English Literature MCQ (Multiple Choice Questions) - Schoolingaxis.com

English Literature MCQ (Multiple Choice Questions)

 Que- She was a blooming lass of fresh eighteen, plump as a partridge, ripe and melting and rosy-cheeked as one of her father's peaches, and universally famed, not merely for her beauty, but her vast expectations. . . . She wore ornaments of pure yellow gold to set off her charms, and a provokingly short petticoat to display the prettiest foot and ankle in the country round. This is_______________? 

a. Faith  

b. Madeline  

c. Magawisca  

d. Katrina 


Answer- Katrina


Que- The Battle of the Ants is an excerpt from______________? 

a. Civil Disobedience  

b. Walden  

c. Herald of Freedom  

d. Life without principle 


Answer- Walden


Que- The sweetest music is not in the oratorio, but in____________? 

a. Soulful lyrics  

b. Human voice  

c. Epic  

d. Lyric 


Answer- Human voice


Que- Writers in the Romantic time period were concerned with____________? 

a. Nature as a source of secular and spiritual knowledge, emotion as truth, and exploration of the self.  

b. Scientific exploration.  

c. Love and romance.  

d. The philosophy of how to run a new country. 


Answer- Nature as a source of secular and spiritual knowledge, emotion as truth, and exploration of the self.


Que- The founder of Jamestown____________? 

a. Johnathon Edwards  

b. John Stillwell  

c. John Smith  

d. John Stelzer 


Answer- John Smith


Que- This term is an elaborate comparison between two different subjects___________? 

a. Simile  

b. Conceit  

c. Sermon  

d. Anomoly 


Answer- Conceit


Que- How does Sam secretly alert Eliza to Mr.Haley's presence outside the inn ? 

a. Throws a rock  

b. Shouts about his hat  

c. Sneezes loudly  

d. Bucks his horse 


Answer- Shouts about his hat


Que- Which of the following is not an animal Hare prepared for humans to eat ? 

a. Bear  

b. Elk  

c. Horse  

d. Both A and B 


Answer- Horse


Que- (Your) uses an upper case because ? 

a. he wanted it to create logic to the capitalization of the final E.  

b. he wanted to emphasize the 'Y'  

c. the poem demanded an upper case  

d. he places his beloved in an upper place 


Answer- he places his beloved in an upper place


Que- How long is Rip asleep in the woods ? 

a. Fifty years  

b. Twenty years  

c. One hundred years  

d. Eighty years 


Answer- Twenty years


Que- I knew him, however, as both mathematician and poet, and my measures were adapted to his capacity, with reference to the circumstances by which he was surrounded. I knew him as a courtier, too, and as a bold intriguant. Such a man, I considered, could not fail to be aware of the ordinary political modes of action. Who is speaking ? 

a. Brown  

b. Brom Bones  

c. Rip  

d. Dupin 


Answer- Dupin


Que- The vivid imagery of the season is shown to_____________? 

a. reinforce the thoughts of the narrator  

b. reflect the happenings in the life of the narrator  

c. state the situation of the narrator  

d. emphasize the choice of the season 


Answer- reinforce the thoughts of the narrator


Que- Who wrote "Emperor Ice cream" ? 

a. Langston Hughes  

b. William Faulkner  

c. Wallace stevens  

d. Countee cullen 


Answer- Wallace stevens


Que- Of what does Goodman Brown become guilty after his midnight meeting in the woods ? 

a. Atonement  

b. Catharsis  

c. Gullibility  

d. Hubris 


Answer- Hubris


Que- Name the ship that brought the first Pilgrims to the New World______________? 

a. Mayflower  

b. Santa Maria  

c. Titanic  

d. HMS Bounty 


Answer- Mayflower


Que- During the Colonial Time Period, the writing was influenced most by what religious persuasion ? 

a. The Puritans  

b. The Catholics  

c. The Pilgrims  

d. The Anglo Saxons 


Answer- The Puritans


Que- Which statement below best defined Whitman's idea of Oversoul ? 

