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. 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






2. 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.






3. 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.)






4. 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






5. An allegorical story designed to suggest a principle - illustrate a moral - or answer a question.






6. Look for: - Important literal sensory objects and images? - The similes and metaphors of the poem. In each - exactly what is being compared to what? - A pattern in the images - such as a series of comparisons - Also be able to discriminate between th






7. 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.)






8. Exposition - Rising action - Climax - Falling action - Denoument/resolution






9. Writing that uses figures of speech (as opposed to literal language or that which is actual or specifically denoted) - such as metaphors - similes - and irony. Figurative Language uses words to mean something other than their literal meaning. 'The bl






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






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






12. 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.)






13. A figurative use of language that endows nonhumans (ideas - inanimate objects - animals - abstractions) with human characteristics.






14. 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






15. Normally the point of highest interest in a novel - short story - or play. As a technical term of dramatic composition - the climax is the place where the action reaches a turning point - where the rising action (the complication of the plot) ends -






16. 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






17. 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






18. 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






19. Condensed story ranging in length from 2000-10000 words - most often with a singular/limited purpose - Made up of elements such as plot - character - setting - point of view - and theme - Often based on common dramatic structure






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






21. 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






22. An accurate history of a single person.






23. A composition that imitates the style of another composition - normally for comic effect.






24. Deliberate exaggeration for effect; overstatement.Self - conscious - without the intention of being accepted literally.'The whole world's problems are on my shoulders.'






25. An author's account of his or her own life.






26. 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






27. 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






28. The devices used in effective or persuasive language - Most common examples include contrast - repetitions - paradox - understatement - sarcasm - and rhetorical question.






29. 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






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






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






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






33. 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.






34. A fictional narrative in prose of considerable length - Styles include picaresque - epistolary - gothic - romantic - realist - and historical ren have mastered the mechanics of reading - between ages 9 and 12 - they are prepared to sustain the more d






35. 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.'






36. 10 syllables in each line -5 pairs of alternating unstressed and stressed syllables - The rhythm in each line sounds like: ba - BUM / ba - BUM / ba - BUM / ba - BUM / ba - BUM - Used (though not invented) by Shakespeare






37. A technique in which the narrative moves to a time prior to that of the main story - Can make a story more interesting by giving it depth






38. 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






39. Shorter novels are called ___________






40. A device of style or subject matter so often used that it becomes a recognized means of expression.(A lover observing the literary love conventions cannot eat or sleep and grows pale and lean.)






41. The manner in which an author expresses his or her attitude; the intonation of the voice that expresses meaning. - Described by adjectives - May change from chapter to chapter or even line to line - May be the result of allusion - diction - figurativ






42. 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.'






43. A fictional narrative in prose of considerable length. Shorter works are called novellas - and even shorter ones are called short stories.






44. The main thought expressed by a work.






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






46. A literary form - such as an essay - novel - of poem - Within genres like the poem - there are also more specific genres based upon content (love poem - nature poem) or form (sonnet - ode).






47. What is the dramatic situation? What is the structure of the poem? What is the theme of the poem? Is the meaning clear? What is the tone of the poem? What are the important images and figures of speech?






48. Poetry that is not rhymed and does not have a regular metrical pattern but is still more rhythmic than most prose.






49. The arrangement of materials within a work; the relationship of the parts of a work to the whole; the logical divisions of a work. - The most common principles are series (A - B - C - D - E) - contrast (A vs. B - C vs. D - E vs. A) and repetition (AA






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