introduction to literary studies Mcqs
1. Which of the following are examples of literary interpretation ?
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A. Researching an authors biography for clues about how to understand his or her writing

B. Investigating the relationship between words and objective reality

C. Researching what previous critics have said about a literary work

D. Comparing the Bible to folk tales from other cultures
2. A postmodern play would most likely not make use of which of the following theatrical traditions ?
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A. A pastiche of different literary and historical sources

B. A minimalist stage and strict adherence to the script

C. Nonlinear storytelling and the embracement of popular culture

D. Video clips and the use of popular music

4. In Samuel Taylor Coleridges Rime of the Ancient Mariner, why does the Mariner kill the albatross ?
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A. To bring forth life-in-death

B. To change the weather

C. It is never directly stated why he does so.

D. For revenge

5. Which of the following statements offers the best definition of rhetoric ?
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A. Writing that is complicated and scholarly

B. Questions for which the answers are obvious

C. Logical writing and speaking

D. Persuasive writing and speaking
7. Which of the following offers the best description of the concept of logos ?
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A. Logos refers to a writers ability to inspire emotional responses in readers.

B. Logos refers to a writers ability to inspire action in readers.

C. Logos refers to a writers presentation of character and image.

D. Logos refers to a writers ability to present evidence.
9. Which of the following statements best exemplifies the main idea put forward by John Milton in book 9 of Paradise Lost ?
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A. The fall of Adam and Eve was a tragic event.

B. Adam and Eve were driven to evil by their children.

C. Satan was ultimately heroic.

D. God abandoned the realm of Eden without reason.

10. Which of the following offers the best definition of the theatrical concept of a chorus ?
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A. Characters who remind the audience that the play is fictional

B. A group of characters who comment

C. Members of the audience who comment on the plays actions

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

E. the actions of the play while participating in them

11. Feminist criticism focuses on exploring which of the following aspects of literary texts ?
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A. How women are portrayed in literary texts

B. All of these

C. The psychologies of female writers

D. How women have been socially oppressed in literary texts

12. Which of the following is a component of a gothic novel ?
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A. An isolated protagonist

B. a villain

C. An atmosphere of dread, fear, and darkness

D. All of these

E. A hero or protagonist who is tempted

13. In Shakespeares Hamlet, what does Hamlet mean when he states that, there is more in heaven and earth than are dreamt of in your philosophy ?
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A. There is such a thing as an afterlife.

B. Dreams always tell the truth.

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

D. Heaven exists on earth.

14. Which of the following assertions would William Wordsworth most likely agree with ?
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A. Poetry should never concern itself with the natural world.

B. Poetry should be written in the common language of ordinary people.

C. Poetry should focus on the lives and thoughts of elite people.

D. Poetry should rhyme.
15. Which of the following statements offers the best definition of a novel of manners ?
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A. A novel that explores the behavior and values of a particular class of people

B. A novel set in Europe in the 18th century

C. A novel that explores class conflict

D. A novel that attacks the lower classes

16. Shakespeares A Midsummer Nights Dream can be described as what kind of play ?
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A. A tragi-comedy

B. A comedic play

C. A tragic play

D. A modern play

17. Which of the following statements is a proper example of what Aristotle termed a syllogism ?
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A. All dogs have hair, all people have hair, hence anything with hair is a dog or a person.

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

C. All dogs have four legs, all creatures do not have four legs, hence all creatures with four legs are dogs.

D. All men breathe air, all dogs breathe air, hence all men are dogs.

18. What are the basic questions literary theory asks ?
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A. What are the effects of literature?

B. All of these.

C. Why do people write literature?

D. What is literature?

20. In Characters of Shakespeares Plays, what does William Hazlitt mean when he states the following: We do not like to see our authors plays acted, and least of all, Hamlet. There is no play that suffers so much in being transferred to the stage ?
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A. Hamlet is not relevant to the Romantic age.

B. Hamlet is a work that was written to be read, not performed.

C. Hamlet cannot be staged properly because of the complexity of the plays use of language.

D. The role of Hamlet cannot be properly played by any actor.
22. Which of the following are examples of poetic structures ?
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A. Lines of text with words that rhyme at the end

B. Unrhymed lines

C. A continuous block of text

D. All of these
23. A picaresque novel dramatizes the life of what kind of person ?
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A. A member of the royalty

B. A member of the middle class engaging in self-exploration

C. A lowborn, wandering adventurer

D. A child as he or she develops into an adult

24. Which of the following statements best describes Catherine Moreland in Northanger Abbey ?
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A. She is immature and has difficulty recognizing the difference between fact and fiction.

B. B and C

C. She is mature and realistic.

D. She is a matchmaker trying to set up romances between her friends, all the while unable to find true love herself.

25. Which of the following offers the best definition of a fable ?
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A. A story told to little children

B. A story that takes place in the distant past

C. A story in which the author provides an explicit moral

D. A light-hearted, humorous story in which viewers are shown proper ways to behave

26. Which of the following represents a stage of development in the poetic form of the elegy ?
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A. All of these

B. Consolation and solace

C. Lamentation, in which the speaker demonstrates grief

D. Praise and admiration for the dead

27. According to Dr. Mark Canadas An Introduction to the Novel, Richard Chase identifies which of the following as a main difference between novels and romances ?
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A. The way they are structured

B. The way they view reality

C. The type of people who write them

D. The language in which they are written

28. Which of the following poems can be described as a haiku ?
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A. Bishops One Art

B. William Shakespeares Sonnet 18

C. Audens Paysage Moralis

D. Pounds In a Station of the Metro
29. Which of the following statements demonstrates use of logos ?
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A. I began driving at the age of 16 and have never been involved in a serious car accident.

