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College-Level Examination Program (CLEP) Composition and Literature Syllabus

The Composition and Literature syllabus for College-Level Examination Program (CLEP) in full: 5 chapters, 22 topics and 46 sub-topics, every one listed below, plus 51 Composition and Literature flashcards with answers.

5Chapters

22Topics

46Sub-topics

51Flashcards

Composition and Literature syllabus: all 5 chapters

Expand any chapter to see its topics and sub-topics.

College Composition
5 topics
- Conventions of Standard Written English
  - Grammar and usage
  - Sentence structure and punctuation
- Revision and Editing
  - Improving clarity and coherence
  - Word choice and tone
- The Writing Process
  - Audience and purpose
  - Organization and development
- Research and Source Use
  - Evaluating sources
  - Integrating and citing evidence
  - Avoiding plagiarism
- Argumentative and Analytical Essays
  - Thesis development
  - Supporting claims with evidence
Analyzing and Interpreting Literature
5 topics
- Poetry
  - Meter, rhyme, and form
  - Imagery and figurative language
  - Tone and theme
- Prose Fiction
  - Plot, character, and setting
  - Point of view and narration
- Drama
  - Dramatic structure
  - Dialogue and stagecraft
- Literary Devices and Techniques
  - Symbolism and allusion
  - Irony and metaphor
- Literary History and Context
  - Major periods and movements
  - Historical and cultural context
American Literature
4 topics
- Colonial and Early National Writing
  - Puritan and Enlightenment writers
- Romanticism and Transcendentalism
  - Emerson, Thoreau, and Poe
  - Hawthorne and Melville
- Realism and Naturalism
  - Twain and regional writers
  - Late 19th-century fiction
- Modern and Contemporary Literature
  - Modernist poetry and prose
  - Harlem Renaissance
  - Postwar and contemporary voices
English Literature
4 topics
- Medieval and Renaissance Periods
  - Chaucer and medieval works
  - Shakespeare and Elizabethan drama
- Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries
  - Metaphysical poets and Milton
  - Neoclassical and Augustan writers
- Romantic and Victorian Periods
  - Romantic poets
  - Victorian novelists and poets
- Twentieth Century and Beyond
  - Modernism
  - Contemporary British literature
Humanities
4 topics
- Visual Arts
  - Painting, sculpture, and architecture
  - Artistic styles and periods
- Music
  - Elements and forms of music
  - Major composers and eras
- Literature and Philosophy
  - Literary genres
  - Major philosophical ideas
- Performing Arts
  - Theater and dance
  - Film as an art form

College-Level Examination Program (CLEP) Composition and Literature flashcards — 51 questions with answers

