AP LIT Aristotle Test Review

Give an approximate date for Aristotle.

330 BC

The work by Aristotle studied in class is titled:

Poetics

List three common means for poetry as a whole:

Language, Harmony, and Rythm

List three types of characters (agents):

Ideal, Realism, Caricature

Describe the difference in manner between epic and drama.

Epics use direct and indirect narration, while dramas use direct action.

List the the firt origin of poetry:

Natural human instinct for imitation

List the second origin of poetry:

Pleasure in viewing imitation

Identify the origin of tragedy:

Improvisation

Identify the first stage in the origin of tragedy:

Dithyrambs (added the chorus)

Identify the second stage in the origin of tragedy:

Thespis (added the first actor)

Identify the third stage in the origin of tragedy:

Aeschylus (added another actor)

Identify the fourth stage in the origin of tragedy:

Sophocles (added more actors and increased the importance of dialogue)

Define tragedy.

An imitation of a serious, complete action that invokes pity and fear.

List the 6 parts of every tragedy:

Plot, Character, Diction, Thought, Song (harmony), Spectacle

List the most important of the six parts.

Plot

List the three parts this part (plot) must have:

Beginning, middle, and end

Name the one Unity Aristotle insists on.

Unity of action (plot)

Define the distinction between the historian and the poet.

Historians describe what has happened; poets describe what could happen.

Define peripety and give a specific example from Oedipus Rex.

Peripety is a turning point in the action, when a character's situation changes. EX: Oedipus's search for Laius's killer turns against him when he realizes that he himself is the killer.

Define discovery and give a specific example from Oedipus Rex.

Shift from ignorance to knowledge. EX: Shepherd A’s testimony helps reveal that Oedipus is the son of Laius and Jocasta, and Oedipus recognizes the truth about his identity.

Describe what the tragic hero is to produce tragic effect.

A good man who makes an error in judgment.

Describe what the tragic hero is not. (1)

Bad man who goes from happiness to misery.

Describe what the tragic hero is not. (2)

Good man who goes from misery to happiness.

Describe what the tragic hero is not. (3)

Not an extremely bad man who goes from happiness to misery.

Identify the tragic pleasure or tragic effect.

Pity and fear.

Define complication.

Everything from the beginning of the play to the climax.

Define denouement.

Everything from the climax to the end of the play.

Which is preferable—a likely impossibility or an unconvincing possibility?

A likely impossibility.

Explain why Aristotle views tragedy as superior to the epic even though he views the structure of the Homeric poems as perfect as can be.

Tragedy has all the elements of epic, plus music and spectacle. It creates a greater effect in a shorter time.