Department of English
THE UNIVERSITY OF CHENAB
Sample - Entry Test for MPhil in English Literature
Department of English
SUBJECT KNOWLEDGE
39. . What did Henry James describe as "loose baggy monsters"?
a. novel
b. Plays
c. the English
d. Publishers
Henry James famously described novels as "loose baggy monsters" in the preface to his 1908 novel The Tragic Muse. He was specifically referring to the form of the Victorian novel and its often sprawling, unstructured nature.
40. How did one critic sum up Samuel Beckett's Waiting for Godot?
a) "nothing happens-twice"
b) "political correctness gone mad"
c) "kitchen sink drama"
d) "angry young men
This famous quote is often attributed to the critic Vivian Mercier in his 1956 review of Waiting for Godot in the Irish Times. It concisely captures the play's unique structure and themes, emphasizing its repetitive, non-linear plot where the main action is the waiting itself, which occurs over two acts with very little change.
Context of the Quote
Play: Waiting for Godot (1953) by Samuel Beckett.
Thematic Focus: The play is a foundational work of the Theatre of the Absurd, dealing with themes of meaningless, stasis, and existential dread.
Meaning: Mercier's phrase, "nothing happens-twice", succinctly describes the plot: the main characters (Estragon and Vladimir) wait for the arrival of the mysterious Godot in the first act, and then they wait for him again in the second act, only for him not to arrive either time. The events and dialogue of the second act largely mirror those of the first, hence the "twice."
41. What did T. S. Eliot attempt to combine, though not very successfully, in his plays Murder in the Cathedral and The Cocktail Party?
a. regional dialect and political critique
b. religious symbolism and society comedy
c. iambic pentameter and sexual innuendo
d. witty paradoxes and feminist diatribe
T. S. Eliot, in plays like *Murder in the Cathedral* and especially *The Cocktail Party*, attempted to combine profound **religious and spiritual themes (symbolism)** with the style and structure of a contemporary **society comedy or drawing-room comedy**.
* In **The Cocktail Party**, the play uses the setting, tone, and witty dialogue of a sophisticated, modern comedy, but the plot ultimately deals with serious spiritual choices, sacrifice, and the search for salvation. The combination is often seen as a challenging, and sometimes awkward, blending of two very different dramatic traditions.
42. Which of the following was originally the Irish Literary Theatre?
a) the Irish National Theatre
b) the Globe Theatre
c) the Abbey Theatre
d) both a and d
The **Abbey Theatre** in Dublin, Ireland, was founded by W. B. Yeats Edward Martyn, and George Moore and Lady Gregory. It developed out of the earlier **Irish Literary Theatre**, which existed from 1899 to 1901.
* The **Irish National Theatre Society**, an amateur dramatic group, was formed in 1903 and eventually merged with the aims of the Irish Literary Theatre's founders to become the company that opened the Abbey Theatre in 1904.
* Therefore, the Abbey Theatre is the direct institutional and spiritual successor, and often considered to be the continuation of the Irish Literary Theatre's goal.
43. Which novel did T. S. Eliot praise for utilizing a new "mythical method" in place of the old "narrative method" and demonstrates the use of ancient mythology in modernist fiction to think
about "making the modern world possible for art"?
a) Virginia Woolf's The Waves
b) Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness
c) James Joyce's Finnegan's Wake
d) James Joyce's Ulysses
The novel that T. S. Eliot praised for utilizing a "mythical method" and is considered a key example of this approach in modern fiction is James Joyce's "Ulysses".
Explanation: Eliot, in his influential essay "Ulysses, Order, and Myth," lauded Joyce's use of the Homeric Odyssey myth as a framework to structure the complex narrative of "Ulysses," arguing that it allowed him to create order and meaning within the chaos of modern life, thereby making contemporary reality accessible through the lens of ancient myth.
44. Which of the following is not associated with high modernism in the novel?
a) stream of consciousness
b) free indirect style
c) irresolute open endings
d) narrative realism
The defining characteristics of **High Modernism** in the novel (roughly 1900–1940, encompassing authors like James Joyce, Virginia Woolf, and William Faulkner) were a deliberate rejection of the techniques of 19th-century **narrative realism**.
* **a) Stream of consciousness** and **b) free indirect style** are experimental narrative techniques that **Modernists** used to portray the subjective inner lives of characters, directly replacing the omniscient, external narration typical of realism.
* **c) Irresolute open endings** reflect the modernist theme of a fragmented, chaotic, and uncertain world, standing in contrast to the clear, often moralistic resolutions of realist novels.
* **d) Narrative realism** is the literary style that Modernism reacted against. Realist novels focused on objective, external reality, linear plots, and a stable, authoritative narrator. Modernism sought to dismantle this structure.
45. Which phrase indicates the interior flow of thought employed in high-modern literature?
a) automatic writing
b) confused daze
c) total recall
d) stream of consciousness
This literary technique attempts to render the full, often illogical and fragmented, flow of a character's inner thoughts, feelings, memories, and associations as they occur in real-time.
Stream of consciousness is one of the most defining characteristics of Modernist novels, notably used by writers like James Joyce (Ulysses), Virginia Woolf (Mrs. Dalloway), and William Faulkner (The Sound and the Fury).
46. Which of the following writers did not come from Ireland?
a) W. B. Yeats
b) James Joyce
c) Oscar Wilde
d) none of the above; all came from Ireland
W. B. Yeats: A poet, playwright, and philosopher who is considered a central figure in the Irish Literary Revival.
James Joyce: A modernist novelist, short story writer, and poet known for his complex and innovative works like Ulysses.
