Fiction Forms

Question 0

The German term for a coming of age story; “formation novel”

Answer 0

Bildungsroman

Question 1

Any writing in verse or prose that has a double meaning, symbolism

Answer 1

Allegory

Question 2

Any play or narrative poem in which the main characters manage to avert an impeding disaster and have a happy ending

Answer 2

Comedy

Question 3

Writing that is “preachy” or seeks overtly to convince a reader of a particular point or lesson

Answer 3

Didactic

Question 4

An analytic or interpretative literary composition usually dealing with its subject form from a limited or personal point of view

Answer 4

Essay

Question 5

A brief story illustrating human tendencies through animal characters which can reveal human truths

Answer 5

Fable

Question 6

A form of low comedy designed to provoke laughter through highly exaggerated caricatures of people in improbable or silly situations

Answer 6

Farce

Question 7

The result of inserting one or more small stories within the body of a larger story that encompasses the smaller ones

Answer 7

Frame story

Question 8

“In the middle of things”; the classical tradition of opening an epic not in the chronological point at which the sequence of events would start

Answer 8

In medias res

Question 9

A type of romance that has influenced the ghost and horror story; stories are designed to thrill readers by providing mystery and blood-curdling accounts of villainy, murder, and the supernatural

Answer 9

Gothic novel

Question 10

A novel that describes in detail the customs, behaviors, habits, and expectations of a certain social group at a specific time and place which shape the main characters and sometimes stifle or repress them

Answer 10

Novel of manners

Question 11

A story or short narrative designed to reveal allegorically some religious principle, moral lesson, psychological reality, or general truth; teaches with literal occurrences

Answer 11

Parable

Question 12

Imitates the serious manner and characteristic features of a particular literary work in order to make fun of those feature

Answer 12

Parody

Question 13

Episodic French and German poetry dealing with chivalry and adventures of knights in warfare as they rescue fair maidens and confront supernatural challenges

Answer 13

Romance (medieval)

Question 14

An attack on or criticism of any stupidity or vice in the form of scathing humor, or a critique of what the author sees as dangerous standards

Answer 14

Satire

Question 15

Writing in which a character’s perceptions, thoughts, and memories are presented in an apparently random form, without regard for logical sequence, chronology, or syntax

Answer 15

Stream of consciousness

Question 16

Narrative that depicts the wild adventures of extravagantly exaggerated folk heroes, usually an oral presentation

Answer 16

Tall tale

Question 17

A serious play in which the chief character, by some peculiarity of psychology, passes through a series of misfortunes leading to a final, devastating catastrophe

Answer 17

Tragedy