truths
41. What did the “Half-Way Covenant” try to solve?
A) Land disputes
B) Native alliances
C) Declining church membership
D) Political corruption
Answer: C) Declining church membership
42. What form of writing did women often use to express their faith?
A) Political pamphlets
B) Devotional poetry and personal journals
C) Scientific essays
D) Philosophical dialogue
Answer: B) Devotional poetry and personal journals
43. The use of typology in Puritan writing refers to:
A) Cataloging ideas
B) Comparing biblical events to personal or colonial life
C) Writing in Latin
D) Studying handwriting
Answer: B) Comparing biblical events to personal or colonial life
44. What role did printing presses play in spreading religious thought?
A) Limited ideas
B) Shared sermons and theological debates
C) Promoted novels
D) Recorded taxes
Answer: B) Shared sermons and theological debates
45. What does “elect” mean in Calvinist theology?
A) Appointed leader
B) Enlightened philosopher
C) Predestined for salvation
D) Elected official
Answer: C) Predestined for salvation
46. What idea in Edwards’ theology stresses human dependence on God?
A) Free will
B) Sovereignty of God
C) Human reason
D) Self-reliance
Answer: B) Sovereignty of God
47. What did many Enlightenment thinkers believe about God?
A) He intervenes constantly
B) He communicates only through priests
C) He created the universe but does not interfere
D) He is unknowable
Answer: C) He created the universe but does not interfere
48. What is the main concern in Mary Rowlandson’s narrative?
A) Native customs
B) Military action
C) Spiritual trial and God’s providence
D) Political treaties
Answer: C) Spiritual trial and God’s providence
49. Which best describes the aim of a Puritan sermon?
A) Explore romantic feeling
B) Teach grammar
C) Convict listeners of sin and urge repentance
D) Praise nature
Answer: C) Convict listeners of sin and urge repentance
50. What kind of truth was most valued in religious and philosophical writing of this period?
A) Scientific certainty
B) Moral and spiritual insight
C) Political freedom
D) Literary realism
Answer: B) Moral and spiritual insight
Quiz Test-8 The History of American Literature: https://americanlit.englishlitnotes.com/rise-of-national-identity-quiz-8/
Grammar Puzzle Solved by Naeem Sir: http://grammarpuzzlesolved.englishlitnotes.com