Phillis Wheatley

Question 1

When was Wheatley’s first book of poems published?

Answer 1

1773

Question 2

What languages, besides English, did Phillis Wheatley know?

Answer 2

Latin and Greek

Question 3

What was frequently the form of Wheatley’s poetry?

Answer 3

Heroic Couplets (Neoclassical)

Question 4

Where did Phillis Wheatley get her name?

Answer 4

“Phillis” is the name of the slave ship that brought her to America, and Wheatley is her owner’s family name.

Question 5

How old was Wheatley when she was brought to America?

Answer 5

7

Question 6

How old was Wheatley when she died?

Answer 6

31

Question 7

Where in America did Wheatley live?

Answer 7

Boston

Question 8

Where was Wheatley’s book of poetry first published?

Answer 8

London

Question 9

Who are three English poets who influenced Wheatley?

Answer 9

Milton, Pope, and Gray

Question 10

What prominent religious figure was influential for both Wheatley and Equiano?

Answer 10

Reverend George Whitefield

Question 11

When was Wheatley’s poetry first “rediscovered”?

Answer 11

In the 1830s, by New England abolitionists

Question 12

What are the features of heroic couplets?

Answer 12

• Iambic pentameter

- End rhyme

Question 13

What is a notable textual feature of “On being brought from Africa to America”?

Answer 13

Use of italics (discuss why they’re probably not ironic)

Question 14

Who is William, Earl of Dartmouth?

Answer 14

He was the Secretary in charge of the American colonies, and sympathetic to the abolitionist movement.

Question 15

What is “the University of Cambridge in New England”?

Answer 15

Harvard

Question 16

What two personified ideas have a conversation in “Thoughts on the Works of Providence”?

What is the significance of this?

Answer 16

Reason and Love

That these two great powers are united in appreciating the divine nature and power of God.