literary theory and criticism Mcqs
101. Who originated the term objective correlative, which is often used in formalist criticism ?
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A. Matthew Arnold

B. C.S. Lewis

C. T.S. Eliot

D. Virginia Woolf

102. Among the following which is not a work by Aristotle ?
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A. Rhetoric

B. Ethics

C. Ars Poetica

D. Metaphysics

103. What is mimesis ?
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A. An imitation

B. A reversal

C. A poetic metaphor

D. A satire

104. Who coined the term esemplastic ?
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A. Browning

B. Coleridge

C. William Worsworth

D. Eliot

105. A critic argues that in John Miltons Samson Agonistes, the shearing of Samsons locks is symbolic of his castration at the hands of Delilah. What kind of critical approach is this critic using ?
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A. Mimetic approach

B. Formalist approach

C. Historical approach

D. Psychological approach
106. What approach to literary criticism requires the critic to know about the authors life and times ?
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A. Historical

B. All of these

C. Formalist

D. Mimetic

107. What has Dryden to say about the observance of the three Classical Dramatic Unities ?
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A. He does not advocate their strict observance

B. He advocates their strict observance

C. He says that every dramatist should decide it for himself

D. He is silent about this issue

108. What approach is described by the paragraph? Those who apply this approach believe it is necessary to know about the author and the political, economical, and sociological context of his times in order to truly understand his works ?
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A. Formalism

B. Moral/ Philosophical Approach

C. Historical/Biographical Approach

D. Psychological Approach

109. On Translating Homer is written by________________?
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A. T. S. ELiot

B. William Hazlit

C. Walter Pater

D. Mathew Arnold
110. What does Sidney say about the observance of the three Dramatic Unities in drama ?
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A. He favours the observance of the Unity of Action only

B. Their observance depends upon the nature of the theme of the play

C. It is not necessary to observe them

D. They must be observed
111. With which theorist is the term implied reader associated ?
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A. William Wimsatt

B. Harold Bloom

C. Cleanth Brooks

D. Wolfgang Iser

112. With which theorist is the concept imaginative geography associated ?
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A. Fredric Jameson

B. Julia Kristeva

C. Terry Eagleton

D. Edward Said
113. 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. Feminist critics need to re-appropriate Ophelia for their own purposes.

B. All of the above answers are correct.

C. Ophelias madness represents the social oppression of women.

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

114. What fundamental idea does psychoanalytic criticism hold about literary texts ?
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A. Literary texts should not be read as a projection of the authors psyche.

B. Literary texts solely reflect an authors intentions.

C. Literary texts reveal secret elements of an authors unconscious.

D. All of the above answers are correct.

115. Modern literary theory began with the work of which theorist ?
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A. Viktor Shklovsky

B. Michel Foucault

C. Roland Barthes

D. Ferdinand de Saussure
116. With which theorist is the term identity thinking most closely associated ?
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A. Sigmund Freud

B. Carl Jung

C. William James

D. Theodor W. Adorno
117. What do structuralist and formalist critics have in common ?
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A. Both sets of critics reject the importance of historical context in studying literature.

B. Both sets of critics look for an objective way to view texts.

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

D. All of the above answers are correct.
118. The Frankfurt School of literary theory was most greatly influenced by which of the following schools of thought ?
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A. Structuralism

B. Formalism

C. Marxism

D. Poststructuralism

119. What is the original meaning of the term Hamartia ?
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A. To miss the mark

B. Sin

C. Flaws

D. Tragic flaw

120. Philip Sidneys Apologie for Poetrie is a defence of poetry against the charges brought against it by____________?
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A. Stephen Gosson

B. Henry Howard

C. John Skelton

D. Roger Ascham

121. Which theorist is associated with the idea that art is a copy of a copy ?
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A. Plato

B. Louis Althusser

C. Walter Benjamin

D. Julia Kristeva

122. They believe that this approach tends to reduce art to the level of biography and make it relative (to the times) rather than universal. What approach possess this disadvantage ?
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A. Formalism/New Criticism

B. Psychological

C. Historical/Biographical

D. Moral/Philosophical

123. Plato equated poetry with painting, and Aristotle equated it with_______________?
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A. none

B. dance

C. drama

D. music
124. According to trauma theorists, a testifying subject needs which of the following to deliver a successful testimony ?
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A. A figure of judgment

B. A witness

C. Psychological treatment

D. Religious belief

125. Which literary theory would most directly explore questions of the role of spatial setting in a poem ?
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A. Trauma theory

B. Game theory

C. Marxist theory

D. Ecotheory
126. An Elizabethan Puritan critic denounced the poets as fathers of lies,schools of abuse andcaterpillars of a commonwealth. Mark him out from the following crities________________?
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A. William Tyndale

