ELA Content Exam

Question 1

Literary Form Drama: Comedies

Answer 1

Written to show people in their human state, restrained and made ridiculous by their limitations and animal nature.

Question 2

Literary Form Drama:

Tragedies

Answer 2

To death or destruction of a fictional or historical hero typifies this dramatic form.

Question 3

Literary Form: Fiction

Short stories

Answer 3

Written as a narrative, this form is often more focused than other forms of fiction, like the novel.

Question 4

Fiction:

Novels

Answer 4

A long form of fiction whose origin whose origins stem from medieval romances.

Question 5

Fiction:

Novellas

Answer 5

A form of fiction that is shorter than a novel but longer than vignette. Novellas are sometimes serialized as exemplified by The Arabian Nights.

Question 6

Fiction:

Vignettes

Answer 6

A form of fiction that creates an impressionistic scene that focuses on one moment or gives an impression about a setting, idea, or character.

Question 7

Nonfiction:

Biography

Answer 7

An account of an individual’s life.

Question 8

Nonfiction: Autobiography

Answer 8

A first-person account of the author’s life.

Question 9

Journal/Diary

Answer 9

First-person account of events in an author’s daily life as they occur, often including personal introspection and thoughtful commentary.

Question 10

Rhetorical Devices and Techniques - Analogy

Answer 10

A comparison that reveals relationships that creates understanding for the reader.

Question 11

Rhetorical Devices and Techniques - Euphemism

Answer 11

A substitution with an agreeable or less offensive expression in place of one that may offend.

Question 12

Rhetorical Devices and Techniques - Rhetorical Questions

Answer 12

A figure of speech in the form of a question that is posed for its persuasive effect without the expectation of a reply. Rhetorical questions encourage the listener to think about what the obvious answer might be. This device is used for the writer for assertion or denial.

Question 13

Rhetorical Devices and Techniques - Oxymoron

Answer 13

The pairing of words that have opposite or contradictory meaning, such as “wise fool” or “brave fear.”

Question 14

Literary Devices and Techniques - Symbolism

Answer 14

A powerful literary technique where the writer integrates symbols to create deeper understanding and meaning. A symbol is a person, place, object or activity that stands for something beyond itself.

Question 15

Literary Devices and Techniques - Suspense

Answer 15

The tension or excitement readers feel as they are drawn into a story or become increasingly eager to learn the outcome of the plot.

Question 16

Literary Devices and Techniques - Foreshadowing

Answer 16

A literary technique that offers clues to the readers about upcoming events.

Question 17

Literary Devices and Techniques - Imagery

Answer 17

The words and phrases that create vivid sensory experiences for the reader.

Question 18

Literary Devices and Techniques - Paradox

Answer 18

A statement or figure of speech that seems to contradict itself but in fact, reveals some element of truth.

Question 19

Literary Devices and Techniques - Soliloquy

Answer 19

Used in drama, this literary device allows a character to reveal thoughts and feeling without directly addressing other characters.

Question 20

Types of moods

Answer 20

Types of mood include anxious, comic, festive, mournful, ominous, and romantic moods.

Question 21

First Person

Answer 21

The narration is told by one character and uses first person pronouns like “I” and “me”.

Question 22

Third Person Limited

Answer 22

The reader experiences the narration through the senses and thoughts of one character and the use of third person pronouns (“he”, “she”, or “it”).

Question 23

Third Person Omniscient

Answer 23

The reader experiences a narrator who is all knowing and is privy to the thoughts and actions of all the characters in the story.

Question 24

Tone

Answer 24

An expression of a writer’s attitude toward a subject.

Question 25

Mood

Answer 25

The atmosphere that the writer creates for the reader.

Question 26

Voice

Answer 26

The particular style of an individual author. The combination of a writer’s word choice, tone and voice across several works.

Question 27

Narrative Structure - Exposition

Answer 27

Establishes the setting or atmosphere.

Question 28

Narrative Structure - Complication

Answer 28

Onset of major conflict.

Question 29

Narrative Structure - Rising Action

Answer 29

Events that lead to the climax.

Question 30

Narrative Structure - Crisis

Answer 30

Point of greatest tension.

Question 31

Narrative Structure - Climax

Answer 31

The turning point of the story.

Question 32

Narrative Structure - Resolution/Denouement

Answer 32

The “untying” of events.

Question 33

Internal Conflict

Answer 33

Character vs Self

Question 34

External Conflict

Answer 34

Character vs character, vs society, vs nature, vs fate

Question 35

Elements of Plot

Answer 35

Author use flashbacks, foreshadowing, and suspense-as well as subplots and parallel plots-to vary the structure and tempo of a narrative.

