Teste de conhecimento Temas I ao IV

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Temas I ao IV 
 
Tema I 
Módulo I 
1. Todorov tornou-se referência para os estudos do gênero fantástico. Esse fato se deu pela publicação do célebre 
ensaio A narrativa fantástica, e depois pela obra Introdução à literatura fantástica. Para o crítico búlgaro, há um 
elemento crucial para que a narrativa fantástica se estabeleça. Marque qual das alternativas representa esse 
elemento: 
A. Temáticas fúnebres. 
B. Ser hermético. 
C. Amor romântico. 
D. Hesitação. CORRECT 
E. Narrador onisciente. 
A alternativa D está correta. Para Todorov, a hesitação, ou seja, a incerteza diante de acontecimentos insólitos, é o 
elemento principal que marca a narrativa fantástica. Para o autor, o fantástico perdura somente enquanto perdura a 
incerteza. A partir do momento em que a dúvida é desfeita, sai-se do campo do fantástico. 
2. O fantástico como gênero foi questionado por diversos autores. Pode-se dizer que um dos principais ataques à 
teoria de Todorov se deu por conta 
A. da inclusão do fantástico na teoria dos gêneros aristotélicos. 
B. da limitação temporal e de algumas obras específicas do século XX. 
C. da limitação temporal e de algumas obras específicas dos séculos XVIII e XIX. CORRETO 
D. da limitação às narrativas de língua francesa. 
E. da limitação aos contos Russos. 
A alternativa C está correta. Segundo alguns críticos a Todorov, a limitação do fantástico a algumas obras europeias, 
e devido ao corte histórico, dos séculos XVIII e XIX, fez com que expressivos autores da modalidade fantástica ficassem 
de fora, tais como Edgar Allan Poe e Franz Kafka 
 
Módulo II 
1. O fantástico, para Todorov, acontece num período histórico marcado por uma corrente filosófica, que defendia que 
a única forma de conhecimento verdadeiro é o científico. Essa doutrina era denominada: 
A. Classicismo 
B. Parnasianismo 
C. Idealismo 
D. Existencialismo 
E. Positivismo CORRETO 
A alternativa E está correta. A narrativa fantástica germina em solo positivista, para dar conta do vazio deixado pelo 
mundo transcendente e representar as angústias do sujeito moderno cujo discurso racional e científico não fornecem 
respostas. 
 
2. Todorov estrutura um esquema com categorias que vão do maravilhoso ao estranho. No centro, em uma fina linha, 
está situado o fantástico. Entretanto, podemos ver ao seu lado, como gêneros vizinhos, o fantástico-estranho e o 
fantástico-maravilhoso. Este último diferencia-se do maravilhoso por um detalhe. De acordo com as alternativas, diga 
qual elemento é necessário para se definir um texto como fantástico-maravilhoso. 
A. A presença de eventos sobrenaturais. 
B. A existência de dispositivos com tecnologias ainda inexistentes para a época. 
C. A presença de hesitação mediante eventos insólitos. CORRETO 
D. O exagero de situações ou seres imaginários. 
E. A presença de seres com poderes sobre-humanos. 
A alternativa C está correta. O fantástico-maravilhoso se diferencia do maravilhoso devido a hesitação advinda de 
eventos sobrenaturais, esse estranhamento aproxima o gênero do fantástico, enquanto o maravilhoso tem esses 
eventos incorporados a sua narrativa, logo não provocam estranheza do narrador ou do leitor. 
 
Módulo III 
1. A seguinte frase é de Gabriel García Márquez e foi proferida pelo escritor durante uma entrevista em que falava a 
respeito de suas obras. Leia abaixo a declaração de García Márquez e marque a opção do movimento literário ao qual 
ele se refere. 
 
"É só realismo. A realidade é que é mágica. Não invento nada. Não há uma linha nos meus livros que não seja realidade. 
Não tenho imaginação." 
A. Naturalismo 
B. Realismo 
C. Fantástico-maravilhoso 
D. Parnasianismo 
E. Realismo mágico CORRETA 
A alternativa E está correta. A sentença de García Márquez resume o que foi o movimento realismo mágico, que 
buscava na magia do cotidiano o verdadeiro realismo, sem fórmulas artificiais ou invenções sobrenaturais, era apenas 
a representação do dia a dia de uma cultura rica em misticismos e eventos maravilhosos. 
 
