Que- In Shakespeare's "Hamlet", what does Hamlet mean when he states that, "there is more in heaven and earth … than are dreamt of in your philosophy" ?
a. There is such a thing as an afterlife.
b. Dreams always tell the truth.
c. There are some aspects of existence that cannot be explained through reason.
d. Heaven exists on earth.
Answer- There are some aspects of existence that cannot be explained through reason.
Que- Which of the following statements best exemplifies the main idea put forward by John Milton in book 9 of Paradise Lost ?
a. Satan was ultimately heroic.
b. The fall of Adam and Eve was a tragic event.
c. Adam and Eve were driven to evil by their children.
d. God abandoned the realm of Eden without reason.
Answer- The fall of Adam and Eve was a tragic event.
Que- Which of the following statements offers the best definition of a novel of manners ?
a. A novel that attacks the lower classes
b. A novel set in Europe in the 18th century
c. A novel that explores the behavior and values of a particular class of people
d. A novel that explores class conflict
Answer- A novel that explores the behavior and values of a particular class of people
Que- Which of the following offers the best description of the concept of logos ?
a. Logos refers to a writer's presentation of character and image.
b. Logos refers to a writer's ability to present evidence.
c. Logos refers to a writer's ability to inspire action in readers.
d. Logos refers to a writer's ability to inspire emotional responses in readers.
Answer- Logos refers to a writer's ability to present evidence.
Que- A postmodern play would most likely not make use of which of the following theatrical traditions ?
a. A minimalist stage and strict adherence to the script
b. Video clips and the use of popular music
c. Nonlinear storytelling and the embracement of popular culture
d. A pastiche of different literary and historical sources
Answer- A minimalist stage and strict adherence to the script
Que- Feminist criticism focuses on exploring which of the following aspects of literary texts ?
a. How women are portrayed in literary texts
b. The psychologies of female writers
c. How women have been socially oppressed in literary texts
d. All of these
Answer- All of these
Que- Which of the following represents a stage of development in the poetic form of the elegy ?
a. Lamentation, in which the speaker demonstrates grief
b. Praise and admiration for the dead
c. Consolation and solace
d. All of these
Answer- All of these
Que- According to Dr. Mark Canada's "An Introduction to the Novel", Richard Chase identifies which of the following as a main difference between novels and romances ?
a. The language in which they are written
b. The way they view reality
c. The way they are structured
d. The type of people who write them
Answer- The way they view reality
Que- Which of the following statements demonstrates use of logos ?
a. I began driving at the age of 16 and have never been involved in a serious car accident.
b. No one under the age of 18 should be allowed to drive.
c. Research has demonstrated that some people under the age of 18 do not have the proper judgment skills to handle operating a car.
d. Every year countless people are killed by drivers under the age of 18.
Answer- Research has demonstrated that some people under the age of 18 do not have the proper judgment skills to handle operating a car.
Que- Which of the following statements best describes Catherine Moreland in "Northanger Abbey" ?
a. She is mature and realistic.
b. She is immature and has difficulty recognizing the difference between fact and fiction.
c. She is a matchmaker trying to set up romances between her friends, all the while unable to find true love herself.
d. B and C
Answer- B and C
Que- A work of literary criticism that considers how social and economic power structures are depicted in a 19th-century English novel would be an example of which type of literary criticism ?
a. Marxist criticism
b. Reader-response criticism
c. Psychoanalytic criticism
d. New Criticism
Answer- Marxist criticism
Que- Which of the following are common literary elements used to analyze novels ?
a. Character
b. Setting
c. Plot
d. All of these
Answer- All of these
Que- Gerald Graff's "They Say, I Say" encourages students to become______________?
a. passive readers and critics of literary texts.
b. involved in critical conversations about literary texts.
c. capable of realizing that the viewpoints of some critics are more important than others.
d. aware that Hamlet is a remarkable work of literature.
Answer- involved in critical conversations about literary texts.