Question 36

Elements of setting

Answer 36

The setting includes the time and place that is set for a narrative text. Setting can also include the social and moral environment that contributes to the background. Setting is one of the main elements of literature and plays an important role in what happens in the narrative and why.

Question 37

Elements of characterization

Answer 37

Characters are the people who participate in the action of a literary work. The most important ones are the main characters and the less prominent are known as minor characters. Characters are developed through description, their actions, and commentary provided by other characters. Characters are often round or flat. Round characters are multidimensional that often undergo a change during the course of the narrative. They are also referred to as dynamic characters. Paul from D.H Lawrence’s story, The Rocking Horse Winner is a dynamic character. During the story, Paul becomes increasingly absorbed by his obsession to obtain money for his mother. In contrast, flat characters, also referred to as static characters, lack dimension and are largely unchanged in a narration. In the same story, Uncle Oscar is a flat or static character since he observes and responds to Paul’s actions but does not change.

Question 38

Broad Universal Themes

Answer 38

Such as alienation, solitude, courage, friendship, love, cruelty, injustice, freedom, and hope.

Question 39

Poetic Forms - Epic

Answer 39

Long narrative poem, Heroes are presented and heroic deeds evidenced. Heroics deed are significant to a given culture.

Examples: Odyssey, Iliad, Beowulf, Epic of Gilgamesh, El Cid

Question 40

Poetic Forms - Ode

Answer 40

• Lyrical verse
• A classical ode structured in three major parts: the strophe, the antistrophe, and the epode
• English odes are usually tributes to something or someone who caught the poet’s attention.

Examples: Ode to the West Wind (Shelley), Ode one a Grecian Urn (Keats)

Question 41

Poetic Forms - Ballad

Answer 41

• Narrative Poetry
• Usually set to music, tells about a “big event”
• Describes actions; may include dialogue
• Form is particularly popular in British and Irish poetry.
• Form grew during the medieval period.

Examples: Rime of the Ancient Mariner (Coleridge), Barrack Room Ballads (Kipling)

Question 42

Poetic Forms - Villanelle

Answer 42

• French verse form
• Modeled after lyrical form used by medieval troubadours
• Fixed form: 19 lines long, consisting of 5 tercets and 1 concluding quatrain

Examples: Do No Go Gentle into Thant Good Night (Dylan Thomas)

Question 43

Poetic Forms - Haiku

Answer 43

• Japanese poetic form
• Consists of five unrhymed line
• The syllable count for each line is 5, 7, 5.

Question 44

Poetic Forms - Tanka

Answer 44

• Japanese poetic form
• Consists of five unrhymed lines
• The syllabic count for each line is 5-7-5-7-7.

Question 45

Poetic Forms - Petrarchan Sonnet

Answer 45

• Also referred to as an Italian sonnet
• First developed by Francesco Petrarch
• The 14-line poem is often dedicated to a lady or unrequited love. The poem is divided into an octave (8 lines) and a sestet (6 lines).
• The octave usually poses a problem or question, and the sestet often provides a solution or answer.
• The transition between the octave and the sestet is referred to as the “volta” or turn.

Sir Thomas Wyatt

Question 46

Poetic Forms - Shakespearean Sonnet

Answer 46

• English poetic form attributed to William Shakespeare
• Consists of three 4-line stanzas (quatrains) and one concluding couplet - often a commentary on the preceding quatrains and an epigrammatic close.
• Themes include love, time, beauty, and mortality.

Shakespeare wrote 154 sonnets.

Question 47

Poetic Forms - Elegy

Answer 47

• Sustained and formal poem setting forth the poet’s meditations upon death or another solemn theme, often occasioned by the dead of a particular person

Examples: William Cullen - Bryant’s Thanatopsis (1817) and Percy Bysshe Shelley - Adonais (1821)

Question 48

Poetic Devices - Imagery

Answer 48

• Descriptive language that evokes a sensory experience.

Question 49

Poetic Devices -Symbolism

Answer 49

• Use of a person, object, event, action, or image to represent an idea.

Question 50

Poetic Devices - Allusion

Answer 50

• A figure of speech that makes use of a reference to an historical or literary figure, event, or object.

Question 51

Poetic Devices - Paradox

Answer 51

• A statement, while while seemingly contradictory or absurd, may actually be well founded or true.

Question 52

Poetic Devices - Irony

Answer 52

• A feeling, tone, mood or attitude arising from an awareness that what is (reality) is opposite from, and usually worse than, what seem (appearance). The most common forms of irony include dramatic irony, verbal irony, and situational irony.

