literary theory and criticism MCQs – Page 2

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

literary theory and criticism Mcqs

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

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