B. Roger Ascham

C. Henry Howard

D. Stephen Gosson
127. Horace was a_____________?
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A. Italian writer

B. English writer

C. Roman Writer

D. Greek writer

128. Which theorist is most closely associated with the idea of art as imitation ?
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A. Jacques Lacan

B. Jacques Derrida

C. Plato

D. Edward Said

129. What is false consciousness ?
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A. An ideology that involves dominating the consciousness of exploited classes

B. A feminist term for the state that occurs when texts written by women are not considered in the study of literature

C. A term for the false neuroses expressed in dreams

D. Another term for the unconscious

130. According to Aristotle pity and fear are evoked by_______________?
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A. Comedy

B. Melodrama

C. Tragedy

D. Satire

131. In Of Grammatology, Jacques Derrida argues what about literature ?
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A. No fixed, stable meaning is possible.

B. All of the above answers are correct.

C. Literature is timeless, and thus meaning does not change.

D. Language must be studied in conjunction with history in order to create meaning.

132. In his essay The Business of Theory, William Deresiewicz argues which of the following about Terry Eagletons book After Theory ?
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A. It should not be read or considered by any student or scholar.

B. It offers a strong outline for how theory can be conducted in the 21st century.

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

D. It offers a strong counterpoint to Jacques Derridas notion of deconstruction.

133. He was an influential force in archetypal criticism ?
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A. Freud

B. Jung

C. Tate

D. Richards

134. Which of the following texts is considered the first example of postcolonial criticism ?
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A. Cleanth Brookss Keatss Sylvan Historian

B. Jacques Lacans The Mirror Stage . . .

C. Edward Saids Orientalism

D. Harold Blooms An Elegy for the Canon

135. Who accused Aristotle of social snobbishness and arrogance ?
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A. Henry James

B. Arthur Miller

C. Willy Loman

D. David

136. Plato has a positive view of art, in so far as_______________?
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A. It contributes to the spiritual growth of people

B. It represents the nature

C. It imitates nobility

D. It shows a tragedy

137. Who made a difference between poetry and poem ?
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A. Eliot

B. Addison

C. Coleridge

D. Arnold

138. With what literary critic is the term the author function most closely associated ?
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A. Michel Foucault

B. Jacques Derrida

C. Jacques Lacan

D. Claude Lvi-Strauss

139. In Drydens Essay of Dramatic Poesy there are four interlocuters representing four different ideologies. Which of them expresses Drydens own views ?
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A. Lisideius

B. Eugenius

C. Neander

D. Crites

140. What did Sigmund Freud believe about the unconscious?
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A. It is the only significant aspect of the human psyche.

B. a. It contains secret instincts and desires that are repressed.

C. All of the above answers are correct.

D. It can never be accessed.

141. What is dialogism ?
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A. A term used to explain the use of multiple points of view in literature

B. All of the above answers are correct.

C. A term used to describe how texts include a variety of styles

D. A term developed by Mikhail Bakhtin

142. From where has the term Oedipus Complex originated ?
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A. Oedipus the Rex

B. Oedipus at Colonus

C. Jocasta, the Queen of Thebes

D. Antigone

143. In his essay The Death of the Author, Roland Barthes argues what about literature ?
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A. It is possible to distill meaning from a work based on the authors politics.

B. A text and its author text are unrelated.

C. Literature is inextricably connected to its creator.

D. Biographical information about the author must be considered when evaluating literature.

144. What does Ben Jonson mean by a Humorous Character ?
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A. A character who is by nature melancholy

B. A character whose temper is determined by the predominance of one out of the four fluids in the human body

C. A character who is always cheerful and gay

D. An eccentric person

145. 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 non- European writers.

C. It includes too few works by non-white writers.

D. All of the above answers are correct.
146. On the Sublime was written in_____________?
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A. 1st Century BC

B. 2nd Century AD

C. 1st Century AD

D. 3rd Century AD

147. According to Aristotle the unravelling of the plot_____________?
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A. By narration

B. Should arise from the circumstances of the plot itself

C. By supernatural machinery

D. By the choral odes

148. Who considers poetry a mother of lies ?
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A. Pope

B. Stephen Gosson

C. Plato

D. Aristotle

149. Who coined the expression objective corelative ?
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A. Allen Tate

B. F. R. Leavis

C. T. S. Eliot

D. Coleridge

150. What is double consciousness _______________?
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A. An understanding of how double experiences create identity

B. All of the above answers are correct.

C. An early aspect of ethnic criticism

D. A concept developed by W.E.B Du Bois