Que- Which of the following is a rule of semiotics ?
a. All linguistic concepts evolve solely out of the responses of people within a specific historical era.
b. All linguistic and social phenomena are texts, and the object of studying these texts is to reveal the underlying codes that make them meaningful.
c. All linguistics is in some way related to class struggle.
d. All linguistics is related to history, and therefore the meaning of linguistics relies exclusively on historical context.
Answer- All linguistic and social phenomena are texts, and the object of studying these texts is to reveal the underlying codes that make them meaningful.
Que- What does the term meta-language mean, according to Andrzej Warminski ?
a. A language about another language
b. A supernatural language
c. A language that does not yet constitute a real language
d. A language used by a particular marginalized group of people within a larger dominant culture
Answer- A language about another language
Que- What is Christopher Ricks's attitude toward literary theory ?
a. He considers it to be vital in order to understand literary texts.
b. He considers theory to be the only way that literary texts can be interpreted.
c. He has no misgivings about the practical usability of literary theory.
d. He feels that literary theory is ultimately too limited in scope to serve as a proper method of interpretation.
Answer- He feels that literary theory is ultimately too limited in scope to serve as a proper method of interpretation.
Que- What does gynocriticism recommend as an approach to literature ?
a. Examining only female-authored literature more critically
b. Considering women's literature outside of its historical context
c. Studying women's literature for its linguistic qualities only
d. Becoming more familiar with the history of women and women's writing
Answer- Becoming more familiar with the history of women and women's writing
Que- In his essay "The Death of the Author," Roland Barthes argues what about literature ?
a. Biographical information about the author must be considered when evaluating literature.
b. A text and its author text are unrelated.
c. It is possible to distill meaning from a work based on the author's politics.
d. Authorial intent must be considered when evaluating literature.
Answer- A text and its author text are unrelated.
Que- To what idea does the ancient Greek term aporia refer in terms of deconstruction theory ?
a. The ability of a text to contain truth
b. The "undecidability" and essentially unstable nature of a text
c. The idea that a text has a specific meaning that can be understood through a process of deconstruction
d. Jacques Derrida's style of writing
Answer- The "undecidability" and essentially unstable nature of a text
Que- Some critics of literary theory argue that literary theory is problematic for which reason ?
a. Literary theory does not offer a holistic interpretation of a text.
b. Literary theory depends on specialized knowledge that is outside the realm of literary studies.
c. Literary theory is sometimes very abstract and difficult to read.
d. All of the above.
Answer- All of the above.
Que- Which of the following theorists is associated with formalism ?
a. Viktor Shklovsky
b. Cleanth Brooks
c. Terry Eagleton
d. Judith Butler
Answer- Viktor Shklovsky
Que- In Fredric Jameson's book The Political Unconscious, what does Jameson suggest about literature ?
a. History comprises the essential framework for the performance of literary analysis
b. Politics and the economy are the most important factors in literary analysis
c. Biography is essential to literary analysis
d. Psychoanalysis is critical to literary analysis
Answer- History comprises the essential framework for the performance of literary analysis
Que- The Frankfurt School of literary theory was most greatly influenced by which of the following schools of thought ?
a. Formalism
b. Structuralism
c. Poststructuralism
d. Marxism
Answer- Marxism
Que- What does Edward Said argue about the concept of the Orient ?
a. It has little relationship to the colonization of Asian countries by the West.
b. It illustrates the fundamental political equality of all nations.
c. It was produced by Western scholarship.
d. Its literature is less proud that that of the West.
Answer- It was produced by Western scholarship.
Que- What is generally considered to be Theodor W. Adorno's primary concern as a theorist ?
a. The effect of literature in enlightening the human mind
b. The effect of modern society on human suffering
c. The effect of the economy on women's concerns
d. The effect of the unconscious mind on the conscious self
Answer- The effect of modern society on human suffering
Que- According to trauma theorists, a testifying subject needs which of the following to deliver a successful testimony ?
a. A figure of judgment
b. Religious belief
c. A witness
d. Psychological treatment
Answer- A witness
Que- What is defamiliarization ?
a. A concept associated with Russian formalism
b. An idea explored by Viktor Shklovsky
c. A term that describes the capacity of art to counter the effects of habit
d. All of the above.
Answer- All of the above.
Que- Which of the following statements offers the best definition of the concept of strange attractors in chaos theory ?
a. Strange attractors are mysterious forces that are entirely random.
b. Strange attractors are complex forces that are determined by the laws of physics.
c. Strange attractors are mysterious forces that are both random and determined.
d. Strange attractors are complex forces that are entirely random.
Answer- Strange attractors are mysterious forces that are both random and determined.
