English Literature CLEP
heroic couple - (correct Answer) - a rhyming pair of iambic-pentameter lines, first used extensively in
English by Chaucer and later developed as a syntactically complete unit, esp. by Dryden and Pope (Ex.:
"In every work regard the writer's end, Since none can compass more than they intend")
terza rima -(tert′sə rē′mə) - (correct Answer) - a verse form of Italian origin, made up of tercets, the
second line of each tercet rhyming with the first and third lines of the next one (aba, bcb, cdc, etc.)
blank verse - (correct Answer) - unrhymed verse; esp., unrhymed verse having five iambic feet per line,
as in Elizabethan drama
Iambic pentameter - (correct Answer) - The most common meter in English verse. It consists of a line ten
syllables long that is accented on every second beat (see blank verse). These lines in iambic pentameter
are from The Merchant of Venice, by William Shakespeare:Ĭn sóoth,/Ĭ knów/nŏt whý/Ĭ ám/sŏ sád.Ĭt
wéa/riĕs mé;/yŏu sáy/ĭt wéa/riĕs yóu
Villanelle - (correct Answer) - a poem of fixed form, French in origin, consisting usually of five three-line
stanzas and a final four-line stanza and having only two rhymes throughout
Dramatic Monologue - (correct Answer) - A literary, usually verse composition in which a speaker reveals
his or her character, often in relation to a critical situation or event, in a monologue addressed to the
reader or to a presumed listener.
Simile - (correct Answer) - a figure of speech in which one thing is likened to another, dissimilar thing by
the use of like, as, etc. (Ex.: a heart as big as a whale, her tears flowed like wine)
Epic Simile - (correct Answer) - An extended simile elaborated in great detail. Also called Homeric simile
Irony - (correct Answer) - a method of humorous or subtly sarcastic expression in which the intended
meaning of the words is the direct opposite of their usual sense: the irony of calling a stupid plan
"clever"
Dramatic Irony - (correct Answer) - the contrast, as in a play, between what a character thinks the truth
is, as revealed in a speech or action, and what an audience or reader knows the truth
Harangue - (correct Answer) - a long, blustering, noisy, or scolding speech; tirade
ro•man à clef (rō′män nä klā′) - (correct Answer) - a novel in which real persons appear under fictitious
names
Picaresque - (correct Answer) - designating or characteristic of a kind of fiction that originated in Spain
and deals episodically with the adventures of a hero who is or resembles such a vagabond or rogue
Epistolary Novels - (correct Answer) - written in the form of a series of letters exchanged by the
characters, as certain novels of the 18th cent.
, Vignette - (correct Answer) - a short, carefully constructed scene in a film, play, etc.; specif., one regarded
as subtle, sensitive, etc
Serialized Novels - (correct Answer) - to put or publish. Published novel
Metaphor - (correct Answer) - A figure of speech in which an implicit comparison is made between two
unlike things that actually have something in common Ex: Her home was a prison.
Hyperbole - (correct Answer) - is a figure of speech that uses an exaggerated or extravagant statement to
create a strong emotional response. As a figure of speech it is not intended to be taken literally.
Hyperbole is frequently used for humour. Examples of hyperbole are: They ran like greased lightning
Rhyming Couplet - (correct Answer) - A couplet is a pair of lines of verse. It usually consists of two lines
that rhyme and have the same meter. While traditionally couplets rhyme, not all do
Abstraction - (correct Answer) - anything that isn't tangible. In literature, it can be opposed to imagery,
the representation of tangible things
Aestheticism - (correct Answer) - a movement that took place near the end of the nineteenth century
that aimed to free art from conventional Victorian morality
Allegory - (correct Answer) - an extended metaphor used in a drama or narrative
Alliteration - (correct Answer) - the repetition of consonant sounds close to each other
Anacoluthon - (correct Answer) - a sentence that changes its grammatical structure in the middle, often
suggest disturbance or excitement. For example: "we had almost reached the finished line and then the
race had to have been fixed from the beginning"
Anadiplosis - (correct Answer) - repetition at the start of a sentence of the concluding word or phrase in
the previous sentence. For example: "There's only so much exercise you can get on a plane. A air plane is
not the greatest place to work out"
Antistrophe - (correct Answer) - one of three sections of the Greek dramatic chorus and the Pindaric ode,
along with the strophe and epode. These forms may be repeated in sequence within a single ode.
Aporia - (correct Answer) - a term used in deconstruction, absence of meaning and multiplicity of
possible meaning within a text
Assonance - (correct Answer) - the repetition of vowel sounds close to each other
Aubade - (correct Answer) - a lyric from stemming from the Middle Ages that treats the subject of two
lovers waking up together. It may deal with the joy of being together or with the sorrow of having to
part.
