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

English Literature MCQ (Multiple Choice Questions)

 Que- In what way does Julia Kristeva build on Jacques Lacan's theory of psychosexual development ? 

a. Kristeva wholly rejects Lacan's theory of psychosexual development.  

b. Kristeva centralizes the maternal and the feminine in her revisions of Lacan's theory.  

c. Kristeva argues that the mirror stage does not occur until the individual embraces a distinct gender role.  

d. All of the above answers are correct. 


Answer- Kristeva argues that the mirror stage does not occur until the individual embraces a distinct gender role.


Que- Which of the following best defines the work of a deconstructionist critic ? 

a. Calling into question the possibility of the coherence of discourse  

b. Suggesting that the study of literature is based on the breakdown of language into signs  

c. Arguing that language, and therefore literary texts, relies on the difference between terms and therefore constantly defers meaning.  

d. All of the above answers are correct. 


Answer- All of the above answers are correct.


Que- How many principal sources of sublimity are there according to Longinus ? 

a. Three  

b. Four  

c. Five  

d. Six 


Answer- Five


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. Literature is inextricably connected to its creator. 


Answer- A text and its author text are unrelated.


Que- Who is the author of the notorious book entitled The School of Abuse ? 

a. Roger Ascham  

b. Stephen Hawes  

c. John Skelton  

d. Stephen Gosson 


Answer- Stephen Gosson


Que- Preface to the Lyrical Ballads was written by_______________? 

a. Wordsworth  

b. Coleridge  

c. Southey  

d. Shelly 


Answer- Wordsworth


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- On the Sublime is written in_________________? 

a. Greek  

b. Latin  

c. Hebrew  

d. Italian 


Answer- Greek


Que- Which of the following statements best describes Cleanth Brooks's attitude towards studying literature ? 

a. Critics should examine historical information surrounding a literary work.  

b. Critics should develop universal readings of texts.  

c. Critics should attempt to paraphrase texts in order to find out what they mean.  

d. Critics should look at the biographical information of authors. 


Answer- Critics should develop universal readings of texts.


Que- Which theorist is most closely associated with the idea of art as imitation ? 

a. Jacques Derrida  

b. Jacques Lacan  

c. Edward Said  

d. Plato 


Answer- Plato


Que- Who said that Keat's love letters of a surgeon's apprentice ? 

a. Arnold  

b. P.B. Shelley  

c. Byron  

d. Hazlitt 


Answer- Arnold


Que- Which theorist is associated with the idea that art is a copy of a copy ? 

a. Plato  

b. Julia Kristeva  

c. Walter Benjamin  

d. Louis Althusser 


Answer- Plato


Que- The structure of tragedy according to Aristotle is________________? 

a. Simple  

b. Complex  

c. Loose  

d. Episodic 


Answer- Complex


Que- Who is the writer of 'Hamlet and Oedipus' (1949) ? 

a. Carl Jung  

b. Harold Bloom  

c. Ernest Jones  

d. Erik Erikson 


Answer- Ernest Jones


Que- What is dialogism ? 

a. A term developed by Mikhail Bakhtin  

b. A term used to describe how texts include a variety of styles  

c. A term used to explain the use of multiple points of view in literature  

d. All of the above answers are correct. 


Answer- All of the above answers are correct.


Que- Philip Sidney's Apologie for Poetrie is a defence of poetry against the charges brought against it by____________? 

a. Henry Howard  

b. Roger Ascham  

c. John Skelton  

d. Stephen Gosson 


Answer- Stephen Gosson


Que- The statements below are steps on "How to Read a Short Story Critically". Which comes in as the last thing to do in the critical reading of a narrative ? 

a. Analyze the Structure of the Story  

b. Analyze Rhetorical Elements  

c. Analyze the Meaning of the Story (Interpretation)  

d. Analyze the Essential Elements of the Story 


Answer- Analyze Rhetorical Elements


Que- Who coined the term 'esemplastic' ? 

a. William Worsworth  

b. Browning  

c. Coleridge  

d. Eliot 


Answer- Coleridge


Que- The fall of the prison of Bacille, that marks the begining of French Revolution occurred on______________? 

a. June 14,1789  

b. June 14, 1798  

c. July 14, 1789  

d. July 14,1798 


Answer- July 14, 1789


Que- One of the disadvantages of this school of criticism is that it tends to make readings too subjective ? 

a. Reader Response Criticism  

b. Formalist Criticism  

c. Historical Criticism  

d. These are all equally subjective 


Answer- Reader Response Criticism


Que- An Elizabethan Puritan critic denounced the poets as 'fathers of lies','schools of abuse' and'caterpillars of a commonwealth'. Mark him out from the following crities________________? 

a. William Tyndale  

b. Roger Ascham  

c. Stephen Gosson  

d. Henry Howard 


Answer- Stephen Gosson


Que- What is dialectical materialism ? 

a. A form of literary criticism that is based on historical context  

b. A form of literary criticism that does not incorporate economic concerns  

c. A form of literary criticism based on linguistic analysis  

d. A term related to gender theory that argues that men are dominant in society by virtue of their economic privilege 


Answer- A form of literary criticism that is based on historical context


Que- With what literary critic is the term the author function most closely associated ? 

a. Claude Lévi-Strauss  

b. Jacques Derrida  

c. Jacques Lacan  

d. Michel Foucault 


Answer- Michel Foucault


Que- Who made a difference between 'poetry' and 'poem' ? 

a. Coleridge  

b. Addison  

c. Arnold  

d. Eliot 


Answer- Coleridge


Que- According to the Geneva School, what is the function of the reader ? 

a. Understanding the author's ideas in the context of the real world  

b. Entering the author's mind through his or her literary works  

c. Reproducing the author's thoughts in a critical context  

d. All of the above answers are correct. 