Oscar Wilde: A playwright, poet, and author known for his wit and aestheticism.
47. What characteristics of seventeenth-century Metaphysical poetry sparked the enthusiasm of modernist poets and critics?
a) its intellectual complexity
b) its union of thought and passion
c) its uncompromising engagement with politics
d) a and b
Modernist poets and critics, especially T. S. Eliot, championed Metaphysical poetry precisely for its intellectual complexity and its fusion of thought and feeling.
The Modernist Appeal of Metaphysical Poetry
1. Intellectual Complexity (Option a)
Modernists admired the way Metaphysical poets like John Donne and Andrew Marvell used complex wit, philosophical arguments, and Metaphysical Conceits (extended, often surprising metaphors comparing two highly dissimilar things) to explore deep ideas.
T. S. Eliot himself was a major figure in the revival of the Metaphysical poets, praising their ability to intellectualize emotion. This intellectual robustness was a reaction against what Modernists saw as the excessive sentimentality and simplicity of much 19th-century Romantic and Victorian poetry.
The use of obscure and scientific imagery (e.g., comparing lovers' souls to a compass) provided a model for the dense, allusive, and fragmented style of Modernist poetry.
2. Union of Thought and Passion (Option b)
Eliot famously coined the term "Unified Sensibility" to describe the Metaphysical poets' ability to integrate abstract thought and intense emotion seamlessly.
Eliot argued that for poets like Donne, "A thought to Donne was an experience; it modified his sensibility." This meant that their intellectual ideas were felt immediately and sensuously, creating a powerful coherence between the mind and the heart.
Modernism sought to recover this "unified sensibility," which Eliot claimed had been lost to a "dissociation of sensibility" in later centuries (starting around Milton and Dryden), where poets either thought abstractly or felt emotionally, but could not do both simultaneously within the poetry
48. Which of the following phrases best characterizes the late-nineteenth century aesthetic movement which widened the breach between artists and the reading public, sowing the seeds of
modernism?
a) art for intellect's sake
b) art for God's sake
c) art for the masses
d) art for art's sake
## The Aesthetic Movement and "Art for Art's Sake"
The Aesthetic Movement, which flourished in the late 19th century, championed the idea that art's primary purpose is to be beautiful, and it should be appreciated for its own intrinsic beauty alone, independent of any moral, political, or didactic function.
* **The Slogan:** The slogan, translated from the French *l'art pour l'art* (coined earlier in the 19th century), became the cardinal doctrine of the movement.
* **The Reaction:** It was a deliberate **rejection** of the prevailing Victorian moralism and utilitarian philosophy that believed art should be socially useful or teach a moral lesson (often summarized as "art for truth's sake" or "art for life's sake").
* **The Breach:** This philosophy widened the breach between the artists (like Oscar Wilde and Walter Pater) and the general reading public, who were accustomed to art with a clear moral message. This emphasis on **formal beauty** and the autonomy of art is also considered a significant precursor, or "sowing the seeds," of **Modernism**, which would fully break with traditional narrative and moral obligations in art.
The phrase, *The Aesthetic Movement 1860–1900*, provides an overview of the "Cult of Beauty" movement and its key figures.
49. For what do Matthew Arnold's moral investment in nonfiction and Walter Pater's aesthetic investment together pave the way?
a) a renewed secularism in the twentieth century
b) modern literary criticism
c) late–nineteenth-century and early–twentieth-century satirical drama
d) the surrealist movement
Matthew Arnold's moral and cultural investment in criticism, alongside Walter Pater's aesthetic investment, paved the way for **modern literary criticism** by establishing its central, and often contradictory, concerns.
* **Matthew Arnold** advocated for a **moralistic, objective, and high-minded criticism** that sought to use literature and "culture" to educate, elevate, and stabilize society. He saw literature as a substitute for religion ("high seriousness") and emphasized seeing the work "as in itself it really is."
* **Walter Pater** championed a **subjective, "impressionistic," and aesthetic criticism** ("art for art's sake") where the primary value of a work lay in the intense personal sensation and pleasure it offered the observer. This focus on aesthetic experience over moral utility was a direct challenge to Arnold.
The tension and subsequent dialogue between Arnold's high cultural/moral imperative and Pater's aesthetic/subjective response became foundational to the development of modern literary theory and criticism.
50. What factors contributed to the increased popularity of nonfiction prose?
a) a new market position for nonfiction writing and an exalted sense of the didactic
b) a Puritanical distrust of fictions and a thirst for trivia
c) the forbiddingly high cost of three-volume novels and the difficulty of finding poetry in bookshops outside of London
d) the deconstruction of the truth-fiction dichotomy and an accompanying relativistic sense that every opinion was of equal value
The factor that contributed to the increased popularity of nonfiction prose in the 19th century is:
**a) a new market position for nonfiction writing and an exalted sense of the didactic**
# Explanation
This option best captures the cultural and commercial shifts of the Victorian era (a significant part of the 19th century):
* **New Market Position for Nonfiction Writing:** The Victorian era saw a massive **increase in literacy**, combined with **cheaper and faster printing technologies** (like the steam printing press) and improved distribution (like the railways). This led to a boom in **periodical writing** (magazines and newspapers), providing a new, highly popular, and easily accessible venue for nonfiction in the form of essays, articles, and reviews. Key essayists like Thomas Carlyle, John Ruskin, and Matthew Arnold used these platforms extensively, establishing a new, highly valued genre often called "**sage writing**."