Bidungsroman - (correct Answer) - a novel that traces the development of a young person from
childhood or adolescence to maturity. It is often written in the form of an autobiography
Canon - (correct Answer) - an unofficial grouping of works by authors whose importance has become
generally recognized by literature scholars.
heroic couple - (correct Answer) - a rhyming pair of iambic-pentameter lines, first used extensively in
English by Chaucer and later developed as a syntactically complete unit, esp. by Dryden and Pope (Ex.:
"In every work regard the writer's end, Since none can compass more than they intend")
terza rima -(tert′sə rē′mə) - (correct Answer) - a verse form of Italian origin, made up of tercets, the
second line of each tercet rhyming with the first and third lines of the next one (aba, bcb, cdc, etc.)
blank verse - (correct Answer) - unrhymed verse; esp., unrhymed verse having five iambic feet per line,
as in Elizabethan drama
Iambic pentameter - (correct Answer) - The most common meter in English verse. It consists of a line ten
syllables long that is accented on every second beat (see blank verse). These lines in iambic pentameter
are from The Merchant of Venice, by William Shakespeare:Ĭn sóoth,/Ĭ knów/nŏt whý/Ĭ ám/sŏ sád.Ĭt
wéa/riĕs mé;/yŏu sáy/ĭt wéa/riĕs yóu
Villanelle - (correct Answer) - a poem of fixed form, French in origin, consisting usually of five three-line
stanzas and a final four-line stanza and having only two rhymes throughout
Dramatic Monologue - (correct Answer) - A literary, usually verse composition in which a speaker reveals
his or her character, often in relation to a critical situation or event, in a monologue addressed to the
reader or to a presumed listener.
Simile - (correct Answer) - a figure of speech in which one thing is likened to another, dissimilar thing by
the use of like, as, etc. (Ex.: a heart as big as a whale, her tears flowed like wine)
Epic Simile - (correct Answer) - An extended simile elaborated in great detail. Also called Homeric simile
Irony - (correct Answer) - a method of humorous or subtly sarcastic expression in which the intended
meaning of the words is the direct opposite of their usual sense: the irony of calling a stupid plan
"clever"
Dramatic Irony - (correct Answer) - the contrast, as in a play, between what a character thinks the truth
is, as revealed in a speech or action, and what an audience or reader knows the truth
Harangue - (correct Answer) - a long, blustering, noisy, or scolding speech; tirade
ro•man à clef (rō′män nä klā′) - (correct Answer) - a novel in which real persons appear under fictitious
names
Picaresque - (correct Answer) - designating or characteristic of a kind of fiction that originated in Spain
and deals episodically with the adventures of a hero who is or resembles such a vagabond or rogue
Epistolary Novels - (correct Answer) - written in the form of a series of letters exchanged by the
characters, as certain novels of the 18th cent.
, Vignette - (correct Answer) - a short, carefully constructed scene in a film, play, etc.; specif., one regarded
as subtle, sensitive, etc
Serialized Novels - (correct Answer) - to put or publish. Published novel
Metaphor - (correct Answer) - A figure of speech in which an implicit comparison is made between two
unlike things that actually have something in common Ex: Her home was a prison.
Hyperbole - (correct Answer) - is a figure of speech that uses an exaggerated or extravagant statement to
create a strong emotional response. As a figure of speech it is not intended to be taken literally.
Hyperbole is frequently used for humour. Examples of hyperbole are: They ran like greased lightning
Rhyming Couplet - (correct Answer) - A couplet is a pair of lines of verse. It usually consists of two lines
that rhyme and have the same meter. While traditionally couplets rhyme, not all do
Abstraction - (correct Answer) - anything that isn't tangible. In literature, it can be opposed to imagery,
the representation of tangible things
Aestheticism - (correct Answer) - a movement that took place near the end of the nineteenth century
that aimed to free art from conventional Victorian morality
Allegory - (correct Answer) - an extended metaphor used in a drama or narrative
Alliteration - (correct Answer) - the repetition of consonant sounds close to each other
Anacoluthon - (correct Answer) - a sentence that changes its grammatical structure in the middle, often
suggest disturbance or excitement. For example: "we had almost reached the finished line and then the
race had to have been fixed from the beginning"
Anadiplosis - (correct Answer) - repetition at the start of a sentence of the concluding word or phrase in
the previous sentence. For example: "There's only so much exercise you can get on a plane. A air plane is
not the greatest place to work out"
Antistrophe - (correct Answer) - one of three sections of the Greek dramatic chorus and the Pindaric ode,
along with the strophe and epode. These forms may be repeated in sequence within a single ode.
Aporia - (correct Answer) - a term used in deconstruction, absence of meaning and multiplicity of
possible meaning within a text
Assonance - (correct Answer) - the repetition of vowel sounds close to each other
Aubade - (correct Answer) - a lyric from stemming from the Middle Ages that treats the subject of two
lovers waking up together. It may deal with the joy of being together or with the sorrow of having to
part.
Bidungsroman - (correct Answer) - a novel that traces the development of a young person from
childhood or adolescence to maturity. It is often written in the form of an autobiography
Canon - (correct Answer) - an unofficial grouping of works by authors whose importance has become
generally recognized by literature scholars.
