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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. Fiction that is set in an alternative reality






2. 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






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






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






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






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






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






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






9. 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






10. Any composition not written in verse.






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






12. A narrative work that reports true events.






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






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.






15. 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.






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






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






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






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






20. A fictional prose narrative of significant length.






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






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






23. 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.






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






25. 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






26. 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.






27. 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.






28. 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.






29. 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.






30. 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.






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






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






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






34. 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.






35. 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).






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






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






38. 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






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






40. A short play based on a biblical story.






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






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.






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






44. 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.






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






46. 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.






47. 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






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






49. 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.






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