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






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






3. 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.






4. 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.






5. 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.






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






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






8. A short play based on a biblical story.






9. 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.






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






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






12. 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.






13. 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.






14. 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.






15. 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






16. 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.






17. 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






18. 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.






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






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






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






22. 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.






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






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






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 short narrative that illustrates a moral by means of allegory.






27. 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.






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






29. A fictional prose narrative of significant length.






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






31. 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).






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






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






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






35. 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.






36. 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.






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






38. 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.






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






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






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






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






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






44. A narrative work that reports true events.






45. 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






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






47. 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






48. Any composition not written in verse.






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






50. 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.