introduction to literary theory MCQs – Page 4

Practise focused introduction to literary theory questions with marked answers for exam preparation and subject revision.

introduction to literary theory Mcqs
61. Jacques Derridas concept of diffrance challenges us to think about language as a system that___________?
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A. involves a constant process of deferred meaning.

B. mirrors our physical evolution as human beings.

C. prevents us from communicating through writing or speech.

D. evolved exclusively as a function of our individual psyche.

62. What is the main goal of ethnic criticism ?
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A. All of the above.

B. To rectify the double experiences of certain racial groups

C. To expand the canon to include works authored by different racial groups

D. To reconcile cultural identity with individual identity

63. What is affective fallacy ?
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A. An important term in the field of New Historicism

B. All of the above.

C. A term that suggests that a critic should study the structural and thematic elements of a poem rather than the effect it has on the emotions of the reader B. A term that describes the confusion between a poem and its result

64. What do many contemporary theorists find problematic about the literary canon ?
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A. It includes too few works by women.

B. It includes too few works by nonwhite writers.

C. All of the above.

D. It includes too few works by non- Western writers.
65. What did Sigmund Freud believe about the unconscious ?
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A. It has little impact on human behavior.

B. It is the only significant aspect of the human psyche.

C. It can never be accessed.

D. It contains secret instincts and desires that are repressed.
66. Who coined the term New Historicism ?
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A. Stephen Greenblatt

B. Jacques Derrida

C. Fredric Jameson

D. Terry Eagleton

67. Which text argues that, as infants, human beings begin to define their identities against the identities of others? A. W.E.B. Du Boiss The Souls of Black Folk______________?
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A. Jacques Lacans The Mirror Stage

B. Roland Barthess The Death of the Author

C. Jacques Derridas Of Grammatology

68. Which of the following figures is considered to be the father of the linguistic theory known as structuralism ?
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A. Sigmund Freud

B. Ferdinand de Saussure

C. Cleanth Brooks

D. Karl Marx

69. What does Elaine Showalter argue about gender in terms of representations of the character of Ophelia in William Shakespeares Hamlet ?
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A. All of the above

B. Womens tragedies tend to be subordinated to those of men.

C. Feminist critics need to re-appropriate Ophelia for their own purposes.

D. It is nearly impossible to represent women as anything other than mad in patriarchal discourses.

70. Which literary theorist argues that there is nothing outside the text ?
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A. Jacques Derrida

B. Stanley Fish

C. T.S. Eliot

D. Jacques Lacan

71. The Frankfurt School of literary theory was most greatly influenced by which of the following schools of thought ?
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A. Formalism

B. Structuralism

C. Poststructuralism

D. Marxism
72. In his essay The Death of the Author, Roland Barthes argues what about literature ?
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A. Biographical information about the author must be considered when evaluating literature.

B. It is possible to distill meaning from a work based on the authors politics.

C. A text and its author text are unrelated.

D. Authorial intent must be considered when evaluating literature.

73. According to Jacques Lacan, the mirror stage is the point at which a child_________________?
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A. is able to separate the I from the Other.

B. refuses maternal bonds.

C. first engages with speech.

D. looks into a mirror for the first time.

74. Which of the following texts provides the best example of defamiliarization ?
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A. John Keatss Ode on a Grecian Urn

B. Aristotles Poetics

C. Leo Tolstoys The Kreutzer Sonata

D. Joseph Conrads Heart of Darkness

75. Which school of theorists is most closely associated with phenomenology ?
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A. The Frankfurt School

B. The Geneva School

C. The Moscow School

D. The Chicago School

76. Which of the following literary theorists is most closely associated with the concept that became known as liberal humanism ?
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A. Aristotle

B. Cleanth Brooks

C. Viktor Shklovsky

D. Stanley Fish

77. With which feminist theorist is gynocriticism most closely associated ?
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A. Lucy Irigaray

B. Julia Kristeva

C. Hlne Cixous

D. Elaine Showalter
78. What do structuralist and formalist critics have in common ?
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A. Both sets of critics look for an objective way to view texts.

B. Both sets of critics study the underlying forms of texts.

C. Both sets of critics focus on evaluating literature in a scientific manner.

D. All of the above.
79. Which of the following statements best explains the main objective of New Historicism ?
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A. Texts are examined to determine the authors intent.

B. Texts are examined to see how the formal aspects of the text create meaning.

C. Texts are examined to see how colonizers and the colonized interact.

D. Texts are examined to determine how they reveal social realities.
80. With which theorist is the concept imaginative geography associated ?
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A. Edward Said

B. Julia Kristeva

C. Fredric Jameson

D. Terry Eagleton