a. Death  

b. Relationships  

c. American landscape  

d. Hope 


Answer- American landscape


Que- This group of Native Americans left behind a legend about creation using pictographs_____________? 

a. Apache  

b. Delaware  

c. Sioux  

d. Inuit 


Answer- Delaware


Que- Black Boy is an autobiographical account of whose Southern boyhood ? 

a. Thomas  

b. Pynchon  

c. John Dos Passos  

d. Saul Bellow 


Answer- Pynchon


Que- What statement below best sums up the literary significance of Benjamin Franklin ? 

a. Mentor to other writers  

b. Rewrote the autobiography  

c. Self-made and  

d. Both B and C 


Answer- Both B and C


Que- What statement below best sums up the literary significance of Walt Whitman ? 

a. Father of free verse  

b. Father of American Poetry  

c. Circumference  

d. Both A and B 


Answer- Both A and B


Que- What statement below best sums up the literary significance of Frederick Douglass ? 

a. Indian Autobiography  

b. Father of free verse  

c. Father of American poetry  

d. Most popular slave narrative 


Answer- Most popular slave narrative


Que- Who wrote Heritage ? 

a. Countiee cullen  

b. William Faulkner  

c. T.S. Eliot  

d. Wallace stevens 


Answer- Countiee cullen


Que- Of the two, reverend Sir," said the voice like the deacon's, "I had rather miss an ordination-dinner than to-night's meeting. They tell me that some of our community are to be here from Falmouth and beyond, and others from Connecticut and Rhode-Island; besides several of the Indian powows, who, after their fashion, know almost as much deviltry as the best of us. A "powow" in this context is___________? 

a. A devil-worshipper  

b. A boxer  

c. An apples-salesman  

d. A medicine man 


Answer- An apples-salesman


Que- The hairy wild-bee that murmurs and hankers up and down, that gripes the fullgrown lady-flower, curves upon her with amorous firm legs, takes his will of her, and holds himself tremulous and tight till he is satisfied. What does tremulous mean ? 

a. Trembling and timid  

b. Stiff  

c. Afraid  

d. Contemplating and deciding 


Answer- Trembling and timid


Que- Having emerg'd from the Poverty and Obscurity in which I was born and bred, to a State of Affluence and some Degree of Reputation in the World, and having gone so far thro' Life with a considerable Share of Felicity, the conducing Means I made use of, which, with the Blessing of God, so well succeeded, my Posterity may like to know, as they may find some of them suitable to their own Situations, and therefore fit to be imitated ? 

a. Fredrick Douglass  

b. John Winthrop  

c. Benjamin Franklin  

d. William Apess 


Answer- Benjamin Franklin


Que- Which of the following is NOT a feature of the Enlightenment ? 

a. Reason  

b. Deism  

c. Political  

d. Skepticism 


Answer- Political


Que- This Puritan author wrote about the Salem witch trials_____________? 

a. Cotton Mather  

b. Owen Edwards  

c. Annie Bradford  

d. Terry Pratchett 


Answer- Cotton Mather


Que- In addition to driving the family coach, what other responsibility do the St. Clare assign Uncle Tom ? 

a. Tutoring Eva  

b. Managing finances  

c. Helping Dinah cook  

d. Administering Marie's medicine 


Answer- Managing finances


Que- when did william Faulkner get nobel prize for literature ? 

a. A-1941  

b. B-1949  

c. C-1945  

d. D-1938 


Answer- B-1949


Que- Your goodness must have some edge to it—else it is none. The doctrine of hatred must be preached as the counteraction of the doctrine of love when that pules and whines. In this work the author argues in favour of____________? 

a. Communism  

b. Revolution  

c. An independent nation of independent individuals  

d. Abolition 


Answer- An independent nation of independent individuals


Que- This group united 5 tribes_____________? 

a. Iroquois  

b. Sioux  

c. Navajo  

d. Hopi 


Answer- Iroquois


Que- The process of passing on sayings, songs and tales ? 

a. Narration  

b. History  

c. Persuasion  

d. Oral Tradition 


Answer- Oral Tradition


Que- Some of the movements that took place in the modernist time period include___________? 

a. Transcendentalism, Symbolism, and Dark Romanticism.  

b. The Harlem Renaissance, The Lost Generation, and Confessional Poetry.  

c. There were no movements during the modernist time period.  

d. Symbolism, Naturalism, and Postmodernism. 


