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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. 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.






2. 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






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






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






5. 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.






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






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






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






9. 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).






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






11. 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.






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






13. 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






14. 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






15. 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.






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






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






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






19. 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.






20. Fiction that is set in an alternative reality






21. A fictional prose narrative of significant length.






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






23. 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.






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






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






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 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.






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






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






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






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






32. A short play based on a biblical story.






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






34. 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.






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






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






37. 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.






38. 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






39. 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.






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






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






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






43. 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.






44. 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.






45. 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






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






47. 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.






48. 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.






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






50. A narrative work that reports true events.