* **Exalted Sense of the Didactic:** Victorian culture placed a high value on **didacticism**, which is literature intended to teach or instruct, often on moral, social, or philosophical matters. In a time of rapid industrial, scientific (e.g., Darwin's *On the Origin of Species*), and social change, nonfiction prose provided the ideal medium to directly address and critique contemporary problems like religion, science, politics, and the effects of industrialization. Writers were seen as "sages" or intellectual leaders who could provide **moral and social guidance** to a large, rapidly changing reading public.
51. Experimentation in which of the following areas of poetic expression characterize Victorian poetry and allow Victorian poets to represent psychology in a different way?
a) the use of pictorial description to construct visual images to represent the emotion or situation of the poem
b) sound as a means to express meaning
c) perspective, as in the dramatic monologue
d) all of the above
Victorian poets employed experimentation in **perspective (the dramatic monologue), pictorial description (imagery), and sound/meter** to subject the mind's operations to "unprecedented levels of scrutiny," making psychology one of the most influential poetic modes of the era.
## How Poetic Experiments Represented Psychology
The Victorian age saw the rise of psychology as a discipline (Source 1.1, 1.2, 1.6), and poets sought new forms to analyze the **"modern psychologised subject"** (Source 1.1).
### **c) Perspective, as in the dramatic monologue**
* **The Experiment:** The dramatic monologue is the quintessential Victorian formal innovation. It features a single speaker who is **not the poet**, addresses a silent listener in a critical situation, and whose entire speech reveals their inner **temperament and character** (Source 2.4, 2.5).
* **The Psychological Effect:** This form allows for the psychological analysis of an individual's **subjectivity, self-deception, moral complexity, and contradictions** through their own biased words, requiring the reader to be a psychological detective (Source 2.2, 2.3). Robert Browning (e.g., "My Last Duchess") is the master of this technique.
### **a) The use of pictorial description to construct visual images**
* **The Experiment:** Victorian poets used **rich, sensory imagery** (pictorial description) and **"sensory devices"** (Source 2.7) to paint detailed scenes.
* **The Psychological Effect:** This description often functions as a **"correlative"** for the speaker's internal state, reflecting emotion, anxiety, or internal conflict onto the external world. The imagery became a tool to describe the **"abstract scenes of chaos"** within the mind (Source 2.7).
**b) Sound as a means to express meaning**
* **The Experiment:** Poets experimented with **meter, rhythm, and musicality** (Source 2.7). Alfred, Lord Tennyson was particularly known for his experiments with different meters (Source 2.7).
* **The Psychological Effect:** The **auditory quality of the verse** and its metrical shifts often mirrored the **unstable, wavering, or complex nature of the speaker's thoughts** and emotional state, using the sheer sound of the language to convey psychological depth that mere narrative could not capture.
52.What was the relationship between Victorian poets and the Romantics?
a) The Romantics remained largely forgotten until their rediscovery by T. S. Eliot in the 1920s.
b) The Victorians were disgusted by the immorality and narcissism of the Romantics.
c) The Romantics were seen as gifted but crude artists belonging to a distant, semibarbarous age.
d) The Victorians were strongly influenced by the Romantics and experienced a sense of belatedness.
Victorian Poets and the Romantic Legacy
The Victorian era developed in the shadow of Romanticism. Victorian poets were deeply influenced by their Romantic predecessors—such as Wordsworth, Keats, and Shelley—and often saw themselves as inheritors of a great, yet perhaps unrepeatable, poetic moment.
Influence and Imitation: Major Victorian poets like Alfred, Lord Tennyson, Robert Browning, and Matthew Arnold were heavily motivated by Romantic trends. For instance, early works by Robert Browning often imitated Shelley, and Matthew Arnold's "Resignation" directly revisits the theme and setting of Wordsworth's "Tintern Abbey."
A Sense of Belatedness and Distance: Despite their admiration, many Victorians, including Arnold, felt they could not sustain the same confidence or imaginative power the Romantics possessed. This resulted in a feeling of belatedness—the sense that they had arrived too late, after the great poetry had already been written. Their poetry often rewrites or modifies seminal Romantic themes with a greater sense of distance, reflection, and melancholy, as seen in Arnold's work or Thomas Hardy's later poetry in relation to Keats.
Transition and Change: While influenced, Victorian poetry also evolved to address the new socio-historical and scientific realities of the age, moving towards more realism, social critique, and psychological complexity, often employing new forms like the dramatic monologue.
53. Which of the following contributed to the growing awareness in the Late Victorian Period of the immense human, economic, and political costs of running an empire?
a) the India Mutiny in 1857
b) the Jamaica Rebellion in 1865
c) the Irish Question
d) all of the above
The Indian Mutiny (1857), the Jamaica Rebellion (1865), and the Irish Question all significantly contributed to a growing public and political awareness in the Late Victorian Period of the immense human, economic, and political costs of maintaining the British Empire.
* Analysis of the Contributing Factors
## a) The Indian Mutiny in 1857
The **Indian Mutiny (or Uprising) of 1857** exposed the **human and political costs** of imperial rule:
* **Human Cost and Brutality:** The rebellion and its brutal suppression on both sides shocked the British public, particularly through media reports. The violence challenged the Victorian self-image of a civilizing, benevolent empire.