Que- New trends in literary theory tend to do which of the following ?
a. Reject all previous modes of literary theory
b. Focus on a return to traditional critical methods
c. Make use of different literary theories in order to develop new theories
d. Work only with ideas developed by post-Marxist theorists
Answer- Make use of different literary theories in order to develop new theories
Que- What is affective fallacy ?
a. A term that suggests that a critic should study the structural and thematic elements of a poem rather than the effect it has on the emotions of the reader
b. A term that describes the confusion between a poem and its result
c. An important term in the field of New Historicism
d. All of the above.
Answer- All of the above.
Que- What does hermeneutic theory suggest about how readers view literature ?
a. It is impossible to view a piece of literature as its author intended.
b. It is impossible to divorce a text from capitalist ideology.
c. It is impossible to view a piece of literature correctly, because we can only work within the hetero-normative paradigm.
d. It is impossible to separate a text from the linguistics that compose it.
Answer- It is impossible to separate a text from the linguistics that compose it.
Que- In his essay "The Business of Theory," William Deresiewicz argues which of the following about Terry Eagleton's book After Theory ?
a. It offers a strong outline for how theory can be conducted in the 21st century.
b. It should not be read or considered by any student or scholar.
c. It offers some valid ideas and critiques, but its author is not entirely trustworthy.
d. It offers a strong counterpoint to Jacques Derrida's notion of deconstruction.
Answer- It offers some valid ideas and critiques, but its author is not entirely trustworthy.
Que- With which feminist theorist is gynocriticism most closely associated ?
a. Elaine Showalter
b. Julia Kristeva
c. Lucy Irigaray
d. Hélène Cixous
Answer- Elaine Showalter
Que- According to the Geneva School, what is the function of the reader ?
a. Entering the author's mind through his or her literary works
b. Understanding the author's consciousness
c. Reproducing the author's thoughts in a critical context
d. All of the above.
Answer- All of the above.
Que- What did Sigmund Freud believe about the unconscious ?
a. It contains secret instincts and desires that are repressed.
b. It has little impact on human behavior.
c. It is the only significant aspect of the human psyche.
d. It can never be accessed.
Answer- It contains secret instincts and desires that are repressed.
Que- Which text argues that, as infants, human beings begin to define their identities against the identities of others?
a. W.E.B. Du Bois's The Souls of Black Folk______________?
b. Roland Barthes's "The Death of the Author"
c. Jacques Derrida's Of Grammatology
d. Jacques Lacan's "The Mirror Stage …"
Answer- Jacques Lacan's "The Mirror Stage …"
Que- Which of the following statements best explains the main objective of New Historicism ?
a. Texts are examined to see how colonizers and the colonized interact.
b. Texts are examined to see how the formal aspects of the text create meaning.
c. Texts are examined to determine how they reveal social realities.
d. Texts are examined to determine the author's intent.
Answer- Texts are examined to determine how they reveal social realities.
Que- How does literary theory resemble the practice of philosophy as it was developed by Plato and Aristotle ?
a. Literary theory engages with theoretical rather than real-world issues.
b. Literary theory asks fundamental questions about literary interpretation, and at the same time builds specific systems of literary interpretation.
c. Literary theory relies totally on speculation rather than history.
d. Literary theory is detached from the reality of politics and the economy.
Answer- Literary theory asks fundamental questions about literary interpretation, and at the same time builds specific systems of literary interpretation.
Que- Which is a common postcolonial critique of the West ?
a. TheWest spends too much time trying to consider an Asian perspective.
b. The West tends to look at Asian countries as individual units rather than lump them together.
c. The West views matters through its own limited historical position.
d. The West refuses to apply economic and political coercion to Asian writers.
Answer- The West views matters through its own limited historical position.
Que- What does Elaine Showalter argue about gender in terms of representations of the character of Ophelia in William Shakespeare's Hamlet ?
a. It is nearly impossible to represent women as anything other than mad in patriarchal discourses.
b. Feminist critics need to re-appropriate Ophelia for their own purposes.
c. Women's tragedies tend to be subordinated to those of men.
d. All of the above
Answer- All of the above
Que- Which of the following human behaviors is important to a Freudian psychoanalytic study of William Shakespeare's Hamlet ?
a. Changes in emotional states
b. Obsessions
c. Slips of the tongue
d. All of the above.
Answer- All of the above.
Que- With which theorist is the term implied reader associated ?
a. Wolfgang Iser
b. William Wimsatt
c. Cleanth Brooks
d. Harold Bloom
Answer- William Wimsatt
Que- How does Wolfgang Iser envision the reader ?
a. The reader fills in the gaps imposed by an author's intention.
b. The reader is sublimated beneath the author.
c. The reader is less important than the author's context.
d. The reader is totally subject to the author's intention.
Answer- The reader fills in the gaps imposed by an author's intention.
Que- What is the philosophical theory known as pragmatism ?
a. A theory of practical actions developed by William James
b. An idea used to guide conduct towards clear objectives
c. A concept derived from the ancient Greek word pragma, meaning action
d. All of the above.
Answer- All of the above.
