MCQs

English Literature MCQs with Explanations

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2381English LiteratureMedium

Which of the following best characterizes Wordsworth’s attitude towards the French Revolution?

AHe thought it did not go far enough in granting women rights.

BHe did not think it concerned him and his relationship to nature.

CHe favored its democratic impulses but was appalled by its destructive nature.

DHe opposed it in favor of supporting the king and the ancien régime.

Correct answer

C. He favored its democratic impulses but was appalled by its destructive nature.

Explanation

The correct answer is He favored its democratic impulses but was appalled by its destructive nature..

2382English LiteratureMedium

What is blank verse?

Aunrhymed iambic pentameter

Biambic pentameter in rhyming couplets

Cthe verse form of the Shakespearean sonnet

Dfree verse, without rhyme or regular meter

Correct answer

A. unrhymed iambic pentameter

Explanation

The correct answer is unrhymed iambic pentameter.

2383English LiteratureMedium

Why was Acrene Wisse written in the vernacular language?

AEnglish was a more commonly used language in the Church.

BThe audience was likely unable to read French.

CThe audience was partially lay-women with little knowledge of Latin.

DWomen were more educated, so they knew more languages.

Correct answer

C. The audience was partially lay-women with little knowledge of Latin.

Explanation

The correct answer is The audience was partially lay-women with little knowledge of Latin..

2384English LiteratureMedium

What was the name of the theater group that Shakespeare worked with for most of his career?

AThe Globe’s Men

BElizabeth’s Men

CThe Lord Chamberlin’s Men

DWill’s Men

Correct answer

C. The Lord Chamberlin’s Men

Explanation

The correct answer is The Lord Chamberlin’s Men.

2385English LiteratureMedium

Adam, Satan, and Eve herself are all dazzled by Eve’s________?

ABeauty

BHard work and spirituality

CIntelligence

DWit

Correct answer

A. Beauty

Explanation

The correct answer is Beauty.

2386English LiteratureMedium

This work was written before the other three choices?

AJulian of Norwhich’s “Book of Showings”

BChaucer’s “Canterbury Tales”

CSir Thomas More’s “Utopia”

DBede’s “An Ecclesiastical History of the English People”

Correct answer

D. Bede’s “An Ecclesiastical History of the English People”

Explanation

The correct answer is Bede’s “An Ecclesiastical History of the English People”.

2387English LiteratureMedium

In the first lecture of his Modern Poetry course, what argument does Professor Langdon Hammer make about the relationship between the modern city and poetic modernism?

AMost modernist poets lived in large cities; therefore, they often used urban imagery in their poetry.

BAll of these answers

CIndividuals often felt lost and alienated in large cities, and among poets this resulted in turning inward and focusing only on the world of one’s own imagination.

DMany languages and many forms of language were used in large cities; modernist poets often treated language not as something given and natural but as a construct which they could manipulate.

Correct answer

D. Many languages and many forms of language were used in large cities; modernist poets often treated language not as something given and natural but as a construct which they could manipulate.

Explanation

The correct answer is Many languages and many forms of language were used in large cities; modernist poets often treated language not as something given and natural but as a construct which they could manipulate..

2388English LiteratureMedium

Wilfred Owen’s war poem “Dulce et Decorum est” ends with which of the following Latin phrases?

A“Veni, vidi, vici”

B“Dux bellorum”

C“Pro patria mori”

D“Pax romana”

Correct answer

C. “Pro patria mori”

Explanation

The correct answer is “Pro patria mori”.

2389English LiteratureMedium

Which poem by Chaucer was written on the death of Blanche, Wife of John of Gaunt?

ATroilus and Criseyde

BThe Legend of Good Women

CThe House of Fame

DThe Book of Duchess

Correct answer

D. The Book of Duchess

Explanation

The correct answer is The Book of Duchess.

2390English LiteratureMedium

Why did Marcus Garvey spearhead the “Back to Africa Movement”?

AHe was asked by African countries to bring African Americans to Africa.

BBecause he did not feel African Americans would ever achieve equality in America.

CBecause in was cheaper to live in Africa.

DHe had to leave the country.

Correct answer

B. Because he did not feel African Americans would ever achieve equality in America.

Explanation

The correct answer is Because he did not feel African Americans would ever achieve equality in America..

Which of the following best characterizes Wordsworth’s attitude towards the French Revolution?

AHe thought it did not go far enough in granting women rights.

BHe did not think it concerned him and his relationship to nature.

CHe favored its democratic impulses but was appalled by its destructive nature.

DHe opposed it in favor of supporting the king and the ancien régime.

Correct answer

C. He favored its democratic impulses but was appalled by its destructive nature.

Explanation

The correct answer is He favored its democratic impulses but was appalled by its destructive nature..

Why was Acrene Wisse written in the vernacular language?

AEnglish was a more commonly used language in the Church.

BThe audience was likely unable to read French.

CThe audience was partially lay-women with little knowledge of Latin.

DWomen were more educated, so they knew more languages.

Correct answer

C. The audience was partially lay-women with little knowledge of Latin.

Explanation

The correct answer is The audience was partially lay-women with little knowledge of Latin..

This work was written before the other three choices?

AJulian of Norwhich’s “Book of Showings”

BChaucer’s “Canterbury Tales”

CSir Thomas More’s “Utopia”

DBede’s “An Ecclesiastical History of the English People”

Correct answer

D. Bede’s “An Ecclesiastical History of the English People”

Explanation

The correct answer is Bede’s “An Ecclesiastical History of the English People”.

In the first lecture of his Modern Poetry course, what argument does Professor Langdon Hammer make about the relationship between the modern city and poetic modernism?

AMost modernist poets lived in large cities; therefore, they often used urban imagery in their poetry.

BAll of these answers

CIndividuals often felt lost and alienated in large cities, and among poets this resulted in turning inward and focusing only on the world of one’s own imagination.

DMany languages and many forms of language were used in large cities; modernist poets often treated language not as something given and natural but as a construct which they could manipulate.

Correct answer

D. Many languages and many forms of language were used in large cities; modernist poets often treated language not as something given and natural but as a construct which they could manipulate.

Explanation

Why did Marcus Garvey spearhead the “Back to Africa Movement”?

AHe was asked by African countries to bring African Americans to Africa.

BBecause he did not feel African Americans would ever achieve equality in America.

CBecause in was cheaper to live in Africa.

DHe had to leave the country.

Correct answer

B. Because he did not feel African Americans would ever achieve equality in America.

Explanation

The correct answer is Because he did not feel African Americans would ever achieve equality in America..