Literary Studies and Theory MCQs

Literary Studies and Theory in English Literature topic based MCQs preparation test for all competitive exam. Literary Studies and Theory in English Literature topic based MCQs from history to date that are mostly asked in competitive exam related to English Literature. Here examtry team design a series of MCQs based test that effectively and efficiently help a student or job seeker to prepare their exam effectively and efficiently.

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1 - A gothic novel will probably not deal with which of the following themes ?

The manners and traditions of the upper classes

2 - A picaresque novel dramatizes the life of what kind of person ?

A lowborn, wandering adventurer

3 - A play that begins in medias res________________?

opens by plunging the viewer into a crucial series of events.

4 - A postmodern play would most likely not make use of which of the following theatrical traditions ?

A minimalist stage and strict adherence to the script

5 - A work of criticism that considers how the author's childhood trauma influenced his characters would be an example of_____________?

psychoanalytic criticism.

6 - 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 ?

Marxist criticism

7 - A writer can establish ethos in a piece of writing by doing which of the following ?

Demonstrating a mastery of the topic

8 - According to Anthony DiMatteo's "Shakespeare and the Public Discourse of Sovereignty: 'Reason of State' in 'Hamlet'", how does Shakespeare tend to present political rulers in Hamlet?

Shakespeare presents political rulers as often meeting ruinous and violent endings.

9 - According to Dr. Frances Pritchett's version of Shamsur Rahman Faruqi's "The Historical Novel and the Historical Narrative", what is the difference between a historical narrative and a historical novel ?

A historical novel focuses on providing the reader with only the central truth of a historical event, while a historical narrative attempts to tell the entire truth of a historical event.

10 - 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 narrative that does not analyze characters on a situation-by-situation basis

11 - 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 ?

The way they view reality

12 - According to Dr. Taormina, Victorian novelists generally________________?

accepted middle class values.

13 - According to Jacques Lacan, the mirror stage is the point at which a child_________________?

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

14 - According to Plato, what is the moral purpose of art ?

To connect human beings with a higher ideal

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

All of the above.

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

All of the above.

17 - According to trauma theorists, a testifying subject needs which of the following to deliver a successful testimony ?

A witness

18 - Aristotle felt that ethos was established by a speaker or writer by convincing the audience that ?

the author or speaker was of good mind and character.

19 - As a mode of literary criticism or theory, formalism attempted to bring which of the following to literary studies ?

A set of objective criteria for critical analysis

20 - As a mode of literary criticism or theory, gender theory attempts to bring which of the following to literary texts ?

All of these.

21 - Christopher Ricks would most likely DISAGREE with which of the following claims about literary theory ?

Literary theory is the only proper way to conceptualize literary texts.

22 - Dr. Allen Shoaf's essay, "'Hamlet': Like Mother, Like Son", argues which of the following points ?

Hamlet feels a sense of desire for both his mother and his father.

23 - Ecotheorists tend to show an interest in which of the following ?

How writers conceptualize natural environments and the representation of environmental issues in literature and culture

24 - Ethos is important to establish in which of the following types of arguments ?

Political arguments

25 - Feminist criticism focuses on exploring which of the following aspects of literary texts ?

All of these

26 - Fill in the blank. Renaissance thinkers strongly associated themselves with the values of ____________?

Classical antiquity

27 - From whom did New Historicists draw the idea of "self-regulating systems" ?

Claude LÃvi-Strauss

28 - Gerald Graff's "They Say, I Say" encourages students to become______________?

involved in critical conversations about literary texts.

29 - Greek theatre took place where ?

Large hillside amphitheaters

30 - How are Julia Kristeva's psychoanalytic theories distinct from traditional Freudian concepts ?

Kristeva offers a more central place for women's issues within psychological development.

31 - How did the New Critics view literature ?

As an aesthetic object that is independent of historical context

32 - How do Marxist theorists react to ideology ?

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

33 - How does literary theory resemble the practice of philosophy as it was developed by Plato and Aristotle ?

Literary theory asks fundamental questions about literary interpretation, and at the same time builds specific systems of literary interpretation.

34 - How does New Historicism differ from traditional historicism ?

All of the above.

35 - How does Virginia Woolf's essay "A Room of One's Own" contribute to feminist theory ?

It suggests that gender roles are conditioned by the possession of money and power.

36 - How does Wolfgang Iser envision the reader ?

