Literary Criticism 1 Flashcards

100 practice flashcards in Question and Answer format based on the lecture notes on Classical and Renaissance Literary Criticism.

What kind of democracy characterized classical Greece?

Direct, exclusive democracy (rather than representative).

Which city-state headed the Delian League of more than 100 city-states in classical Greece?

Athens.

What was Plato's real name and what does the name "Plato" mean?

His real name was Aristocles; "Plato" means "broad-shouldered".

What inscription was placed above the entrance of Plato's philosophical school, the Academy?

"Let no one without geometry enter"

How many Dialogues did Plato write, and who is the main speaker in them?

Plato wrote 36 Dialogues, with Socrates as the main speaker.

In how many books is Plato's The Republic written, and what is its ideal city named?

It is written in ten books, and its ideal city is named Kallipolis.

According to Plato's The Republic, who should rule the ideal city?

Philosopher-kings who are trained to rule.

In Plato's Theory of Forms, what represents Ultimate Reality?

Ideas are the Ultimate Reality (represented by the Sun).

What term refers to Plato's concept that all knowledge is recollected from a previous experience?

Anamnesis.

In which book of The Republic does Plato present the Allegory of the Cave?

Book VII.

Why did Plato believe poetry cannot be relied upon rationally?

Because poetic inspiration is divine and occurs without the poet's rational involvement as an impulse of the moment.

According to Plato, why is poetry considered non-moral?

Because poetry indiscriminately lets virtue as well as vice triumph, presenting gods and heroes as susceptible to vices.

According to Plato, what negative effect does tragic and comic pleasure have on viewers?

Tragic and comic pleasure arise from excesses and weaknesses, offering cheap pleasure that arouses baser instincts and leads to bad taste and laxity in discipline.

Why did Plato believe impersonation in drama is harmful to individual character?

Impersonation represses individuality and enfeebles character.

What are the four grounds on which Plato objected to poetry?

Moral, Emotional, Intellectual, and Utilitarian grounds.

Besides poetry, what other arts did Plato object to?

Painting, sculpture, and music.

In which book of The Republic does Plato conclude that poetry must be banished from the ideal Republic?

Book X.

Under what condition does Plato allow poetry to return from exile?

If poetry makes "a defense for herself in lyrical or some other meter".

What Indian contemporary of Plato asserted that "anukarana" is the basis of "natya"?

Bharata.

What two summary conclusions did Plato make regarding art at best?

Art is at best (1) useless and (2) potentially dangerous.

What are the five specific reasons Plato gives for why art is potentially dangerous?

A. Art is essentially deceptive. B. Art is mainly concerned with sensual pleasure. C. Art is psychologically de-stabilizing. D. Art leads to immorality. E. Art is politically dangerous.

Who was Aristotle's famous pupil, and which philosophical school did Aristotle found?

He was tutor to Alexander the Great and founded the Lyceum.

How many chapters does Aristotle's Poetics contain, and which genre is it mainly concerned with?

It contains 26 chapters (incomplete) and is mainly concerned with tragedy.

How did Aristotle's view of art differ from Plato's assessment that art is useless and dangerous?

Aristotle maintained that good art was neither useless nor dangerous, but rather natural and beneficial.

According to Aristotle, what three parameters differentiate various kinds of artistic imitation (mimesis)?

Medium (Rhythm, Language, Harmony), Objects (Men in action), and Manner or Mode (Narrative and Action).

How did Aristotle contrast Plato's view that art is psychologically de-stabilizing and politically dangerous?

Aristotle held that art is psychologically healthy, leads to moral knowledge, and is politically necessary and healthy.

How does Aristotle contrast History and Poetry regarding what they express?

History expresses what has happened, particular incidents, and factual details; Poetry expresses what may happen, universal truths, and is philosophical.

According to Aristotle, what is the primary aim of poetry, and what role should instruction play?

Pleasure is the primary aim of poetry, and instruction should be incidental to pleasure.

According to Aristotle, which forms of poetry imitate noble actions of good men, and which imitate mean actions of bad men?

Noble actions of good men are imitated by Epic and Tragedy; mean actions of bad men are imitated by Satire and Comedy.

How does Aristotle define tragedy in Poetics?

Tragedy is an imitation of an action that is serious, complete and of a certain magnitude; in language embellished with each kind of artistic ornament… in the form of action, not of narrative; through pity and fear effecting the proper purgation of these emotions.

What are the six constituent elements of tragedy according to Aristotle?

Plot (mythos), Character (ethos), Thought (dianoia), Diction (lexis), Song (melos), and Spectacle (opsis).

Which of the six constituent elements did Aristotle consider the "soul of tragedy"?

Plot (mythos).

Which constituent element of tragedy is least connected with poetry, according to Aristotle?

Spectacle (opsis).