What is a comma splice, and how can it be corrected?
A comma splice joins two independent clauses with only a comma. Fix it by using a period, a semicolon, a coordinating conjunction with the comma, or by subordinating one clause.
What is subject-verb agreement, and what rule governs it with indefinite pronouns like 'each' and 'everyone'?
Subject-verb agreement requires a verb to match its subject in number. Indefinite pronouns such as 'each,' 'everyone,' 'either,' and 'neither' are singular and take singular verbs.
What is a dangling modifier?
A modifier that does not clearly or logically attach to the word it is meant to describe, often because the intended subject is missing from the sentence (e.g., 'Walking home, the rain began').
When should a semicolon be used between two independent clauses?
A semicolon links two closely related independent clauses without a coordinating conjunction, or before a conjunctive adverb (e.g., 'however,' 'therefore') that joins them.
What is the difference between 'who' and 'whom'?
'Who' is a subject pronoun (performs the action); 'whom' is an object pronoun (receives the action or follows a preposition).
In the revision process, what is the difference between revising and editing?
Revising addresses large-scale content: ideas, organization, thesis, and development. Editing addresses surface-level issues: grammar, punctuation, spelling, and word choice.
What are the main stages of the writing process?
Prewriting (brainstorming/invention), drafting, revising, editing, and publishing/proofreading.
What is a thesis statement, and where is it typically placed?
A thesis statement is a concise sentence expressing the main argument or central claim of an essay, usually placed at the end of the introduction.
What is the purpose of a topic sentence in a paragraph?
It states the paragraph's main idea and connects that idea to the thesis, guiding the reader through the paragraph's supporting details.
What is a primary source versus a secondary source in research?
A primary source is original, firsthand material (e.g., a novel, diary, or experiment data). A secondary source analyzes or interprets primary sources (e.g., a critical essay or review).
What is plagiarism, and how is it avoided?
Plagiarism is presenting another's words or ideas as your own. It is avoided by quoting, paraphrasing properly, and citing all borrowed material.
In an argumentative essay, what is a counterargument and why include one?
A counterargument is an opposing viewpoint. Including and refuting it (rebuttal) strengthens credibility by showing the writer has considered other perspectives.
What are Aristotle's three rhetorical appeals?
Ethos (appeal to credibility/character), pathos (appeal to emotion), and logos (appeal to logic and reason).
What is the difference between an analytical and an argumentative essay?
An analytical essay breaks a subject into parts to explain how it works or what it means; an argumentative essay takes a position and persuades the reader to accept a claim.
What is iambic pentameter?
A poetic meter of five iambs per line, each iamb being an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable (ten syllables total).
What distinguishes a Shakespearean (English) sonnet from a Petrarchan (Italian) sonnet?
A Shakespearean sonnet has three quatrains and a couplet (rhyme ABABCDCDEFEFGG); a Petrarchan sonnet has an octave and a sestet (rhyme ABBAABBA + CDECDE or variants).
What is the difference between a metaphor and a simile?
A simile compares using 'like' or 'as'; a metaphor states one thing is another directly, without those words.
What is enjambment in poetry?
The continuation of a sentence or phrase past the end of a line of verse without a terminal pause, running into the next line.
What is the difference between the protagonist and the antagonist in fiction?
The protagonist is the central character driving the story; the antagonist is the character or force opposing the protagonist.
What are the typical components of Freytag's Pyramid of plot structure?
Exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, and resolution (denouement).