Answer- All of the above answers are correct.


Que- How many poets were included in Jhonson's 'The Lives of Most Eminent English Poets' ? 

a. 48 

b. 50 

c. 52 

d. 54 


Answer- 52


Que- Plato equated poetry with painting, and Aristotle equated it with_______________? 

a. drama  

b. music  

c. dance  

d. none 


Answer- music


Que- The New Critics were_________________? 

a. Psychological Critics  

b. Feminist critics  

c. Formalist critics  

d. Marxist critics 


Answer- Formalist critics


Que- Which of the following descriptions best defines the literary theory known as formalism ? 

a. An approach that emphasizes literary devices in a text  

b. An approach that emphasizes the historical context of a text  

c. An approach that emphasizes the biographical intent of a text  

d. An approach that emphasizes racial issues in a text 


Answer- An approach that emphasizes literary devices in a text


Que- According to Aristotle pity and fear are evoked by_______________? 

a. Comedy  

b. Tragedy  

c. Satire  

d. Melodrama 


Answer- Tragedy


Que- What is denouement ____________? 

a. The ending of a tragedy  

b. The ending of a comedy  

c. The climax in a tragedy  

d. The climax in a comedy 


Answer- The ending of a comedy


Que- According to Jacques Lacan, the mirror stage is the point at which a child _______________? 

a. refuses maternal bonds.  

b. is able to separate the "I" from the "Other."  

c. looks into a mirror for the first time.  

d. All of the above answers are correct. 


Answer- is able to separate the "I" from the "Other."


Que- Who was the most illustrious disciple of Socrates ? 

a. Sophocles  

b. Plautus  

c. Plato  

d. Critus 


Answer- Plato


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. Stanley Fish  

d. Toni Morrison 


Answer- Aristotle


Que- What are some common criticisms of literary theory ? 

a. Theory has replaced literary appreciation with formulas for understanding  

b. The reasoning of theory is often too circular  

c. Many theories have been pushed too far into abstraction  

d. All of the above answers are correct  


Answer- All of the above answers are correct 


Que- Plato said that art is an imperfect reflection of the real world because______________? 

a. Art presents only part of the world  

b. Art describes only what appears and not what is real  

c. Art tells lies about the world  

d. Art is an exaggeration of the world 


Answer- Art describes only what appears and not what is real


Que- Plato has a positive view of art, in so far as_______________? 

a. It represents the nature  

b. It contributes to the spiritual growth of people  

c. It shows a tragedy  

d. It imitates nobility 


Answer- It contributes to the spiritual growth of people


Que- Who said that Arnold was a propagandist for literature rather than a critic ? 

a. Carlyle  

b. Ruskin  

c. T. S. Eliot  

d. F. R. Leavis 


Answer- T. S. Eliot


Que- Literary Theory and Criticism________________? 

a. Dryden  

b. Pope  

c. Dr. Johnson  

d. Addison 


Answer- Pope


Que- From where has the term Oedipus Complex originated ? 

a. Oedipus the Rex  

b. Oedipus at Colonus  

c. Antigone  

d. Jocasta, the Queen of Thebes 


Answer- Oedipus the Rex


Que- Which of the following offers the best definition of écriture féminine ? 

a. How women really feel about male writers  

b. The inscription of womanhood and femininity in texts  

c. Second-wave feminism  

d. Psychological studies of women 


Answer- The inscription of womanhood and femininity in texts


Que- How do Marxist theorists react to ideology ? 

a. They accept ideology as an essential, although sometimes problematic, part of society.  

b. They subject all ideologies to critique in order to expose biased interests.  

c. They reject the idea that ideology has real effects on social progress.  

d. All of the above answers are correct. 


Answer- They subject all ideologies to critique in order to expose biased interests.


Que- What approach to literary criticism requires the critic to know about the author's life and times ? 

a. Historical  

b. Formalist  

c. Mimetic  

d. All of these 


Answer- Historical


Que- How many times do the word Katharsis appear in the Poetics________________? 

a. 3 

b. 2 

c. 4 

d. 6 


Answer- 2


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 school of theorists is most closely associated with phenomenology ? 

a. The Moscow School  

b. The Chicago School  

c. The Frankfurt School  

d. The Geneva School 


Answer- The Geneva School


Que- What has Dryden to say about the observance of the three Classical Dramatic Unities ? 

a. He advocates their strict observance  

b. He does not advocate their strict observance  

c. He says that every dramatist should decide it for himself  

d. He is silent about this issue 


Answer- He does not advocate their strict observance


Que- What is the purpose of feminist theory ? 

a. To advocate for women's rights  

b. To create literary subjects with which female readers can identify  

c. To critique phallocentric assumptions about literature  

d. All of the above answers are correct. 


Answer- All of the above answers are correct.


Que- On the Sublime is considered ______________? 

a. A classical approach  

b. Romantic approach  

c. Neo-classical approach  

d. None of these 


Answer- Romantic approach


Que- Who coined the expression "objective corelative" ? 

a. Coleridge  

b. T. S. Eliot  

c. Allen Tate  

d. F. R. Leavis 


Answer- T. S. Eliot

Previous Post Next Post