2. O realismo mágico e o real imaginário foram movimentos limitados à expressão literária. Uma de suas intenções era 
a de criar uma literatura identitária, mas para isso era necessário romper com modelos anteriores. Leia as alternativas 
e marque aquela que melhor corresponde a essa afirmativa. 
A. Os movimentos literários da segunda metade do século XX na América Latina rompem com o modelo europeu como 
forma de afirmação de uma cultura nacional. CORRETO 
B. Os movimentos literários da segunda metade do século XX na América Latina rompem com o modelo norte-
americano como forma de rechaçar o neoliberalismo econômico reproduzido nas artes. 
C. Os movimentos literários do século XIX na América Latina rompem com o modelo europeu como forma de afirmação 
de uma cultura nacional. 
D. Os movimentos literários do século XX retomam o modelo europeu como forma de afirmação de uma cultura 
colonial. 
E. No século XX, nas Américas, nada se produziu de inovador no campo literário. 
A alternativa A está correta. Alguns autores de países hispano-americanos em meados do século XX realizaram um 
movimento na direção de uma literatura identitária. Para isso, foi necessário romper com a reprodução de modelos 
hegemônicos europeus, que não davam conta de representar as particularidades histórico-culturais da América Latina. 
 
Tema II 
Section 1 
1. Considering our discussions about Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s different notions of “imagination” and “fancy”, what 
was its impact in the arguments of the critics regarding the fantasy genre as a form of literature? 
A. The conceptualization of the notions of “imagination” and “fancy” allowed literary critics to perceive the fantastic 
in literature only as a form of “escapism”. 
B. The conceptualization of the notions of “imagination” and “fancy” allowed literary critics not to perceive the 
fantastic in literature only as a form of “escapism”. CORRECT 
C. The conceptualization of the notions of “imagination” and “fancy” by a renowned poet like Samuel Coleridge 
granted that works of fiction would use more fantasy elements. 
D. The conceptualization of the notions of “imagination” and “fancy” by a renowned poet like Samuel Coleridge 
deemed the XIX century the Fantastical Age of Fiction. 
E. The conceptualization of the notions of “imagination” and “fancy” allowed people to shift the everyday use of the 
word ‘fanciful’ into an exclusively literary meaning. 
Option B is correct. Samuel Taylor Coleridge, in 1817, famously elaborated on the difference between ‘fancy’ and 
‘imagination’. In his view, fancy and imagination referred to two distinct faculties and not, as general belief advocated, 
different degrees of the same power. Coleridge and the other European Romantics, by means of reconceptualizing 
how fancy and imagination were perceived allowed for a different take on fantasy fiction. Fictional inventions of our 
minds were no longer seen as forms of “escapism”. 
 
2. Regarding the discussion of Fredric Jameson’s arguments in favor of a materialist approach of fantasy literature, 
what are the potentially problematic issues of contemplating Magic as a fictional element of major importance? 
A. Jameson argues that the presence of Magic in fiction can trick the writer into an ahistorical idealization of human 
imaginative potential. CORRECT 
B. Jameson argues that the presence of Magic in fiction usually invites the writer to be profoundly conscious of its 
“escapist” skills. 
C. Jameson argues that the presence of Magic in fiction normally provides creatures such as dragons together with it, 
as a form of compensatory measure. 
D. Jameson argues that the presence of Magic in fiction can trick the author into being a copycat of someone else’s 
magical system. 
E. Jameson argues that the presence of Magic in fiction can trick the author towards a historical contextualization of 
his fantasy novel. 
Option A is correct. FredricJameson presents the major distinctions between fantasy and science fiction. While sci-fi 
refers to a historically restricted depiction of a social future (alien, robotic, or else), fantasy portrays a potentially free 
sketch of the human creativity if no boundaries limit it. Fantasy literature, however, faces a rather difficult challenge, 
that is, not to lose itself in a kind of idealism of human imaginative potential. Therefore, “historical constraints” should 
be present so that all the magical elements, for instance, are contextualized. 
 
Section 2 
1. According to Lloyd Alexander’s definition of High fantasy, mark the option that correctly points out the most 
important argument in his conceptualization of these novels: 
A. Alexander’s definition of High fantasy requires these novels to be filled with invented creatures, otherwise they 
should be rejected as high fantasy. 
B. Alexander’s definition of High fantasy requires these novels to be regarded as a lower kind of literature, only 
consumable by the masses. 
C. Alexander’s definition of High fantasy requires these novels to be placed in our own world but containing Magic and 
creatures. 
D. Alexander’s definition of High fantasy requires these novels to present original journeys every time they fall into 
the hands of a different author. 
E. Alexander’s definition of High fantasy requires these novels to be set in an entirely different world, alien to our own. 
Option E is correct. Alexander’s considerations about High fantasy referred to works of fiction in which the fantastic 
was constructed as a completely imaginary world, in other words, a world secondary to our own, profoundly different 
from ours. This secondary world may be elaborated in different ways, such as Tolkien’s Middle Earth or Harry Potter’s 
magical universe coexisting with the non-magical world. 
 
