Abeka English Literature Quiz 18: 18th-Century Literature Test

Study Notes

Novel and English Literature

A novel primarily describes a long fictional narrative that typically features a series of events, characters, and settings.
The present English word 'novel' is derived from the Italian language.
The eighteenth century gifted English literature with two entirely new forms: the novel and the periodical essay.
In Italian, the word 'novel' means 'new'.

Eighteenth Century Literature

A novel embellishes a story with intricate plots, vivid descriptions, and well-developed characters.
In the eighteenth century, epic poetry and heroic tragedies were fading away as prominent literary forms.
John Bunyan is credited with initiating the tradition of the English novel in the late seventeenth century.
Jonathan Swift's 'Gulliver's Travels' is a famous satire from the eighteenth century.

Reading and Literary Culture

The growth of commerce and industry provided the educated middle class with the time and resources for reading and discussing books.
From the eighteenth century onwards, the novel became a prominent literary form, reflecting the changing tastes and values of the time.

Description

Test your knowledge of 18th-century English literature with this quiz on the emergence of the novel as a new literary form. Explore the characteristics and significance of the periodical essay and novel in this intellectually stimulating quiz.