Answer- The Harlem Renaissance, The Lost Generation, and Confessional Poetry.


Que- But for many minutes the heart beat on with a muffled sound. This, however, did not vex me; it would not be heard through the wall. At length it ceased. The old man was dead. I removed the bed and examined the corpse. Yes, he was stone, stone dead. This victim is killed because of_____________? 

a. A letter  

b. His clouded eye  

c. His pact with the devil  

d. His loud heart beat 


Answer- His clouded eye


Que- How does St. Clare die ? 

a. He drowns  

b. He suffers a heart attack  

c. He is poisoned  

d. He is stabbed 


Answer- He is stabbed


Que- About Johnathan Edwards____________? 

a. Wrote the Mayflower Contract  

b. Was a Puritan preacher and writer  

c. When he spoke, audiences rose to their feet and cheered  

d. B and C 


Answer- B and C


Que- What lesson does Hare's adventure involving a tall man with a cane attempt to teach the Winnebago people ? 

a. Flattery will get you no where  

b. Don't put of for tomorrow what you can do today  

c. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you  

d. Boasting shows weakness and will lead to bad things 


Answer- Boasting shows weakness and will lead to bad things


Que- I know that many say that they are willing, perhaps the majority of the people, that we should enjoy our rights and privileges as they do. If so, I would ask why are not we protected in our persons and property throughout the Union? Is it not because there reigns in the breast of many who are leaders, a most unrighteous, unbecoming and impure black principle, and as corrupt and unholy as it can be–while these very same unfeeling, self-esteemed characters pretend to take the skin as a pretext to keep us from our unalienable and lawful rights? I would ask you if you would like to be disfranchised from all your rights, merely because your skin is white, and for no other crime? I'll venture to say, these very characters who hold the skin to be such a barrier in the way, would be the first to cry out, injustice! Awful injustice! ? 

a. Fredrick Douglass  

b. John Winthrop  

c. Benjamin Franklin  

d. William Apess 


Answer- William Apess


Que- Mr. Covey entered the stable with a long rope; and just as I was half out of the loft, he caught hold of my legs, and was about tying me. As soon as I found what he was up to, I gave a sudden spring, and as I did so, he holding to my legs, I was brought sprawling on the stable floor. Mr. Covey seemed now to think he had me, and could do what he pleased; but at this moment—from whence came the spirit I don't know—I resolved to fight; and, suiting my action the resolution, I seized Covey hard by the throat, and as I did so, I rose. He held on to me, and I to him. … He trembled like a leaf. …We were at it for nearly two hours. Covey at length let me go, puffing and blowing at a great rate, saying that if I had not resisted, he would not have whipped me half so much. The truth was, that he had not whipped me at all. I considered him as getting entirely the worst end of the bargain; for he had drawn no blood from me, but I had from him_____________? 

a. Fredrick Douglass  

b. John Winthrop  

c. Benjamin Frankin  

d. William Apess 


Answer- Fredrick Douglass


Que- His son Rip, an urchin begotten in his own likeness, promised to inherit the habits, with thÃ¥e old clothes of his father. He was generally seen trooping like a colt at his mother's heels, equipped in a pair of his father's cast-off galligaskins, which he had much ado to hold up with one hand, as a fine lady does her train in bad weather. What are "galligaskins" ? 

a. Long, wide petticoats  

b. A trench-coat  

c. Loose, wide breeches  

d. Underpants 


Answer- Loose, wide breeches


Que- The annals of Massachusetts Bay will inform us, that of six governors, in the space of about forty years from the surrender of the old charter, under James II., two were imprisoned by a popular insurrection – a third, as Hutchinson inclines to believe, was driven from the province by the whizzing of a musket ball – a fourth, in the opinion of the same historian, was hastened to his grave by continual bickerings with the house of representatives – and the remaining two, as well as their successors, till the Revolution, were favored with few and brief intervals of peaceful sway. What is an "insurrection" ? 

