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literary theory and criticism MCQs

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

literary theory and criticism Mcqs
1. Name the author of The New Criticism ?
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A. John Crowe Ransom

B. F. R. Leavis

C. R. P. Blackmur

D. Allen Tate

2. The structure of tragedy according to Aristotle is________________?
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A. Loose

B. Simple

C. Episodic

D. Complex
3. It is not rhyming and versing that maketh a poet no more than a long gown maketh an advocate. Whose view is this ?
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A. Marlowes

B. Spensers

C. Sidneys

D. Shakespeares

4. How does literary theory resemble the practice of philosophy as it was developed by Plato and Aristotle ?
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A. All of the above answers are correct.

B. Literary theory engages with theoretical rather than real-world issues.

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

D. Literary theory relies totally on speculation rather than history.

5. The statements below are parts of the steps on How to Analyze a Play. Which comes in as second thing to do before writing a critical essay of a play ?
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A. Analyze the Essential Elements of the Play

B. Identify External Factors Related to the Work

C. Analyze the Staging

D. Interpret the Play

6. Who is the author of Symposium ?
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A. Longinus

B. Plato

C. Aristotle

D. Dante

7. Which of the following critics preferred Shakespeares Comedies to his Tragedies ?
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A. Pope

B. Dr. Johnson

C. Dryden

D. Addison

8. What approach is described by the paragraph? Users of this approach believe that all information essential to the interpretation of a work must be found within the work itself; there is no need to bring in outside information about the history, politics, or society of the time, or about the authors life ?
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A. Historical/Biographical Approach

B. Moral/ Philosophical Approach

C. Psychological Approach

D. Formalism
9. What does the critical term esemplatic mean ?
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A. Ability to coin new word

B. Negative capability

C. The unifying power

D. Power of imagination

10. What is affective fallacy ?
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A. All of the above answers are correct.

B. A term first used by literary theorists William Wimsatt and Monroe Beardsley

C. An important term in the field of New Historicism

D. 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

11. One archetype in literature is the scapegoat. Which of these literary characters serves that purpose ?
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A. Captain Ahab

B. Hamlet

C. Billy Budd

D. Ophelia

12. The statements below are parts of the steps on How to Write an Analytical Essay about Short Fiction. Which comes in as the last thing to do in the writing an essay about short fiction ?
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A. Build your paper to a climax; save your most engaging or important topic sentence for discussion last.

B. Compose topic sentences (four or five, perhaps) that support, explore, demonstrate, or illustrate your thesis.

C. Begin your paper with an introduction that identifies the purpose of the paper and the text you are addressing.

D. Select specific passages in the text of the story that help you to develop each topic sentence.

13. What is the main function of literary theory ?
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A. All of the above answers are correct.

B. To understand the role of sexuality, gender, race, and ethnicity in literary study

C. To formulate relationships among an author, a reader, and a literary work

D. To understand the importance of the formal elements of literary structure

14. Who is the meaning of the term Peripeteia as used by Aristotle in his Theory of Tragedy ?
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A. Change in the fortune of the hero from good to bad

B. Change in the fortune of the hero from bad to good

C. Constancy in the fortune of the hero

D. Fluctuations occurring in the fortune of the hero

15. A critic examining Popes An Essay on Man asks herself: How well does this poem accord with the real world? Is it accurate? Is it moral? She is most likely a critic?
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A. Formalist

B. Reader Response

C. Feminist

D. Mimetic
16. Who said theatre is not a hospital ?
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A. Hillis Miller

B. J K Atkins

C. Derrida

D. F.L. Lucas
17. What is the main function of postcolonial criticism ?
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A. To explain why there are few examples of successful non-Western literature

B. To draw attention to the positive effects of colonization on literature

C. To show the ways in which most Western literature is superior

D. To represent the relationship between colonizers and the colonized
18. Which of the following descriptions best defines the literary theory known as formalism ?
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A. An approach that emphasizes racial issues in a text

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

C. An approach that emphasizes literary devices in a text

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

19. What does hermeneutic theory suggest about how readers view literature ?
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A. It is impossible to view a piece of literature correctly, because we can only work within the hetero-normative paradigm.

B. It is impossible to divorce a text from capitalist ideology.

C. It is impossible to view a piece of literature as its author intended.

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

20. What does gynocriticism recommend as an approach to literature ?
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A. All of the above answers are correct.

B. Considering womens literature outside of its historical context

C. Becoming more familiar with the history of women and womens writing

D. Examining only female-authored literature more critically

21. To whom poetry is the spontaneous overflow of powerful passion. ?
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A. Coleridge

B. Shelley

C. Keats

D. Wordsworth
22. Which of the following offers the best definition of criture fminine ?
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A. How women really feel about male writers

B. The inscription of womanhood and femininity in texts

C. Psychological studies of women

D. Second-wave feminism

23. The statements below are steps on How to Read and Understand an Expository Essay. Which comes in as an initial thing to do before writing an expository essay ?
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A. Identify the Mode of Development

B. Subsequent Readings/Reviews

C. All of the above answers are correct.

D. Analysis of the Author
24. With which feminist theorist is gynocriticism most closely associated ?
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A. Lucy Irigaray

B. Julia Kristeva

C. Louise M. Rosenblatt

D. Elaine Showalter
25. Who was the most illustrious disciple of Socrates ?
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A. Sophocles

B. Plautus

C. Plato

D. Critus

26. How does New Historicism differ from traditional historicism ?
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A. All of the above answers are correct.