Question 53

Poetic Devices - Dramatic Irony

Answer 53

The discrepancy between what a character knows or means and what a reader or audience knows.

Question 54

Poetic Devices - Verbal Irony

Answer 54

A speaker says one thing but means another.

Question 55

Poetic Devices - Situational Irony

Answer 55

A pointed discrepancy between what seems fitting or expected in a story and what actually happens.

Question 56

Figures of Speech - Apostrophe

Answer 56

An absent person is addresses though present, or an abstract quality or a nonhuman entity is addressed

Question 57

Figures of Speech - Hyperbole

Answer 57

An extreme exaggeration

Question 58

Figures of Speech - Metonymy

Answer 58

The name of one thing is substituted for that of something closely associated with it.

Question 59

Figures of Speech - Synecdoche

Answer 59

A special kind of metonymy in which a part of something is substituted for the whole of which it is a part, as in the commonly used phrase “lend me your ears”

Question 60

Author Choices that Impact Poetry - Point of View

Answer 60

The perspective from which a poem is told.

Question 61

Author Choices that Impact Poetry - Tone

Answer 61

The attitude toward the subject and audience.

Question 62

Author Choices that Impact Poetry - Voice

Answer 62

The person of the author, expressed through word choice, syntax, rhythm, and other elements of style.

Question 63

Author Choices that Impact Poetry - Mood

Answer 63

The overall emotional feeling or atmosphere of a poem, as experienced by the listener/reader.

Question 64

Stanzaic and Metrical Structures and Verse Forms - Quatrain

Answer 64

• Four-line poetic stanza

Question 65

Stanzaic and Metrical Structures and Verse Forms - Foot

Answer 65

• A group of syllables forming a metrical unit

In English, the principal metrical feet are iamb (U /), trochee (/ U), anapest (U U /), spondee (//), pyrrhic (UU).

Question 66

Stanzaic and Metrical Structures and Verse Forms - Meter

Answer 66

• An unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable
• Monometer (one foot per line)
• dimeter (Two)
• trimeter (Three)
• tetrameter (four)
• pentameter (five)
• hexameter (six)
• heptameter (seven)

So, a line of poetry written in iambic pentameter contains five feet - each foot containing a stressed syllable followed by an unstressed syllable - for a total of ten unstressed and stressed syllables.

Question 67

Stanzaic and Metrical Structures and Verse Forms - Free Verse

Answer 67

A form of poetry based on the irregular rhythmic cadence of the recurrence phrases, images, and patterns. Rhyme may or may not be present in free verse, but when it is, it is used with great freedom.

Question 68

Sound Devices - Alliteration

Answer 68

Repetition of consonant sounds, usually at the beginnings of words.

Question 69

Sound Devices - Onomatopoeia

Answer 69

A word that imitates a sound.

Question 70

Sound Devices - Assonance

Answer 70

Repetition of similar vowel sounds in stressed syllables

Question 71

Sound Devices - Consonance

Answer 71

Repetition of identical consonant sounds before and after different vowels

Question 72

Slant Rhyme

Answer 72

Slant rhyme (also known as half rhyme or imperfect rhyme) occurs when the last stressed vowel sounds are different but the following sounds are identical, as in fish/crash

Question 73

Identical Rhyme

Answer 73

Blue/blew and rain/reign are examples of identical rhyme (or rime riche)

Question 74

Eye rhyme

Answer 74

Cough/dough are examples

Question 75

Genres of World Literature - Folklore - Fables

Answer 75

• In prose or verse to point to a moral
• Characters are frequently animals.

Examples: Aesop (Greek), La Fontaine (French), Krylov (Russian)

Question 76

Genres of World Literature - Folklore - Legends

Answer 76

• Fictional stories once believed to have been true and handed down as historical tradition
• An exaggeration of individuals and improbable events

Examples: Faust, King Arthur, Robin Hood

Question 77

Genres of World Literature - Folklore - Mythology

Answer 77

• An anonymous work having roots in primitive folk belief
• Present supernatural episodes to interpret natural events

Every country has its mythology; best known are Greek, Roman, and Norse.

Question 78

Genres of World Literature - Fiction - Fantasy

Answer 78

• A conscious breaking free from reality. It may be employed merely for the whimsical delight of an author, or a serious comment on reality.