a. An act or instance of beginning  

b. An of revolting against civil authority  

c. The state of one risen from the dead  

d. The condition of being stopped 


Answer- An of revolting against civil authority


Que- In the enthusiasm of my confidence, I brought chairs into the room, and desired them here to rest from their fatigues; while I myself, in the wild audacity of my perfect triumph, placed my own seat upon the very spot beneath which reposed the corpse of the victim. What is the meaning of the word audacity ? 

a. Fearless daring or aggressive boldness  

b. Auditory city  

c. Authority  

d. Insanity or dementia 


Answer- Fearless daring or aggressive boldness


Que- I would not have it imagined, however, that he was one of those cruel potentates of the school, who joy in the smart of their subjects; on the contrary, he administered justice with discrimination rather than severity; taking the burthen off the backs of the weak, and laying it on those of the strong. What is the meaning of the word "smart" in this context ? 

a. Stupidity  

b. Silliness  

c. Pain  

d. Intelligence 


Answer- Pain


Que- Let me for a few moments turn your attention to the reservations in the different states of New England, and, with but few exceptions, we shall find them as follows: the most mean, abject, miserable race of beings in the world – a complete place of prodigality and prostitution. What does "prodigality" mean ? 

a. Wasteful extravagance  

b. Promiscuity  

c. Return from the dead  

d. Redemption 


Answer- Wasteful extravagance


Que- The now ghastly pallor of the skin, and the now miraculous luster of the eye, above all things startled and even awed me. The silken hair, too, had been suffered to grow all unheeded, and as, in its wild gossamer texture, it floated rather than fell about the face, I could not, even with effort, connect its arabesque expression with any idea of simple humanity. The character described in this passage ? 

a. Commits suicide  

b. Devours a heart  

c. Meets the devil  

d. Buries someone alive 


Answer- Buries someone alive


Que- When I was 16 years of age, we heard a Strange Rumor among the English, that there were Extraordinary Ministers preaching from Place to Place and Strange Concern among the White People. This was in the Spring of the Year. … After I was awakened & converted, I went to all the meetings, I could come at; & Continued under Trouble of Mind about 6 months; at which time I began to Learn the English letters; got me a Primer, and used to go to my English Neighbours frequently for Assistant in reading…? 

a. Samson Occcum  

b. John Winthrop  

c. Benjamin Franklin  

d. Mayflower Compact 


Answer- Samson Occcum


Que- The ambitious spirits of his brother chieftain Sassacus, had ever aspired to dominion over the allied tribes – and immediately after the appearance of the English, the same temper was manifest in a jealousy of their encroachments. He employed all his art and influence and authority, to unite the tribes for the extirpation of the dangerous invaders. Mononotto, on the contrary, averse to all hostility, and foreseeing no danger from them, was the advocate of a hospitable reception, and pacific conduct. What does "extirpation" mean ? 

a. Execution  

b. Going to extremes  

c. Extermination  

d. Expatriating 


Answer- Extermination


Que- Can this be so! cried goodman Brown, with a stare of amazement at his undisturbed companion. Howbeit, I have nothing to do with the governor and council – they have their own ways, and are no rule for a simple husbandman, like me. But, were I to go on with thee, how should I meet the eye of that good old man, our minister, at Salem village? Oh, his voice would make me tremble, both Sabbathday and lecture-day!" The word "husbandman" usually means farmer, but in this context it means something else – what ? 

a. Rancher  

b. Male partner in a marriage  

c. Cowboy  

d. Man of ordinary status 


Answer- Man of ordinary status


Que- The Puritans who settled Plymouth Colony were separating Puritans which meant ? 

a. Continue being apart of the Church of England  

b. Reform  

c. Separate from the Church of England  

d. None of the above 


Answer- Separate from the Church of England

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