Dept. of English & Comparative Literature,
SJSU Literary Terms for MA Exam in
Literature - Part I (Section A) Exam
Questions and answers latest update
1.Allegory - correct answers What is it? form
Defenition: Representation of an idea as a person, eg Wolf= dangers of
sexuality and men, Dracula= losing virginity, Father Time= death, life
passing
Example: 1.) Little Red Riding Hood, 2.) Dracula, 3.) Emily Dickinson:
"Because I could not stop for Death..." 4.) Milton, Sonnet 7: "Time has
wings, is a thief"
Notes: involves an abstraction see personification for nuance
difference.
2.Alliteration - correct answers Form: figure of speech
Definition: Repetition of the first sound of a word, eg, peter, piper, etc
,Example: 1.)Spenser sonnet- Amoretti 75 2.) Gerald Hopkins, "The
Windover"
3.Allusion - correct answers What is it?: figure of speech/element
Definition: are generally regarded as brief but purposeful references,
within a literary text, to a person, place, event, or to another work of
literature. The term Allusion is distinguished from other forms of
reference—the many ways that a work of literature can call out to
other works of art—by its brevity and often by its indirection, though
just how indirect an allusion is can vary by a wide degree. An allusion is
not deep meditation, but a passing signal that can sometimes escape
notice if you're not reading carefully. However, allusions are an
essential tool for literary artists that often serve to situate their own
works within the wider culture and the contexts of literary history.
Example: "Call me Ishmael" - Moby Dick. alludes to Ishmael from the
Bible- oldest son of Abraham- cast out by his family. Implies that the
speaker is someone who has cast away from his family and home,
whose "hand will be against every man and every man hand's will be
against him." Also, Ralph Elison, "Invisble Man": ""I am an invisible
man. No, I am not [...] like those who haunted Edgar Allen Poe; nor am I
one of your Hollywood-movie ectoplasms."
,Notes: https://liberalarts.oregonstate.edu/wlf/what-allusion
4.Ambiguity - correct answers What is it?: poetic element
Definition: a word, phrase, or statement which contains more than one
meaning. Ambiguous words or statements lead to vagueness and
confusion and shape the basis for instances of unintentional humor.
Example: "Holden Caufield in Catcher in the Rye- uses ""you"" or
""they"" to obscure meaning, leave the reader guessing what he is
referring to. Also classic seen in Hamlet- why doesn't he kill the King?
What is his relationship with Gertrude? Did he love Ophelia? Etc.
William Blake, ""The Sick Rose": O Rose thou art sick./
The invisible worm,
That flies in the night,
In the howling storm:
Has found out thy bed
Of crimson joy;
And his dark secret love
Does thy life destroy"
, Why is the bed crimson, what is the invisible worm, why is the love
secret?:
5.Analogy - correct answers What is it? figure of speech
Definition: something that shows how two things are alike, but with the
ultimate goal of making a point about this comparison. The purpose of
an analogy is not merely to show, but also to explain. For this reason,
an analogy is more complex than a simile or a metaphor, which aim
only to show without explaining. (Similes and metaphors can be used to
make an analogy, but usually, analogies have additional information to
get their point across.) The. an be based on literal similarities or
abstract similarities.
Examples: "Longfellow, "The Day is Done": "The day is done, and the
darkness
Falls from the wings of Night,
As a feather is wafted downward
From an eagle in his flight."
6.Anecdote - correct answers What is it?: genre
