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

English Literature MCQ (Multiple Choice Questions)

 Que- In Beowulf, what is the significance of the term whale-road ? 

a. The term is an allusion to Beowulf's golden torque.  

b. The term represents the comitatus ethic.  

c. The term is an example of kenning.  

d. The term is an example of caesura. 


Answer- The term is an example of kenning.


Que- In "Everyman," which of the following provides the path to redemption in the afterlife ? 

a. Faith  

b. Time spent in prayer  

c. Donations made to the monastery  

d. Good deeds 


Answer- Good deeds


Que- Which of the following texts provides the best example of the comitatus ethic ? 

a. Caedmon's Hymn  

b. The Battle of Maldon  

c. The Canterbury Tales  

d. The Dream of the Rood 


Answer- The Battle of Maldon


Que- Which of the following texts provides the best example of medieval estates satire ? 

a. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight  

b. Piers Plowman  

c. The Canterbury Tales  

d. The Book of Margery Kempe 


Answer- The Canterbury Tales


Que- Which of the following are characteristics of a medieval romance ? 

a. Episodic French and German poetry  

b. Resemblance to an epic  

c. Supernatural themes involving dragons and monsters  

d. All of these answers 


Answer- All of these answers


Que- In Beowulf, what is the significance of wergild ? 

a. Wergild is connected to the idea that bloodshed leads to more bloodshed.  

b. Wergild contributes to the claustrophobic, doom-laden atmosphere.  

c. Wergild relates to the concept of wyrd.  

d. All of these answers 


Answer- All of these answers


Que- Which of the following characters from "The Canterbury Tales" might represent the rising middle class of the 14th century ? 

a. The merchant  

b. The knight  

c. The prioress  

d. The plowman 


Answer- The merchant


Que- Which of the following texts was inspired by Historia Regum Britanniae ? 

a. Bede's Ecclesiastical History  

b. Caedmon's Hymn  

c. Chretien de Troyes Yvain, or le Chevalier au Lion  

d. Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales 


Answer- Chretien de Troyes Yvain, or le Chevalier au Lion


Que- Which of the following best defines caesura ? 

a. A pause or break in a line of poetry  

b. Giving inanimate objects human qualities  

c. A metaphorical compound  

d. The image used to share qualities in a metaphor or simile 


Answer- A pause or break in a line of poetry


Que- In Caedmon's Hymn, the poet borrows the language of which literary form ? 

a. The mock epic  

b. The lyric ballad  

c. The lai  

d. The heroic epic 


Answer- The lai


Que- Which of the following is not a major category of the romance genre ? 

a. The Matter of Germany  

b. The Matter of Rome  

c. The Matter of Britain  

d. The Matter of England 


Answer- The Matter of Germany


Que- Which of the following themes is not explored in "Sir Gawain and the Green Knight" ? 

a. The knightly ideal  

b. Conversion to Christianity  

c. Sexual purity  

d. Feudal loyalty 


Answer- Conversion to Christianity


Que- Which of the following accurately describes the way in which the comitatus ethic is represented in Beowulf, The Seafarer, and The Wanderer ? 

a. As a mutually beneficial relationship between rulers and warriors  

b. As an economic system of rewards used to ensure warriors reliability  

c. As a pre-feudal power structure based on the distribution of economic and military resources  

d. All of these answers 


Answer- All of these answers


Que- Which of the following cultural changes occurred as a result of the Norman invasion ? 

a. The Church moved away from using Latin.  

b. The trend of educational reforms was reversed.  

c. England returned to its pre-feudal state.  

d. The primary language became French 


Answer- The primary language became French


Que- Why is Caedmon's Hymn important in the history of Old English literature ? 

a. The poem could be easily sung in all churches and was widely accepted.  

b. The poem's theme of alienation becomes familiar to Anglo-Saxon poetry.  

c. The poem illustrates Caedmon's erudition and scholarship.  

d. The poem is widely believed to be the first written poem in Old English. 


Answer- The poem is widely believed to be the first written poem in Old English.


Que- Which of the following epic themes are invoked in The Wanderer ? 

a. Exile  

b. Abandoned mead-halls  

c. Loneliness  

d. All of these answers 


Answer- All of these answers


Que- Which text is an example of a poem structured as a vision to convey the theme of salvation ? 

a. The Battle of Maldon  

b. The Seafarer  

c. The Wanderer  

d. The Dream of the Rood 


Answer- The Dream of the Rood


Que- Which of the following texts are associated with the alliterative revival ? 

a. The Dream of the Rood  

b. The Wanderer  

c. The Seafarer  

d. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight 


Answer- Sir Gawain and the Green Knight


Que- Chaucer's "The Canterbury Tales" ? 

a. The court of Richard II  

b. The church  

c. The military  

d. The literary tradition 


Answer- The church


Que- The Gothic novel was intended to have which of the following effects on the reader ? 

a. To create a sense of mystery, gloom, and suspense  

b. To make the reader dislike modern society  

c. To make the reader feel distaste for supernatural themes  

d. To generate feelings of intense pleasure 


Answer- To create a sense of mystery, gloom, and suspense


Que- In "Dracula" what is the significance of the typewriter ? 

a. It allows women to participate in the novel.  

b. It serves as a path to the public sphere for women.  

c. It is a less effective tool than traditional folklore weapons.  

d. It becomes a way to conceal information. 


