Literary Term Match Up Trivia Quiz

Answer: Autobiography

Autobiographical writing goes back to ancient times. Flavius Josephus, a Jewish writer of the first century, wrote his autobiography "Josephi Via" to explain his actions as a Jewish rebel commander. The famous St. Augustine of Hippo wrote "Confessions", which revealed a rather sinful past before his conversion to Christianity. Abdallah ibn Buluggin, who wrote his memoirs, "An Exposition of the Downfall of the Zirid Dynasty in Granada", is considered to have written the first autobiographical work in Islamic society.

Answer: Biography

Biographical works are typically non-fiction, and many times are written with the subject's permission in a form which is called an authorized biography. One of the earliest examples comes from Plutarch, who wrote "Parallel Lives" in approximately 80 AD, which was a series about famous men, including the likes of Alexander the Great.

After the fall of the Roman Empire, much of the biographical work was done by monks, focusing on the lives of saints, popes, and other religious figures. The first modern example of the genre is considered to be "The Life of Samuel Johnson", by James Boswell.

Answer: Comedy

The origins of the comedy genre are found in ancient Greece. In the modern sense, a comedy is intended to be funny and make a person laugh; that was also the case in ancient Greek, where comedies were largely political satires. Aristophanes, known as the "Father of Greek Comedy", is credited with writing 40 comedies. To the ancient Greeks and Romans, a comedy was a play that had a happy ending. Today there are many forms, such as a screwball comedy, which derives its humor from bizarre characters or plots, or romantic comedy, which is typically a funny look at the problems of people falling in love.

Answer: Drama

The genre of drama, which involved comedy, tragedy, and the satyr play, is believed to have originated in ancient Athens, and was adopted by the ancient Romans, who became captivated with the culture of Greece. During the Middle Ages, mystery plays and miracle plays concentrated on topics from the Bible, and the morality play was used to relate ethical values and issues.

There are several forms of drama today, including opera and pantomime.

Answer: Essay

Written as a pamphlet, article, or short story, an essay is composed to give the author's argument concerning a specific topic. Written in many different styles, such as compare and contrast, which points out similarities and differences in the topic, and descriptive, which appeals to the readers' physical senses, essays are an important part of the curricula in education today. What student hasn't come home complaining that they have to write a "paper"?

Answer: Fable

A fictional story that features animals, plants, other objects, or mythical characters that have been given human qualities, the fable has been used to teach a moral lesson for centuries. Probably the earliest example is known as "Aesop's Fables", which dates back to ancient Greece in approximately 550 BC. "The Tortoise and the Hare" teaches us that slow and steady wins the race, while "The Lion and the Mouse", reminds us that there is nothing so small that it cannot help a larger entity. Many countries have similar tales that are part of their folklore tradition.

Answer: Fantasy

Although there may be overlap between the genres of fantasy, science fiction, and horror, fantasy stories do tend to stay away from scientific notions and gruesome, ghastly details. A fantasy author relies quite a bit on his imagination to come up with story setting, characters, and plots that are not limited by being connected to a real situation.

The "Harry Potter" series by J.K. Rowling, and "Lord of the Rings" saga by J. R. R. Tolkien are very popular examples of this type of literature.

Answer: Novel

The novel, which is a prose story, describes fictional characters and events. While early novels written in Latin and Sanskrit can be found, the "Tale of Genji, from Japan has been described as the world's first novel. Many, however, consider "Don Quixote", written by Miquel Cervantes, to be the first European novel.

Answer: Historical Fiction

Although some of the facts in historical fiction can be fiction, it is important that the details of the period are depicted correctly. The history of this type of writing goes back a long way; although many might classify the "Iliad" as epic poetry, it has also been described as historical fiction. Sometimes called the world's first novel, "The Tale of Genji" from Japan can also be classified as historical fiction.

Answer: Prose

There are many types of prose, including heroic prose, prose fiction, and prose poetry. In this type of writing, sentences and paragraphs have proper grammar and mechanics. Common places to find this type of writing are newspapers articles or school textbooks. "The State of the Union Address", given each year by the president of the U.S., is an example of a prose speech.