* **Political Cost:** It led to a major administrative overhaul, with the direct transfer of power from the East India Company to the British Crown (the British Raj). This centralization was costly and brought India's governance—and its associated security risks and expenditures (economic costs)—directly into the domain of British politics. It also generated fears of widespread colonial resistance.
b) The Jamaica Rebellion in 1865
The **Morant Bay Rebellion in Jamaica in 1865** was a key event that heightened the public's awareness of the **human and political-moral costs** of empire:
* **Human/Moral Cost:** The excessive brutality of Governor Edward Eyre's suppression—which included over 400 executions and the burning of homes—provoked a major moral and political crisis in Britain.
* **Political Cost:** The ensuing public debate polarized the intellectual and political elite, with figures like John Stuart Mill campaigning for Eyre's prosecution. This controversy forced Britain to confront the methods and ethics of colonial rule and the racial injustices inherent in the imperial system, leading to the abolition of the Jamaican Assembly and a shift to direct Crown Colony rule.
c) The Irish Question
The **Irish Question** (the debate over how to respond to Irish nationalism and calls for Home Rule) underscored the **economic and political costs** of ruling a restless subject population close to home:
* **Political Cost:** It consistently dominated and fractured British domestic politics, especially with the introduction of the Home Rule Bills in 1886 and 1893, splitting the Liberal Party. Lord Salisbury, a late 19th-century Prime Minister, even drew a direct link between the two, warning that if Ireland was granted Home Rule, India would eventually follow suit, highlighting the political threat of nationalist movements to the integrity of the entire empire.
* **Economic and Human Costs:** Issues like the Great Famine (though earlier, 1845–1852) and ongoing land and poverty issues demonstrated the failure and financial burden of direct colonial administration and coercion (86 Coercion Acts between 1800-1912) on an unwilling population.
54. Which of the following best defines Utilitarianism?
a) a farming technique aimed at maximizing productivity with the fewest tools
b) a moral arithmetic, which states that all humans aim to maximize the greatest pleasure to the greatest number
c) a critical methodology stating that all words have a single meaningful function within a given piece of literature
d) a philosophy dictating that we should only keep what we use on a daily basis.
The best definition of Utilitarianism among the choices is b) a moral arithmetic, which states that all humans aim to maximize the greatest pleasure to the greatest number.
Explanation of Utilitarianism
Utilitarianism is a moral and ethical theory that holds that the best action is the one that maximizes utility, which is typically defined as maximizing happiness and reducing suffering.
It is often summarized by the phrase: "the greatest good for the greatest number."
The term "moral arithmetic" in option (b) refers to the idea that one can calculate the ethical choice by weighing the consequences of different actions and choosing the one that yields the most overall happiness or pleasure for the largest number of people affected.
55. Which of the following novelists best represents the mid-Victorian period's contentment with the burgeoning economic prosperity and decreased restiveness over social and political change?
a) Anthony Trollope
b) Charles Dickens
c) John Ruskin
d) Friedrich Engels
Anthony Trollope (1815–1882) is famous for his Barsetshire novels and Palliser novels. His work often depicts the lives, manners, and moral dilemmas of the comfortable, respectable English middle and upper classes, particularly the clergy and the political establishment. His tone is generally moderate, pragmatic, and accepting of the existing social and economic structures, reflecting the stability and prosperity of the mid-Victorian era (roughly the 1850s and 1860s). His focus is on subtle social comedy and psychological realism rather than strident social critique.
56. Elizabeth Barrett's poem The Cry of the Children is concerned with which major issue attendant on the Time of Troubles during the 1830s and 1840s?
a) women's rights and suffrage
b) child labor
c) Chartism
d) the prudishness and old-fashioned ideals of her fellow Victorians
Elizabeth Barrett Browning's poem "The Cry of the Children" (1843) is one of the most powerful literary protests of the Victorian era.
The poem directly addresses the appalling conditions, suffering, and exhaustion of young children forced to work long hours in factories, mines, and mills.
It was written during a period often called the "Time of Troubles" (roughly the 1830s and 1840s), which was characterized by widespread social distress, economic hardship, and a growing public awareness of the devastating human cost of the Industrial Revolution.
The poem played a significant role in advocating for reforms that eventually led to more effective Factory Acts regulating the employment of women and children
57. Who in the Romantic period developed a new novelistic language for the workings of the mind in flux?
a) Maria Edgeworth
b) Sir Walter Scott
c) Thomas De Quincey
d) Jane Austen
Explanation
Jane Austen (1775–1817) is best known for pioneering techniques that allowed readers unprecedented access to the inner lives and mental processes of her characters, especially their thoughts, feelings, and changing perceptions ("mind in flux").
Her key innovation in developing this "new novelistic language" was her extensive and skillful use of Free Indirect Discourse (also called Free Indirect Style).
Free Indirect Discourse
Definition: This technique blends the narrator's voice with the character's voice. It presents a character's thoughts and speech using the third-person narrative but retains the character's characteristic tone, vocabulary, and immediacy, without using conventional markers like "she thought" or "he said."
Effect: This method allows Austen to plunge the reader directly into a character's consciousness and observe their judgments, misjudgments, and evolving feelings (the "mind in flux"), often with a subtle layer of the narrator's irony or commentary. It is this technique that critics cite as her major contribution to the development of psychological realism in the novel, a technique later refined by modernists like Virginia Woolf and James Joyce.
58. Which poet asserted in practice and theory the value of representing rustic life and language as well as social outcasts and delinquents not only in pastoral poetry, common before this poet's
time, but also as the major subject and medium for poetry in general?
a) William Blake
b) Alfred Lord Tennyson
c) Samuel Johnson
d) William Wordsworth
**William Wordsworth** is the poet who asserted, both in **practice** (his poetry in *Lyrical Ballads*) and **theory** (especially in the *Preface to Lyrical Ballads*), the value of representing **rustic life and language** as the proper subject and medium for poetry in general.