Answer- It serves as a path to the public sphere for women.


Que- Based on your readings for the course, which of the following best states how critics often interpret the dead hand in "The Castle of Otranto" ? 

a. The hand represents the superiority of the Enlightenment over medievalism.  

b. The hand symbolizes the danger of marriage.  

c. The hand signifies the mysterious pull of the labyrinth.  

d. The hand represents the claim of primogeniture over the living. 


Answer- The hand represents the claim of primogeniture over the living.


Que- In what century and in what literary era was the first Gothic novel written ? 

a. 17th century; Enlightenment  

b. 18th century; Enlightenment  

c. 18th century; Romanticism  

d. 19th century; Romanticism 


Answer- 18th century; Enlightenment


Que- How does Lewis portray the Catholic confessional in "The Monk"? 

a. As a path to redemption  

b. As a necessary control  

c. As a voyeuristic activity  

d. As a model for contemporary police work 


Answer- As a voyeuristic activity


Que- In "The Yellow Wallpaper" what does Gilman suggest about madness ? 

a. That it is necessary to contain mad women  

b. That it is an artificial patriarchal tool  

c. That men also are mad  

d. That female madness is a serious obstacle to women's liberation 


Answer- That it is an artificial patriarchal tool


Que- Which character best represents the concept of terror versus that of horror in Lewis's "The Monk" ? 

a. Agnes  

b. Ambrosio  

c. Baptiste  

d. Matilda 


Answer- Matilda


Que- Why does Radcliffe favor the term "romance" as the subtitle to "The Mysteries of Udolpho" ? 

a. Radcliffe wants to emphasize the happy ending of the marriage of Emily and Valancourt.  

b. It frees Radcliffe from a strict adherence to common life, allowing her to place Emily in challenging situations.  

c. Radcliffe considers her work a continuation of the sentimental novel of the 18th century.  

d. It acknowledges the lack of supernatural plot tricks. 


Answer- It frees Radcliffe from a strict adherence to common life, allowing her to place Emily in challenging situations.


Que- What is Strawberry Hill ? 

a. The ancestral home of Ann Radcliffe  

b. The ancestral home of HoraceWalpole  

c. One of the settings in "The Mysteries of Udolpho"  

d. The inspiration for "The Castle of Otranto" 


Answer- The inspiration for "The Castle of Otranto"


Que- When Mary Shelley writes about ghosts, what is her concern ? 

a. People are foolishly superstitious.  

b. A world devoid of supernatural phenomena is a better world.  

c. A belief in ghosts is a belief in imagination.  

d. The personification of nature is regressive. 


Answer- A belief in ghosts is a belief in imagination.


Que- What is Gothic about the narrative structure of "Frankenstein" ? 

a. The erratic movement of time and place  

b. The readers' unwavering empathy for Frankenstein  

c. The reliable narrator  

d. The mix of language in terms of voice, diction, and rhythm 


Answer- The erratic movement of time and place


Que- To whom is the concept of the uncanny attributed ? 

a. Sigmund Freud  

b. Edmund Lewis  

c. Edmund Burke  

d. Mary Shelley 


Answer- Sigmund Freud


Que- For many scholars, what distinguishes terror from horror in the Gothic novel ? 

a. The anticipation of the violation of one's person versus an act of physical violence  

b. Plotted revenge versus random violence  

c. The male Gothic versus the female Gothic  

d. The persistence of the past in the present versus the betrayal in the present of the paternal protector 


Answer- The anticipation of the violation of one's person versus an act of physical violence


Que- Which statement best summarizes the parallel between Frankenstein and Prometheus ? 

a. Both were successful because they followed the laws of nature.  

b. Both refused to use science to do innovative work.  

c. Both worked collaboratively.  

d. Both suffered for their attempt to do divine work. 


Answer- Both suffered for their attempt to do divine work.


Que- Which psychological issue is NOT typical of the Gothic novel ? 

a. Daydreams  

b. Aberrant mental states  

c. Violence  

d. Sexual rapacity 


Answer- Daydreams


Que- What literary purpose does Emily's stay with the nuns at the convent NOT serve ? 

a. Emily is confronted with the duality of the human mind, at once rational and then mad.  

b. Emily is tested regarding the guilt and ghosts of sins past.  

c. Emily comes to understand the benefits of a cloistered life.  

d. Emily learns the story of Sister Agnes's past. 


Answer- Emily comes to understand the benefits of a cloistered life.


