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Test your basic knowledge |
CLEP Common Literary Forms And Genres
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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. A particularly compressed and truncated short story. They are rarely longer than 1 -000 words.
Short-short story
Aphorism
Noir
Biography
2. A form of high-energy comedy that plays on confusions and deceptions between characters and features a convoluted and fast-paced plot.
Dramatic monologue
Farce
Nonfiction
Epic
3. 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
Bildungsroman
Propaganda
Epigram
4. A short poetic composition that describes the thoughts of a single speaker.
Black comedy
Lyric
Novel
Picaresque novel
5. A novel set in an earlier historical period that features a plot shaped by the historical circumstances of that period.
Autobiographical novel
Historical novel
Biography
Chivalric romance
6. A play such as Shakespeare's A Winter's Tale that mixes elements of tragedy and comedy.
Nonfiction
Pastiche
Aphorism
Tragicomedy
7. The brief narration of a single event or incident.
Parody
Fable
Anecdote
Memoir
8. 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
Allegory
Science fiction
Soliloquy
Anecdote
9. A short narrative that illustrates a moral by means of allegory.
Satire
Epistolary novel
Parable
Novel of manners
10. 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
Biography
Legend
Picaresque novel
11. A succinct - witty statement - often in verse. For example - William Wordsworth's observation 'The child is the father of the man.'
Epigram
Black comedy
Bildungsroman
Aphorism
12. 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.
Dystopic literature
Epigram
Epistolary novel
Play
13. 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
Social protest novel
Biography
Epic
Soliloquy
14. A fiction genre - popularized in the 1940s - with a cynical - disillusioned - loner protagonist.
Noir
Metafiction
Parody
Lyric
15. 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
Mystery play
Lyric
Verse novel
16. A form of nonfictional discussion or argument that Michel de Montaigne pioneered in the 1500s.
Essay
Drama
Allegory
Play
17. Fiction that concerns the nature of fiction itself - either by reinterpreting a previous fictional work or by drawing attention to its own fictional status.
Epic theater
Novel of manners
Tragedy
Metafiction
18. A celebration of the simple - rustic life of shepherds and shepherdesses - usually written by a sophisticated - urban writer.
Short story
Miracle play
Epistolary novel
Pastoral
19. 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
Epic
Pastiche
Farce
Fable
20. 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.
Tragicomedy
Bildungsroman
Anecdote
Satire
21. Literature intended to instruct or educate. For example - Virgil's Georgics contains farming advice in verse form.
Primitivist literature
Drama
Didactic literature
Verse novel
22. A lighthearted play characterized by humor and a happy ending.
Confessional poetry
Noir
Fiction
Comedy
23. 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
Burlesque
Miracle play
Primitivist literature
Epic
24. The nonfictional story of a person's life - told by that person.
Soliloquy
Eclogue
Memoir
Autobiography
25. Bertolt Brecht's Marxist approach to theater - which rejects emotional and psychological engagement in favor of critical detachment.
Dirge
Romance
Lyric
Epic theater
26. 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.
Nonfiction
Farce
Play
Dirge
27. Fiction that is set in an alternative reality
Farce
Science fiction
Satire
Novella
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.
Essay
Novel of ideas
Historical novel
Noir
29. A serious play that ends unhappily for the protagonist.
Dystopic literature
Tragedy
Science fiction
Anecdote
30. A romance that describes the adventures of medieval knights and celebrates their strict code of honor - loyalty - and respectful devotion to women.
Fable
Epic theater
Mystery play
Chivalric romance
31. 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.
Dystopic literature
Prose poem
Ode
Soliloquy
32. A play written in the fifteenth or sixteenth centuries that presents an allegory of the Christian struggle for salvation.
Dramatic monologue
Morality play
Primitivist literature
Picaresque novel
33. A narrative work that reports true events.
Nonfiction
Primitivist literature
Novella
Aphorism
34. 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.
Autobiographical novel
Didactic literature
Memoir
Novel of ideas
35. A nonrealistic story - in verse or prose - that features idealized characters - improbable adventures - and exotic settings.
Ode
Memoir
Elegy
Romance
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.
Primitivist literature
Epic
Biography
Metafiction
37. Traditionally - a folk song telling a story or legend in simple language - often with a refrain.
Noir
Pastiche
Didactic literature
Ballad
38. A story about a heroic figure derived from oral tradition and based partly on fact and partly on fiction.
Short-short story
Elegy
Verse novel
Legend
39. 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.
Autobiography
Confessional poetry
Biography
Epistolary novel
40. A serious lyric poem - often of significant length - that usually conforms to an elaborate metrical structure.
Autobiographical novel
Bildungsroman
Ode
Mystery play
41. A short play based on a biblical story.
Mystery play
Essay
Historical novel
Elegy
42. 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.
Dramatic monologue
Black comedy
Parody
Ballad
43. Any composition not written in verse.
Prose
Ode
Noh drama
Propaganda
44. A formal poem that laments the death of a friend or public figure - or - occasionally - a meditation on death itself. In Greek and Latin poetry - the term applies to a specific type of meter (alternating hexameters and pentameters) regardless of cont
Autobiography
Elegy
Noh drama
Novel of ideas
45. A work of fiction of middle length - often divided into a few short chapters - such as Henry James's Daisy Miller.
Novella
Romance
Dramatic monologue
Epigram
46. The nonfictional story of a person's life. James Boswell's Life of Johnson is one of the most celebrated examples.
Mystery play
Farce
Biography
Dramatic monologue
47. 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.
Prose poem
Tragicomedy
Primitivist literature
Black comedy
48. A poetic work that features the strong rhythms of free versebut is presented on the page in the form of prose - without line breaks.
Miracle play
Eclogue
Prose poem
Verse novel
49. A composition that is meant to be performed. The term often is used interchangeably with play.
Parody
Drama
Morality play
Comedy
50. A ritualized form of Japanese drama that evolved in the 1300s involving masks and slow - stylized movement.
Science fiction
Noh drama
Picaresque novel
Tragicomedy