Examples: The Lord of the Rings (Tolkien), Harry Potter (Rawling)

Question 79

Genres of World Literature - Fiction - Science Fiction

Answer 79

A form of fantasy in which scientific facts, assumptions, or hypotheses form the basis of adventures in the future, other dimensions or under new variants of scientific law

Examples: Isaac Asimov, Robert Heinlein, Arthur C. Clarke

Question 80

Genres of World Literature - Fiction - Utopian fiction

Answer 80

• Describes and imaginary ideal world

Term comes from Sir Thomas More’s work Utopia describing a perfect political state

Question 81

Genres of World Literature - Fiction - Dystopian Fiction

Answer 81

• Seeks to point out what is wrong with a seemingly perfect situation or conditions offers alternative or negative view.

Examples: Brave New World (Aldous Huxley), The Martian Chronicles (Ray Bradbury), We (Eugene Zamiatin)

Question 82

Genres of World Literature - Poetry - Beat Poetry

Answer 82

• American poets in the 1950s and 60s in romantic rebellion against the culture and value system of the United States

Examples: Allen Ginsberg, Lawrence Ferlinghetti

Question 83

Genres of World Literature - Poetry - Confessional

Answer 83

• Focuses on poet’s private experiences and personal feeling

Examples: Sylvia Plath, Anne Sexton, Robert Lowell, John Berryman

Question 84

Genres of World Literature - Poetry - Metaphysical

Answer 84

• Philosophical poetry, 17th century

John Donne

Question 85

Genres of World Literature - Poetry - Pastoral

Answer 85

• Poem dealing with rustic life

Virgil

Question 86

Genres of World Literature - Poetry - Lyrical

Answer 86

• Showing personal feeling of a first person speaker
• Descended from poems sung with a lyre

Example: “Dice Thrown” (Stefane Mallarme), “Bright Star” (John Keats) In Japan “The Manyoshu” - an anthology of more than 4,500 poems

Question 87

Genres of World Literature - Nonfiction - Biography

Answer 87

• Written stories about someone’s real life and events that happened in it

Question 88

Genres of World Literature - Nonfiction - Autobiography

Answer 88

• Person’s life as written by that person
• First person, “free expression” of presenting unabashed self

Examples: Vita (Benvenuto Cellini), The Confessions (St. Augustine), Autobiography: The Story of My Experiences with Truth (Ghandi), Mark Twain’s Autobiography published in 2010 - 100 years after his death

Question 89

Genres of World Literature - Nonfiction - Essay

Answer 89

• A prose composition that explicates a topic

Essays (Michel de Montaigne)

Question 90

Identifying Major Works and Authors - Homer

Answer 90

wo great epics, the Iliad and the Odyssey, are attributed to the Greek poet, Homer. A source of history and religion for the Greeks, the Iliad describes a story of the siege of Troy; the Odyssey a tale of Ulysses’s wanderings. The Iliad, especially, is a literature standard. As a favorite among early Greek dramatists, it is considered to be one of the most influential works of the Western canon.

Question 91

Chaucer

Answer 91

Chaucer. Born between 1340 and 1344 and author of The Canterbury Tales, Geoffrey Chaucer made a crucial contribution to English literature by using English at a time when court poetry was still mostly written in Anglo-Norman or Latin. The Canterbury Tales ranks as one of the greatest epic works of world literature.

Question 92

Shakespeare

Answer 92

Born in Stratford-upon-Avon, William Shakespeare was perhaps the finest lyric poet of his day exemplified by songs scattered through his plays. A master dramatist of the English language, Shakespeare changed literature for all time with his poignant tragedies, tragicomedies, and histories. As master of the pen, Shakespeare finessed the use of a variety of literary elements; in Medias Res, puns, dramatic irony, foreshadowing, soliloquies, and anachronisms.

Question 93

Wordsworth

Answer 93

William Wordsworth was born and raised in the Lake District of England. Together with Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Wordsworth published Lyrical Ballads, the first great work of the English Romantic movement. Wordsworth changed poetry forever by the decision to use common language in his poetry instead of artificial poetic diction.

Question 94

Browning

Answer 94

Elizabeth Barrett Browning published her first book of poetry when she was thirteen. She soon became the most famous female poet in English history. At 39, she eloped with Robert Browning and wrote her most famous Sonnets from the Portuguese, a sequence of forty-four sonnets recording the growth of her love for Robert.

Question 95

Dickens

Answer 95

As a master of characterization, Charles Dickens, reveled in the variety and peculiarity of the human character. His later novels show great psychological depth, offering his distinct brand of social criticism, as in Hard Times.