### Key Points from Wordsworth's Theory:
* **Subject Matter:** Wordsworth intentionally chose "incidents and situations from **common life**," particularly "low and **rustic life**" to be the principal object of his poetry. He believed that in this condition, "the **essential passions of the heart** find a better soil in which they can attain their maturity, are less under restraint, and speak a plainer and more emphatic language."
* **Language (Diction):** He advocated for the use of "a selection of **language really used by men**" and opposed the "gaudiness and inane phraseology" of 18th-century poetic diction.
* **Social Outcasts:** His poems frequently focused on the lives of **social outcasts** and simple folk, such as the title characters in poems like "Michael," "The Idiot Boy," and "The Old Cumberland Beggar," elevating their experiences and language to the level of high art.
59. Wordsworth described all good poetry as:
a) the rhythmic expression of moral intuition
b) the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings
c) the polite patter of a corrupted age
d) the divine gift of grace.
**William Wordsworth's** famous definition of poetry is found in the **Preface to *Lyrical Ballads*** (1800 edition). He describes the process of poetic composition as having several stages, culminating in this key phrase:
Poetry is the **spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings**: it takes its origin from **emotion recollected in tranquility**."
This definition was central to the **Romantic Movement** because it:
1. **Emphasized Emotion:** It moved the focus of poetry away from 18th-century rationalism, wit, and adherence to classical rules, placing the poet's sincere, powerful emotion at the heart of the art.
2. 2. **Championed Spontaneity:** The "spontaneous overflow" suggested a natural, unforced expression, directly contrasting with the artificial, highly regulated "poetic diction" of earlier periods.
60. What did Byron deride with his scathing reference to "'Peddlers,' and 'Boats,' and 'Wagons'!"?
a) the neo-classical influence of Pope and Dryden
b) William Wordsworth's focus on rustic life/humble subjects.
c) the Orientalist fantasies of Coleridge
d) Blake's apocalyptic visions
Lord Byron (George Gordon) was a leading figure of the second generation of Romantic poets, and he often expressed disdain for the work of the first generation, particularly William Wordsworth.
Byron's scathing reference to "'Peddlers,' and 'Boats,' and 'Wagons'!" is a sarcastic summary of the humble subjects Wordsworth chose for his poems in Lyrical Ballads.
Byron mocked Wordsworth's democratic approach to subject matter—focusing on the lives of common people like leech-gatherers, peddlers, and shepherds—which Byron viewed as trivial and sentimental.
This specific quote is often cited as an example of the literary rift between the high-flying, aristocratic, and often cynical strain of Romanticism represented by Byron and the more democratic, nature-focused, and morally earnest strain represented by Wordsworth.
61. Which Romantic writer(s) wrote in more than one of these popular literary forms: essay, novel, drama, poetry?
a) Percy Bysshe Shelley
b) William Wordsworth
c) George Gordon, Lord Byron
d) all of the above
All three writers, **Percy Bysshe Shelley**, **William Wordsworth**, and **George Gordon, Lord Byron**, wrote in more than one of the popular Romantic literary forms (essay, novel, drama, poetry).
## Overview of Forms
* **Percy Bysshe Shelley** is primarily known for his **poetry** (e.g., *Ode to the West Wind*), but he also wrote **essays** (e.g., *A Defence of Poetry*) and **drama** (e.g., *Prometheus Unbound*).
* **William Wordsworth** is famous for his **poetry** (e.g., *Lyrical Ballads*, co-authored with Coleridge), and he also wrote **essays** (e.g., the Prefaces to *Lyrical Ballads*) and had an unfinished **drama** (*The Borderers*).
* **George Gordon, Lord Byron** is renowned for his narrative **poetry** (e.g., *Don Juan*), and he also wrote several notable **dramas** (e.g., *Cain*, *Manfred*). He also wrote letters and prose, which often included essay-like elements.
62.Which of the following best describes the sort of language and tone most often used when Romantic writers discuss the French Revolution?
a) snide indifference
b) biblical reverence
c) condemning censure
d) satirical derision.
.Explanation: Romantic writers generally viewed the French Revolution with a mix of awe and admiration, seeing it as a dramatic upheaval that harkened back to the kind of revolutionary events described in the Bible. They often used language and imagery associated with religious fervor when discussing the revolution, emphasizing its transformative potential and its impact on the collective human spirit.
63.Who is termed as "The Morning Star of Renaissance"?
a) Spenser
b) John Gower
c) Chaucer
d) Langland.
Explanation: Geoffrey Chaucer
Geoffrey Chaucer (c. 1343 – 1400), known primarily for The Canterbury Tales, is considered the "Morning Star of the Renaissance" because his work marks the transition from the Middle Ages to the modern era in English literature.
Pioneering Modernity: Chaucer introduced a spirit of realism, humanism, and secular interest into English poetry, which were key characteristics of the later Renaissance.
Literary Influence: He was heavily influenced by the early Italian Renaissance writers (like Dante and Boccaccio) and brought their elevated literary forms and narrative techniques to England.
Language: He is also famously hailed as "the Father of English Poetry" because he championed the use of the English vernacular (specifically the East Midland dialect) over Latin and French for serious literary expression, helping to establish it as a literary language. This move away from medieval literary traditions is seen as an early break toward the Renaissance.
Note: The epithet "Morning Star of the Reformation" belongs to the religious reformer John Wycliffe, a contemporary of Chaucer.
