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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 work of didactic literature that aims to influence the reader on a specific social or political issue.






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






3. A ritualized form of Japanese drama that evolved in the 1300s involving masks and slow - stylized movement.






4. A play such as Shakespeare's A Winter's Tale that mixes elements of tragedy and comedy.






5. 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.






6. Any composition not written in verse.






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






8. 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.






9. 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.






10. A novel set in an earlier historical period that features a plot shaped by the historical circumstances of that period.






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






12. 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.






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






14. A concise expression of insight or wisdom: 'The vanity of others offends our taste only when it offends our vanity' (Friedrich Nietzsche - Beyond Good and Evil).






15. 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.






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






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






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






19. A fictional prose narrative of significant length.






20. 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






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






22. 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.






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






24. A narrative work that reports true events.






25. Fiction that is set in an alternative reality






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






27. A serious lyric poem - often of significant length - that usually conforms to an elaborate metrical structure.






28. 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.






29. A short play based on a biblical story.






30. 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






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






32. 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.






33. A poetic work that features the strong rhythms of free versebut is presented on the page in the form of prose - without line breaks.






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






35. A serious play that ends unhappily for the protagonist.






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






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






38. 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.






39. A short poetic expression of grief. It differs from an elegy in that it often is embedded within a larger work - is less highly structured - and is meant to be sung.






40. 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






41. A succinct - witty statement - often in verse. For example - William Wordsworth's observation 'The child is the father of the man.'






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






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






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






45. A short prose or verse narrative - such as those by Aesop - that illustrates a moral - which often is stated explicitly at the end.






46. The brief narration of a single event or incident.






47. 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.






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






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






50. An autobiographical work. Rather than focus exclusively on the author's life - it pays significant attention to the author's involvement in historical events and the characterization of individuals other than the author.