Test your basic knowledge |

CSET Literature - 2

Subjects : cset, literature
Instructions:
  • Answer 50 questions in 15 minutes.
  • If you are not ready to take this test, you can study here.
  • Match each statement with the correct term.
  • Don't refresh. All questions and answers are randomly picked and ordered every time you load a test.

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 reasoning in which two statements are made and a conclusion is drawn from them. - Begins with a major premise ('All tragedies end unhappily') followed by a minor premise ('Hamlet is a tragedy') and a conclusion ('Therefore - Hamlet ends unh






2. A combination of opposites; the union of contradictory terms. (Romeo's line 'feather of lead - bright smoke - cold fire - sick health' contains four examples of the device.)






3. Type of folk tale - Narratives that often include creation stories and explain tribal beginnings - May incorporate supernatural beings or quasi - historical figures (e.g. King Arthur - Lady Godiva) - Told and retold as if they are based on facts; alw






4. Be able to see the point of the poem - Define what the poem says and why. i.e. A love poem usually praises the loved one in the hope that the speaker's love will be returned.






5. A question asked for effect - not in expectation of a reply. No reply is expected because the question presupposes only one possible answer.






6. The vantage point of a story in which the narrator can know - see - and report whatever he or she chooses. The narrator is free to describe the thoughts of any of the characters - to skip about in time or place - or to speak directly to the reader.






7. The images of a literary work; the sensory details of a work; the figurative language of a work. Imagery has several definitions - but the two that are paramount are the visual - auditory - or tactile images evoked by the words of a literary work and






8. The ordinary form of spoken or written language - without metrical structure - as distinguished from poetry or verse






9. A play with a serious content and an unhappy ending. (Shakespeare's Hamlet - Miller's Death of a Salesman.)






10. Word choice; any word/detail that is important to the meaning and effect of the writing.






11. Hero/heroine - One of the main characters of a literary work - Usually in conflict with the antagonist (villain)






12. Understand the meaning of all the words in the poem - especially words you think you know but which don't seem to fit in the context of the poem. - Understand the grammar of the poem. - Beware of skewed word order (i.e. a direct object before the sub






13. A technique that uses clues to suggest events that have not yet occurred - Often used to create suspense and thus make a story more interesting






14. Usually concrete objects or images that represent abstract ideas; something that is simultaneously itself and a sign of something else. For example - winter - darkness - and cold are real things - but in literature they are also likely to be used as






15. A reference in a work of literature to something outside the work - especially to a well - known historical or literary event - person - or work. (In Hamlet - when Horatio says - 'ere the mightiest Julius fell -' the allusion is to the death of Juliu






16. A story in which people - things - and events have another meaning. (Orwell's Animal Farm) - Explaining meaning other than the words that are spoken - Conveys meaning through use of symbolic figures - actions - and symbolic representation - Extended






17. The events that follow from the protagonist's action in the climax.






18. Encompasses works written in verse - perhaps with a meter and rhyme scheme - and uses written language in a pattern that is sung - chanted - or spoken to emphasize the relationships between words and ideas on the basis of sound as well as meaning. Th






19. A speaker's authors - or character's disposition toward or opinion of a subject. (Hamlet's attitude toward Gertrude is a mixture of affection and revulsion - changing from one to the other within a single scene.)






20. Narrative - dramatic - lyric






21. The images - sensory details - and figurative language of a literary work; words or phrases that appeal to the senses. The visual - auditory - or tactile images evoked by the words of a literary work and the images that figurative language evokes.'Th






22. Evoke events of a time long past - Generally concern the adventures and misadventures of gods - giants - heroes - nymphs - satyrs - and larger - than - life villains - all entities that reside outside of ordinary human existence yet are entwined in o






23. A figurative use of language that endows nonhumans (ideas - inanimate objects - animals - abstractions) with human characteristics. 'The angry sea crashed against the wall.'






24. A comparison of similar traits between dissimilar things in order to highlight a point of similarity. 'We scored a touchdown on the educational assistance plan.'






25. Sometimes Shakespeare added an extra unstressed beat at the end of a line to emphasize a character's sense of contemplation (___________) - To BE - / or NOT / to BE: / that IS / the QUES- / - tion






26. Deliberate exaggeration - overstatement. As a rule - hyperbole is self - conscious - w/o intention of being accepted literally. 'The strongest man in the world' and 'a diamond as big as the Ritz' are hyperbolic.






27. A speech in which a character who is alone speaks his or her thoughts aloud (Hamlet's 'To be - or not to be' and 'O! What a rogue and peasant slave am I') - A monologue also has a single speaker - but the monologuist speaks to others who do not inter






28. Fairy tales - legends of all types - animal folk tales - fables - tall tales - and humorous anecdotes






29. A figurative use of language in which a comparison is expressed without the use of a comparative term like as - like - or than. Ex: 'The black bat night.'






30. The point of highest interest in a novel - short story - or play in terms of the conflict - the point with the most action - or the turning point for the protagonist.






31. An accurate history of a single person.






32. Type of folk tale - Presented as entirely fictional pieces - Often begin with a formulaic opening line - such as 'Once upon a time...' or 'In a certain country there once lived...' - Recurring plots: supernatural adventures and mishaps of youngest da






33. A directly expressed comparison; a figure of speech comparing two objects usually with 'like -' 'as -' or 'than.' It is easier to recognize than a metaphor because the comparison is explicit. 'My love is like a fever.'






34. Not figurative; accurate to the letter; matter of fact or concrete.






35. The mode of expression in a language; the characteristic manner of expression of an author. - Elements/techniques include diction - syntax - figurative language - imagery - selection of detail - sound effects - and tone.






36. Shorter novels are called ___________






37. A figure of speech in which intent and actual meaning differ - characteristically praise for blame and blame for praise; the use of words to suggest the opposite of their intended meaning. A pattern of words that turns away from direct statement of i






38. The interrelated actions of a play or a novel that move to a climax and a final resolution.






39. Can mean the mood or atmosphere of a work or a manner of speaking - but its most common use as a term of literary analysis is to denote the inferred attitude of an author - Author's attitude may be different from that of the speaker (usually the case






40. Prose narratives that follow traditional storylines that arise from oral traditions in histories - As old as language - Adapt from culture to culture - Original author is never known - Arise through the process of recombining traditional elements (mo






41. Writing that seeks to arouse a reader's disapproval of an object by ridicule.- Usually comedy that exposes errors with an eye to correcting vice and folly.- Social criticism using wit. (Examples can be found in the novels of Charles Dickens - Mark Tw






42. WHO is the speaker? Or who are the speakers? Male or female? WHERE is s/he? - WHEN does this poem take place? - WHAT are the circumstances?






43. Any of several possible vantage points from which a story is told - May be omniscient - limited to that of a single character - or limited to that of several characters - as well as other possibilities. - The teller may use the first person and/or th






44. A folk poem that tells a story - uses simple language - and originally was written to be sung.






45. The repetition of usually initial consonant sounds in two or more words or syllables.






46. The dictionary meaning of a word - as opposed to connotation.






47. The implications of a word or phrase - as opposed to its exact meaning (denotation).






48. Songlike; characterized by emotion - subjectivity - and imagination.






49. A statement that seems to be self - contradicting but - in fact - is true. (The figure in a Donne sonnet that concludes 'I shall never be chaste except you ravish me' is a good example of the device.)






50. The background to a story; the physical location of a story - play - or novel. - The setting of a narrative will normally involve both time and place.






Can you answer 50 questions in 15 minutes?



Let me suggest you:



Major Subjects



Tests & Exams


AP
CLEP
DSST
GRE
SAT
GMAT

Most popular tests