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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Like any art, poetry is defined by Aristotle as what?
(a) A theatrical play.
(b) A funny story.
(c) A kind of imitation.
(d) A rhyme with more than four sentences.

2. In poetry, what is the term that Aristotle gives for an action that aims to accomplish a certain goal, but actually accomplishes the opposite?
(a) Irony.
(b) Tragedy.
(c) Failure.
(d) Reversal of Situation.

3. When a poet presents the poem in the voice of one of the characters, what method does Aristotle say that the poet is using?
(a) The method of imitation.
(b) The method of recognition.
(c) The method of first person.
(d) The method of third person.

4. Aristotle asserts that men who find poetry very attractive find great pleasure in what?
(a) Sleeping.
(b) Eating.
(c) Learning.
(d) Cleaning.

5. What is one of the requirements Aristotle mentions for a good tragic plot?
(a) A good plot must be tragic in the beginning, middle, and end.
(b) A good plot must be unified.
(c) A good plot must be mysterious.
(d) A good plot must have disconnected episodes that tie together at the end.

Short Answer Questions

1. The object poetry portrays is what, according to Aristotle?

2. In an episodic plot, Aristotle explains that the individual episodes of the story bear what to one another?

3. In what three ways does Aristotle differentiate various art forms from one another?

4. When one character realizes that another character has fewer morals than he once thought, what does Aristotle say is happening?

5. A character attempting to save his friend but accidentally killing him instead is an example Aristotle gives for what?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does Aristotle classify or divide actions? Explain.

2. Aristotle explains that the object which poetry portrays is men in action. How may poets differ in how they represent these men?

3. What does Aristotle say the goal of tragedy is and how does he say good poetry accomplish this goal?

4. According to Aristotle, how does the method of imitation differ?

5. Based on Aristotle's teachings, what does it mean when a plot is unified?

6. What does Aristotle say about the the beginning and end of a tragic plot?

7. Whom does Aristotle say favors episodic, as opposed to epic, storytelling and why?

8. Is the unity of plot the same as the unity of a character's actions? Explain.

9. How does Aristotle differentiate the arts from one another?

10. How does Aristotle define comedy as a type of poetry?

(see the answer keys)

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