Test your knowledge of Classicism with 10 questions commented by our expert teachers.
question 1
About classicism, it is correct to say:
a) Movement that refers to classical Greco-Roman models.
b) Presence of poems with free and blank verses.
c) Memorial de Aires is an example of a classicist novel.
d) It has an informal language, using regionalisms.
e) Movement that appears in the fifth century in Europe.
Correct alternative: a) movement that makes reference to the classic Greco-Roman models.
Classicism was an artistic movement that began in the 15th century in Europe and had as its main characteristic the imitation of classical Greco-Roman models, with their ideals of beauty.
Thus, the artists of that period sought perfection, balance and purity of forms.
question 2
In Brazil, the period corresponding to European classicism was called
a) Arcadianism
b) Symbolism
c) Sixteenth
d) Parnassianism
e) Baroque
Correct alternative: c) Sixteenth
With the arrival of the Portuguese in Brazil, at the beginning of the 16th century, the first Brazilian literary manifestation, called Quinhentismo, appeared. Two literary strands emerged during this period:
- Informative literature: with travel chronicles, based on themes about the material and spiritual conquest of the Portuguese.
- Catechesis literature: with a religious content, was written by the Jesuits whose function was to catechize the Brazilian Indians.
question 3
One of the greatest authors of the Portuguese language, Luís Vaz de Camões, wrote works in the classicist period. One of them that stands out is
the Odyssey
b) Aeneid
c) The Trojan War
d) The Lusiads
e) Don Quixote
Correct alternative: d) Os Lusíadas
Luís Vaz de Camões was the author of one of the greatest works in the Portuguese language, Os Lusíadas.
Published in 1572, the work, inspired by Homer's “Odyssey” and Virgílio's “Eneida”, narrates the conquests of the Portuguese people during the time of the great navigations.
question 4
The language of classicism is
a) subjective and informal
b) far-fetched and cultured
c) subjective and classic
d) objective and irrational
e) objective and formal
Correct alternative: e) objective and formal
Inspired by classical models, classicism was a literary manifestation that sought aesthetic rigor and, therefore, its language was cultured, formal, objective, balanced and rational.
question 5
Miguel de Cervantes, one of the most prominent authors in Spanish classicist literature, wrote Don Quixote de La Mancha. This work is a satire on the genre
a) Hagiographs
b) Cavalry novels
c) Palace Poetry
d) Historiographic prose
e) Nobiliary
Correct alternative: b) Cavalry novels
The work Don Quixote de la Mancha, published in 1605 by Miguel de Cervantes, is a satire on the old novels of cavalry, which were made up of beautiful heroes and narrated their great deeds in search of justice and loved.
In Don Quixote, the protagonist is a knight errant, devoid of beauty, and driven by his “madness” always ends up failing.
question 6
(UNISA) Check the incorrect alternative, in relation to Os Lusíadas, by Luís Vaz de Camões:
a) It was published in 1572.
b) Contains 10 corners.
c) Contains 1102 stanzas in eighth rhyme.
d) Account of Vasco da Gama's trip to the Indies.
e) N.d.a.
Correct alternative: e) N.d.a.
The work Os Lusíadas was published in 1572 and has as its central theme Vasco da Gama's trip to the Indies.
Composed of 10 chants, it is divided into five parts: proposition, invocation, dedication, narration and epilogue. In this epic poem, Camões wrote 8816 decasyllable verses and 1102 stanzas in an eighth rhyme.
question 7
(Mackenzie) The pessimistic tone presented by Camões in the epilogue of "Os Lusíadas" appears elsewhere in the poem. This happens in the episode:
a) of the Giant Adamastor.
b) from Velho do Restelo.
c) by Inês de Castro.
d) of the Twelve of England.
e) the Council of the Gods.
Correct alternative: b) from Velho do Restelo.
In the work Os Lusíadas, Camões narrates Vasco da Gama's journey and the deeds performed by the characters. The epic is made up of 5 parts (proposal, invocation, dedication, narration and epilogue) and 10 chants.