Question 96

Hawthorne

Answer 96

Nathaniel Hawthorne was a leader in the development of the short story as a distinctive American genre. The philosophic attitude implicit in his writing is generally pessimistic. His emphasis on allegory and symbolism causes his characters to be more often recalled as the embodiment of psychological traits or moral concepts than as living figures.

Question 97

Emerson

Answer 97

Centered in a new religious movement called Transcendentalism, Ralph Waldo Emerson’s philosophy was rooted in an American Romanticist and Puritan background. Through his writings, he preached a doctrine of higher individualism, the spiritual nature of reality, the importance self-reliance, and the existence of a unifying Over-Soul.

Question 98

Dickinson

Answer 98

Emily Dickinson called her 1000 brief lyrics her “letter to the world.” Dickinson was candid in her insights into her own state of consciousness and her speculations of the timeless mysteries of love and death. Her mind was charged with paradox as her eye was focused in opposite directions of two worlds; earthly and heavenly concerns.

Question 99

Twain

Answer 99

An American Realist, Mark Twain wrote in the 19th century when American social and political issues included industrialization, slavery, and regionalism. Twain, an American writer, journalist, and humorist, won a worldwide audience for his stories of youthful adventures of Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn. Sensitive to the sound of language, Twain introduced colloquial speech into American fiction.

Question 100

Hughes

Answer 100

Langston Hughes was a major figure in the Harlem Renaissance. Langston began his prolific literary career with poems on black themes, in jazz rhythms, and with idiomatic phrases. His concern with his race, mainly in an urban setting, is as evident in his work as is his social conscience.

Question 101

Wolfe

Answer 101

Virginia Woolf revolutionized modern fiction as one of the pioneers of the stream-of-consciousness writing technique. This literary device allowed readers to look directly into the flow of thoughts and images in a character’s mind. In her more revolutionary works To the Lighthouse or Mrs. Dalloway, Wolfe virtually abolishes “plot” to concentrate on what she called “an ordinary mind on an ordinary day.”

Question 102

Poe

Answer 102

Edgar Alan Poe was a short story master of Gothic literature. He is famous for his horror tales and is credited with inventing the detective story, as well as for writing poetry with a prominent use of rhythms, alliteration and assonance that gives it a strong musical quality.

Question 103

Hemingway

Answer 103

Ernest Hemingway was a leading spokesman for the “Lost Generation”: he expressed the feelings of a war-wounded people disillusioned by the loss of faith and hope. His stories are mainly concerned with “tough” people, intelligent men and women who have dropped into exhausted cynicism. When reading his work, readers will note that emotion is held at arm’s length; only the bare happenings are recorded and emphasis is obtained by understatement and spare dialogue.

Question 104

Faulkner

Answer 104

William Faulkner’s success as a novelist came when he began writing about the northern Mississippi area he knew best. William Faulkner created a world in the loosely constructed Yoknapatawpha saga. His discovery that this “little postage stamp of native soil” was worth writing about enabled him to write a series of acclaimed experimental novels. His themes show the decline of the Old South and the rise of unscrupulous families. Winner of the 1950 Nobel Prize for literature Faulkner wrote, ” . . . man will not merely endure; he will prevail . . . because he has a soul, a spirit capable of compassion and sacrifice and endurance” and the “writer’s duty is to write about these things.”

Question 105

Hurston

Answer 105

Zora Neale Hurston, folklorist and anthropologist, gathered examples of dialects of the south before they would die out. She collected folk stories and songs and included them in her works such as Jonah’s Gourd Vine and her classic Their Eyes Were Watching God. Her conscious effort was to preserve the language and culture that was rapidly disappearing.

Question 106

Morrison

Answer 106

Toni Morrison is an American author who was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1993. In her work she has explored the experience and roles of black women in a racist and male dominated society. In the center of her complex and multilayered narratives is the unique cultural inheritance of African-Americans.

Question 107

Ibsen

Answer 107

Henrik Ibsen was born in Skien—a tiny coastal town in southeast Norway. Ibsen grew up in poverty. Familiar with the economic hardships he later depicted in his plays, he experimented with realistic plays exploring social issues related to middle-class life.

Question 108

Gabriel Garcia Marquez

Answer 108

Often considered father of magical realism, Gabriel García Márquez most famous work, the novel One Hundred Years of Solitude was published in 1967. Márquez’s fiction is characterized by magical realism, which, as he put it ”expands the categories of the real so as to encompass myth, magic and other extraordinary phenomena in Nature or experience” excluded by European realistic fiction.

Question 109

Demonstrate knowledge of the formal, stylistic, and thematic characteristics of major literary genres and works from the oral traditions of different cultures.

