CLEP Analyzing and Interpreting Literature cheat sheet

Meter: iamb (unstressed-stressed), trochee (stressed-unstressed), anapest (unstressed-unstressed-stressed), dactyl (stressed-unstressed-unstressed); count feet per line to name meter (pentameter = 5 feet).

Rhyme scheme: assign letters to line endings (abab, aabb, abba); slant rhyme shares vowel or consonant sound but not both; internal rhyme occurs within a line.

Sonnet forms: Petrarchan/Italian = octave (abbaabba) + sestet (varying); Shakespearean/English = three quatrains + couplet (abab cdcd efef gg).

Blank verse = unrhymed iambic pentameter; free verse = no fixed meter or rhyme; both are distinct from prose poetry, which uses prose paragraphs.

Stanza types: couplet (2 lines), tercet (3), quatrain (4), sestet (6), octave (8); a volta is a turn in argument or mood, often at line 9 in a sonnet.

Figurative language: metaphor (direct comparison), simile (like/as), personification (human traits to nonhuman), metonymy (associated object for concept), synecdoche (part for whole).

Sound devices: alliteration (initial consonant repetition), assonance (vowel repetition), consonance (consonant repetition), onomatopoeia (word imitates sound).

Caesura = pause within a line; enjambment = sentence continues past line break without punctuation; end-stopped line = syntactic pause at line end.

Narrative point of view: first person (I/we), second person (you), third-person limited (one character's thoughts), third-person omniscient (all thoughts), objective/dramatic (no inner thoughts).

Fiction elements: plot (exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, resolution), setting, characterization (direct vs. indirect), conflict (internal/external), theme.

Irony types: verbal (speaker means opposite), situational (outcome contrasts expectation), dramatic (reader knows more than character).

Nonfiction subgenres: memoir (personal, focused period), autobiography (whole life), biography (written by another), essay (formal/informal), speech, journal, criticism.

Tone = author's attitude toward subject; mood = feeling evoked in reader; diction = word choice; syntax = sentence structure.

Rhetorical appeals: ethos (credibility), pathos (emotion), logos (logic/evidence); rhetorical question, parallelism, and repetition are persuasive devices.

Style markers: periodic sentence (main clause delayed to end), cumulative/loose sentence (main clause first, modifiers follow), telegraphic (short, clipped).

Theme vs. subject: subject is the topic (e.g., war); theme is the insight about the topic stated as a full sentence (e.g., war dehumanizes soldiers).

Tragedy: protagonist of high status falls through hamartia (tragic flaw) and experiences peripeteia (reversal) and anagnorisis (recognition); catharsis is the audience's purging of emotion.

Comedy: often ends in marriage or reconciliation; types include romantic comedy, comedy of manners (satirizes social class), farce (absurd situations), and satire.

Dramatic structure: exposition, inciting incident, rising action, climax/turning point, falling action, denouement/resolution; acts and scenes organize the plot.

Soliloquy = alone on stage, speaks inner thoughts; monologue = extended speech with others present; aside = brief remark to audience unheard by other characters.

Stage directions (bracketed or italicized text) indicate setting, movement, tone, and props; they are not spoken dialogue.

Dialogue reveals character through word choice, rhythm, and subtext (meaning beneath the literal words); subtext often creates dramatic irony.

Stock characters and conventions: foil (contrasts protagonist), confidant, raisonneur (spokesperson for a viewpoint), deus ex machina (contrived resolution).

Genre markers: history play (based on chronicle events), problem play (debates social issue), absurdist drama (illogical, circular dialogue, meaninglessness).