The reader fills in the gaps imposed by an author's intention.

37 - In "Characters of Shakespeare's Plays", how does William Hazlitt ultimately conceptualize the character of Hamlet ?

As a profound philosophical genius

38 - In Beckett's "Waiting for Godot", which of the following statements best describes the play's setting ?

Stark and sterile

39 - 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 ?

Hamlet is placed in a position that can be conceptualized as feminine.

40 - In Fredric Jameson's book The Political Unconscious, what does Jameson suggest about literature ?

History comprises the essential framework for the performance of literary analysis

41 - In general, what is Judith Butler's concept of gender ?

Gender is largely a cultural construct.

42 - In her essay "The Laugh of the Medusa," what does Hélène Cixous suggest for women ?

Women should write for and about themselves in order to counter phallocentric texts.

43 - In her essay "The Poem as Event," Louise M. Rosenblatt sees the reader as performing what function ?

All of the above.

44 - In her text, "History of the Novel", How does Dr. Agatha Taormina define the novel ?

All of these

45 - In his "Poetics", Aristotle suggests that tragic literary works should be ?

logical in terms of plot and structure.

46 - In his essay "The Business of Theory," William Deresiewicz argues which of the following about Terry Eagleton's book After Theory ?

It offers some valid ideas and critiques, but its author is not entirely trustworthy.

47 - In his essay "The Death of the Author," Roland Barthes argues what about literature ?

A text and its author text are unrelated.

48 - In his essay "What Is an Author?" what position(s) on authorship does Michel Foucault take ?

All of the above.

49 - In his essay, "Characters of Shakespeare's Plays", William Hazlitt conceptualizes Hamlet as_______________?

a depressed but ultimately good and nonviolent man.

50 - In his essay, "The Significance of Fictionalizing", Wolfgang Iser argues which of the following points ?

All of these.

51 - In his introductory lecture, how does Paul Fry define literary theory ?

A hypothesis about how literary texts can be understood

52 - In his preface to "Lyrical Ballads", Wordsworth calls for poetry to be written in what kind of language?

Common, everyday language

53 - In Of Grammatology, Jacques Derrida argues what about literature ?

No fixed, stable meaning is possible.

54 - In poetry, each unit of rhythm is known as______________?

a foot.

55 - In Samuel Taylor Coleridge's "Rime of the Ancient Mariner", why does the Mariner kill the albatross ?

It is never directly stated why he does so.

56 - 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" ?

There are some aspects of existence that cannot be explained through reason.

57 - In Shakespeare's "Sonnet 18", the poet does which of the following ?

Compares his love to a summer's day

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

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

59 - Jacques Derrida's concept of différance challenges us to think about language as a system that___________?

involves a constant process of deferred meaning.

60 - Jane Austen's "Northanger Abbey" pursues which of the following themes ?

All of these

61 - Lauren Beth Signore's essay, "Anne of Green Gables: The Transformation from Bildungsroman to Romantic Comedy", argues that Anne of Green Gables is ultimately what kind of character ?

A romantic awaiting true love

62 - Marxist theory focuses on examining which of the following aspects of literary texts ?

All of these

63 - Modern literary theory began with the work of which theorist ?

Ferdinand de Saussure

64 - New trends in literary theory tend to do which of the following ?

Make use of different literary theories in order to develop new theories

65 - Psychoanalytic criticism during its earliest stages tended to focus on_____________?

the psychologies of individual authors.

66 - Reader-response theory focuses on considering how ?

readers experience a literary work.

67 - Reader-response theory is focused on considering which of the following ?

How readers participate in creating the meaning of a text

68 - Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream" can be described as what kind of play ?

A comedic play

69 - Some critics of literary theory argue that literary theory is problematic for which reason ?

All of the above.

70 - Sophocles' "Oedipus the King" explores which of the following themes ?

Fate and free will

71 - The concept of otherness is related to which of the following theories ?

All of the above.

72 - The Frankfurt School of literary theory was most greatly influenced by which of the following schools of thought ?

Marxism

73 - The Freudian concept of "the uncanny" refers to_________________?

a sense of something being familiar and foreign at once.

74 - To what idea does the ancient Greek term aporia refer in terms of deconstruction theory ?

The "undecidability" and essentially unstable nature of a text

75 - To what idea does the term heteroglossia refer ?

The multi-layered nature of language in a literary work

76 - Trauma theory is tremendously influenced by which theoretical school ?