Answer 109

You will be expected to recognize major literary forms and genres with roots in the oral tradition, such as epics, creation stories, ballads, fables, legends, trickster tales, fairy tales, tall tales, and nursery rhymes. You will also need to be familiar with the formal, stylistic, and thematic elements that are characteristic of the oral traditions of different cultures.

Repetition and sound devices like alliteration and assonance are prevalent throughout.
The use of repetition and sound devices facilitated the ability for people to remember the stories so that they could be passed from generation to generation by word of mouth.

Question 110

Characteristics of Oral Tradition - Ballads

Answer 110

The ballad is the most popular form and is still being written but it began in early literary periods before written literature was highly developed. Traditional or “popular” ballads are still very much a part of isolated segments of society, often among illiterate and semiliterate peoples. In American folk music, ballads are embraced by peoples in the southern Appalachian Mountains, cowboys of the western plains, and people associated with labor movements, some of those marked by violence. Certain common characteristics of early ballads should be noted: the supernatural often played an important part of events, physical courage and love were frequent themes, and incidents usually happened to common people (as opposed to nobility). Action in a ballad is largely developed through dialogue and tragic situations are presented with the utmost simplicity. Incremental repetition is a common aspect of literature that begins as a ballad.

Question 111

Characteristics of Oral Tradition -Tall tales

Answer 111

The tall tale is a kind of humorous tale common on the American frontier which uses realistic detail, a literal manner, and common speech to recount extravagantly impossible happenings, usually resulting from the superhuman abilities of a character. The tales about Paul Bunyan and Davy Crockett are typical frontier tall tales. The German Adventures of Baron Munchausen is, perhaps, the best known literary use of the tall tale.

Question 112

Characteristics of Oral Tradition - Fables

Answer 112

The fable, either in prose or verse, is told to point out a moral. Fables have to do with supernatural events or unusual incidents. Besides the most famous Aesop, a Greek slave living about 600 B.C., equally popular are those of La Fontaine, a Frenchman writing in the 17th century. His tales are distinctive in their humor and wit, their wisdom and their sprightly satire. Other important fabulists are Gay (England), Lessing (Germany), and Krylov (Russia). A fable in which the characters are animals is called a beast fable, a form that has been popular in almost every period of literary history, usually as a satiric device to point out human follies. The beast fable continues to be vigorous in such diverse works as Kipling’s Jungle Book and George Orwell’s Animal Farm.

Question 113

Characteristics of Oral Tradition - Trickster stories

Answer 113

Fables as trickster stories are short narratives that use animal characters with human features to convey folk wisdom and to help people understand human nature and human behavior. These stories were originally passed down through oral tradition and were eventually written down. The legendary figure Aesop was reported to have orally passed on his animal fables, which have been linked to earlier beast tales from India and were later written down by the Greeks and Romans. Ananse trickster tales derive from the Asante people of Ghana and were brought by African slaves to the Caribbean and parts of the U.S.

Question 114

Characteristics of Oral Tradition - Fairy Tales

Answer 114

The fairy tale is a story relating mysterious pranks and adventures of supernatural spirits who manifest themselves in the form of diminutive human beings. These spirits possesses certain qualities which are constantly drawn upon for tales of their adventures: supernatural wisdom and foresight, a mischievous temperament, the power to regulate the affairs of human beings for good or evil, the capacity to change into any shape at any time. Almost every nation has its own fairy literature, though the folklore element embodied in fairy tales prompts the growth of related tales among different nations. Some of the great collections are the Contes de ma Mere l’Oyeo of Perrault (French), those of the Grimm brothers in German, and Hans Christian Andersen of Denmark who may be the most famous writer of original fairy tales.

Question 115

Characteristics of Oral Tradition - Epics

Answer 115

An epic is a long poem written in a lofty style about the exploits of heroic figures. Homer’s “Iliad” and “Odyssey”, as well as the Old English poem “Beowulf”, are examples of epics. Epic conventions are literary practices, rules, or devices that became commonplace in epic poetry. Among the classical conventions Milton used are the following:
The invocation of a muse in which a writer requests divine help in composing his work.

Telling a story with which readers or listeners are already familiar; they know the characters, the plot, and the outcome. Most of the great writers of the ancient world—as well as many great writers in later times, including Shakespeare—frequently told stories already known to the public. Thus, in such stories, there were no unexpected plot twists, no surprise endings. If this sounds strange to you, the modern reader and theatergoer, consider that many of the most popular motion pictures today are about stories already known to the public.

Question 116

Affixes

Answer 116

Affixes are morphemes (meaningful parts of words) that are attached to a root or base word. The English language has two kinds of affixes: prefixes and suffixes.