64. Which bird did the Ancient Mariner kill?
a) Seagull
b) Albatross
c) Humming Bird
d) Crow
The poem "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner" by Samuel Taylor Coleridge famously depicts the mariner killing an albatross, which leads to a series of terrible consequences. The albatross is a symbol of good luck and the mariner's act of killing it is considered a grave sin.
65. What is Shakespeare's longest play?
a) Taming of the Shrew
b) Romeo and Juliet
c) A Midsummer Night's Dream
d) Hamlet
66. Who wrote: "I have measured out my life with coffee spoons."?
a) William Carlos Williams
b) T.S. Eliot
c) Ernest Hemingway
d) Hart Crane
It appears in his famous poem, "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock." It describes a life of tedious, mundane routines and a sense of having let life slip away in small, insignificant increment
67. In which work do you read: "There can be no freedom or beauty about a home life that depends on borrowing and debt."?
a) A Doll's House
b) Riders to the Sea
c)A Handful of Dust
d)The Fatal Curiosity
This line is spoken by the character Torvald Helmer in Henrik Ibsen's 1879 play. Ironically, his wife, Nora, has secretly incurred a large debt to save his life, setting up the central conflict of the drama.
68. Who wrote: "In Xanadu did Kubla Khan / A stately pleasure dome decree..."?
a) Samuel Taylor Coleridge
b)Robert Browning
c)John Keats
d)Walt Whitman
The line "In Xanadu did Kubla Khan / A stately pleasure dome decree..." was written by Samuel Taylor Coleridge, as the opening of his famous poem "Kubla Khan". The poem was composed in 1797 after Coleridge experienced an opium-induced dream about the descriptions of Xanadu, which he was reading about in a book, and began writing it down, according to Annoyz View.
69. In which work do you read: "Things fall apart; the center cannot hold."?
a) The Canterbury Tales
b) The Dark Angel
c) The Wild Swans of Coole
d) The Second Coming
The full lines are:
"Turning and turning in the widening gyre
The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world..."
The phrase "Things fall apart; the center cannot hold" is from the poem d) The Second Coming by W.B. Yeats.
This poem is also the source of the title for Chinua Achebe's famous novel, Things Fall Apart.
70. This famous neoclassical poet wrote on profound themes such as death, but he also had a lighter side. He once wrote an ode to a cat drowned in a tub of gold fishes.
a) Alexander Pope
b)William Collins
c) Thomas Gray
d) Ben Jonson
Thomas Gray's Ode
Thomas Gray (1716–1771) is a significant figure of the mid-eighteenth century. His most famous poem, "Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard," is one of the most celebrated poems in the English language and addresses the profound theme of death and the unfulfilled lives of the common people.
The poem about the cat, named Selima, is an example of Gray's lighter side. It is a mock-heroic or light satire, using the elevated language and form of a classical ode and elegy to describe the trivial tragedy of a cat drowning in a fishbowl while attempting to catch goldfish.
The final stanza of the poem delivers a satirical moral directed at ladies:
"From hence, ye beauties, undeceived,
Know, one false step is ne'er retrieved,
And be with caution bold.
Not all that tempts your wandering eyes,
And heedless hearts, is lawful prize;
Nor all that glisters, gold.
71. Neoclassicists tended to view poetry as the result of genius overflowing from the mind out onto the page. They also considered poetry to be an expression of the individual, inner self.
a)True
b) False
The statement describes the view of the **Romantic** poets, not the Neoclassicists.
**Neoclassicists** valued **reason**, **order**, **restraint**, **objectivity**, and **adherence to classical rules** and conventions. They believed poetry was the result of **craft, labor, and study**, not an uncontrolled "spontaneous overflow" of emotion or genius. They emphasized the **universal** human experience and social issues, not the individual, inner self.
* The idea of poetry as the **"spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings"** and an expression of **"individual passion and inspiration"** is the famous definition and central tenet of **Romanticism** (Wordsworth). The Romantics were reacting *against* the Neoclassical emphasis on reason and structure.
72. Which work exposes the frivolity of fashionable London?
a) Defoe's Robinson Crusoe
b) Swift's Gulliver's Travels
c) Behn's Oroonoko
d) Pope's The Rape of the Lock
"The Rape of the Lock" by Alexander Pope (published 1712, revised 1714) is a brilliant example of a mock-epic poem from the Neoclassical period (specifically the Augustan Age).
The poem satirizes a trivial real-life event: a young nobleman cutting a lock of hair from a beautiful lady, which led to a feud between two prominent Catholic families.
Pope uses the grand, elevated style of epic poetry to describe the silly, luxurious, and exaggerated social customs of the elite class in fashionable London. The poem meticulously exposes the frivolity and vanity of this society, making it the perfect answer.
73. Which of the following is not an example of Restoration comedy?
a) Etherege's The Man of Mode
b) Wycherley's The Country Wife
c) Behn's The Rover
d) Marlowe's Doctor Faustus.
Marlowe's Doctor Faustus is a tragedy from the Elizabethan era (late 16th century), not an example of the comic genre from the later Restoration period (late 17th century)
74.Which poet, critic and translator brought England a modern literature between 1660 and 1700?
a) Addison
b) Bunyan
c) Crabbe
d) Dryden
Explanation
John Dryden (1631–1700) was the dominant literary figure in England during the period 1660–1700, known as the Restoration Age or the Age of Dryden.
Poet: He perfected the heroic couplet as the standard form of English poetry and wrote celebrated political satires like "Absalom and Achitophel" (1681).
