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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 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).






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






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






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






5. 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.






6. A fictional prose narrative of significant length.






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






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






9. 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.






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.






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






12. 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






13. 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.






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






15. 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.






16. 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.






17. 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.






18. 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






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






20. 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






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






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






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






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






25. 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.






26. A form of high-energy comedy that plays on confusions and deceptions between characters and features a convoluted and fast-paced plot.






27. 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






28. 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.






29. 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.






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






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






32. 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.






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






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






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






36. 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.






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






38. Fiction that is set in an alternative reality






39. Any composition not written in verse.






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






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






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






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






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






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






46. 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.






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






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






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






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