Form & Theory of Narrative Final Exam
Questions with Complete Solutions
Scored A+
"Epiphany" - ANSWER-M.H. Abrams.
— "a manifestation," a "showing forth." revelation.
"'Epiphany' has become the standard term for the description, recurrent in modern
poetry and prose fiction, of the sudden flare into revelation of an ordinary object or
scene" (101).
"Araby" - ANSWER-James Joyce.
— A boy, after watching his friend's sister, goes to the bazaar for her, since she can't.
He gets there late and has a pathetic amount of money. Comes to the realization that
the world isn't a romantic place.
"Poetics" - ANSWER-Aristotle.
People in tragedy, for Aristotle, are _____ ? In Comedy? - ANSWER-Better than they
actually are; worse than they actually are.
Aristotle would categorize an "epiphany" as ____ ? - ANSWER-A recognition.
— Recognition: "a change from ignorance to knowledge, producing love or hate
between the persons destined by the poet for good or bad fortune" (20).
,What is most important, for Aristotle? - ANSWER-Plot!
— Plot is the most important, for it is "the imitation of the action"; "the arrangement of
the incidents"; "the first principle, and, as it were, the soul of tragedy."
— Aristotle insists that every "well constructed plot" must be "a whole" that is, it must
have a beginning, a middle, and an end.
— Simple & Complex.
"Everything I Never Told You" - ANSWER-Celeste Ng
— "Lydia is dead." James, Marilyn, Hannah, Nath, and Jack. Also Louisa, James's side
lady.
Tragedy is composed of which six parts? - ANSWER-Plot, Character, Diction, Thought,
Spectacle, Song.
"The Dead" - ANSWER-James Joyce.
— Gabriel goes to a party, says some nice words, and wants to get intimate with his
wife, but she's too emotional about a dead, past lover to think about that. I think he cries
in the end, feeling empathy. Gabriel experiences an Aristotelian "recognition," or
epiphany, at the end.
"Anatomy of the Novel" - ANSWER-Northrop Frye.
, — Four types: Novel, Romance, Autobiography / Confession, Menippean Satire /
Anatomy.
Menippean Satire - ANSWER-Deal less with people and more with mental attitudes.
The characters are mouthpieces of the ideas they represent. Focuses on intellectual
fancy and caricatures.
Think: "Candide."
Novel vs. Romance - ANSWER-Essential difference is the conception of
characterization. Romance: archetypes; Novel: real people & personalities.
— Novel: newer; Romance: juvenile / something to be outgrown.
"Theory of the Novel" - ANSWER-Ian Watt.
— Realism is the defining characteristic that sets the novel apart from other fiction.
— The novel functions under the premise that individual experience is always unique
and therefore new.
— Novel's plot uses past experiences as cause of present action, replacing reliance on
coincidences.
— Novel supplies its own footnotes; no previous research / knowledge needed.
"People" - ANSWER-E.M. Forster.
Questions with Complete Solutions
Scored A+
"Epiphany" - ANSWER-M.H. Abrams.
— "a manifestation," a "showing forth." revelation.
"'Epiphany' has become the standard term for the description, recurrent in modern
poetry and prose fiction, of the sudden flare into revelation of an ordinary object or
scene" (101).
"Araby" - ANSWER-James Joyce.
— A boy, after watching his friend's sister, goes to the bazaar for her, since she can't.
He gets there late and has a pathetic amount of money. Comes to the realization that
the world isn't a romantic place.
"Poetics" - ANSWER-Aristotle.
People in tragedy, for Aristotle, are _____ ? In Comedy? - ANSWER-Better than they
actually are; worse than they actually are.
Aristotle would categorize an "epiphany" as ____ ? - ANSWER-A recognition.
— Recognition: "a change from ignorance to knowledge, producing love or hate
between the persons destined by the poet for good or bad fortune" (20).
,What is most important, for Aristotle? - ANSWER-Plot!
— Plot is the most important, for it is "the imitation of the action"; "the arrangement of
the incidents"; "the first principle, and, as it were, the soul of tragedy."
— Aristotle insists that every "well constructed plot" must be "a whole" that is, it must
have a beginning, a middle, and an end.
— Simple & Complex.
"Everything I Never Told You" - ANSWER-Celeste Ng
— "Lydia is dead." James, Marilyn, Hannah, Nath, and Jack. Also Louisa, James's side
lady.
Tragedy is composed of which six parts? - ANSWER-Plot, Character, Diction, Thought,
Spectacle, Song.
"The Dead" - ANSWER-James Joyce.
— Gabriel goes to a party, says some nice words, and wants to get intimate with his
wife, but she's too emotional about a dead, past lover to think about that. I think he cries
in the end, feeling empathy. Gabriel experiences an Aristotelian "recognition," or
epiphany, at the end.
"Anatomy of the Novel" - ANSWER-Northrop Frye.
, — Four types: Novel, Romance, Autobiography / Confession, Menippean Satire /
Anatomy.
Menippean Satire - ANSWER-Deal less with people and more with mental attitudes.
The characters are mouthpieces of the ideas they represent. Focuses on intellectual
fancy and caricatures.
Think: "Candide."
Novel vs. Romance - ANSWER-Essential difference is the conception of
characterization. Romance: archetypes; Novel: real people & personalities.
— Novel: newer; Romance: juvenile / something to be outgrown.
"Theory of the Novel" - ANSWER-Ian Watt.
— Realism is the defining characteristic that sets the novel apart from other fiction.
— The novel functions under the premise that individual experience is always unique
and therefore new.
— Novel's plot uses past experiences as cause of present action, replacing reliance on
coincidences.
— Novel supplies its own footnotes; no previous research / knowledge needed.
"People" - ANSWER-E.M. Forster.
