MFA Creative Writing and Literary Forms 3

Question 1

What is 'syntax' in the craft of prose writing?

Accepted Answer

The arrangement of words and phrases within sentences and how sentence structure shapes meaning and rhythm

Answer

Syntax in prose refers to the way sentences are constructed — length, clause arrangement, and order — which shapes the reader's pace, emphasis, and emotional experience.

Question 2

What is 'lyric essay' as a creative nonfiction form?

Accepted Answer

A genre-blurring form combining the associative, imagistic qualities of poetry with the exploratory argumentation of the essay

Answer

The lyric essay blends poetic fragmentation, imagery, and associative leaps with the nonfiction essay's intellectual exploration, resisting linear argument.

Question 3

In playwriting, what is the 'fourth wall'?

Accepted Answer

The imaginary barrier between the performers and the audience that characters typically ignore

Answer

The fourth wall is the conceptual barrier between the fictional stage world and the audience; breaking it means having characters directly address the audience.

Question 4

What is 'defamiliarization' (ostranenie) as a literary concept?

Accepted Answer

The technique of presenting familiar things in an unfamiliar way to make the reader perceive them freshly

Answer

Defamiliarization, coined by Viktor Shklovsky, describes how literary art estranges ordinary objects or experiences so readers see them anew rather than automatically.

Question 5

What is the difference between 'scene' and 'summary' in prose fiction?

Accepted Answer

Scene dramatizes a moment in real-time detail; summary condenses time and events into narrated overview

Answer

A scene slows the narrative to dramatize a moment with dialogue, action, and sensory detail in real time; summary compresses events, moving the story quickly through time.

MFA - Master of Fine Arts Practice Test

MFA - Master of Fine Arts Practice Test

MFA Creative Writing and Literary Forms 3