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English Literature MCQs with Explanations

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361English LiteratureMedium

The earliest play written by Shakespeare according to Oxford Shakespeare 1988 is________?

ATitus Andronicus

BAs you Like it

CThe Taming of the Shrew

DTwo Gentlemen of Verona

Correct answer

A. Titus Andronicus

Explanation

The correct answer is Titus Andronicus.

362English LiteratureMedium

Which poet did Arthur Henry Hallum associate with “the picturesque”?

AAlexander Pope

BSamuel Taylor Coleridge

CAlfred Tennyson

DPercy Shelley

Correct answer

C. Alfred Tennyson

Explanation

The correct answer is Alfred Tennyson.

363English LiteratureMedium

Which two writers can be described as writing historical novels?

ASir Walter Scott and Maria Edgeworth

BWilliam Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge

CJane Austen and Charlotte Brontë

DMary Shelley and Percy Bysshe Shelley

Correct answer

A. Sir Walter Scott and Maria Edgeworth

Explanation

The correct answer is Sir Walter Scott and Maria Edgeworth.

364English LiteratureMedium

In Octavia Butler’s “Bloodchild,” The Tlick keep the humans happy by________?

AFreeing the males after they are hosts.

BLetting them choose their own mates.

CSupplying them with narcotic eggs.

DPaying them very well.

Correct answer

C. Supplying them with narcotic eggs.

Explanation

The correct answer is Supplying them with narcotic eggs..

365English LiteratureMedium

Which of the following was NOT a key element or aspect of Romantic poetry?

AThe use of allegory

BEngagement with nature

CCelebration of the imagination

DThe use of symbolism

Correct answer

A. The use of allegory

Explanation

The correct answer is The use of allegory.

366English LiteratureMedium

What is a poem called whose first letters of each line spell out a word?

AEpic

BAcrostic

CHaiku

DAlliterative

Correct answer

B. Acrostic

Explanation

The correct answer is Acrostic.

367English LiteratureMedium

In her text, “History of the Novel”, How does Dr. Agatha Taormina define the novel?

AA narrative with a unified, plausible plot structure

BA narrative that conveys the illusion of reality

CAll of these

DA narrative that emphasizes character development

Correct answer

C. All of these

Explanation

The correct answer is All of these.

368English LiteratureMedium

Complete the following sentence. Keats’s “Ode to a Nightingale” is characteristically Romantic because of________?

Aits rejection of scientific progress.

Bits focus on his lost love.

Cits development of elements from national folklore.

Dits elaboration of the intersecting importance of nature and the imagination.

Correct answer

D. its elaboration of the intersecting importance of nature and the imagination.

Explanation

The correct answer is its elaboration of the intersecting importance of nature and the imagination..

369English LiteratureMedium

Who owned the rights to a theatrical script?

Athe acting company

Bthe bishop of London

Cthe patron of the acting company, eg, the Lord Chamberlain

Dthe printer

Correct answer

A. the acting company

Explanation

The correct answer is the acting company.

370English LiteratureMedium

It was the very witching time of night that he, heavyhearted and crestfallen, pursued his travel homeward. Far below, the Tappan Zee spread its dusky waters. In the dead hush of midnight he could hear the faint barking of a watchdog from the opposite shore. The night grew darker and darker; the stars seemed to sink deeper in the sky, and driving clouds occasionally hid them from his sight. This passage is from________?

AAn autobiography

BA Gothic tale

CA fairy tale

DA detective story

Correct answer

B. A Gothic tale

Explanation

The correct answer is A Gothic tale.

Complete the following sentence. Keats’s “Ode to a Nightingale” is characteristically Romantic because of________?

Aits rejection of scientific progress.

Bits focus on his lost love.

Cits development of elements from national folklore.

Dits elaboration of the intersecting importance of nature and the imagination.

Correct answer

D. its elaboration of the intersecting importance of nature and the imagination.

Explanation

The correct answer is its elaboration of the intersecting importance of nature and the imagination..