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Quiz about Literary Terminology Hodgepodge

Literary Terminology Hodgepodge Quiz

An assortment of questions about figurative language, rhetoric, plays and poetry.

A multiple-choice quiz by skylarb. Estimated time: 6 mins.

Author
skylarb

Time
6 mins

Type
Multiple Choice

Quiz #
141,525

Updated
Dec 03 21

# Qns
15

Difficulty
Tough

Avg Score
9 / 15

Plays
1643

Awards
Top 35% Quiz

Last 3 plays: Guest 70 (6/15), RAMJI20 (8/15), Guest 73 (12/15).

This quiz has 2 formats: you can play it as a or as shown below.
Scroll down to the bottom for the answer key.

1. There are two parts to a metaphor. One is the tenor. What is the other part? Hint

Body

Vehicle

Alto

Simile

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2. In literature, how might we describe someone of "sanguine" humor? Hint

Angry

Happy

Lethargic

Melancholy

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3. In a play, if the term "exeunt" is used, what does it mean?
Hint

Two or more actors exit the stage

Exit stage left

He (one character) remains on stage

Enter stage right

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4. In the Freytag Pyramid, what immediately follows the climax? Hint

Denouement

Rising Action

Exposition

Falling action

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5. What term was used to refer to the group of actors who, in a classical Greek play, commented on the action of the play?

Answer: (One Word, starts with c)

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6. Which kind of character does not develop throughout a work of literature? Hint

Round

Unreliable

Dynamic

Static

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7. What do we call an inscription or quotation at the beginning of a book? Hint

Epithet

Exemplum

Encomium

Epigraph

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8. In poetry, a trochaic foot consists of a stressed syllable followed by what? Hint

One stressed syllable

One unstressed syllable

Two unstressed syllables

One stressed syllable and one unstressed syllable

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9. What is the rhyme scheme of an English (or Shakespearian) sonnet? Hint

abab cdcd efef gg

abab abab abab cc

abab bcbc cdcd ee

It can have any rhyme scheme

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10. What is the technical name for a conventional genre of poetry that usually celebrates the simplicity of rural life? Hint

Elegy

Ode

Epic

Pastoral

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11. What do we call a lyric ode written in honor of a bride and groom? Hint

Elegy

Epithalamium

Pastoral Elegy

Sonnet

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12. Carpe diem is a special genre of poetry. What does carpe diem mean? Hint

Death of the body

Seize the day

Love endures

The body decays

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13. A term often used in literature to express the idea that the fall of man was fortunate is called the felix _____. What is the missing word?

Answer: (one word)

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14. Milton begins "Paradise Lost" with a sentence that leads up to the words "Sing, Heavenly Muse..." What do we call this kind of beginning? Hint

An Epithalamium

A Salutation

An Invocation

A Carpe Diem

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15. Some literary giants, such as Yeats and Blake, are said to have possessed a belief in a religion that combines Christianity with mysticism and magic. What do scholars call this religion? Hint

Hermetic Protestantism

Neo-paganism

Mystical Catholicism

Kabbalism

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Most Recent Scores

Sep 14 2023 : Guest 70: 6/15
Sep 11 2023 : RAMJI20: 8/15
Sep 08 2023 : Guest 73: 12/15
Aug 18 2023 : Guest 152: 14/15

Score Distribution

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. There are two parts to a metaphor. One is the tenor. What is the other part?

Answer: Vehicle

The tenor is the idea being represented by the vehicle. The vehicle is the actual image used. Thus, when we say "My God is a rock," the vehicle is "rock" and the tenor is "strength", "permanence", etc.

2. In literature, how might we describe someone of "sanguine" humor?

Answer: Happy

According to the theory of physiology during the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, there were four main fluids in the human body that determined temperament. In a sanguine person, blood is dominant, and so they will be happy or ruddy. A phlegmatic person was lethargic, a choleric angry, and a splenetic melancholy (also sometimes associated with anger).

3. In a play, if the term "exeunt" is used, what does it mean?

Answer: Two or more actors exit the stage

The term manet means he (or she) remains on stage, while exeunt omnes means that all of the characters exit.

4. In the Freytag Pyramid, what immediately follows the climax?

Answer: Falling action

The Freytag Pyramid was created by the German writer and critic Gustav Freytag to illustrate the structure of a typical five-act play. The structure is as follows: exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, and denouement.

5. What term was used to refer to the group of actors who, in a classical Greek play, commented on the action of the play?

Answer: Chorus

The chorus used song, dance and recitation. The term has worked its way into our vocabulary to describe a large singing group.

6. Which kind of character does not develop throughout a work of literature?

Answer: Static

A round character is a developed character whose many sides are shown, and a dynamic character is a character that grows and changes throughout the novel.

7. What do we call an inscription or quotation at the beginning of a book?

Answer: Epigraph

An epithet is an adjective or phrase that is used to express the characteristic of something, as "Fallen cherub" is used for Satan in Milton's "Paradise Lost." An exemplum is used to illustrate the point of a sermon, and encomium is warm praise.

8. In poetry, a trochaic foot consists of a stressed syllable followed by what?

Answer: One unstressed syllable

The iambic foot, on the other hand, consists of an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable. The dactylic foot has a stressed syllable followed by two unstressed syllables. An anapestic foot has two unstressed followed by a stressed.

9. What is the rhyme scheme of an English (or Shakespearian) sonnet?

Answer: abab cdcd efef gg

It is the Spenserian sonnet that rhymes abab bcbc cdcd ee, and irregular sonnets that have different rhyme schemes

10. What is the technical name for a conventional genre of poetry that usually celebrates the simplicity of rural life?

Answer: Pastoral

It is also possible to combine two genres to create the "pastoral elegy," in which the author and the object of his mourning are often portrayed as shepherds.

11. What do we call a lyric ode written in honor of a bride and groom?

Answer: Epithalamium

An ode is a dignified, lyric or song-like poem, and could be on a subject other than marriage. An elegy mediates upon death, not weddings.

12. Carpe diem is a special genre of poetry. What does carpe diem mean?

Answer: Seize the day

Poems in this genre generally encourage young women to make the most of the present time, to seize the day and have sex with the poet before it's too late.

13. A term often used in literature to express the idea that the fall of man was fortunate is called the felix _____. What is the missing word?

Answer: culpa

The secular version of the "felix culpa" is the idea that the fall was good because it brought us knowledge. The Christian version (sometimes called a heresy) is that the fall of man was good because it brought us a greater good: redemption through Christ.

14. Milton begins "Paradise Lost" with a sentence that leads up to the words "Sing, Heavenly Muse..." What do we call this kind of beginning?

Answer: An Invocation

Some poets begin their works with an invocation, in which they call on God or a muse for inspiration.

15. Some literary giants, such as Yeats and Blake, are said to have possessed a belief in a religion that combines Christianity with mysticism and magic. What do scholars call this religion?

Answer: Hermetic Protestantism

Hermetic Protestantism can also incorporate elements of the occult.

Source: Author skylarb

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