MCQOPTIONS
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MCQOPTIONS
This section includes 450 Mcqs, each offering curated multiple-choice questions to sharpen your English Literature knowledge and support exam preparation. Choose a topic below to get started.
| 151. |
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 |
| Answer» E. | |
| 152. |
Which of the following is not a common feature of neoclassical poetry ? |
| A. | Imitation of classical forms and allusion to mythology |
| B. | An effort to represent human nature |
| C. | Use of the rhymed couplet |
| D. | Fantastic comparisons |
| Answer» D. Fantastic comparisons | |
| 153. |
Which of the following is a typically Romantic poetic form ? |
| A. | the fractal |
| B. | the figment |
| C. | the fragment |
| D. | the aubade |
| Answer» D. the aubade | |
| 154. |
Which of the following is a ceremony in which a sovereign is officially crowned ? |
| A. | Investiture |
| B. | Invocation |
| C. | Gala |
| D. | Coronation |
| Answer» E. | |
| 155. |
Which of the following has been a significant development in British theater since the abolition of censorship in 1968 ? |
| A. | the rise of workshops and the collaborative ethos |
| B. | the diversifying impact of playwrights from the former colonies |
| C. | the death of the musical |
| D. | all but C |
| Answer» E. | |
| 156. |
Which of the following female authors of the Jacobean era wrote a work that became the first of its kind to be published by an English woman ? |
| A. | Rachel Speght |
| B. | Aemilia Lanyer |
| C. | Elizabeth Cary, Lady Falkland |
| D. | all of the above |
| Answer» E. | |
| 157. |
Which of the following factors did not contribute to the growth of the reading public in this period ? |
| A. | The notoriety of the "Lake School" |
| B. | Technological developments, such as the steam-driven printing press |
| C. | Innovations in retailing, such as the cut-price sale of remaindered books |
| D. | Increased literacy, thanks in large part to Sunday schools |
| Answer» B. Technological developments, such as the steam-driven printing press | |
| 158. |
Which of the following factors contributed to literature becoming a profitable business ? |
| A. | Commercial and public lending libraries were established in order to provide for an enlarged reading public |
| B. | Education reform increased literacy, thus creating a demand for commercial and public lending libraries. |
| C. | A new aesthetics of valuing literature for its own sake emphasized reading for pleasure. |
| D. | all of the above |
| Answer» E. | |
| 159. |
Which of the following English groups were supportive of the French Revolution during its early years ? |
| A. | Republicans |
| B. | Liberals |
| C. | Radicals |
| D. | both B and C |
| Answer» E. | |
| 160. |
Which of the following discoveries, theories, and events contributed to Victorians feeling less like they were a uniquely special, central species in the universe and more isolated ? |
| A. | geology |
| B. | evolution |
| C. | discoveries in astronomy about stellar distances |
| D. | all of the above |
| Answer» E. | |
| 161. |
Which of the following disciplines most fascinated Elizabeth ? |
| A. | Philology |
| B. | Alchemy |
| C. | Zoology |
| D. | Astrology |
| Answer» E. | |
| 162. |
Which of the following did Milton not advocate in print in the 1640s and 1650s ? |
| A. | the disestablishment of the church and the removal of bishops |
| B. | the right of the people to dismiss and even execute their rulers |
| C. | the free circulation of ideas without prior censorship |
| D. | the restoration of the monarchy |
| Answer» E. | |
| 163. |
Which of the following descriptions would not have applied to any Romantic text ? |
| A. | a spiritual autobiography written in an epic style |
| B. | a lyric poem written in the first person |
| C. | a comedy of manners |
| D. | a political tract demanding labor reform |
| Answer» D. a political tract demanding labor reform | |
| 164. |
Which of the following describes the chief system by which writers received financial rewards for their literary production ? |
| A. | charity |
| B. | patronage |
| C. | censorship |
| D. | subscription |
| Answer» C. censorship | |
| 165. |
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 Boer War in the south of Africa |
| C. | the Jamaica Rebellion in 1865 |
| D. | all of the above |
| Answer» E. | |
| 166. |
Which of the following comic playwrights made fun of Victorian values and pretensions ? |