Psychoanalysis

77 - Trauma theory primarily developed out of the work of which psychoanalyst ?

Sigmund Freud

78 - Ultimately, the literary theory of deconstruction argues that___________?

the instability of a text is actually evident in the text itself.

79 - What are some common criticisms of literary theory ?

All of the above.

80 - What are some of the hallmarks or conventions of the poetic form of the ode ?

Complexity in language, lengthiness in form, and seriousness in attitude

81 - What did Sigmund Freud believe about the unconscious ?

It contains secret instincts and desires that are repressed.

82 - What do many contemporary theorists find problematic about the literary canon ?

It includes too few works by non- Western writers.

83 - What do structuralist and formalist critics have in common ?

All of the above.

84 - What does a prologue serve to do in a Greek tragedy or comedy ?

Provide insight into the play's mythological background

85 - What does Edward Said argue about the concept of the Orient ?

It was produced by Western scholarship.

86 - What does Elaine Showalter argue about gender in terms of representations of the character of Ophelia in William Shakespeare's Hamlet ?

All of the above

87 - What does gynocriticism recommend as an approach to literature ?

Becoming more familiar with the history of women and women's writing

88 - What does hermeneutic theory suggest about how readers view literature ?

It is impossible to separate a text from the linguistics that compose it.

89 - What does Judith Butler mean when she suggests that gender is "performed" ?

Gender does not reflect an essential truth, but rather is a role people play based on their internalization of socially constructed gender roles.

90 - What does Percy Shelley mean when he refers to poets as being the "unacknowledged legislators of the world" ?

He is suggesting that artists serve to develop culture.

91 - What does the term meta-language mean, according to Andrzej Warminski ?

A language about another language

92 - What form of verse is usually sung and details a dramatic or exciting episode ?

A ballad

93 - What fundamental idea does psychoanalytic criticism hold about literary texts ?

Literary texts reveal secret elements of an author's unconscious.

94 - What is affective fallacy ?

All of the above.

95 - What is Christopher Ricks's attitude toward literary theory ?

He feels that literary theory is ultimately too limited in scope to serve as a proper method of interpretation.

96 - What is defamiliarization ?

All of the above.

97 - What is dialectical materialism ?

A form of literary criticism that is based on historical context

98 - What is dialogism ?

All of the above.

99 - What is double consciousness ?

All of the above.

100 - What is false consciousness ?

An ideology that involves dominating the consciousness of exploited classes

101 - What is generally considered to be Theodor W. Adorno's primary concern as a theorist ?

The effect of modern society on human suffering

102 - What is hermeneutics ?

The study of textual interpretation

103 - What is hermeneutics ?

A term that describes the interpretation of meaning

104 - What is humanism ?

All of the above.

105 - What is mimesis ?

An imitation

106 - What is New Historicism ?

All of the above

107 - What is one reason that Mystery Plays are referred to as such ?

They were produced by medieval craft guilds, which were knows as "mysteries".

108 - What is phenomenology ?

The examination of structures informing our conscious experience

109 - What is the central argument in Dr. Richard Kelly's "The Novelist's Eye" ?

George du Maurier felt that black-andwhite illustrators could be as important as novelists and painters.

110 - What is the central idea of Ferdinand de Saussure's Course in General Linguistics ?

Language can be analyzed as a formal system of elements.

111 - What is the difference between traditional literary criticism and post-New Criticism literary theory ?

Traditional literary criticism focused on tracking influences and textual allusions and considering the historical contexts of literary texts.

112 - What is the main function of literary theory ?

All of the above.

113 - What is the main function of postcolonial criticism ?

To represent the relationship between colonizers and the colonized

114 - What is the main goal of ethnic criticism ?

All of the above.

115 - What is the philosophical theory known as pragmatism ?

All of the above.

116 - What is the purpose of feminist theory ?

All of the above.

117 - What is the relationship between the practices of New Historicism and New Criticism ?

New Historicism was a reaction against New Criticism, which was seen as too narrowly focused on text rather than context.

118 - Which is a common postcolonial critique of the West ?

The West views matters through its own limited historical position.

119 - Which literary theorist argues that "there is nothing outside the text" ?

Jacques Derrida

120 - Which literary theory would most directly explore questions of the role of spatial setting in a poem ?

Ecotheory

121 - Which of the following are common literary elements used to analyze novels ?

All of these

122 - Which of the following are examples of literary interpretation ?