Que- To what idea does the term heteroglossia refer ?
a. An infant's inability to speak prior to the mirror stage
b. The referential relationships among symbols, signifiers, and signs
c. The multi-layered nature of language in a literary work
d. The formulaic shift between economic and political themes
Answer- The multi-layered nature of language in a literary work
Que- What is humanism ?
a. A humanity-centered view of the universe
b. A school of theory devoted to the revival of Classical (ancient Greek and Roman) literature
c. A theory that values restraint, form, and imitation
d. All of the above.
Answer- All of the above.
Que- What is dialogism ?
a. A term used to describe how texts include a variety of styles
b. A term used to explain the use of multiple points of view in literature
c. A term that explains resistance to a monolithic text
d. All of the above.
Answer- All of the above.
Que- Which of the following literary theorists is most closely associated with the concept that became known as liberal humanism ?
a. Aristotle
b. Viktor Shklovsky
c. Cleanth Brooks
d. Stanley Fish
Answer- Aristotle
Que- What is the main function of literary theory ?
a. To formulate relationships among an author, a reader, and a literary work
b. To understand the role of sexuality, gender, race, and ethnicity in literary study
c. To evaluate the role of historical context in the interpretation of literature
d. All of the above.
Answer- All of the above.
Que- In Of Grammatology, Jacques Derrida argues what about literature ?
a. No fixed, stable meaning is possible.
b. Language must be studied in conjunction with history in order to create meaning.
c. There is no potential for multiple and differing meanings in a work of literature.
d. Literature is timeless, and thus meaning does not change.
Answer- No fixed, stable meaning is possible.
Que- How did the New Critics view literature ?
a. As an aesthetic object that is independent of historical context
b. As an aesthetic object that is influenced by historical context
c. As a historical object that is also aesthetic
d. As a historical object that is not necessarily aesthetic
Answer- As an aesthetic object that is independent of historical context
Que- In his essay "What Is an Author?" what position(s) on authorship does Michel Foucault take ?
a. The names of authors serve a classificatory function.
b. The author is not a source of infinite meaning.
c. The author may not always exist.
d. All of the above.
Answer- All of the above.
Que- Ecotheorists tend to show an interest in which of the following ?
a. How writers conceptualize natural environments and the representation of environmental issues in literature and culture
b. How writers have damaged the environment
c. How the environment can be repaired
d. Who is responsible for damaging the environment
Answer- How writers conceptualize natural environments and the representation of environmental issues in literature and culture
Que- Which literary theory would most directly explore questions of the role of spatial setting in a poem ?
a. Trauma theory
b. Ecotheory
c. Game theory
d. Marxist theory
Answer- Ecotheory
Que- Jacques Derrida's concept of différance challenges us to think about language as a system that___________?
a. mirrors our physical evolution as human beings.
b. prevents us from communicating through writing or speech.
c. involves a constant process of deferred meaning.
d. evolved exclusively as a function of our individual psyche.
Answer- involves a constant process of deferred meaning.
Que- Which of the following texts is considered the first example of postcolonial criticism ?
a. Harold Bloom's "An Elegy for the Canon"
b. Jacques Lacan's "The Mirror Stage … "
c. Cleanth Brooks's "Keats's Sylvan Historian"
d. Edward Said's Orientalism
Answer- Edward Said's Orientalism
Que- With which theorist is the concept imaginative geography associated ?
a. Julia Kristeva
b. Fredric Jameson
c. Terry Eagleton
d. Edward Said
Answer- Edward Said
Que- What is the main function of postcolonial criticism ?
a. To represent the relationship between colonizers and the colonized
b. To draw attention to the positive effects of colonization on literature
c. To explain why there are few examples of successful non-Western literature
d. To show the ways in which mostWestern literature is superior
Answer- To represent the relationship between colonizers and the colonized
Que- Which theorist is most closely associated with the idea of art as imitation ?
a. Jacques Lacan
b. Edward Said
c. Stephen Greenblatt
d. Plato
Answer- Plato
Que- From whom did New Historicists draw the idea of "self-regulating systems" ?
a. Theodor W. Adorno
b. Claude Lévi-Strauss
c. Julia Kristeva
d. Jacques Derrida
Answer- Claude Lévi-Strauss
Que- With which theorist is the term identity thinking most closely associated ?
a. Sigmund Freud
b. Carl Jung
c. William James
d. Theodor W. Adorno
Answer- Theodor W. Adorno
Que- What is the central idea of Ferdinand de Saussure's Course in General Linguistics ?
a. Language is inseparable from its historical context.
b. There are five phases of linguistic development.
c. Language can be analyzed as a formal system of elements.
d. Linguistics is too complicated to be distilled to a formula.
Answer- Language can be analyzed as a formal system of elements.
Que- Which of the following ideas relates to J.L. Austin's performativity theory ?
a. Performance is the ultimate objective of all human beings.
b. Language is used to indicate action as well as thought.
c. Individuals perform gender actively.
d. Individuals develop consciousness through speech
Answer- Language is used to indicate action as well as thought.