Literary Themes & Style (Practice Test)

1. What primarily defines a work’s theme?
(A) The author’s biography
(B) The underlying universal ideas
(C) The publication date
(D) The chapter titles

2. Which device uses contradictory terms for effect?
(A) Metaphor
(B) Oxymoron
(C) Synecdoche
(D) Alliteration

3. What distinguishes stream of consciousness style?
(A) Strict iambic pentameter
(B) Unfiltered character thoughts
(C) Third-person omniscient narration
(D) Rhyming couplets

4. Which theme dominates Gothic literature?
(A) Technological progress
(B) Sublime terror
(C) Pastoral harmony
(D) Political satire

5. What characterizes magical realism?
(A) Scientific accuracy
(B) Fantastical elements in mundane settings
(C) Historical revisionism
(D) Absence of dialogue

6. Which technique shows foreshadowing?
(A) Flashbacks
(B) Symbolic omens
(C) Direct authorial commentary
(D) Epistolary format

7. What defines Bildungsroman novels?
(A) Protagonist’s moral decline
(B) Coming-of-age journey
(C) War narratives
(D) Detective plots

8. Which style feature marks Postmodernism?
(A) Linear narratives
(B) Unreliable narrators
(C) Strict realism
(D) Avoidance of intertextuality

9. What’s central to pastoral poetry?
(A) Urban alienation
(B) Idealized rural life
(C) Industrial imagery
(D) Political manifestos

10. Which device uses extended comparisons?
(A) Allegory
(B) Onomatopoeia
(C) Caesura
(D) Assonance