2. Considering the discussions regarding both J. R. R. Tolkien and C. S. Lewis as two of the most prominent authors of 
fantasy in the twentieth century, mark the option which correctly points out how they shifted the paradigm of modern 
fantasy: 
A. Tolkien and Lewis were the first two authors to write fantasy worlds as novels, instead of adventuring into poetic 
takes on the fantastic. 
B. Tolkien and Lewis put a definitive stop into the necessity for an “apologetic contextualization” of fantasy novels, 
such as making it a traveler’s tale or just a dream. CORRECT 
C. Tolkien and Lewis decided they would add characters only from Norse mythology into their fantasies, deeming them 
a rule for everybody who would try to write fantasy since then. 
D. Tolkien and Lewis wrote collaboratively a setting of unbreakable rules which needed to be followed in order for the 
fantastic to take place in literature. 
E. Tolkien and Lewis were the first who introduced to the academy the benefits of considering fantasy novels worth 
reading, deeming them a cultural product to be consumed by the elite. 
Option B is correct. According to the critic John Clute, The Lord of the Rings’ popularity marked “the end of apology” 
(CLUTE qtd. in JAMES, 2012, p. 65). Fantasy as a genre, with Tolkien as well as C.S. Lewis, experienced a paradigm shift, 
as explanations were no longer necessary. There was no need any more of a contextualized dream or a traveler's tale, 
full of fictional creations or not to justify a secondary world. A secondary world was then allowed, now, simply to be 
an unapologetic setting for a story. 
 
Section 3: 
1. After discussing some examples of low fantasy, which of the elements below should not be missing for a fantasy 
novel to be considered part of this subgenre: 
A. A world similar to our own, but with fantastic elements in it. CORRECT 
B. An evil being completely built upon the category of the fantastic. 
C. A moral dilemma that encompasses the main quest of the novel. 
D. A world alien to our own yet being relatable in terms of its characters. 
E. An evil and a good side, fighting for the survival of the fittest. 
Option A is correct. Low fantasy may include novels such as Neil Gaiman’s American Gods (2001), where the main 
setting is the recognizable contemporary landscape of the United States of America, but there is a subtle difference as 
the divine is understood to be there almost unnoticeable. Humans still inhabit these worlds of low fantasy, at least as 
the most populous race of creatures. The world is, therefore, similar to ours, however, it presents a hint of the 
fantastic, be them old gods, magic, magical creatures, and the like. 
 
2. After discussing George R. R. Martin’s book series, A Song of Ice and Fire, mark the option which correctly points 
out the problem of considering it through the lenses of Structuralist criticism, particularly regarding its formal aspects 
such as plot development: 
A. Structuralist accounts of fantasy novels are always precisely correct about all aspects of the fantastic secondary 
world systems created by each author. 
B. Structuralist accounts of fantasy novels might incur into amplifying analysis of the books analyzed, being capable of 
finding common narrative patterns in them. 
C. Structuralist accounts of fantasy novels might end up limiting the analysis of their character and plot developments 
into fixed categories of observation. CORRECT 
D. Structuralist accounts of fantasy novels might dive into the secondary worlds created by authors only to establish 
which critic could memorize more details about it. 
E. Structuralist accounts of fantasy novels might forget to mention the historical context of a book’s production, 
making their analysis simply wrongful. 
Option C is correct. If we take John Clute and Grant’s Encyclopedia of Fantasy and its conceptualization of High fantasy, 
Martin’s story proves it to be insufficient. For instance, the wrongness of Westeros is not corrected by a quest, on 
which heroes may embark. There are no heroes in the regular sense in A Song of Ice and Fire, only complex characters 
– sometimes loyal, sometimes treacherous to one another, but always deeply complex. Therefore, Martin’s books beg 
for the expansion of the concept of fantasy, highly organized in a structuralist view. 
 