Show the other 31 Composition and Literature flashcards

What is the difference between first-person and third-person omniscient point of view?
First-person uses 'I' and is limited to one character's perspective; third-person omniscient uses 'he/she/they' and knows the thoughts of all characters.
What is the difference between a round character and a flat character?
A round character is complex and undergoes development; a flat character is one-dimensional and shows little or no change.
What are the three classical unities of drama?
Unity of action (one main plot), unity of time (within roughly 24 hours), and unity of place (a single location).
What is a soliloquy in drama?
A speech in which a character, alone on stage, reveals inner thoughts and feelings aloud to the audience.
What is the difference between tragedy and comedy as dramatic genres?
Tragedy depicts the downfall of a protagonist, often ending in death or ruin; comedy involves lighter conflicts resolved happily, typically ending in reconciliation or marriage.
What is dramatic irony?
A situation in which the audience knows something that one or more characters do not, creating tension or meaning the characters miss.
What is the difference between connotation and denotation?
Denotation is a word's literal dictionary meaning; connotation is the emotional or cultural association the word carries.
What is an allusion as a literary device?
A brief, indirect reference to a person, place, event, or work of literature that the reader is expected to recognize.
What is personification?
A figure of speech that gives human qualities, actions, or emotions to non-human things or abstract ideas.
What is the difference between a symbol and a motif?
A symbol is an object or image representing a larger idea; a motif is a recurring element or image that develops a theme across a work.
What is a foil character?
A character whose contrasting traits highlight and emphasize particular qualities of another character, usually the protagonist.
What characterized Colonial and Early National American writing?
It was largely religious, didactic, and practical—Puritan sermons, journals, and political documents—e.g., works by Anne Bradstreet, Jonathan Edwards, and Benjamin Franklin.
Who are key figures of American Transcendentalism and what did they believe?
Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau; they emphasized individualism, intuition, the inherent goodness of people and nature, and self-reliance over institutions.
What are the central characteristics of literary Romanticism?
Emphasis on emotion, imagination, individualism, nature, the sublime, and a reaction against Enlightenment rationalism and industrialization.
What distinguishes Realism from Naturalism in literature?
Realism portrays ordinary life accurately and objectively; Naturalism applies a deterministic view, showing characters shaped by environment, heredity, and social forces beyond their control.
Name key authors and traits of American Modernist literature.
T.S. Eliot, Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, William Faulkner; traits include fragmentation, stream of consciousness, disillusionment after WWI, and experimentation with form.
What was the Harlem Renaissance?
A 1920s flourishing of African American art, literature, and music centered in Harlem, with figures such as Langston Hughes and Zora Neale Hurston celebrating Black culture and identity.
What literary work and author define the Medieval period in English literature?
Geoffrey Chaucer's 'The Canterbury Tales' (late 14th century), written in Middle English, is the defining work of the English Medieval period.
What were the defining features of English Renaissance literature?
Humanism, classical revival, flourishing drama and poetry (Shakespeare, Marlowe, Spenser), and the development of the sonnet and blank verse.
Who were the major writers of the English Seventeenth Century, and what was Metaphysical poetry?
John Milton and John Donne; Metaphysical poetry (Donne, Marvell) features intellectual wit, elaborate conceits, paradox, and unconventional comparisons.
What characterized Eighteenth-Century (Neoclassical/Augustan) literature?
Emphasis on reason, order, wit, satire, and classical forms; key figures include Alexander Pope, Jonathan Swift, and Samuel Johnson.
Who are the major poets of the English Romantic period?
William Wordsworth, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Lord Byron, Percy Bysshe Shelley, and John Keats.
What were the defining concerns of Victorian literature?
Industrialization, social reform, morality, class, and faith versus doubt; key authors include Charles Dickens, the Brontës, Tennyson, and George Eliot.
What is stream of consciousness, and which 20th-century authors used it?
A narrative technique presenting a character's continuous, unfiltered flow of thoughts; used by James Joyce, Virginia Woolf, and William Faulkner.
What is Postmodern literature known for?
Metafiction, fragmentation, irony, intertextuality, unreliable narration, and skepticism toward grand narratives; e.g., works by Pynchon, Borges, and Vonnegut.
What are the formal elements of visual art?
Line, shape, form, color, value, texture, and space—the building blocks artists use to create works.
What is chiaroscuro in visual art?
The use of strong contrasts between light and dark to model three-dimensional forms and create dramatic effect, associated with artists like Caravaggio.
What is the difference between rhythm and melody in music?
Rhythm is the pattern of sounds and silences in time (beat, tempo, meter); melody is a sequence of pitches perceived as a single, recognizable line.
What musical era do composers Bach, Handel, and Vivaldi belong to, and what defines it?
The Baroque period (c. 1600–1750), defined by ornamentation, counterpoint, basso continuo, and emotional contrast.
What is existentialism in literature and philosophy?
A philosophy emphasizing individual freedom, choice, and the creation of meaning in an indifferent or absurd universe; associated with Sartre, Camus, and Kierkegaard.
What are the main branches of the performing arts?
Theater (drama), music, and dance—art forms performed live before an audience, often combined in works like opera and musical theater.

College-Level Examination Program (CLEP) Composition and Literature FAQ

What is in the College-Level Examination Program (CLEP) Composition and Literature syllabus?

College-Level Examination Program (CLEP) Composition and Literature is split into 5 chapters: College Composition, Analyzing and Interpreting Literature, American Literature, English Literature and Humanities. Together they contain 22 topics and 46 sub-topics.

How many chapters are in College-Level Examination Program (CLEP) Composition and Literature?

5 chapters, containing 22 topics and 46 sub-topics. The largest chapter is College Composition, with 5 topics.

Are there flashcards for College-Level Examination Program (CLEP) Composition and Literature?

Yes — a 51-card Composition and Literature deck, printed in full in the flashcards section of this page and available in the Examius app with spaced repetition. The free plan covers one exam of your choice, including its flashcards; Examius Pro, a one-time purchase, unlocks every other exam and deck.