| A. | W. S. Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan |
| B. | George Bernard Shaw |
| C. | Robert Corrigan |
| D. | all but C |
| Answer» E. | |
| 167. |
Which of the following colonial ventures took place in the reign of James I (1603-25) ? |
| A. | the founding of the Jamestown settlement |
| B. | the founding of the Plymouth colony |
| C. | Henry Hudson’s fruitless search for the Northwest Passage |
| D. | all of the above |
| Answer» E. | |
| 168. |
Which of the following charges were commonly levelled at the novel by its detractors at the dawn of the Romantic era ? |
| A. | Too many of its readers were women. |
| B. | It required less skill than other genres. |
| C. | It lacked the classical pedigree of poetry and drama. |
| D. | all of the above |
| Answer» E. | |
| 169. |
Which of the following charges were commonly leveled at the novel by its detractors at the dawn of the Romantic era ? |
| A. | Too many of its readers were women. |
| B. | It required less skill than other genres. |
| C. | It lacked the classical pedigree of poetry and drama. |
| D. | all of the above |
| Answer» E. | |
| 170. |
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 |
| Answer» C. condemning censure | |
| 171. |
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. |
| Answer» B. Human perceptions are constructed and reflect structures of political power. | |
| 172. |
Which of the following best describes litote, a favorite rhetorical device in Old English poetry ? |
| A. | embellishment at the service of Christian doctrine |
| B. | repetition of parallel syntactic structures |
| C. | ironic understatement |
| D. | stress on every third diphthong |
| Answer» D. stress on every third diphthong | |
| 173. |
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. |
| Answer» C. a critical methodology stating that all words have a single meaningful function within a given piece of literature | |
| 174. |
Which of the following became the most popular Romantic poetic form, following on Wordsworth’s claim that poetic inspiration is contained within the inner feelings of the individual poet as “the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings” ? |
| A. | the lyric poem written in the first person |
| B. | the sonnet |
| C. | doggerel rhyme |
| D. | the political tract |
| Answer» B. the sonnet | |
| 175. |
Which of the following became the most popular Romantic poetic form, following on Wordsworth’s claim that poetic inspiration is contained within the inner feelingsof the individual poet as the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings ? |
| A. | the lyric poem written in the first person |
| B. | the sonnet |
| C. | doggerel rhyme |
| D. | the political tract |
| Answer» B. the sonnet | |
| 176. |
Which of the following authors promoted versions of socialism ? |
| A. | William Morris |
| B. | John Ruskin |
| C. | Edward FitzGerald |
| D. | all but c |
| Answer» E. | |
| 177. |
Which of the following authors is considered a devotee to chivalry, as it is personified in Sir Lancelot ? |
| A. | Julian of Norwich |
| B. | Margery Kempe |
| C. | William Langland |
| D. | Sir Thomas Malory |
| Answer» E. | |
| 178. |
Which of the following acts were not passed during the Victorian era ? |
| A. | a series of Factory Acts |
| B. | the Custody Act |
| C. | the Women’s Suffrage Act |
| D. | the Married Women’s Property Rights Acts |
| Answer» D. the Married Women’s Property Rights Acts | |
| 179. |
Which of th following novels is called a “Novel without a hero” ? |
| A. | Vanity Fair |
| B. | Mill on the Floss |
| C. | Northanger Abbey |
| D. | Pickwick Papers |
| Answer» B. Mill on the Floss | |
| 180. |
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 |
| Answer» E. | |
| 181. |
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 |
| Answer» E. | |
| 182. |
Which movement revived under Whitefield and Wesley ? |
| A. | Methodist |
| B. | Imagism |
| C. | Oxford Movement |
| D. | Pre-Raphaelite |
| Answer» B. Imagism | |
| 183. |
Which metrical form was Pope said to have brought to perfection ? |
| A. | the heroic couplet |
| B. | blank verse |
| C. | free verse |
| D. | the ode |
| Answer» B. blank verse | |
| 184. |
Which literary form, developed in the fifteenth century, personified vices and virtues ? |
| A. | the short story |
| B. | the heroic epic |
| C. | the morality play |
| D. | the romance |
| Answer» D. the romance | |
| 185. |
Which language did young Elizabeth learn in secret ? |
