World Literature Semester II Exam Review
May 23, 2008
Be able to match each title with its genre, author, summary, main characters, and culture of origin.
1. Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
2. The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka
3. Three types of NON-LITERARY forms of storytelling: arpilleras from South America (mainly Chile), paj ntaub (POON TA-OH) from the Hmong culture, kente cloth from Ghana
4. Epics
1. The Iliad by Homer—Ancient Greece
2. The Ramayana by Valmiki—Ancient India
3. Dante’s Inferno—part of the Divine Comedy—1300’s Italy
5. Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe—Nigeria
6. The Necklace by Guy de Maupaissant—France
7. Other short stories
Define the following:
1. Symbolism
2. Epic Poem
3. Epic Hero
4. Novel
5. Anthology
6. Kafkaesque
Know the following poetic forms:
Acrostic: poetry in which the first letter of each line, when read vertically, spell out a word. The word is usually the subject of the poem.
Haiku: an ancient Japanese form with no rhyme. Haiku often deal with nature. This type of poetry has three lines with a fixed number of syllables:
Line 1= 5 syllables
Line 2= 7 syllables
Line 3= 5 syllables
Couplets: two-line poems with a fun and simple rhyming pattern. Each line has the same meter and their endings rhyme with one another. Couplets are often humorous.
Proverbs: have been called the shortest art form. They use devices associated with poetry- rhyme, rhythm, and metaphors. They provide vivid imagery to teach a moral lesson.
Rap: spoken-word expression of urban activists that began in the 1960s. In the early 70s "rapping" evolved into spoken rhymes about street life put to the beat of DJ-manipulated drum machines and turntables.
Free Verse: poetry without rules of form, rhyme, rhythm, or meter.
Sonnets: poems of 14 lines that begin with three quatrains and end with a couplet. The couplet usually contains a surprise ending or "turn." William Shakespeare is one of the most famous sonnet writers in history.
Narrative poems: tell stories and are usually long. Epics and ballads are narrative poems.
Know the following poetic devices:
Similes: figures of speech that compares two unlike things, using the words like or as.
Alliteration: the repetition of consonant sounds at the beginning of words.
Metaphor: a figure of speech that compares two unlike things directly, without the use of like or as.
Personification: assigning human qualities to non-human things.
Onomatopoeia: words that imitate sounds.
Hyperbole: an expression of exaggeration.
Symbolism: using an object to represent an idea. A symbol means what it is and also something more.
Puns: words with a humorous double meaning, a "play on words."
Mood: the overall feeling the poem creates. Mood, or tone, for example, can be playful, sad, lonely, angry or joyful.
You will have to write one 5-paragraph essay for this test. Be sure that your essay has an attention getter and a thesis statement.
Sample essay questions, as well as the rest of the exam, will be posted at https://communityhighschool.wikispaces.com/World+Literature by Monday, 5/26.
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