Comparing the Bible to folk tales from other cultures

123 - Which of the following are examples of poetic structures ?

All of these

124 - Which of the following assertions would William Wordsworth most likely agree with ?

Poetry should rhyme.

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

All of the above.

126 - Which of the following best describes epic theater as defined by Berthold Brecht ?

Epic theater turns the passive spectator into an active observer.

127 - Which of the following best describes the difference between literary criticism and literary theory?

Literary theory is concerned with the method used to interpret a work, while literary criticism is the application of literary theory.

128 - Which of the following concepts does Aristotle consider to be the most important element of a Greek tragedy ?

Plot

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

An approach that emphasizes literary devices in a text

130 - Which of the following descriptions best describes the character of Hamlet ?

Hamlet is depressed yet highly intelligent.

131 - Which of the following descriptions of Jane Austen's "Northanger Abbey" seems most appropriate ?

It serves to parody gothic novels.

132 - Which of the following figures is considered to be the father of the linguistic theory known as structuralism ?

Ferdinand de Saussure

133 - Which of the following human behaviors is important to a Freudian psychoanalytic study of William Shakespeare's Hamlet ?

All of the above.

134 - Which of the following ideas relates to J.L. Austin's performativity theory ?

Language is used to indicate action as well as thought.

135 - Which of the following is a component of a gothic novel ?

All of these

136 - Which of the following is a rule of semiotics ?

All linguistic and social phenomena are texts, and the object of studying these texts is to reveal the underlying codes that make them meaningful.

137 - Which of the following is a theme of Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick's book Epistemology of the Closet ?

Understanding sexuality is crucial to understanding culture.

138 - Which of the following lines of poetry is written in iambic pentameter ?

To be or not to be, that is the question.

139 - Which of the following lines provides an example of a poetic apostrophe ?

Milton, thou shouldst be living at this hour: / England hath need of thee.

140 - Which of the following literary theorists is most closely associated with the concept that became known as liberal humanism ?

Aristotle

141 - Which of the following may be an antagonist to the protagonist of a novel ?

All of these

142 - Which of the following offers the best definition of a fable ?

A story in which the author provides an explicit moral

143 - Which of the following offers the best definition of a frame narrative ?

A story within a story

144 - Which of the following offers the best definition of a Greek theatrical comedy ?

A play in which characters experience reversals of fortune, usually for the better

145 - Which of the following offers the best definition of a theatrical tragedy ?

A play that depicts the downfall of a noble person

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

The inscription of womanhood and femininity in texts

147 - Which of the following offers the best definition of the concept of narrative poetry ?

A narrative poem has a plot and tells a story.

148 - Which of the following offers the best definition of the concept of persuasion ?

Persuasion is the art of making readers or listeners believe what the writer or speaker is stating.

149 - Which of the following offers the best definition of the literary term motif ?

A recurring element in a story that is symbolically significant

150 - Which of the following offers the best definition of the theatrical concept of a chorus ?

A group of characters who comment on the actions of the play while not participating in them

151 - Which of the following offers the best description of literary theory ?

Literary theory involves describing the underlying principles of a literary work.

152 - Which of the following offers the best description of the concept of ethos ?

Ethos refers to a writer's presentation of character and image.

153 - Which of the following offers the best description of the concept of logos ?

Logos refers to a writer's ability to present evidence.

154 - Which of the following offers the best description of the concept of pathos ?

Pathos refers to a writer's ability to inspire emotional responses in readers.

155 - Which of the following poems can be described as a haiku ?

Pound's "In a Station of the Metro"

156 - Which of the following poetic lines is an example of a couplet ?

Into my head there will come / a beach of cotton, a dock where from.

157 - Which of the following represents a stage of development in the poetic form of the elegy ?

All of these

158 - Which of the following serves as the best definition of the literary critical practice of formalism ?

Formalism focuses on examining the use of literary devices within a literary text.

159 - Which of the following statements about Greek tragedies is true ?

They were usually set in the past.

160 - Which of the following statements about the plot of Shakespeare's "Hamlet" is not true ?

It is never proven within the play that Claudius murdered King Hamlet.

161 - Which of the following statements best defines the poetic form of the villanelle ?

A poem that carries a pattern on two rhymes and offers an alternating refrain

162 - Which of the following statements best describes Catherine Moreland in "Northanger Abbey" ?

B and C

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

Critics should develop universal readings of texts.

