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English Literature MCQs with Explanations

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3431English LiteratureMedium

Which of the following are examples of literary interpretation?

AResearching what previous critics have said about a literary work

BInvestigating the relationship between words and objective reality

CResearching an author’s biography for clues about how to understand his or her writing

DComparing the Bible to folk tales from other cultures

Correct answer

D. Comparing the Bible to folk tales from other cultures

Explanation

The correct answer is Comparing the Bible to folk tales from other cultures.

3432English LiteratureMedium

What is a kunstleroman?

Aa novel in which the hero solves a crime

Ba novel that traces women’s intellectual developments

Can artist’s journey in which he always abandons his art

Dan artist’s novel of awakening

Correct answer

D. an artist’s novel of awakening

Explanation

The correct answer is an artist’s novel of awakening.

3433English LiteratureMedium

Etheridge Knight’s “Hard Rock Returns to Prison from the Hospital for the Criminal Insane,” what is Hard Rock’s function in the prison?

ATo help the other inmates escape.

BTo keep the Blacks and Whites separated.

CTo do what the other inmates were afraid to do.

DTo win money by fighting.

Correct answer

C. To do what the other inmates were afraid to do.

Explanation

The correct answer is To do what the other inmates were afraid to do..

3434English LiteratureMedium

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.”?

AMatthew Arnold

BG.K. Chesterton

CC.S. Lewis

DT.S. Eliot

Correct answer

D. T.S. Eliot

Explanation

The correct answer is T.S. Eliot.

3435English LiteratureMedium

Reader-response theory is focused on considering which of the following?

AHow readers participate in creating the meaning of a text

BHow readers imagine visual images in a text

CHow readers learn to read

DHow readers regard critics

Correct answer

A. How readers participate in creating the meaning of a text

Explanation

The correct answer is How readers participate in creating the meaning of a text.

3436English LiteratureMedium

Who called Dryden the Father of English Criticism?

AMatthew Arnold

BDr. Johnson

CJoseph Addison

DColeridge

Correct answer

B. Dr. Johnson

Explanation

The correct answer is Dr. Johnson.

3437English LiteratureMedium

Who called ‘The Waste Land ‘a music of ideas’?

AJ.C Ransom

BAllen Tate

CF. R Leavis

DI.A Richards

Correct answer

B. Allen Tate

Explanation

The correct answer is Allen Tate.

3438English LiteratureMedium

Some critics argue that the use of dialect by such authors as Paul Laurence Dunbar and Charles Chesnutt did all of the following except________?

APerpetuated stereotypes

BStrengthened the African American’s place in the world of literature

CShowed that African Americans couldn’t speak properly.

DAllowed African American authors to sell their works more widely to white audiences

Correct answer

C. Showed that African Americans couldn’t speak properly.

Explanation

The correct answer is Showed that African Americans couldn’t speak properly..

3439English LiteratureMedium

The first play of Ben Johnson is ________?

ACynthia Revels

BEpicene or The Silent Woman

CThe Alchemist

DEvery Man in His Humour

Correct answer

D. Every Man in His Humour

Explanation

The first play written by Ben Jonson is A. Every Man in His Humour. It was first performed in 1598 by the Lord Chamberlain’s Men, a theatrical company to which Shakespeare also belonged.

3440English LiteratureMedium

In which year did Edmund Spenser publish his poem The Shepheardes Calender?

A1568

B1585

C1597

D1579

Correct answer

D. 1579

Explanation

The correct answer is 1579.

Which of the following are examples of literary interpretation?

AResearching what previous critics have said about a literary work

BInvestigating the relationship between words and objective reality

CResearching an author’s biography for clues about how to understand his or her writing

DComparing the Bible to folk tales from other cultures

Correct answer

D. Comparing the Bible to folk tales from other cultures

Explanation

The correct answer is Comparing the Bible to folk tales from other cultures.

What is a kunstleroman?

Aa novel in which the hero solves a crime

Ba novel that traces women’s intellectual developments

Can artist’s journey in which he always abandons his art

Dan artist’s novel of awakening

Correct answer

D. an artist’s novel of awakening

Explanation

The correct answer is an artist’s novel of awakening.

Reader-response theory is focused on considering which of the following?

AHow readers participate in creating the meaning of a text

BHow readers imagine visual images in a text

CHow readers learn to read

DHow readers regard critics

Correct answer

A. How readers participate in creating the meaning of a text

Explanation

The correct answer is How readers participate in creating the meaning of a text.

Some critics argue that the use of dialect by such authors as Paul Laurence Dunbar and Charles Chesnutt did all of the following except________?

APerpetuated stereotypes

BStrengthened the African American’s place in the world of literature

CShowed that African Americans couldn’t speak properly.

DAllowed African American authors to sell their works more widely to white audiences

Correct answer

C. Showed that African Americans couldn’t speak properly.

Explanation

The correct answer is Showed that African Americans couldn’t speak properly..

The first play of Ben Johnson is ________?

ACynthia Revels

BEpicene or The Silent Woman

CThe Alchemist

DEvery Man in His Humour

Correct answer

D. Every Man in His Humour

Explanation

The first play written by Ben Jonson is A. Every Man in His Humour. It was first performed in 1598 by the Lord Chamberlain’s Men, a theatrical company to which Shakespeare also belonged.