Critic: His essays, most notably "Of Dramatic Poesy" (1668), laid the foundation for modern literary criticism in English, defining standards for clarity, reason, and wit. He is often called the "father of English criticism."
Translator: He produced acclaimed translations of classical authors, including Virgil's Aeneid, helping to popularize classical literature and Roman Neoclassical principles in England.
His influence in all three areas steered English literature away from the exuberance of the Renaissance and towards the rational, formal, and satirical styles that define the Neoclassical or "modern" literature of the 18th century.
75.Which metrical form was Pope said to have brought to perfection?
a)the heroic couplet
b)blank verse
c)free verse
d)the ode
The Heroic Couplet in Neoclassicism
Alexander Pope is famous for perfecting the heroic couplet, making it the defining poetic meter of the Augustan Age (the first half of the 18th century).
Definition: A heroic couplet is a pair of rhyming lines written in iambic pentameter (five pairs of unstressed/stressed syllables).
Perfection: Pope brought this form to its highest degree of polish, wit, and precision. He mastered the technique of making each couplet a self-contained unit of thought, using devices like antithesis and balanced parallel structure.
A famous example from Pope's An Essay on Criticism:
"True Wit is Nature to Advantage drest,
What oft was thought, but ne'er so well exprest."
76.What word did writers in this period use to express quickness of mind, inventiveness, a knack for conceiving images and metaphors and for perceiving resemblances between things apparently unlike?
a) wit
b) sprezzatura
c) naturalism
d) gusto
### Explanation of "Wit"
In the Restoration and 18th-century **Neoclassical period** (the time frame referred to by the preceding questions):
* **Wit** was the key term used to describe the desired qualities of mind and writing.
* It encompassed **quickness of mind**, **inventiveness**, a knack for conceiving clever images (metaphors), and the ability to perceive subtle **resemblances between apparently unlike things** (a defining feature of both Metaphysical poetry and the sharp satire of the Neoclassicists).
* For a Neoclassical writer like Alexander Pope, **wit** was highly valued, but it had to be controlled and guided by **Judgment** and **Reason**.
## The Other Terms
* **b) Sprezzatura:** An Italian term from the Renaissance (The Book of the Courtier) meaning a studied carelessness or nonchalance, appearing effortless.
* **c) Naturalism:** A literary movement (late 19th/early 20th century) that sought to portray life as realistically as possible, often emphasizing determinism and social environment.
* **d) Gusto:** A Spanish word meaning enthusiastic enjoyment or zest.
77.What was most frequently considered a source of pleasure and an object of inquiry by Augustan poets?
a) civilization
b) woman
c) God
d) nature
## Nature in Augustan Poetry
**Nature** (often idealized as the countryside or pastoral landscape, known as the *locus amoenus*) was a central theme in Augustan poetry, particularly the work of **Virgil** and **Horace**.
* **Source of Pleasure:** It was viewed as a **retreat** from the complexity and corruption of city life (Rome). This idealization of simple, rural existence offered a sense of **tranquility** and **innocence**, providing aesthetic pleasure and emotional comfort. Virgil's *Eclogues* exemplify this pastoral ideal.
* **Object of Inquiry:** Poets used nature to explore deeper philosophical and moral questions, such as the relationship between humanity and the divine, the simple life versus ambition, the passage of time, and the pursuit of true **happiness** (*otium* or leisure). Horace's *Odes* often contrast the natural world with human affairs to comment on virtue and moderation.
78. Whose great Dictionary, published in 1755, included more than 114,000 quotations?
a) William Hogarth
b)Jonathan Swift
c)Samuel Johnson
d)Ben Jonson
Samuel Johnson's A Dictionary of the English Language
Samuel Johnson (often called Dr. Johnson) published his monumental work, A Dictionary of the English Language, in 1755.
Quotations: The dictionary's key innovation was its comprehensive use of literary quotations to illustrate how words were used by the best writers of the English language. It included approximately 114,000 of these illustrative passages, drawn from over 500 authors, including Shakespeare, Milton, and Dryden.
Significance: Johnson worked on the two-volume dictionary for nine years. It became the authoritative and dominant dictionary of the English language for over a century, until the publication of the Oxford English Dictionary in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Famous Definitions: Johnson's dictionary is also famous for its sometimes idiosyncratic or humorous definitions, often reflecting his personal biases (e.g., Lexicographer: "A writer of dictionaries, a harmless drudge").
79.Which of the following best describes the doctrine of empiricism?
a)All knowledge is derived from experience.
b) Human perceptions are constructed and reflect structures of political power.
c) The search for essential or ultimate principles of reality.
d) The sensory world is an illusion.
Explanation of Empiricism
Empiricism is a theory that states knowledge comes primarily from sensory experience. It argues that the mind is a blank slate (tabula rasa) at birth and that all ideas and concepts are gained through observation, experimentation, and interaction with the physical world.
This view contrasts directly with Rationalism, which asserts that some knowledge is innate and can be known through reason alone, independently of experience.
80. Which of the following works was written before the all-important Battle of Hastings?
a)Beowulf
b)Canterbury Tales
c)The Domesday Book
d) Sons and Lovers:
# Explanation
The **Battle of Hastings** in **1066 AD** marked the Norman conquest of England, which fundamentally changed the English language and literature.
* **a) Beowulf (Written c. 700 – 1000 AD):** This epic poem is the most famous work of **Old English** literature. Since it was composed centuries before the Norman Conquest, it predates the Battle of Hastings.
* **b) Canterbury Tales (Written late 14th century):** Written by Geoffrey Chaucer, this is the most famous work of **Middle English** literature, which flourished after the 1066 invasion.
