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Test your basic knowledge |
CLEP Common Literary Forms And Genres
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Study First
Subjects
:
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. Bertolt Brecht's Marxist approach to theater - which rejects emotional and psychological engagement in favor of critical detachment.
Metafiction
Romance
Noir
Epic theater
2. 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.
Noir
Novel of manners
Picaresque novel
Myth
3. An invented narrative - as opposed to one that reports true events.
Fiction
Satire
Prose poem
Dirge
4. A celebration of the simple - rustic life of shepherds and shepherdesses - usually written by a sophisticated - urban writer.
Fable
Pastoral
Drama
Picaresque novel
5. 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.
Bildungsroman
Epic theater
Autobiographical novel
Noir
6. The nonfictional story of a person's life - told by that person.
Autobiography
Parody
Pastoral
Satire
7. A work of fiction of middle length - often divided into a few short chapters - such as Henry James's Daisy Miller.
Tragicomedy
Bildungsroman
Eclogue
Novella
8. 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.
Romance
Fiction
Novella
Primitivist literature
9. A work of didactic literature that aims to influence the reader on a specific social or political issue.
Anecdote
Noir
Propaganda
Memoir
10. 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.
Novel of manners
Epistolary novel
Lyric
Primitivist literature
11. 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.
Soliloquy
Verse novel
Biography
Burlesque
12. Fiction that is set in an alternative reality
Science fiction
Elegy
Satire
Primitivist literature
13. 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).
Novel of ideas
Autobiographical novel
Aphorism
Dystopic literature
14. 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.
Confessional poetry
Novel of ideas
Epistolary novel
Dirge
15. A serious play that ends unhappily for the protagonist.
Picaresque novel
Ode
Historical novel
Tragedy
16. A short poetic composition that describes the thoughts of a single speaker.
Verse novel
Epigram
Lyric
Black comedy
17. 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.
Problem play
Myth
Science fiction
Legend
18. 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.
Prose
Biography
Autobiographical novel
Short story
19. 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.
Aphorism
Fable
Ballad
Soliloquy
20. Any composition not written in verse.
Prose poem
Pastiche
Epistolary novel
Prose
21. A play such as Shakespeare's A Winter's Tale that mixes elements of tragedy and comedy.
Epigram
Prose
Tragicomedy
Black comedy
22. 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.
Tragicomedy
Bildungsroman
Autobiographical novel
Dystopic literature
23. 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.
Science fiction
Legend
Memoir
Novella
24. A short play based on a biblical story.
Dystopic literature
Tragicomedy
Mystery play
Chivalric romance
25. 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.
Parable
Dramatic monologue
Short story
Allegory
26. The nonfictional story of a person's life. James Boswell's Life of Johnson is one of the most celebrated examples.
Epistolary novel
Biography
Didactic literature
Social protest novel
27. A short pastoral poem in the form of a dialogue between two shepherds. Virgil's Eclogues is the most famous example of this genre.
Tragicomedy
Dramatic monologue
Eclogue
Metafiction
28. A ritualized form of Japanese drama that evolved in the 1300s involving masks and slow - stylized movement.
Parody
Noh drama
Aphorism
Comedy
29. An autobiographical poetic genre in which the poet discusses intensely personal subject matter with unusual frankness.
Problem play
Romance
Bildungsroman
Confessional poetry
30. A form of high-energy comedy that plays on confusions and deceptions between characters and features a convoluted and fast-paced plot.
One-act play
Prose
Novella
Farce
31. 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
Legend
Didactic literature
Allegory
Propaganda
32. 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.
Nonfiction
Tragicomedy
Dystopic literature
Dirge
33. The brief narration of a single event or incident.
Confessional poetry
Anecdote
Metafiction
Fiction
34. 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.
Bildungsroman
Tragedy
Epistolary novel
Parable
35. A novel set in an earlier historical period that features a plot shaped by the historical circumstances of that period.
Ballad
Novella
Historical novel
Noh drama
36. A lighthearted play characterized by humor and a happy ending.
Epic
Comedy
Parody
Morality play
37. A humorous and often satirical imitation of the style or particular work of another author.
Parody
Short story
Tragicomedy
Comedy
38. 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.
Satire
Allegory
Tragicomedy
Novel of manners
39. A form of nonfictional discussion or argument that Michel de Montaigne pioneered in the 1500s.
Essay
Allegory
Novel of ideas
Memoir
40. 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
Novel of ideas
Play
Burlesque
Didactic literature
41. A fiction genre - popularized in the 1940s - with a cynical - disillusioned - loner protagonist.
Noir
Prose
Farce
Picaresque novel
42. A fictional prose narrative of significant length.
Novel
Farce
Dirge
Anecdote
43. A short narrative that illustrates a moral by means of allegory.
Parable
Satire
Autobiographical novel
Novel
44. A play written in the fifteenth or sixteenth centuries that presents an allegory of the Christian struggle for salvation.
Elegy
Morality play
Short-short story
Dramatic monologue
45. A nonrealistic story - in verse or prose - that features idealized characters - improbable adventures - and exotic settings.
Tragedy
Romance
Satire
Chivalric romance
46. 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
Parable
Epic
Prose
Mystery play
47. A particularly compressed and truncated short story. They are rarely longer than 1 -000 words.
Ballad
Short-short story
Elegy
Epigram
48. A narrative work that reports true events.
Nonfiction
Science fiction
Burlesque
Novel of manners
49. 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
Dirge
Picaresque novel
Pastiche
Noh drama
50. A succinct - witty statement - often in verse. For example - William Wordsworth's observation 'The child is the father of the man.'
Epigram
Anecdote
Autobiography
Satire