Que- In Beckett's "Waiting for Godot", which of the following statements best describes the play's setting ?
a. Stark and sterile
b. Flowery and ornate
c. Futuristic and technologically advanced
d. Ancient and sophisticated
Answer- Stark and sterile
Que- A writer can establish ethos in a piece of writing by doing which of the following ?
a. Using informal language
b. Demonstrating a mastery of the topic
c. Appealing to the reader's emotions
d. Using logic and reason
Answer- Demonstrating a mastery of the topic
Que- In his introductory lecture, how does Paul Fry define literary theory ?
a. A hypothesis about how literary texts can be understood
b. A methodology for applying ideas to literary texts
c. The practice of interpreting literary texts
d. A trend in university English departments
Answer- A hypothesis about how literary texts can be understood
Que- Which of the following lines of poetry is written in iambic pentameter ?
a. To be or not to be, that is the question.
b. And the world didn't even think of stopping for me.
c. I played about the front gate, pulling flowers.
d. I wandered lonely as a cloud.
Answer- To be or not to be, that is the question.
Que- Psychoanalytic criticism during its earliest stages tended to focus on_____________?
a. the psychologies of individual authors.
b. the typographical structures of literary texts.
c. translation issues.
d. how children relate to their parents in terms of literary texts.
Answer- the psychologies of individual authors.
Que- In Dr. R. Allen Shoaf's article, "'Hamlet': Like Mother, Like Son", Shoaf argues which of the following points about the relationship between Hamlet and his mother ?
a. Hamlet is placed in a position that can be conceptualized as feminine.
b. Hamlet despises his mother and suspects she has killed his father.
c. Hamlet is entirely masculinized throughout the play, and thus, is ultimately unlike his mother in terms of his position in the play.
d. Hamlet has a personality disorder.
Answer- Hamlet is placed in a position that can be conceptualized as feminine.
Que- In poetry, each unit of rhythm is known as______________?
a. a line.
b. a foot.
c. a measure.
d. a meter.
Answer- a foot.
Que- Which of the following statements about the plot of Shakespeare's "Hamlet" is not true ?
a. Hamlet is deeply disturbed by his father's death.
b. It is never proven within the play that Claudius murdered King Hamlet.
c. Hamlet doubts the proper course of action to take.
d. Ophelia dies by drowning.
Answer- It is never proven within the play that Claudius murdered King Hamlet.
Que- Which of the following serves as the best definition of the literary critical practice of formalism ?
a. Formalism focuses on examining how a text exemplifies its writer's psychology.
b. Formalism focuses on examining the structural dynamics of poems.
c. Formalism focuses on examining the use of literary devices within a literary text.
d. Formalism focuses on examining the historical contexts and backgrounds of literary texts.
Answer- Formalism focuses on examining the use of literary devices within a literary text.
Que- Which of the following poetic lines is an example of a couplet ?
a. Into my head there will come / a beach of cotton, a dock where from.
b. To kiss the sky / to be the sun / is to live forever.
c. I heard a car crash / just as I died.
d. Death comes for all of us / even you.
Answer- Into my head there will come / a beach of cotton, a dock where from.
Que- What is the relationship between the practices of New Historicism and New Criticism ?
a. New Historicism was a reaction against New Criticism, which was seen as too narrowly focused on text rather than context.
b. Both fields of literary study are American in origin.
c. New Historicism is simply an early form of Cultural Materialism.
d. Both fields of study are strictly focused on how readers interpret and invent meanings for literary texts.
Answer- New Historicism was a reaction against New Criticism, which was seen as too narrowly focused on text rather than context.