* **c) The Domesday Book (Written 1086 AD):** This comprehensive census and survey of England was commissioned by William the Conqueror **after** the Battle of Hastings (1066) to assess his new kingdom.
* **d) Sons and Lovers (Published 1913 AD):** Written by D.H. Lawrence, this is a work of **Modern English** literature from the 20th century.ons and Lovers.
81. Literary divisions are not always exact, but we draw them because they are often convenient.The majority of English literary periods are named after:
a) The leading characteristic of the age
b) Monarchs or political events
c) The primary author of the age
d) The language of the age
Most English literary periods are typically named after the **monarch** or ruling dynasty of the time (e.g., **Elizabethan**, **Jacobean**, **Victorian**, **Georgian**), or significant **political/historical events** (e.g., **The Restoration**, **The Interregnum**).
While other choices like the leading characteristic (a) and the language (d) are sometimes used for broader periods (e.g., **Romantic Period**, **Old English Period**), the majority of the conventionally accepted, shorter, and more distinct periods are named after monarchs. The primary author (c) is not the standard naming convention.
82. A poem that deals in an idealized way with Shepherds and rustic life is known as:
a) A Protestant Poem
b) A Petrarchan Sonnet
c) An extended metaphor
d )A pastoral poem
A pastoral poem (or a piece of pastoral literature) specifically deals with the lives of shepherds, often depicting rural life in a highly idealized or romanticized manner. The traditional themes include love, loss, and the beauty of nature, often contrasting the simplicity of the countryside with the corruption of city life.
83. Hamlet consist of --------------- acts:
a) 3
b) 4
c) 5
d) 6
The five acts follow a classic plot structure known as Freytag's Pyramid:
Act I: Exposition introduces the main characters and conflict.
Act II: Rising Action builds momentum and tension.
Act III: Climax is the major turning point of the play.
Act IV: Falling Action shows the consequences of the climax.
Act V: Resolution ties up loose ends and concludes the story.
84. Who is the heroin of The Tempest?
a) Ophelia
b) Desdemona
c) Miranda
d) Helena
a) Ophelia is a character in Hamlet.
b) Desdemona is a character in Othello.
d) Helena is a character in A Midsummer Night's Dream and All's Well That Ends Well
85.The Romantic Revival in English Poetry was influenced
by the?
a) French Revolution
b) Glorious Revolution of1688
c) Reformation
d) Oxford Movement
The ideals of "Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity" from the French Revolution (1789) energized the intellectual and artistic climate, leading to a shift in focus from the classical emphasis on reason and order to a new emphasis on emotion, imagination, nature, and the common individual—the hallmarks of Romanticism.
b) Glorious Revolution of 1688: While the Glorious Revolution was a pivotal event in British history, its focus on political change and religious tolerance didn't align with the Romantic movement's emphasis on emotion, nature, and individual expression.
c) Reformation: The Reformation, a religious movement that began in the 16th century, primarily impacted religious practices and beliefs. Its influence on artistic and literary movements like Romanticism is less direct.
d) Oxford Movement: The Oxford Movement, a religious revival within the Church of England in the 19th century, was concerned with theological and liturgical matters. Its impact on Romantic poetry is negligible compared to the influence of the French Revolution.
86. Which poet is considered a national hero in Greece?
a) John keats
b) Lord Byron
c) Solan
d) Sappho
He is revered in Greece as a philhellene (a lover of Greece) for actively supporting and joining the Greek War of Independence against the Ottoman Empire. He dedicated his money and time to the cause and tragically died from fever in Missolonghi, Greece, in 1824.
87. One important feature of Jane Austen’s style is?
a) boisterous humour
b) humour and pathos
c) subtlety of irony
d) stream of consciousness
Subtlety of irony: Jane Austen's writing is famous for its use of irony and satire to critique the social norms and hypocrisy of her time. Her irony is often subtle, relying on the reader to understand the contrast between what a character says and what is actually true. A classic example is the opening line of Pride and Prejudice, which states that a wealthy single man must be in want of a wife, when the reality is that women without fortunes desperately need to find a husband.
88. The title of the poem ‘The Second Coming’ is taken from?
a) The Bible
b) The Irish mythology
c) The German mythology
d) The Greek mythology
It refers to the Christian prophecy, primarily found in the **Book of Revelation** (the final book of the New Testament), concerning the promised return of Jesus Christ to Earth to usher in a new age.
W.B. Yeats's poem subverts this traditional expectation, depicting a dark, chaotic transition and the birth of a terrifying "rough beast" instead of the divine return of a savior.
89. Which of the following plays of Shakespeare has an epilogue?
a) The Tempest
b) Henry IV, Pt. I
c) Hamlet
d) Twelfth Night
Explanation: An epilogue is a speech that wraps up the events of a play at the end, and The Tempest is known to have a well-defined epilogue where Prospero addresses the audience directly, signifying the resolution of the play.
90. What is the sub-title of the play Twelfth Night?
a) Or, What is you Will
b) Or, What you Will
c) Or, What you Like It
d) Or, What you Think
This subtitle suggests a carefree, anything-goes atmosphere, similar to the topsy-turvy nature of the traditional Twelfth Night festivities, where social order was playfully reversed.
91. Paradise Lost was originally written in?
a) ten books
b) eleven books
c) nine books
d) eight books
The best well-known work of John Milton (1608-1674), Paradise Lost. A Poem in Ten Books, was first published in London in 1667. In 1674, a new edition was published with some amendments and was divided into the twelve books we are most familiar with now.
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