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CLEP Common Literary Forms And Genres

Subjects : clep, literature
Instructions:
  • Answer 50 questions in 15 minutes.
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  • Match each statement with the correct term.
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This is a study tool. The 3 wrong answers for each question are randomly chosen from answers to other questions. So, you might find at times the answers obvious, but you will see it re-enforces your understanding as you take the test each time.
1. A novel written in the form of letters exchanged by characters in the story - such as Samuel Richardson's Clarissa or Alice Walker's The Color Purple. This form was especially popular in the 1700s.






2. A genre of fiction that presents an imagined future society that purports to be perfect and utopian but that the author presents to the reader as horrifyingly inhuman.






3. A fiction genre - popularized in the 1940s - with a cynical - disillusioned - loner protagonist.






4. Fiction that is set in an alternative reality






5. A particularly compressed and truncated short story. They are rarely longer than 1 -000 words.






6. A work that imitates the style of a previous author - work - or literary genre. Alternatively - the term may refer to a work that contains a hodgepodge of elements or fragments from different sources or influences. It differs from parody in that its






7. Works that express a preference for the natural over the artificial in human culture - and a belief that the life of primitive cultures is preferable to modern lifestyles.






8. A short narrative that illustrates a moral by means of allegory.






9. Literature intended to instruct or educate. For example - Virgil's Georgics contains farming advice in verse form.






10. A German term - meaning 'formation novel -' for a novel about a child or adolescent's development into maturity - with special focus on the protagonist's quest for identity. James Joyce's A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man is a notable example.






11. A form of nonfictional discussion or argument that Michel de Montaigne pioneered in the 1500s.






12. A lengthy narrative that describes the deeds of a heroic figure - often of national or cultural importance - in elevated language. Strictly - the term applies only to verse narratives like Beowulf or Virgil's Aeneid - but it is used to describe prose






13. A narrative work that reports true events.






14. An invented narrative - as opposed to one that reports true events.






15. A short pastoral poem in the form of a dialogue between two shepherds. Virgil's Eclogues is the most famous example of this genre.






16. A play consisting of a single act - without intermission and running usually less than an hour.






17. A story about a heroic figure derived from oral tradition and based partly on fact and partly on fiction.






18. A play from the Middle Ages featuring saints or miraculous appearances by the Virgin Mary.






19. The nonfictional story of a person's life. James Boswell's Life of Johnson is one of the most celebrated examples.






20. A humorous and often satirical imitation of the style or particular work of another author.






21. A form of high-energy comedy that plays on confusions and deceptions between characters and features a convoluted and fast-paced plot.






22. Originally - a realistic novel detailing a scoundrel's exploits. The term grew to refer more generally to any novel with a loosely structured - episodic plot that revolves around the adventures of a central character.






23. A full-length fictional work that is novelistic in nature but written in verse rather than prose. Examples include Aleksandr Pushkin's Eugene Onegin and Vikram Seth's The Golden Gate.






24. Traditionally - a folk song telling a story or legend in simple language - often with a refrain.






25. A play written in the fifteenth or sixteenth centuries that presents an allegory of the Christian struggle for salvation.






26. A narrative in which literal meaning corresponds clearly and directly to symbolic meaning. For example - the literal story in John Bunyan's The Pilgrim's Progress






27. A composition that is meant to be performed. The term often is used interchangeably with play.






28. Bertolt Brecht's Marxist approach to theater - which rejects emotional and psychological engagement in favor of critical detachment.






29. The nonfictional story of a person's life - told by that person.






30. Fiction that concerns the nature of fiction itself - either by reinterpreting a previous fictional work or by drawing attention to its own fictional status.






31. A story meant to be performed in a theater before an audience. Most are written in dialogue form and are divided into several acts. Many include stage directions and instructions for sets and costumes.






32. A work that exposes to ridicule the shortcomings of individuals - institutions - or society - often to make a political point. Jonathan Swift's Gulliver's Travels is one of the most well known examples in English.






33. Disturbing or absurd material presented in a humorous manner - usually with the intention to confront uncomfortable truths. Joseph Heller's Catch-22 is a notable example.






34. A short poetic composition that describes the thoughts of a single speaker.






35. A novel that tells a nonfictional - autobiographical story but uses novelistic techniques - such as fictionalized dialogue or anecdotes - to add color - immediacy - or thematic unity.






36. A work of fiction of middle length - often divided into a few short chapters - such as Henry James's Daisy Miller.






37. A play that confronts a contemporary social problem with the intent of changing public opinion on the matter.






38. A celebration of the simple - rustic life of shepherds and shepherdesses - usually written by a sophisticated - urban writer.






39. A lighthearted play characterized by humor and a happy ending.






40. A novel - such as Jean-Paul Sartre's Nausea - that the author uses as a platform for discussing ideas. Character and plot are of secondary importance.






41. A novel that focuses on the social customs of a certain class of people - often with a sharp eye for irony. Jane Austen's novels are prime examples of this genre.






42. An autobiographical poetic genre in which the poet discusses intensely personal subject matter with unusual frankness.






43. A humorous imitation of a serious work of literature. The humor often arises from the incongruity between the imitation and the work being imitated. For example - Alexander Pope's The Rape of the Lock uses the high diction of epic poetry to talk abou






44. A novel in which the author's aim is to tell a story that illuminates and draws attention to contemporary social problems with the goal of inciting change for the better. Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin - which exposed the horrors of Africa






45. A poem that contains words that a fictional or historical character speaks to a particular audience. Alfred - Lord Tennyson's 'Ulysses' is a famous example.






46. A story about the origins of a culture's beliefs and practices - or of supernatural phenomena - usually derived from oral tradition and set in an imagined supernatural past.






47. Any composition not written in verse.






48. A speech - often in verse - by a lone character. The most famous example being the 'To be or not to be' speech in Shakespeare's Hamlet.






49. A nonrealistic story - in verse or prose - that features idealized characters - improbable adventures - and exotic settings.






50. A romance that describes the adventures of medieval knights and celebrates their strict code of honor - loyalty - and respectful devotion to women.