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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 novel that tells a nonfictional - autobiographical story but uses novelistic techniques - such as fictionalized dialogue or anecdotes - to add color - immediacy - or thematic unity.






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






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






4. 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.






5. A short play based on a biblical story.






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






7. 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






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.






9. 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.






10. 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.






11. 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






12. A fiction genre - popularized in the 1940s - with a cynical - disillusioned - loner protagonist.






13. 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






14. A fictional prose narrative of significant length.






15. 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).






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






17. 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.






18. A work of prose fiction that is much shorter than a novel (rarely more than forty pages) and focused more tightly on a single event.






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






20. 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.






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






22. 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.






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






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






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






26. 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.






27. 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






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






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






30. 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






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






32. 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.






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






34. A particularly compressed and truncated short story. They are rarely longer than 1 -000 words.






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






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






37. An invented narrative - as opposed to one that reports true events.






38. 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.






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






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






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






42. 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.






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






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






45. A work of fiction of middle length - often divided into a few short chapters - such as Henry James's Daisy Miller.






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






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






48. 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.






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






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