Narrative Elements & Literary Techniques
Authors and Stories We've Read
Critical Lenses
Random Questions
Final Question
100
Turn this metaphor into a simile:
"This week was a parade of summatives that had no end!"
""This week was LIKE a parade of summatives that had no end!"
100
What color was the dog in Chekhov's "Lady with the Dog"?
White
100
After losing his wealth and property to a corrupt sheriff, this former aristocrat learns that those in power and privilege are corrupt, and proceeds to steal in order to redistribute wealth to a band of working-class citizens who have become his band of friends.
A Marxist reading of Robin Hood
100
Mr. Zen bonded with fellow AP Lit teacher Ms. Wheatley because they both come from the same generation. What is their generation called? (Hint: we love alternative rock, used "beepers" before there were smartphones, and religiously watched Buffy the Vampire Slayer).
Generation X
100
What book has Mr. Zen re-read the most times? Hint: it is a children's book about a bunny and his mother rabbit's bedtime routine that was most often requested by his sons to read before bed.
Goodnight Moon
200
Protagonists are "good guys", antagonists are "bad guys". But, what do we call a character who is a "bad guy" but the central character in a text?
Anti-hero
200
What drink does the "American man" order for himself and the "girl" in "Hills Like White Elephants"? (Provide the answer in Spanish.)
(Dos) Cervezas
200
A girl feels she must transform her body and literally give up her voice (and her own kingdom) to be with a man in a story that reinforces patriarchal views of women as either damsels in distress or villainous witches.
The Little Mermaid
200
The first book Mr. Zen read that was over 1000 pages (when he was 11 years old) was by this prolific and bestselling American horror novelist.
Stephen King (It)
300
Name ONE way you would describe the narrator of this text:
Violet, Klaus, and Sunny Baudelaire were intelligent children, and they were charming, and resourceful, and had pleasant facial features, but they were extremely unlucky, and most everything that happened to them was rife with misfortune, misery, and despair. I’m sorry to tell you this, but that is how the story goes.
First Person / Omniscient / Subjective
300
What do "A" and "P" stand for in Updike's "A&P"?
(The Great) Atlantic & Pacific (Tea Company)
300
A girl raised by a single father transfers her thwarted affection for her father to a hirsute captor who has imprisoned her in a bizarre example of Stolkholm Syndrome (talk about "daddy issues").
A psychoanalytic or feminist reading of Beauty and the Beast
300
What score did Mr. Zen get on his AP Lit exam waaay back in 1995?
A "5" of course!
400
Freytag's "Triangle" divides the plot of a story into five sections. What is the last section called? (You must use the FRENCH term Freytag originally used!)
Dénouement
400
The viral success of "Cat Person" led to a bidding war among publishing companies for Kristen Roupenian's debut novel You Know You Want This. How much will Roupenian earn as an advance for her novel?
1 Million USD
400
Despite having diverse cultures and aspirations, a colonized community is made to feel as if they are property and forced to act as if they have no agency or autonomy in the presence of their white, male "owner".
A Marxist OR Critical Race/Postcolonial reading of Toy Story
400
In Dr. Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, the body of an alternate universe Dr. Strange is later reanimated at the climax of the film to fight the final battle in a morbid example of what literary device or trope?
Checkhov's Gun
500
What literary technique is used in this line:
"The somber clouds darkened our mood, as if admonishing us for looking to fall break with optimism.”
Personification
(or, more accurately, Pathetic Fallacy)
500
Chekhov's writing style was inspired by the movement of Romanticism, which features vivid descriptions and strong emotions. In contrast, Hemmingway's reserved and objective style exemplified a movement known as...
Realism / Minimalism
500
A child is ostracized and discriminated against due to racial differences until the affirmative actions of a community leader lift the child up to a leadership position, seeing that the racial differences are actually what will benefit the community the most.
A Critical Race/Post Colonial reading of Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer
500
In 6th grade, Mr. Zen played the angry cousin of the female protagonist in a well-known Shakespearean tragedy. Name the play and the character.
Romeo and Juliet, Tybalt