literary theory and criticism MCQs – Page 7

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

literary theory and criticism Mcqs
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.