1. I believe the correct answers are:
- They help us see ideas in new way.
- The enlightenment they bring can lead to positive individual change.
- The enlightenment they can bring can lead to positive social change.
The universal themes represent the ideas which can be applied to anyone or anything regardless of cultural, social and natural differences, or geographic location.
These themes deal with basic, generalized human concerns, struggles, nature and are, therefore, the representation of ways to connect ideas across all disciplines. Writing about universal themes in literature, such as man versus nature or love conquers all, can help people see ideas from someone else’s perspective and lead to positive individual or social change.
2. I believe the correct answers are:
- circumstances relating to gender
- circumstances relating to income taxes
- circumstances relating to race or ethnicity
In literature, social context (also referred to as milieu) represents physical and social setting in which the action and characters are set (culture, economy, institutions, education etc.). It helps readers to understand the actions of characters or interactions between them influenced by social or economic boundaries. Therefore, social context is made up by circumstances relating to gender, income taxes and race or ethnicity.
3. I believe the correct answer is regionalism.
Regionalism in literature represents the fiction and poetry that focuses on the regional practice or features, rather than on the feature of central social, political or national system, such as characters, dialect, customs, topography etc. Southern authors, both American and African-American, revealed diversity of experiences, backgrounds and perspectives which often defended or accused the region’s social (slavery) practices through autobiographies and memoirs. Therefore, we can say that fiction or poetry of southern authors about the South and slavery is mainly an example of regionalism.
4. I believe the correct answers are:
- Local color emphasizes the characters, natural features, and culture of a particular region.
- Writers of this type of literature often explore universal themes.
Local color movement represents the start of regionalism in American literature in the late 1860s, after the Civil War, and was the most popular movement in literature for almost three decades. Regionalism depicts character, dialect, manners, folklore, and landscape of particular region rather than the whole country. Therefore, Local color movement in 1870 emphasized the characters, natural features, and culture of a particular region and explored universal themes.
5. I believe the correct answers are:
- fundamental ideas
- ideas that are relevant to all people
The universal themes represent the ideas which can be applied to anyone or anything regardless of cultural, social and natural differences, or geographic location. These themes deal with basic, generalized human concerns, struggles, nature and are, therefore, the representation of ways to connect ideas across all disciplines. Therefore, they represent the fundamental ideas and ideas that are relevant to all people.
6. I believe the correct answers are: freedom and racism .
The universal themes represent the ideas which can be applied to anyone or anything regardless of cultural, social and natural differences, or geographic location. These themes deal with basic, generalized human concerns, struggles and nature. Therefore, the universal ideas are freedom and racism as they are relevant to all.
7. I believe the correct answers are: social characteristics and economic characteristics .
In literature, historical context represents the historical circumstances which surround and influence the author to write specific literary work. These historical circumstances can be social, economic, political or national. Historical context is usually expressed through the setting, scenery and economical and social characteristics.
8. I believe the correct answer is: all time periods must be studied because no one period will cover all the themes
Even though universal themes deal with basic, generalized human concerns, struggles and human nature, in an attempt to study universal themes, readers should examine all time periods as one period can’t cover all themes. Universal themes may be relevant to all the people, but are not relevant to all time periods due to historical and social changes.