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

C. No one under the age of 18 should be allowed to drive.

D. Every year countless people are killed by drivers under the age of 18.

30. A gothic novel will probably not deal with which of the following themes ?
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A. The supernatural

B. The manners and traditions of the upper classes

C. Love

D. The sublime

31. Gerald Graffs They Say, I Say encourages students to become______________?
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A. passive readers and critics of literary texts.

B. capable of realizing that the viewpoints of some critics are more important than others.

C. involved in critical conversations about literary texts.

D. aware that Hamlet is a remarkable work of literature.

32. Which of the following statements best describes the worldview represented by postmodern theater ?
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A. Mainstream audiences are so shallow that it is not worth writing plays for them.

B. Universal truth doesnt exist, and audience members must discover truth for themselves.

C. The world is a bright and interesting place.

D. The world is so complex that it does not require literature or theater.

33. Which of the following statements demonstrates the use of pathos ?
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A. Handguns dont kill people, people do

B. According to research, 22 percent of the American population owns an unsecured handgun.

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

D. I own a handgun and keep it in a secure place in my house.

34. Which of the following offers the best definition of a theatrical tragedy ?
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A. A play in which no form of humor appears

B. A play in which someone gets revenge

C. A play in which a hero faces likely defeat and overcomes it

D. A play that depicts the downfall of a noble person
35. Which of the following descriptions of Jane Austens Northanger Abbey seems most appropriate ?
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A. It is a horror novel.

B. It offers a critique of Romantic poetry and ideology.

C. It is a memoir based on Jane Austens childhood.

D. It serves to parody gothic novels.
36. In poetry, each unit of rhythm is known as______________?
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A. a meter.

B. a foot.

C. a measure.

D. a line.

37. In Dr. R. Allen Shoafs article, Hamlet: Like Mother, Like Son, Shoaf argues which of the following points about the relationship between Hamlet and his mother ?
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A. Hamlet despises his mother and suspects she has killed his father.

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

C. Hamlet has a personality disorder.

D. Hamlet is entirely masculinized throughout the play, and thus, is ultimately unlike his mother in terms of his position in the play.

38. Which of the following poetic lines is an example of a couplet ?
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A. I heard a car crash / just as I died.

B. Death comes for all of us / even you.

C. To kiss the sky / to be the sun / is to live forever.

D. Into my head there will come / a beach of cotton, a dock where from.
39. A play that begins in medias res________________?
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A. begins with a preview of the plays conclusion.

B. begins at the apparent end of the story.

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

D. introduces the characters of the play one by one.

40. Which of the following lines of poetry is written in iambic pentameter ?
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A. I wandered lonely as a cloud.

B. I played about the front gate, pulling flowers.

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

D. And the world didnt even think of stopping for me.

41. Which of the following descriptions best describes the character of Hamlet ?
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A. Hamlet is depressed yet highly intelligent.

B. Hamlet is intellectually passive and deeply frightened of his fathers ghost.

C. Hamlet is naive and simple minded.

D. Hamlet is spoiled and manipulative.

43. What is the central argument in Dr. Richard Kellys The Novelists Eye ?
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A. All novelists are painters at heart.

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

C. George du Maurier was a tremendous influence on Victorian novelists.

D. George du Maurier attacked the social position of the novelist in his illustrations.

44. Marxist theory focuses on examining which of the following aspects of literary texts ?
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A. Characters who are sympathetic to issues facing the working classes

B. The political and social meanings of literary texts

C. The relationship between economics and the production of literary texts

D. All of these
45. Which of the following offers the best definition of a Greek theatrical comedy ?
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A. A play in which characters experience reversals of fortune, usually for the better

B. A play in which characters make humorous remarks

C. A play in which elite members of society are mocked

D. A play in which no characters die or suffer

46. What are some of the hallmarks or conventions of the poetic form of the ode ?
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A. Complexity in language, lengthiness in form, and seriousness in attitude

B. Simplicity in language, lengthiness in form, and humorousness in attitude

C. Simplicity in language, brevity in form, and humorousness in attitude

D. Complexity in language, brevity in form, and humorousness in attitude

47. Reader-response theory focuses on considering how ?
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A. readers experience a literary work.

B. readers choose their favorite works of literature.

C. readers decide which works of literature to read.

D. readers develop their own unique and personal critical discourses.

48. What is hermeneutics ?
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A. The study of textual interpretation

B. The psychological study of authors

C. A system for categorizing books

D. A reader-response test

49. Which of the following offers the best description of the concept of pathos ?
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A. Pathos refers to a writers ability to present evidence.

B. Pathos refers to a writers presentation of character and image.

C. Pathos refers to a writers ability to inspire action in readers.

D. Pathos refers to a writers ability to inspire emotional responses in readers.
50. Which of the following offers the best definition of the concept of persuasion ?
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A. Persuasion is the art of making readers or listeners believe what the writer or speaker is stating.

B. Persuasion is the use of syllogisms to influence the opinions of readers and listeners.

C. Persuasion is the opposite of rhetoric.

D. Persuasion is the art of lying to good effect.