Tema III 
Section 1 
1. Considering our discussions about Jerome Cohen’s Monster theory, mark the option which correctly describes the 
range of the image of a monster in literature: 
A. The monster is a symbol of the subdevelopment of houses and buildings in the neighborhood. 
B. The monster is a symbol of the crisis in our own identity, its embodiment forces us to look directly into our fears. 
C. The monster is a symbol for literature in terms of how much fun can we get out of that monster. 
D. The monster is a symbol of a cultural crisis unrelated to the people facing the monster in literature. 
E. The monster is a symbol of superficial meanings and visual effects, especially when it comes to cinema. 
Option B is correct. 
The monster is there to be understood as a symbol, as a social particularity, as an embodiment of our fears. The 
monstrous fictional character seems to repeatedly approach social phobias and taboos and the personal traumas of a 
given reader or community of readers. There is a transgressive quality in the monster that makes it a relevant 
metaphor to be analyzed so that its complexity of meaning can be discussed. 
 
2. Regarding the discussion about “the new vampire which emerged in the 19th century”, mark the option which 
correctly describes its characteristics. 
A. “The new vampire” is constantly associated with the animal form of the bat, being the bloodsucking wild animal 
that he is. 
B. "The new vampire” is part of the aristocracy, sly as well as seductive, fearsome yet impressive. CORRECT 
C. "The new vampire” is indebted to Percy Shelley, who wrote about many kinds of vampires before them being part 
of the cultural imaginary of Europe. 
D. "The new vampire” is the associationbetween the bat and the man, without any consequences to either side of his 
personality. 
E. "The new vampire” is an aristocrat which never relies too much on human appearance, and he never leaves his 
house during the day. 
Option B is correct. Short stories have significantly altered the monstrous qualities of vampires during the 19th 
century. Before the 19th century, the vampire was a character popular in German folklore and widely regarded as a 
bloodsucking creature, inhuman in all its aspects, being, therefore, more akin to bloodsucking bats than to the human 
species. By the time writers such as John Polidori, Sheridan Le Fanu or even Bram Stoker write their own vampire 
stories, the character of the vampire is completely revamped – it becomes associated with royalty and aristocracy, 
and its slyness is compensated by a seductive aura surrounding this mysterious individual and the ambiguous 
relationship towards the vampire: placed between lust and fear. 
 
Section 2 
1. According to the interpretations discussed above regarding Jacobs’ The monkey’s paw, mark the option which 
correctly describes how a particular view of India is central to the story. 
A. The talisman coming from India is indicative of profound reverence and respect towards India’s cultural 
manifestations. 
B. The talisman coming from India bears no relationship at all with the national colonization of India by the British 
Army. 
C. The talisman coming from India was not supposed to be looked at, despite it being beautiful. 
D. The talisman coming from India should not be kept away because it was a symbol for the well-known reality of our 
world. 
E. The talisman coming from India acts as a symbol for the strangers within the national borders of the U. S. who 
would, according to a xenophobic worldview, spread evil. CORRECT 
Option E is correct. The talisman, the monkey’s paw, refers to the stranger inside American borders. Also, warning 
against one’s wishes is also related to a warning against the mysterious and the strangeness of the paw, which came 
from India. Indian spirituality may be connected to the dark arts since its understanding by those outside of its 
practices is seriously compromised and its view is stereotyped so they can be labelled as murderous mysticism. The 
paw then may symbolize that one should also be careful with another nation’s objects or superstitious items. 
 
2. After discussing how fairy tales spread throughout Europe in the early 18th century and even before that, mark the 
option which correctly indicates why they were not always seen as “literary fairy tales”: 
A. The fairy tales as a narrative genre is only possible in communities that did not develop written texts. 
B. Literary fairy tales were only those which reimagined classic fairy tales by modern editors and contemporary 
authors. 
C. The fairy tales were part of a written tradition which came back all the way from the Middle Ages and the Church. 
D. Literary fairy tales were those in which the story dealt directly with characters of the nobility. 
E. Literary fairy tales were understood as valuable cultural products once the short story became part of the education 
of society’s elites. CORRECT 
Option E is correct. Despite fairy tale’s popularity since its emergence among a given community of people, for it to 
be regarded as a narrative genre valued in its literariness would take some time. This value comes along with the 
similar cultural development of a higher value for writing shorter narratives. Unsurprisingly, then, the elevation of fairy 
tales’ status as an accepted and fundamental step in educating the elites only happened after the short story as a 
genre became part of the cultural context of European elites. 
 
