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Test your basic knowledge |
CLEP Common Literary Forms And Genres
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Subjects
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clep
,
literature
Instructions:
Answer 50 questions in 15 minutes.
If you are not ready to take this test, you can
study here
.
Match each statement with the correct term.
Don't refresh. All questions and answers are randomly picked and ordered every time you load a test.
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 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.
Epistolary novel
Soliloquy
Novel
Memoir
2. A poetic work that features the strong rhythms of free versebut is presented on the page in the form of prose - without line breaks.
Novella
Prose poem
One-act play
Metafiction
3. A play consisting of a single act - without intermission and running usually less than an hour.
Ode
Epic
One-act play
Epic theater
4. A work of fiction of middle length - often divided into a few short chapters - such as Henry James's Daisy Miller.
Novella
Fable
Problem play
Epigram
5. 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.
Fiction
Parable
Epic
Autobiographical novel
6. 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.
Noh drama
Science fiction
Parody
Novel of manners
7. 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).
Aphorism
Bildungsroman
Primitivist literature
Nonfiction
8. 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
Epistolary novel
Epic theater
Autobiographical novel
Epic
9. 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.
Tragicomedy
Picaresque novel
Elegy
Verse novel
10. A work of didactic literature that aims to influence the reader on a specific social or political issue.
Ode
Primitivist literature
Epic
Propaganda
11. Bertolt Brecht's Marxist approach to theater - which rejects emotional and psychological engagement in favor of critical detachment.
Epic theater
Legend
Noir
Black comedy
12. 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
Propaganda
Noir
Chivalric romance
Social protest novel
13. A form of high-energy comedy that plays on confusions and deceptions between characters and features a convoluted and fast-paced plot.
Burlesque
Soliloquy
Farce
Verse novel
14. A humorous and often satirical imitation of the style or particular work of another author.
Parody
Nonfiction
Confessional poetry
Biography
15. 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.
Pastiche
Chivalric romance
Black comedy
Satire
16. A play such as Shakespeare's A Winter's Tale that mixes elements of tragedy and comedy.
Tragicomedy
Anecdote
Comedy
Essay
17. A play that confronts a contemporary social problem with the intent of changing public opinion on the matter.
Miracle play
Metafiction
Problem play
Ode
18. The brief narration of a single event or incident.
Epic
Bildungsroman
Epigram
Anecdote
19. Any composition not written in verse.
Epigram
Prose
Allegory
Black comedy
20. A short pastoral poem in the form of a dialogue between two shepherds. Virgil's Eclogues is the most famous example of this genre.
Epistolary novel
Eclogue
Allegory
Noh drama
21. A story about a heroic figure derived from oral tradition and based partly on fact and partly on fiction.
Legend
Drama
Epigram
Social protest novel
22. A nonrealistic story - in verse or prose - that features idealized characters - improbable adventures - and exotic settings.
Burlesque
Nonfiction
Mystery play
Romance
23. 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
Prose poem
Mystery play
Pastiche
Novel of manners
24. An invented narrative - as opposed to one that reports true events.
Fiction
Eclogue
Novella
Burlesque
25. A novel set in an earlier historical period that features a plot shaped by the historical circumstances of that period.
Essay
Historical novel
Memoir
Ballad
26. The nonfictional story of a person's life. James Boswell's Life of Johnson is one of the most celebrated examples.
Pastiche
Primitivist literature
Biography
Satire
27. A narrative work that reports true events.
Nonfiction
Ballad
Epistolary novel
Confessional poetry
28. Traditionally - a folk song telling a story or legend in simple language - often with a refrain.
Allegory
Essay
Ode
Ballad
29. A serious play that ends unhappily for the protagonist.
Tragedy
Historical novel
Pastoral
Myth
30. 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.
Play
Romance
Science fiction
Comedy
31. A romance that describes the adventures of medieval knights and celebrates their strict code of honor - loyalty - and respectful devotion to women.
Chivalric romance
Novel of manners
Biography
Verse novel
32. A short prose or verse narrative - such as those by Aesop - that illustrates a moral - which often is stated explicitly at the end.
Aphorism
Myth
Novella
Fable
33. A succinct - witty statement - often in verse. For example - William Wordsworth's observation 'The child is the father of the man.'
Primitivist literature
Epigram
Chivalric romance
Autobiographical novel
34. 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
Romance
Allegory
Novel of manners
Ode
35. A fictional prose narrative of significant length.
Prose
Novel
Anecdote
Historical novel
36. 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.
Noh drama
Primitivist literature
Propaganda
Autobiography
37. A lighthearted play characterized by humor and a happy ending.
Drama
One-act play
Comedy
Fiction
38. A short poetic composition that describes the thoughts of a single speaker.
Epic theater
Lyric
Epistolary novel
Ode
39. A particularly compressed and truncated short story. They are rarely longer than 1 -000 words.
Historical novel
Play
Confessional poetry
Short-short story
40. The nonfictional story of a person's life - told by that person.
Propaganda
Autobiography
Ode
Parable
41. 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.
Drama
Noir
Myth
Comedy
42. 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.
Dirge
Parody
Science fiction
Burlesque
43. A short narrative that illustrates a moral by means of allegory.
Science fiction
Black comedy
Autobiographical novel
Parable
44. 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
Noir
Burlesque
Epistolary novel
Pastiche
45. 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.
Memoir
Miracle play
Novel
Satire
46. 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.
Mystery play
Pastoral
Biography
Epistolary novel
47. Literature intended to instruct or educate. For example - Virgil's Georgics contains farming advice in verse form.
Prose
Problem play
Didactic literature
Romance
48. A play from the Middle Ages featuring saints or miraculous appearances by the Virgin Mary.
Confessional poetry
Miracle play
Tragedy
Comedy
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.
Metafiction
Eclogue
Ballad
Elegy
50. 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.
Lyric
Novella
Black comedy
Noh drama