Question 117

Prefixes

Answer 117

A prefix is a morpheme that precedes the root or base part of the word. Prefixes modify or change the meaning of the root or base word. A prefix may attach to a recognizable English word, or base such as the word “cover.” When we add a prefix like “dis” or “un” to arrive at newly formed words—discover and uncover. A prefix may also be attached to a base word or word stem, usually a Latin or Greek root, which is not a recognizable English word. For example, if we add “con” or “dis” to the word stem “tort” we make the words contort and distort. In Latin, the word “tort” means twist but in the English language the word stem “tort” has no meaning unless you add a prefix or suffix. Prefixes that change the grammatical function or the meaning of the base word are called derivational prefixes.

Question 118

Suffixes

Answer 118

Suffixes alter the ends of words and fall in two categories; inflectional and derivational.

Question 119

Inflectional suffixes

Answer 119

Inflectional suffixes do not change the meaning of the base word but they do change the word’s number and tense. Inflectional suffixes are added to nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs in the following ways.

For Nouns
Plural words by adding “s” or “es,” e.g., many cats or many houses.
Possessives including the adding of “s” or pronoun forms. Her cat’s paw or his houses are examples.
For Verbs
Indicating verb tense such as adding “s” or “es” or “ed” or “en” or “ing”:
She skates well.
She skated well.
She’s skating well.
For Adjectives and Adverbs
Comparatives such as “er,” e.g., he’s the faster runner of the two.
Superlatives by adding “est,” e.g., he’s the fastest runner I’ve ever seen.

Question 120

Derivational Suffixes

Answer 120

Derivational suffixes do not significantly change the base of a word but they can affect a word’s grammatical function or the words basic semantic meaning. Some commonly used derivational suffixes include: “-ly,” “-ate,” and “-ion.”
“ly” can be added to adjectives like “quick” which then turns the word into the adverb “quickly;”
“ate” can be added to root words to form nouns, verbs, or adjectives, e.g., “delegate,” “dictate,” or “delicate.”
“ion” is added to verbs like “evict” or “subtract” to create nouns such as “eviction” or “subtraction.”

Question 121

Use of Pronouns - Subjective Case

Answer 121

The subjective case refers to pronouns used as sentence subjects. Examples of pronouns used as subjects include: I, you, he, she, it, we, they, and who.

Question 122

Use of Pronouns - Objective Case

Answer 122

Pronouns used as objects of verbs or prepositions are considered the objective case for pronouns. Examples of pronouns used as objects include: me, you, him, her, it, us, them, and whom.

Question 123

Use of Pronouns - Possessive Case

Answer 123

Pronouns which express ownership and this show possession include: my (mine), your (yours), his, her (hers), it (its), their (theirs), and whose.

Question 124

Forms and Purposes of Narrative Writing - Personal journals

Answer 124

As a genre, the personal journal is significantly influenced from our current technological age. While diaries and handwritten journals have long been popular ways for individuals to store their memories, thoughts, feelings and ideas, blogs and social networking are contemporary ways writers can instantaneously express and share personal experiences and insights.

Question 125

Forms and Purposes of Narrative Writing - Memoirs

Answer 125

Many writing experts assert that asking students to engage in writing a personal memoir is an effective starting place for all narrative writing. They suggest that if student writers are able to tell their own stories about important event in their lives, they begin to develop the most important elements and characteristics of effective writing that include purpose, point of view and audience.

Question 126

Forms and Purposes of Narrative Writing - Autobiographies

Answer 126

Another form of personal writing includes autobiographies. Autobiographies are particularly popular in the United States as the American culture celebrates the stories of individuals who are able to accomplish great things. The best sellers in nonfiction often include autobiographies of famous politicians, celebrities, or athletes. As an audience, we are often inspired by these personal stories.

Question 127

Forms and Purposes of Narrative Writing - Storytelling

Answer 127

Storytelling allows a writer to create his voice and may take many narrative writing forms including letter writing, short stories, skits, and graphic novels that combine art with storytelling. The popular form Manga is representative of this form.

Question 128

Forms and Purposes of Narrative Writing - Creative nonfiction

Answer 128

Creative nonfiction presents information using the tools of fiction. A book like Tom Wolfe’s The Right Stuff is a classic creative non-fiction piece that combines information (reportage) in a scenic, dramatic fashion. It combines the idea of self-discovery with that of flexibility and freedom.