What diagrammatic structure, illustrated in the image, was developed by nineteenth-century German novelist Gustav Freytag to analyze narrative plots?

Freytag's pyramid.

In Freytag's Pyramid, what is the single event that signals the beginning of the main conflict?

Inciting Incident.

What Greek terms did Aristotle use for Rising Action and Falling Action in a plot?

Desis (tying the knot) for Rising Action, and Lusis (untying the knot) for Falling Action.

What are the three Classical Unities, and which one was added by Renaissance critics?

Unity of Action, Unity of Time, and Unity of Place; Unity of Place was an addition of Renaissance critics.

How is Unity of Time described in Aristotle's Poetics?

It is mentioned casually only once as conformity between the time of actual events and their representation on stage, usually a "single revolution of the sun".

What are the two ways emotions of pity and fear are aroused to achieve Catharsis, and which is superior?

(1) By spectacular means, and (2) by the inner structure of the plot; the inner structure of the plot is superior.

What are the two main parts of a tragic plot according to Aristotle?

Complication (everything from the beginning to the climax) and Denouement (the unravelling after the climax).

What distinguishes a Complex Plot from a Simple Plot in Aristotle's Poetics?

A Complex Plot contains Peripeteia (reversal of fortune) and Anagnorisis (discovery or recognition).

According to Aristotle, what are the three most important moments in a tragedy?

The reversal of fortune (peripeteia), the discovery of the critical fact which hastens the denouement (anagnorisis), and the suffering (final submission of the hero).

In Oedipus Rex, when do anagnorisis and peripeteia occur?

Anagnorisis happens when the messenger reveals Oedipus's true birth, followed immediately by peripeteia when his true parentage is revealed.

What term does Aristotle use for the tragic flaw or error in judgment of a tragic hero?

Hamartia.

What happens to a tragic hero's awareness when their fall occurs?

With the fall, there is an increase in awareness.

During whose reign did Roman lyric poet Horace write, and what qualities did he advocate?

During Augustus Caesar's reign; he advocated moderation and practical wisdom.

What Latin phrase from Horace means "seize the day"?

Carpe diem.

Which phrase of Horace did Wilfred Owen refer to as "the old Lie" in his famous poem?

"Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori".

What are the characteristics of Horace's Odes?

They express in a conversational style the pleasures of friendship and love, are autobiographical and ironically self-effacing, reflect the peace of the Roman empire, and use Greek metres in Latin.

How do Horace's Satires differ from those of his predecessors?

They are mild and witty, representing a break from the invective-laden attacks of his predecessors.

What is the alternative title of Horace's Ars Poetica, and who translated it into English?

Letter to Piso; first translated by Elizabeth I, and later by Ben Jonson.

What are the three main divisions of Horace's Ars Poetica?

I. POESIS (subject-matter of poetry), II. POEMA (form), III. POETA (the poet).

How is a "purple patch" defined in literary terms according to Horace's Poesis?

A brilliant or ornate passage in a literary composition, usually in the midst of mediocrity.

What narrative technique recommended by Horace in Poema involves beginning a story "into the middle of things"?

In medias res (following Homer).

What rules regarding act division and character count on stage does Horace specify in Poema?

There should be only 5 Acts in a tragedy, and 3 characters in a scene.

What Latin phrase used by Horace means "as is painting, so is poetry"?

Ut pictura poesis.

What Latin phrase expresses Horace's view that poetry should be both sweet and useful (teach and delight)?

Dulce et utile.

What phrase does Horace use to show that minor faults in great poets can be forgiven?

"Even good Homer nods."

Where was Quintilian educated, and what is his best-known treatise?

Educated in Rome; best known for Institutio Oratoria (The Education of an Orator).

How many books comprise Quintilian's Institutio Oratoria?

12 books.

According to Quintilian, how is style produced?

Style is the product of both nature and art.

What four kinds of words does Quintilian identify in his theory of style?

Words associated with some writer, newly coined words, archaic words, and familiar words of daily use.

What four attributes must the arrangement of words have according to Quintilian?

Clarity, Ornamental Grace, Artistic Structure, and Rhythmical Ease.

What is the original Greek title of Longinus's work On the Sublime, and who produced its first English translation in 1652?

Peri Hypsous; translated into English by John Hall in 1652.

How did critic Scott-James describe Longinus?

As the "First Romantic critic".

How does Longinus define sublimity in On the Sublime?

A certain distinction and excellence in expression that flashes forth at the right moment, scatters everything like a thunderbolt, and displays the orator's power in all its plenitude.

What is "the first and most important source of sublimity" according to Longinus?

The power of forming great conceptions ("Sublimity is the echo of a great soul").

What are the five sources of sublimity identified by Longinus?

Grandeur of Thought, Passion (Pathos), Rhetorical Features (Schemata), Phrasis (noble language/diction), and Composition (harmony).

In Longinus's rhetorical figures, what is Asyndeton and what is Hyperbaton?