164 - Which of the following statements best describes the "Great Chain of Being" ?

Its major premise was that every existing thing in the universe had its "place" in a divinely planned hierarchical order which was pictured as a chain, vertically extended.

165 - Which of the following statements best describes the worldview represented by postmodern theater ?

Universal truth doesn't exist, and audience members must discover truth for themselves.

166 - Which of the following statements best exemplifies the main idea put forward by John Milton in book 9 of Paradise Lost ?

The fall of Adam and Eve was a tragic event.

167 - Which of the following statements best explains Mikhail Bakhtin's philosophy of language ?

Language exhibits and is bound up in the social lives and historical context of the people who speak it.

168 - Which of the following statements best explains the main objective of New Historicism ?

Texts are examined to determine how they reveal social realities.

169 - Which of the following statements best represents Lacan's view of Ophelia in his essay, "Desire and the Interpretation of Desire in 'Hamlet'" ?

Hamlet desires Ophelia, but only when she is unattainable.

170 - Which of the following statements best represents the main theme of Beckett's "Waiting for Godot" ?

People are fundamentally unable to realize any sort of inherent meaning in existence.

171 - 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'" ?

Hamlet is a tragedy that focuses on the Elizabethan era's loss of faith in humanity's ability to govern itself without violence.

172 - Which of the following statements demonstrates the use of pathos ?

Every month in the United States, at least 100 children are wounded or killed as a result of unsecured handguns.

173 - Which of the following statements demonstrates use of logos ?

Research has demonstrated that some people under the age of 18 do not have the proper judgment skills to handle operating a car.

174 - Which of the following statements is a proper example of what Aristotle termed a syllogism ?

All mammals are warm-blooded, all dogs are mammals, hence all dogs are warm-blooded.

175 - Which of the following statements offers the best characterization of a Greek tragedy ?

In a Greek tragedy, characters undergo reversals of fortune, usually for the worse.

176 - Which of the following statements offers the best definition of "rhetoric" ?

Persuasive writing and speaking

177 - Which of the following statements offers the best definition of a novel of manners ?

A novel that explores the behavior and values of a particular class of people

178 - Which of the following statements offers the best definition of a tragic hero ?

A noble person who makes a costly mistake

179 - Which of the following statements offers the best definition of an epistolary novel ?

A novel that consists of a series of documents, such as diary entries, letters, and newspaper articles

180 - Which of the following statements offers the best definition of the concept of strange attractors in chaos theory ?

Strange attractors are mysterious forces that are both random and determined.

181 - Which of the following statements offers the best definition of the term Bildungsroman ?

A story of one person's growth and development within a particular social order

182 - Which of the following statements would Percy Shelley, author of "A Defense of Poetry", agree with ?

Artists serve to construct the foundations of culture.

183 - Which of the following texts is considered the first example of postcolonial criticism ?

Edward Said's Orientalism

184 - Which of the following texts is the BEST example of the argument that a work's meaning does not come entirely from the imagination of the author ?

T.S. Eliot's "Tradition and the Individual Talent"

185 - Which of the following texts provides the best example of defamiliarization ?

Leo Tolstoy's The Kreutzer Sonata

186 - Which of the following theorists is associated with formalism ?

Viktor Shklovsky

187 - Which of the following writers might be considered one of the early founders of first-wave feminism ?

Mary Wollstonecraft

188 - Which school of literary theory contends that sexual identity is not fixed and, instead, is generated by cultural forces ?

Queer theory

189 - Which school of literary theory is associated with the phrase "to make the stones stonier" ?

Formalism

190 - Which school of literary theory shows a particular interest in the role of testimony in literature ?

Trauma theory

191 - Which school of theorists is most closely associated with phenomenology ?

The Geneva School

192 - Which text argues that, as infants, human beings begin to define their identities against the identities of others?

Jacques Lacan's "The Mirror Stage …"

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

Plato

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

Plato

195 - Who coined the term New Historicism ?

Stephen Greenblatt

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

Michel Foucault

197 - With which feminist theorist is gynocriticism most closely associated ?

Elaine Showalter

198 - With which theorist is phenomenology associated ?

All of the above.

199 - With which theorist is the concept imaginative geography associated ?

Edward Said

200 - With which theorist is the term identity thinking most closely associated ?

Theodor W. Adorno

201 - With which theorist is the term implied reader associated ?

William Wimsatt

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