In the epilogue (Canto X and stanzas 145 to 156), the poet addresses the injustices of the kingdom of Portugal. Allied to this tone of lamentation and pessimism, we have Canto IV (strophes 95 to 104).
The character known as “old man of the restelo” appears at the moment of farewell by the fleet on Belém beach, contesting the adventures related to the discoveries, in order to denounce the actions of those who were involved in the project of expansion.
question 8
(Mackenzie) Tick the correct alternative about Camões.
a) In addition to using more popular meters, the new measure was used, especially in rounds that poetically recreate a harmonious picture of life and the world.
b) The theme of the bewilderment of the world is one of the characteristic aspects of his poetry, present, for example, in the sonnets of Petrarchian inspiration.
c) he Introduced the cultist style in Portugal in 1580, exploring antitheses and paradoxes in poems with a religious theme.
d) The most representative author of Portuguese medieval poetry, he produced, in addition to satirical sonnets, the epic work Os lusíadas.
e) Influenced by Portuguese Humanism, he adhered to the classical canon of poetic composition, moving away, however, from metric innovations and Greek-Roman models.
Correct alternative: b) The theme of the bewilderment of the world is one of the characteristic aspects of his poetry, present, for example, in the sonnets of Petrarchian inspiration.
Luís de Camões is considered the greatest writer of the period of Classicism and Portuguese-language literature. He wrote epics, poetry and drama, in which he explored historical, loving, existential and dramatic themes of human life.
Inspired many times by popular ballads and medieval songs, Camões used the Petrarchian style of the Italian humanist writer, Francesco Petrarca, to compose a large part of his work.
Petrarch was attributed with the dissemination of the “sonnet” (a poem with a fixed form composed of fourteen lines, two quartets and two triplets), with a focus on love themes.
Petrarch's style of perfection was aimed at a simple language with some metric innovations, such as the use of hendecasyllables (verse composed of eleven poetic syllables).
question 9
(Fuvest) In Camões's Lyrics:
a) the verse used to compose the sonnets is the larger round;
b) there are sonnets, odes, satires and records;
c) singing the country is the center of concerns;
d) there is a source of inspiration for many Brazilian poets of the 20th century;
e) women are seen in their physical aspects, stripped of spirituality.
Correct alternative: d) there is a source of inspiration for many Brazilian poets of the 20th century;
In his lyrical poetry, Camões explored several love themes, such as the suffering for the woman he loves, in addition to focusing on the human condition and dramas.
Camões' lyrical work was written in larger and smaller rounds (old measure) and in the form of a sonnet (new measure) and inspired many Brazilian poets of the 20th century.
As examples, we can mention the Parnassian poet Olavo Bilac, as well as Vinícius de Moraes, Brazilian poet and musician of modernism.
question 10
(Enem-2013) Among the main representatives of Portuguese Classicism are:
a) Mário de Sá-Carneiro and Fernando Pessoa.
b) Florbela Espanca and Almeida Garrett.
c) Antero de Quental and Almada Negreiros.
d) Francisco de Sá de Miranda and Luís Vaz de Camões.
e) Eça de Queiroz and Miguel Torga.
Correct alternative: d) Francisco de Sá de Miranda and Luís Vaz de Camões.
The main representatives of Portuguese classicism were Francisco de Sá de Miranda and Luís Vaz de Camões.
The arrival of the poet Francisco Sá de Miranda to Portugal was considered the starting point of classicism in the country. Inspired by Italian humanism, Sá de Miranda brought a new form of poetry from Italy: the “dolce stil nuevo” (Sweet new style).
This new model was based on the fixed form of the sonnet (2 quartets and 2 triplets), on the decasyllable verses and on the eighth rhyme.
However, Camões was considered one of the greatest Portuguese poets of the time with the publication of his great work "Os Lusíadas" (1572).
In this epic poem, he narrates in 10 songs Vasco da Gama's trip to the Indies. Note that Classicism remained in Portugal until 1580, the year of Camões' death.
See too:
- Classicism
- 16th century
- Characteristics of Classicism
- The Language of Classicism