B. New Historicism takes a particular interest in marginalized peoples.

C. New Historicism does not make strict delineations between literary and non-literary texts.

D. New Historicism rejects the idea that history is neutral.

27. This poet might be described as a moral or philosophical critic for arguing that works must have high seriousness. ?
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A. Virginia Woolf

B. T.S. Eliot

C. Matthew Arnold

D. Elizabeth Browning

28. This feminist critic proposed that all female characters in literature are in at least one of the following stages of development: the feminine, feminist, or female stage ?
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A. Virginia Woolf

B. Ellen Mores

C. Mary Wolstencraft

D. Elaine Showalter
29. How do Marxist theorists react to ideology ?
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A. All of the above answers are correct.

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

30. How many times do the word Katharsis appear in the Poetics________________?
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A. 4

B. 3

C. 2

D. 6

31. This literary critic warned: We must remember that the greater part of our current reading matter is written for us by people who have no real belief in a supernatural order . . . And the greater part . . . is coming to be written by people who not only have no such belief, but are even ignorant of the fact that there are still people in the world so backward or so eccentric as to continue to believe. ?
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A. C.S. Lewis

B. G.K. Chesterton

C. Matthew Arnold

D. T.S. Eliot
32. In which capter of Biographia Lieraria, Coleridge make a distinction between fancy and imagination ?
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A. 12

B. 13

C. 14

D. 15

33. On the Sublime is written in_________________?
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A. Hebrew

B. Latin

C. Greek

D. Italian

34. The name Ars Poetica (Art of Poetry) was given to Horaces Epistle to the Pisos by____________?
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A. Virgil

B. Cicero

C. Horace

D. Quintillion
35. Jacques Derridas concept of diffrance challenges us to think about language as a system that____________?
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A. prevents us from communicating through writing or speech.

B. All of the above answers are correct.

C. mirrors our physical evolution as human beings.

D. involves a constant process of deferred meaning.
36. What is New Historicism ?
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A. A theory that regards history as a series of narratives

B. All of the above answers are correct.

C. A theory that sees history as a form of writing and discourse

D. A theory that abandons the idea of history as an imitation of events

37. Platos Republic is written in the form of______________?
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A. Narrative mode

B. Poetry

C. Dialogue

D. Drama

38. Which of the following best defines the work of a deconstructionist critic ?
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A. All of the above answers are correct.

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

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

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

39. Which of the following writers might be considered one of the early founders of firstwave feminism ?
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A. Judith Butler

B. Mary Wollstonecraft

C. Lucy Irigaray

D. Hlne Cixous

40. Detractors argue that such an approach can be too judgmental. Some believe literature should be judged primarily (if not solely) on its artistic merits. What approach possess this disadvantage ?
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A. Formalism/New Criticism

B. Historical/Biographical

C. Moral/Philosophical

D. Psychological

41. Some critics of literary theory argue that literary theory is problematic for which reason ?
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A. Literary theory does not offer a holistic interpretation of a text.

B. All of the above answers are correct.

C. Literary theory depends on specialized knowledge that is outside the realm of literary studies.

D. Literary theory tends to be too political.

42. In general, what is Judith Butlers concept of gender ?
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A. While gender is not real, the stereotypes that accompany it are true.

B. All of the above answers are correct.

C. Gender is largely a cultural construct.

D. Womens gender is artificial, while mens gender is not.

43. Who proposed that poets should be banished from the ideal Republic ?
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A. Sir Philip Sidney

B. Plato

C. Sir Thomas More

D. Aristotle

44. 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 ?
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A. Analyze Rhetorical Elements

B. Analyze the Structure of the Story

C. Analyze the Essential Elements of the Story

D. Analyze the Meaning of the Story (Interpretation)

45. Who called Dryden the Father of English Criticism ?
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A. Joseph Addison

B. Coleridge

C. Matthew Arnold

D. Dr. Johnson
46. Arnolds views on poetry and criticism are discussed in ?
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A. On translating Homer

B. Preface to the Poems

C. Culture and Anarchy

D. Scholar Gypsy

47. How did the New Critics view literature ?
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A. As a historical object that is also aesthetic

B. As an aesthetic object that is independent of historical context

C. As an aesthetic object that is influenced by historical context

D. As a historical object that is not necessarily aesthetic

48. What are some common criticisms of literary theory ?
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A. Many theories have been pushed too far into abstraction

B. Theory has replaced literary appreciation with formulas for understanding

C. The reasoning of theory is often too circular

D. All of the above answers are correct
49. Which of the following statements best explains Mikhail Bakhtins philosophy of language ?
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A. Language is loaded with the intentions of others.

B. Language includes multiple social dialects and jargons.

C. Language can include socio-ideological contradictions from the past.

D. Language exhibits and is bound up in the social lives and historical context of the people who speak it.
50. What is dialectical materialism ?
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A. A form of literary criticism based on linguistic analysis

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

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

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