Dr hab. Andrzej Diniejko
UW, UKKNJA
INTRODUCTION TO LITERARY STUDIES
EXAMINATION TOPICS
2011-2012
Functions of literature.
What is intertextuality?
What is literary language and the language of literature?
Content and form in a literary text.
The theme of a literary work, spatial and temporal setting.
Plot, minor plot, major plot, plot structure (climactic, episodic structure), physical plot, psychological plot.
The high and low style in traditional literary theory.
Satire and irony. Types of irony.
Alliteration and onomatopoeia, simile and metaphor, metonymy.
The characteristic features of epic and lyric poetry.
Ballad, ode, sonnet, pastoral poetry, conrete poetry.
Rhythm and rhyme. Internal rhyme, assonance.
Blank verse (, iambic pentametre) and free verse.
Classical literary genres and some new literary genres.
Monologue, dialogue, soliloquy, aside (in a drama).
The main elements of a dramatic play.
Explain the difference between the climactic and episodic structure of a dramatic
play.
Features of tragedy. Tragic vision.
Features of comedy, farce, tragicomedy, modern tragicomedy (theatre of absurd).
Flashback, foreshadowing.
Physical & psychological plot.
Protagonist and antagonist (in tragedy).
Symbol and symbolism.
Catharsis, comic relief (in tragedy), tragic relief (in comedy), dramatic irony, deux ex machina.
Novel, types of novels, short story, fable, tale, fairy tale.
Rhetorical question, conceit, oxymoron, synechoche, periphrasis.
Mock epic poetry.
Dramatic monologue, stream-of-consciousness technique, frame narrative (or frame story).
Characters; flat (static) and round (dynamic characters).
Hamartia, hubris, peripeteia, three unities (in a drama).
Narration, narrator (omniscient, non-omniscient), narratee.
Paratextual devices in a literary work.
What is a literary canon?
What is the difference between a `naive' and critical reader?
Describe briefly three characteristic genres of popular literature. Provide examples.
What is point of view in a narrative work?