Que- Which of the following statements best defines the poetic form of the villanelle ?
a. A poem that has no rhyme scheme
b. A poem that eulogizes the dead
c. A poem that carries a pattern on two rhymes and offers an alternating refrain
d. A poem that celebrates the life of a cruel person
Answer- A poem that carries a pattern on two rhymes and offers an alternating refrain
Que- Sophocles' "Oedipus the King" explores which of the following themes ?
a. Fate and free will
b. The corruptive force of technology
c. The power of religious faith
d. Disobedient children
Answer- Fate and free will
Que- Jane Austen's "Northanger Abbey" pursues which of the following themes ?
a. The conflict between marriages based on love and those based on money
b. The ways in which appearances don't always match realities
c. The danger in not recognizing the difference between reality and fiction
d. All of these
Answer- All of these
Que- Which of the following statements best summarizes the main idea behind Anthony DiMatteo's essay, "Shakespeare and the Public Discourse of Sovereignty: 'Reason of State' in 'Hamlet'" ?
a. Hamlet is a tragedy focusing on the plight of the early-modern self.
b. Hamlet is a tragedy that reflects Shakespeare's own political circumstances.
c. Hamlet is a tragedy that focuses on the Elizabethan era's loss of faith in humanity's ability to govern itself without violence.
d. Hamlet is a tragedy that reflects upon enlightened and progressive political systems that developed during Shakespeare's time.
Answer- Hamlet is a tragedy that focuses on the Elizabethan era's loss of faith in humanity's ability to govern itself without violence.
Que- As a mode of literary criticism or theory, gender theory attempts to bring which of the following to literary texts ?
a. An understanding of the various conceptions and understandings of gender that have carried throughout various cultures
b. An understanding of gender as a human construct
c. An understanding of how standard histories of western societies are presented in terms of heterosexual identity
d. All of these.
Answer- All of these.
Que- What does Percy Shelley mean when he refers to poets as being the "unacknowledged legislators of the world" ?
a. He is suggesting that artists serve to develop culture.
b. He is suggesting that all artists are from high social classes.
c. He is suggesting that artists are repressed throughout society.
d. He is suggesting that the making of laws is itself an art.
Answer- He is suggesting that artists serve to develop culture.
Que- Which of the following statements would Percy Shelley, author of "A Defense of Poetry", agree with ?
a. Art serves a particular worldly purpose.
b. Art's supreme function is to entertain the public.
c. Artists are dangerous to social order.
d. Artists serve to construct the foundations of culture.
Answer- Artists serve to construct the foundations of culture.
Que- Which of the following offers the best definition of a frame narrative ?
a. A narrative that introduces readers to the main characters of a story
b. A narrative that summarizes the plot of the novel
c. A story within a story
d. A story that reminds the reader that the story is fictional
Answer- A story within a story
Que- Which of the following offers the best definition of the concept of persuasion ?
a. Persuasion is the art of making readers or listeners believe what the writer or speaker is stating.
b. Persuasion is the art of lying to good effect.
c. Persuasion is the opposite of rhetoric.
d. Persuasion is the use of syllogisms to influence the opinions of readers and listeners.
Answer- Persuasion is the art of making readers or listeners believe what the writer or speaker is stating.
Que- Which school of literary theory contends that sexual identity is not fixed and, instead, is generated by cultural forces ?
a. Deconstruction
b. Marxist theory
c. Reader-response theory
d. Queer theory
Answer- Queer theory
Que- Which of the following statements best describes the worldview represented by postmodern theater ?
a. The world is a bright and interesting place.
b. Universal truth doesn't exist, and audience members must discover truth for themselves.
c. The world is so complex that it does not require literature or theater.
d. Mainstream audiences are so shallow that it is not worth writing plays for them.
Answer- Universal truth doesn't exist, and audience members must discover truth for themselves.
Que- Which of the following offers the best definition of the concept of narrative poetry ?
a. A narrative poem is vague and difficult in style.
b. A narrative poem is a poem that does not have a plot or tell a story.
c. A narrative poem has a plot and tells a story.
d. A narrative poem is a poem written in the style of a conversation.
Answer- A narrative poem has a plot and tells a story.
Que- A work of criticism that considers how the author's childhood trauma influenced his characters would be an example of_____________?
a. psychoanalytic criticism.
b. Marxist criticism.
c. New Criticism.
d. structuralism.
Answer- psychoanalytic criticism.
