Metafiction · English Literature

In 'Pale Fire' by Vladimir Nabokov, the metafictional element is primarily located in:

  1. The illustrations throughout the book
  2. A 999-line poem followed by a lengthy, delusional commentary
  3. A series of letters written by a character who has died
  4. An index at the back that quietly narrates a completely different story
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Correct answer: A 999-line poem followed by a lengthy, delusional commentary

The 'novel' is disguised as a scholarly edition of a poem. The humor and plot emerge from the tension between the poem and the increasingly unhinged footnotes provided by the editor, Charles Kinbote.

Difficulty: Medium Question 15 of 20

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