Question 129

Narrative Writing Forms - Short Story

Answer 129

• Reveals character through a series of actions
• Characters have an epiphany
• Newest form very brief called “sudden fiction”
• Finds its unity in character, tone, and mood

Question 130

Narrative Writing Forms - Personal Journal

Answer 130

• Written without the intention of being published as is
• Usually for the author’s personal use
• Term is often interchangeable with the diary

Question 131

Narrative Writing Forms - Memoir

Answer 131

A form of autobiographical writing in which a person recalls significant events in his or her life. Most memoirs share the following characteristics:

• First-person point of view and are structured narratives
• True accounts of actual events
• Although memoirs are largely personal, they may also contain newsworthy events that have significance beyond the author
• Unlike other historical accounts, memoirs include the author’s thoughts and feeling and opinions about historical events
• Often contain the author’s insight into the impact of history on individuals

Question 132

Narrative Writing Forms - Autobiography

Answer 132

• A writer’s account of his or her life
• Often contain insights as writers examine past events from the perspective of greater understanding and distance
• Formal autobiographies are lengthy narratives that retell a person’s history
• Reveal insights into the writer’s character, attitudes, and motivations
• Also include some understanding of the time and place in which the writer lived

Question 133

Freewriting

Answer 133

A prewriting strategy. It is a stream of consciousness writing in which the author continuously writes for a set period of time without regard to spelling, grammar or topic. It produces raw material that is often ignitable but is beneficial in that it helps the reader to overcome barriers to writing like self-criticism or apathy.

Question 134

Clustering

Answer 134

A type of freewriting that allows the writer to explore many ideas. It is similar to brainstorming and fee associating in that it allows for spontaneous idea generation. Graphic organizer are particularly useful in clustering.

Question 135

Reading other narratives

Answer 135

An effective strategy since it provides models and ideas that can inspire a writer. Reading is often a springboard for writing. As writers, we get ideas, information and inspiration from what we read.

Question 136

Researching

Answer 136

An important element to narrative writing. As writers, we get ideas, information and inspiration from what we read.

Question 137

Style

Answer 137

The particular way in which a narrative form is written. Style is not what is written; it is how it is written. Some common narrative styles include: formal, conversational, journalistic, wordy, poetic, or dynamic. The style of a piece is also influenced by other elements such as tone.

Question 138

Tone

Answer 138

Tone is the expression of a writer’s attitude toward a subject which is revealed by the words he or she chooses. This is different from mood in that the tone of a narrative is intended to share the reader’s emotional response. Tone can be serious, humorous, sarcastic, playful, or objective. These elements facilitate the author’s relationship with the audience. As students grow more aware of tone, they will discover that narrative authors rarely use only one.

Question 139

Voice

Answer 139

A writer’s voice is an element of narrative writing that distinguishes one writer from another because writers often display characteristic patterns when they write. For example, some narrative writers may use syntax, punctuation, or dialogue in unique ways. Others are distinguishable because of the way they develop their ideas. When a writer’s voice is strong, readers can identify it because of the way the writer’s personality or attitude permeates their work.

Question 140

Diction

Answer 140

One element that makes narrative writing a creative activity is the way writers choose diction or the words they use in their writing. Carefully chosen words explicitly or implicitly describe an event or action, set an intended mood, or evoke a reader’s emotional response—all meant to express the writer’s thoughts, or feelings and influence his readers’ response to the writing. Good writers choose words that fit their style, tone and voice. Good writers are careful not to convolute their message or confuse readers by trying to impress them with words that simply do not fit with the goals of the narrative.

Question 141

Audience

Answer 141

If a narrative writer intends to share her work, she likely anticipates the audience’s expectations. For students, the audience may be a teacher but also family members, peers, or the general public. While a student’s writing purpose may be to describe a personal event or conflict or to entertain her readers, her goal will be to do so clearly and convincingly.

Question 142

Anaphora

Answer 142

Repetition of a word of phrase at the beginning of successive clauses, sentences, lines or verses. Example: “This war is a worldwide war. All the mistakes, all the delays, all the suffering, do not alter the fact that there are, in the world, all the means necessary to crush our enemies one day.” Charles de Gaulle, June 8, 1940

Question 143

Antithesis

Answer 143

The balanced or parallel construction of a contrasting idea or word phrase. Example: “And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you — ask what you can do for your country.” John F Kennedy, January 21. 1961

Question 144

Cacophony

Answer 144

An unpleasant combination of harsh, loud sounding words. Example: Such laughter is worse than the crackling of thorns under a pot, for it denotes not merely the vacant mind, but the heart in which high emotions have been choked before they could grow to fruition. Theodore Roosevelt, April 14, 1906