English literature (correct answers)
Alliteration correct answers Repetition of the first letter (consonant) at the beginning of
adjacent words.
Kennings correct answers Metaphorical compound words used as an allusion for a
simpler idea. Ex: "Whale's path" for ocean.
Low Style correct answers Primary style of narration, plain language.
Allegory correct answers A figurative narrative conveying veiled moral meaning. Often
an extended metaphor.
Frame narrative correct answers Inserting one or more small stories within the body of a
longer story. Canterbury Tales.
High style correct answers Presents variety of of forms and syntactic structures.
Dramatic, complex and very descriptive.
High genres correct answers Dream allegory and romance.
Low genres correct answers Fabliau, heroic couplet and Gawain stanza.
Dream allegory correct answers Allegorical presented in a form of a dream. Fantastical
world more acceptable.
Romance correct answers Poetry that deals with chivalry and adventures of knights and
maidens. Conflict between love and loyalty to king.
Fabliau correct answers A short tale in octosyllabic couplets treating human faults and
incidents as funny.
Heroic couplet correct answers AA, BB, CC, DD, EE, FF. A common rhyming scheme
used in epics. Appears in Cantenbury tales. Rhymed in iambic pentameter.
Gawain stanza. correct answers Bob and wheel. Metrical device used in Sir Gawain and
Green Knight, typically occurs in middle of stanza. The bob is a very short line,
sometimes with only two syllables followed by the wheel - longer lines with interval
rhyme.
Main themes in Hamlet correct answers Revenge, conscience, justice, love, death,
acting.
Miracles plays (cycle plays) correct answers Performed to teach about the Bible. Often
started with story of creation and to final judgement.
, York Cycle correct answers Oldest surviving miracle play.
Morality play correct answers Educated audience about the nature of sin. Everyman
and Mankind.
Humanism correct answers Trend that attached importance to human bring and their
affairs and values. Looked up to classicism.
Reformation correct answers Separation of England from Rome, led by Henry VIII.
Established Church Of England.
Pastoral tradition correct answers Literature that presents society of shepherds as free
from the complexity and corruption of city life. Ex: As You Like It.
Christina influence in Beowulf correct answers Scop sings story of creation, Grendel is
said to be a descendant of Cain and Beowulf's sword had inscriptions from the Old
Testament.
Renaissance correct answers "Rebirth" (late 14th to mid-17th century) An era which
emphasises education, art and critical thinking.
Elizabethan theater correct answers Open air, performance held during the day.
Controlled by Master of the Revels. "The Globe Theater" used by William Shakespeare.
Closed for plague, indecency, mocking the queen or religion.
Tragedy correct answers A serious form of drama dealing with the downfall of a heroic
or noble character. Ex: Hamlet
Tragedy of character correct answers The downfall of the tragic hero is because of his
tragic flaw. Hamlet: Hesitation, inability to act.
Revenge Tragedy correct answers Consist of a murder that has to be avenged by a
relative of the victim. The victim's ghost appears to demand revenge, and invariably
madness of some sort is worked into subsequent events, which ultimately end in the
deaths of the murderer, the avenger, and a number of other characters.
Play-within-a play correct answers A play performed as part of the story for dramatic
purposes. Breaks theatrical illusion. In Hamlet actors perform "Murder of Gonzago".
Comedy correct answers Uplifting story consisting of young lovers, mistaken identities,
complex plot, marriage and world play.
Comic relief correct answers Aimed to relieve tension of a tragedy. Rosencratz and
Guilderstern discuss if Ophelia will go to heaven or hell since she committed suicide.
Low plot correct answers A plot subordinate to the main plot of a literary work.
Alliteration correct answers Repetition of the first letter (consonant) at the beginning of
adjacent words.
Kennings correct answers Metaphorical compound words used as an allusion for a
simpler idea. Ex: "Whale's path" for ocean.
Low Style correct answers Primary style of narration, plain language.
Allegory correct answers A figurative narrative conveying veiled moral meaning. Often
an extended metaphor.
Frame narrative correct answers Inserting one or more small stories within the body of a
longer story. Canterbury Tales.
High style correct answers Presents variety of of forms and syntactic structures.
Dramatic, complex and very descriptive.
High genres correct answers Dream allegory and romance.
Low genres correct answers Fabliau, heroic couplet and Gawain stanza.
Dream allegory correct answers Allegorical presented in a form of a dream. Fantastical
world more acceptable.
Romance correct answers Poetry that deals with chivalry and adventures of knights and
maidens. Conflict between love and loyalty to king.
Fabliau correct answers A short tale in octosyllabic couplets treating human faults and
incidents as funny.
Heroic couplet correct answers AA, BB, CC, DD, EE, FF. A common rhyming scheme
used in epics. Appears in Cantenbury tales. Rhymed in iambic pentameter.
Gawain stanza. correct answers Bob and wheel. Metrical device used in Sir Gawain and
Green Knight, typically occurs in middle of stanza. The bob is a very short line,
sometimes with only two syllables followed by the wheel - longer lines with interval
rhyme.
Main themes in Hamlet correct answers Revenge, conscience, justice, love, death,
acting.
Miracles plays (cycle plays) correct answers Performed to teach about the Bible. Often
started with story of creation and to final judgement.
, York Cycle correct answers Oldest surviving miracle play.
Morality play correct answers Educated audience about the nature of sin. Everyman
and Mankind.
Humanism correct answers Trend that attached importance to human bring and their
affairs and values. Looked up to classicism.
Reformation correct answers Separation of England from Rome, led by Henry VIII.
Established Church Of England.
Pastoral tradition correct answers Literature that presents society of shepherds as free
from the complexity and corruption of city life. Ex: As You Like It.
Christina influence in Beowulf correct answers Scop sings story of creation, Grendel is
said to be a descendant of Cain and Beowulf's sword had inscriptions from the Old
Testament.
Renaissance correct answers "Rebirth" (late 14th to mid-17th century) An era which
emphasises education, art and critical thinking.
Elizabethan theater correct answers Open air, performance held during the day.
Controlled by Master of the Revels. "The Globe Theater" used by William Shakespeare.
Closed for plague, indecency, mocking the queen or religion.
Tragedy correct answers A serious form of drama dealing with the downfall of a heroic
or noble character. Ex: Hamlet
Tragedy of character correct answers The downfall of the tragic hero is because of his
tragic flaw. Hamlet: Hesitation, inability to act.
Revenge Tragedy correct answers Consist of a murder that has to be avenged by a
relative of the victim. The victim's ghost appears to demand revenge, and invariably
madness of some sort is worked into subsequent events, which ultimately end in the
deaths of the murderer, the avenger, and a number of other characters.
Play-within-a play correct answers A play performed as part of the story for dramatic
purposes. Breaks theatrical illusion. In Hamlet actors perform "Murder of Gonzago".
Comedy correct answers Uplifting story consisting of young lovers, mistaken identities,
complex plot, marriage and world play.
Comic relief correct answers Aimed to relieve tension of a tragedy. Rosencratz and
Guilderstern discuss if Ophelia will go to heaven or hell since she committed suicide.
Low plot correct answers A plot subordinate to the main plot of a literary work.