Que- What quality does the Gothic novel of the 18th and early 19th centuries share with the majority of English novels of the same time period ? 

a. Realism  

b. An epistolary format  

c. A focus on the individual  

d. An English setting 


Answer- A focus on the individual


Que- Who does NOT represent the "new woman" ? 

a. Antonia  

b. Charlotte Perkins Gilman  

c. Jane Eyre  

d. Mina Murray Harker 


Answer- Antonia


Que- Why is "The Castle of Otranto" often considered a reaction against the Enlightenment ? 

a. It shows the possible dangers of science.  

b. It exposes the deep flaws in medieval ways of thinking about the world.  

c. It marks a return to more primitive ways of pre-Enlightenment thought and expression.  

d. It suggests that reason is more important than emotion. 


Answer- It marks a return to more primitive ways of pre-Enlightenment thought and expression.


Que- Which cultural theme is NOT referenced in Stoker's "Dracula" ? 

a. Imperialism  

b. The Woman Question  

c. Labor unions  

d. Theories of Darwinian evolution 


Answer- Labor unions


Que- What have literary critics read into the vampirism in Stoker's "Dracula" ? 

a. The novel presents the vampire count as a father-figure of great power.  

b. The vampire represents a beloved father who seeks to gather together all the women and young men (sons).  

c. The vampire represents sexual impotence.  

d. The vampire represents the future. 


Answer- The novel presents the vampire count as a father-figure of great power.


Que- How is Thornfield in "Jane Eyre" different from the structures found in the first wave of Gothic novels ? 

a. It is an ancestral estate.  

b. It contains vault-like spaces.  

c. It is located in England.  

d. It is mysterious. 


Answer- It is located in England.


Que- In "The Castle of Otranto" which attitude does Walpole express towards primogeniture ? 

a. It is a necessary part of the social order.  

b. It is essentially fair.  

c. It is monstrous.  

d. It will naturally fall out of favor. 


Answer- It is monstrous.


Que- How is the concept of "the new woman" Gothic ? 

a. It represents a "doubling" of Queen Victoria by English women as they remake themselves in her image.  

b. It represents the "transformation" of the traditional Victorian woman from the private sphere to the public sphere.  

c. It represents the rise in psychological pathologies or "madness" in women in the late 19th century.  

d. It represents the "pollution" of the ideal woman by foreign influences. 


Answer- It represents the "transformation" of the traditional Victorian woman from the private sphere to the public sphere.


Que- Which of the following terms is most closely related to the phrase "the explained supernatural" ? 

a. The uncanny  

b. The fallen world  

c. The "Other"  

d. The sublime 


Answer- The uncanny


Que- Why has Bertha been characterized as the "madwoman in the attic" by literary scholars ? 

a. To represent the expansion of Gothic literary spaces from only subterranean spaces to attics as well  

b. To represent the shift from the male Gothic villain to the female Gothic villain in the Victorian Gothic novel  

c. To make reference to the rise of personal responsibility in Victorian England for the care of the sick and insane  

d. To make an ironic statement about the point of view and marginalization of the "Other" in Victorian England 


Answer- To make an ironic statement about the point of view and marginalization of the "Other" in Victorian England


Que- How does the use of Gothic architecture assist the Gothic novelist ? 

a. It engenders confusion for both the novel's protagonist and readers.  

b. It offers a secure refuge for the novel's protagonist.  

c. It provides the space for a large community of people to congregate.  

d. It represents the glory of a bygone age. 


Answer- It engenders confusion for both the novel's protagonist and readers.


Que- In what way do the houses in "The Yellow Wallpaper" and "Jane Eyre" differ from each other as Gothic literary structures ? 

a. The relative location of the room in which the "troubled" women are kept  

b. The state of disrepair when the houses are first encountered by the protagonists  

c. The relative location of the houses within the larger communities  

d. The relative age of the houses 


Answer- The state of disrepair when the houses are first encountered by the protagonists


Que- It is very seldom that mere ordinary people like John and myself secure ancestral halls for the summer. How does this opening sentence of Gilman's "The Yellow Wallpaper" NOT immediately suggest the Gothic ? 

a. The reference to ancestral halls  

b. The uncommon nature of the event  

c. The first-person narrator  

d. The dichotomy between the concepts of ordinary and estate 


Answer- The first-person narrator


Que- What do scholars Michael O'Rourke and David Collings argue about "Queer Romanticism" ? 

a. Romantic literary criticism has been stubbornly limited with regard to queer readings.  

b. Deviant sexuality, including homosexuality, has historically been associated with Romantic literature.  

c. The sexual lives of Romantic-era authors are not relevant to our understanding of queer Romanticism.  

d. The "Queer Gothic" is understudied. 


Answer- Romantic literary criticism has been stubbornly limited with regard to queer readings.


Que- In "Dracula" what does the death of Lucy suggest ? 

a. That sexual purity was less important than society's safety  

b. That female sexuality is dangerous and must be destroyed  

c. That women are not one-dimensional  

d. That men consider themselves responsible for their own fates 


Answer- That female sexuality is dangerous and must be destroyed

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