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






2. 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.






3. 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.






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






5. Any composition not written in verse.






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






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






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






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






10. 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






11. 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.






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






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






14. 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.






15. A narrative work that reports true events.






16. 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.






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






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






19. 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.






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






21. 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.






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






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






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






25. 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.






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






35. 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.






36. 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






37. 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.






38. 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






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






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






41. 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.






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






43. 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.






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






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






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






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






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






49. 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






50. 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.