Asyndeton is the deliberate omission of conjunctions; Hyperbaton is the disruption of normal word order.

What are the four vices of style mentioned by Longinus?

Turgidity, Puerility, Parenthyrsos, and Frigidity.

What does Longinus mean by the vice of style called Parenthyrsos?

An overdone, artificial emotional tone.

Which three poets and three prose writers does Longinus cite as examples of the sublime?

Poetry: Homer, Aeschylus, Sappho; Prose: Plato, Demosthenes, Herodotus.

From whom is the term "Humanism" derived, and what shift in perspective did it represent?

Derived from Cicero; represented a shift from "other-worldliness" to "this worldliness".

Which 1557 poetry anthology is associated with the emergence of Renaissance poetry in England?

Tottel's Miscellany.

What is the title and date of Stephen Gosson's work challenging poetry and drama?

The Schoole of Abuse (1579).

How did Stephen Gosson describe poets in The Schoole of Abuse?

As "pipers, jesters and caterpillars of the Commonwealth".

When was Sir Philip Sidney's Apologie for Poetrie written, and when was it printed?

Written in 1580-81; printed twice in 1595.

Why is Sidney's Apologie for Poetrie significant in English literary criticism?

It is the epitome of Renaissance poetics and marks the formal inauguration of literary theory in England.

In the introduction of Apologie for Poetrie, whose passionate praise of horsemanship does Sidney reference?

Pugliano.

How does Sidney define poetry in Apologie for Poetrie?

As "an art of imitation… a representing, counterfeiting, or figuring forth: to speak metaphorically, a speaking picture: with this end, to teach and delight".

Inspired by Minturno and Scaliger, what three kinds of poetry does Sidney identify?

Religious (Divine) Poetry, Philosophical or informative Poetry, and Right or true kind of Poetry.

What eight subdivisions belong to Sidney's "Right or true kind of Poetry"?

Heroic, Lyric, Tragic, Elegiac, Comic, Satiric, Iambic, and Pastoral.

Which kind of poetry does Sidney call "the best and most accomplished kind of poetry"?

Heroic (or Epic) poetry.

Based on Sidney's comparison depicted in the table, how do the Philosopher, Historian, and Poet differ in how they teach?

The Philosopher teaches by precept alone, the Historian teaches by example alone, and the Poet employs both precept and example.

How does the Poet handle virtue and vice compared to the Historian, according to Sidney?

While the Historian mixes up vice and virtue, the Poet makes virtue succeed and vice fail (Poetic justice).

Does Sidney consider metre and rhyme essential (sine qua non) to poetry?

No, metre and rhyme are not sine qua non, but they are desirable because they add polish, harmony, sensuous quality, and aid memory.

How does Sidney answer the charge that poetry is the "mother of lies"?

Sidney states that the poet affirms nothing, and therefore never lieth; poetry offers fiction embodying ideal truths.

How does Sidney describe critics who cannot appreciate poetry at the end of his Apologie?

As having an "earth-creeping mind" that cannot look up at "the sky of poetry".

What 1575 work by George Gascoigne is considered the first English guide to versification?

Certain Notes of Instruction Concerning the making of Verse or Rhyme in English.

What are the three parts of George Puttenham's The Art of English Poesie (1589)?

(1) Of Poets and Poesie, (2) Of Proportion Poetical, (3) Of Ornament.

Who wrote Observations on the Art of English Poesie attacking rhyme, and who wrote the 1603 response A Defence of Rhyme?

Thomas Campion attacked rhyme; Samuel Daniel wrote A Defence of Rhyme in response.

Which three scholars make up the "Tudor trio"?

Sir Thomas Wilson, Sir John Cheke, and Roger Ascham.

Where does Francis Bacon discuss the Four Idols of the human mind, and what are their four names?

In The Advancement of Learning; Idols of the Tribe, Idols of the Cave or Den, Idols of the Marketplace, and Idols of the Theatre.

Which of Bacon's Idols arise from social communication and abuses of words?

Idols of the Marketplace.

What is the title of Ben Jonson's commonplace book containing "De Shakespeare Nostrat"?

Timber or Discoveries Made Upon Men and Matter.

Ben Jonson is recognized as the first neoclassical critic in England. What best metre did he advocate?

The couplet.

What are the five requirements Ben Jonson outlines for a good poet?

What he should be by nature, by exercise, by imitation, by study, and by art.

What famous phrase did Ben Jonson use regarding Shakespeare's classical knowledge?

Shakespeare had "small Latine, and lesse Greeke".

What memorable line did Ben Jonson write about Shakespeare in the First Folio prefatory poem?

"He was not of an age, but for all time."

What promise does Ben Jonson make regarding his style of comedy in the Prologue to Everyman in His Humour?

To employ "deeds, and language, such as men do use" and sport with human follies, not with crimes.