Tema IV 
Section 1 
1. The fall of the house of Usher was first published in 1839. Which elements from the Gothic are present in this Edgar 
Allan Poe’s short story? 
A. A rational character, a medieval castle, and a severe storm. 
B. A character who lives alone, a first-person narrator and twins. 
C. A big house, friends who have not met for years, madness. 
D. A decaying mansion, a mentally disturbed character, a ghost. CORRECT 
E. A realistic setting, present-tense narration, hesitation. 
Option D is correct. Some characteristics of Gothic fiction that Poe makes use of are old places such as mansions or 
castles (usually in a state of decay), depiction of terrifying events, the presence of the supernatural (in this case, a 
ghost), stereotyped characters who experience fear, hysteria and even madness. Poe’s short story, then, presents the 
following: “a decaying mansion, a mentally disturbed character, a ghost”. 
 
 
 
2. In the short story The death of Halpin Frayser, there are some gothic elements and unresolved mysteries. Which of 
these elements may be labelled as “gothic”? 
A. There are sailors who kidnap Halpin. 
B. There is a black sheep in the family. 
C. Halpin’s mother had a nightmare. 
D. Halpin’s dead mother kills him. CORRECT 
E. There’s absence of blood in the body. 
Option D is correct. Gothic literature often contains elements that blend horror, the macabre, the bizarre. Being in 
the realm of the fantastic means that hesitation between the real and the unreal is expected. That being said, ordinary 
events such as kidnapping someone, having a dream, or even being the black sheep of the family do not allude to 
elements that would make the reader and the narrator hesitate. The presence of a supernatural element, a ghost, 
however, could account for the gothic atmosphere of the story. Halpin’s mother is a ghost with no soul, and she 
strangles him. 
 
Section 2 
1. Fantasy is a genre that portrays a different reality with its own rules. How can characters from the real world access 
the fantasy world? 
A. There is a passage or portal to it. CORRECT 
B. The characters imagine the land. 
C. There is a place within the real world. 
D. The characters create a parallel world. 
E. Through their dreams. 
Option A is correct. Fantasy is a genre that portrays a reality that has its own rules, which do not exist in our real world. 
Protagonists usually cross some type of opening, or portal, which gives access to this parallel world. This portal, be it 
a wardrobe, a rabbit-hole or a platform, stands at the dividing line between our world and the fantasy world, where 
fantastical characters and/or mythical creatures can be found. 
 
2. Alice's adventures in Wonderland is an 1865 English novel by Lewis Carroll. Which characteristic makes it fall under 
the children’s fantasy category? 
A. The presence of magic. CORRECT 
B. Challenging situations. 
C. The presence of a hero. 
D. Children as protagonists. 
E. The absence of a portal. 
Option A is correct. In fantasy fiction, certain elements are usually present: magic and the events in the story defy the 
ordinary laws that operate in our world. Characters usually cross some type of opening, or portal, between the two 
worlds. In Alice’s case, the rabbit-hole. Crossing the portal means experiencing nonsensical events, which do not follow 
a logical order. Besides, fantasy stories often involve journeys and dangerous quests. 
 
Section 3 
1. “Magic realism, chiefly Latin-American narrative strategy that is characterized by the matter-of-fact inclusion of 
fantastic or mythical elements into seemingly realistic fiction”. 
Retrieved from: Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopedia. Magic realism. Encyclopedia Britannica, 16 Sep. 2022. 
Accessed: 25 October 2022. 
 
Which characteristic distinguishes magic realism (or magical realism) from children’s fantasy? 
A. The treatment of supernatural. CORRECT 
B. The adult characters in the novels. 
C. Magical realism is a Latin American genre. 
D. Magical realism refers to postcolonial literature. 
E. Magical realism refers to the creation of a secondary world. 
Option A is correct. One feature that distinguishesmagic realism from fantasy fiction is the treatment of the 
supernatural. In fantasy literature, the supernatural is central to the plot, theme and setting. In magical realism, on 
the other hand, the presence of the supernatural or magic is simply accepted, not questioned, as fantastic elements 
blend in just well with more realistic treatments of the stories. 
 
2. The passion, by Jeanette Winterson is a novel that rewrites history during the Napoleonic Wars through the 
perspective of a soldier and a prostitute. The author calls the readers’ attention to the different versions of the same 
fact, problematizing the relationship between fact and fiction, because both are built through discourse. Which genre 
is associated to this approach? 
A. Parody 
B. Postmodern 
C. Historiography 
D. Historiographic metafiction CORRECT 
E. Magical realism 
Option D is correct. Even though the novel falls under the magical realism category, its treatment of history is quite 
postmodern. It is an example of the postmodern literary genre known as “historiographic metafiction”, which consists 
of self-conscious fictions concerned with historiography (the writing of history). It is a magical realism novel written 
from the historiographic metafiction perspective.