Que- In his essay, "The Significance of Fictionalizing", Wolfgang Iser argues which of the following points ?
a. Historically, writers have been considered liars or at the very least irrelevant.
b. Fictionalizing reality is a basic human need.
c. Every text includes traces from the outside world, including social, historical, and literary remnants.
d. All of these.
Answer- All of these.
Que- Which of the following statements offers the best definition of a tragic hero ?
a. A noble person who becomes completely corrupted
b. A cowardly person who doubts himself or herself despite possessing great wealth and political power
c. A cowardly person who shows some personal strength when faced with a crisis
d. A noble person who makes a costly mistake
Answer- A noble person who makes a costly mistake
Que- Which of the following best describes epic theater as defined by Berthold Brecht ?
a. Epic theater is plot-driven theater.
b. Epic theater turns the passive spectator into an active observer.
c. Epic theater privileges feeling over reason.
d. Epic theater maintains the illusion of realism.
Answer- Epic theater turns the passive spectator into an active observer.
Que- Which of the following may be an antagonist to the protagonist of a novel ?
a. Another character
b. The protagonist
c. Society
d. All of these
Answer- All of these
Que- In Shakespeare's "Sonnet 18", the poet does which of the following ?
a. Compares his love to a winter storm
b. Compares his love to a summer's day
c. Compares his love to a turbulent sea
d. Compares his love to his fear of death
Answer- Compares his love to a summer's day
Que- Ethos is important to establish in which of the following types of arguments ?
a. Emotional arguments
b. Political arguments
c. Deductive arguments
d. Inductive arguments
Answer- Political arguments
Que- In her text, "History of the Novel", How does Dr. Agatha Taormina define the novel ?
a. A narrative that emphasizes character development
b. A narrative with a unified, plausible plot structure
c. A narrative that conveys the illusion of reality
d. All of these
Answer- All of these
Que- According to Dr. Taormina, Victorian novelists generally________________?
a. wanted to subvert middle class values.
b. accepted middle class values.
c. wrote in a hyperrealistic fashion.
d. had a negative view of human nature.
Answer- accepted middle class values.
Que- What are some of the hallmarks or conventions of the poetic form of the code ?
a. Simplicity in language, brevity in form, and humorousness in attitude
b. Complexity in language, lengthiness in form, and seriousness in attitude
c. Simplicity in language, lengthiness in form, and humorousness in attitude
d. Complexity in language, brevity in form, and humorousness in attitude
Answer- Complexity in language, lengthiness in form, and seriousness in attitude
Que- According to Dr. Frances Pritchett's version of Shamsur Rahman Faruqi's "The Historical Novel and the Historical Narrative", which of the following offers the best definition of a "history" ?
a. A narrative based entirely on verifiable facts
b. A narrative that does not analyze characters on a situation-by-situation basis
c. A narrative without characters
d. A narrative that takes place in the past.
Answer- A narrative that does not analyze characters on a situation-by-situation basis
Que- In his essay, "Characters of Shakespeare's Plays", William Hazlitt conceptualizes Hamlet as_______________?
a. a disturbed and insane man.
b. a man of tremendous humor, simplicity, and innate goodness and kindness.
c. a depressed but ultimately good and nonviolent man.
d. a wicked and manipulative man.
Answer- a depressed but ultimately good and nonviolent man.
Que- In "Characters of Shakespeare's Plays", how does William Hazlitt ultimately conceptualize the character of Hamlet ?
a. As a crazed fool
b. As a profound philosophical genius
c. As boyish and immature
d. As a brilliant warrior
Answer- As a profound philosophical genius
Que- Which of the following statements best represents the main theme of Beckett's "Waiting for Godot" ?
a. The world can be fully understood if people listen closely to what others are saying.
b. Good things, including salvation, come to those who are patient.
c. Redemption comes from surrendering to a higher power.
d. People are fundamentally unable to realize any sort of inherent meaning in existence.
Answer- People are fundamentally unable to realize any sort of inherent meaning in existence.