| A. | French |
| B. | Gaelic |
| C. | Esperanto |
| D. | Welsh |
| Answer» E. | |
| 186. |
Which king began a war to enforce his claims to the throne of France in 1336 ? |
| A. | Henry II |
| B. | Henry III |
| C. | Henry V |
| D. | Edward III |
| Answer» B. Henry III | |
| 187. |
Which influential medieval text purported to reveal the secrets of the afterlife ? |
| A. | Dante’s Divine Comedy |
| B. | Boccaccio’s Decameron |
| C. | The Dream of the Rood |
| D. | Chaucer’s Legend of Good Women |
| Answer» B. Boccaccio’s Decameron | |
| 188. |
Which historical figure initiated a series of religious persecutions condemning Protestants as heretics and burning them at the stake in the 1550s ? |
| A. | Archbishop Cranmer |
| B. | Catherine of Aragon |
| C. | Elizabeth I |
| D. | Mary Tudor |
| Answer» E. | |
| 189. |
Which hero made his earliest appearance in Celtic literature before becoming a staple subject in French, English, and German literatures ? |
| A. | Beowulf |
| B. | Arthur |
| C. | Caedmon |
| D. | Augustine of Canterbury |
| Answer» C. Caedmon | |
| 190. |
Which group of radicals got their name from their penchant for rambling prophecy ? |
| A. | the Fifth Monarchists |
| B. | the Roarers |
| C. | the Diggers |
| D. | the Ranters |
| Answer» E. | |
| 191. |
Which group of intellectual women established literary clubs of their own around 1750 under the leadership of Elizabeth Vesey and Elizabeth Montagu ? |
| A. | the Behnites |
| B. | the bluestockings |
| C. | the coteries of plenty |
| D. | the Pre-Raphaelites |
| Answer» C. the coteries of plenty | |
| 192. |
Which events in and after the 1960s contributed significantly to the decentralization of England from London to a more regional focus, ultimately also making way for a less homogenous vision of England and the popularity of postcolonial fiction ? |
| A. | Radio announcers were permitted to speak in regional dialects and multicultural accents. |
| B. | The Arts Council designated many of its resources to supporting regional arts councils. |
| C. | Regional radio and television stations appeared throughout the country. |
| D. | all of the above |
| Answer» E. | |
| 193. |
Which event did not occur as part of the rise of the British Empire under Queen Victoria ? |
| A. | Between 1853 and 1880, 2,466,000 emigrants left Britain, many bound for the colonies. |
| B. | In 1876, Queen Victoria was named empress of India |
| C. | To save costs and maximize profits, the day-to-day government of India was transferred from Parliament to the private East India Company. |
| D. | From 1830 to 1870, the sum total of investments abroad by British capitalists had risen from £ 300 billion to £ 800 billion. |
| Answer» D. From 1830 to 1870, the sum total of investments abroad by British capitalists had risen from £ 300 billion to £ 800 billion. | |
| 194. |
Which English king had several of his wives killed in his obsessive quest for a male heir ? |
| A. | Edward VI |
| B. | Richard III |
| C. | George III |
| D. | Henry VIII |
| Answer» E. | |
| 195. |
Which designates the theory that the reigning monarch possesses absolute authority as God’s deputy ? |
| A. | manifest destiny |
| B. | extreme unction |
| C. | royal absolutism |
| D. | constitutional monarchism |
| Answer» D. constitutional monarchism | |
| 196. |
Which country believed it had an “Invincible Armada” before 1588 ? |
| A. | France |
| B. | England |
| C. | Spain |
| D. | The Netherlands |
| Answer» D. The Netherlands | |
| 197. |
Which contemporary discussions on women’s rights did Tennyson’s The Princess address ? |
| A. | the grueling working conditions for women in textile factories |
| B. | the debate on women’s suffrage |
| C. | the need to enlarge and improve educational opportunities for women, resulting in the establishment of the first women’s college in London |
| D. | the question of monarchical succession and if a woman should hold royal power |
| Answer» D. the question of monarchical succession and if a woman should hold royal power | |
| 198. |
Which city became the perceived center of Western civilization by the middle of the nineteenth century ? |
| A. | Paris |
| B. | Tokyo |
| C. | London |
| D. | Amsterdam |
| Answer» D. Amsterdam | |
| 199. |
Which city became the perceived center of Western civilization by the middle of the nineteenth century? |
| A. | Paris |
| B. | Tokyo |
| C. | London |
| D. | Amsterdam |
| Answer» D. Amsterdam | |
| 200. |
Which chilling novel of surveillance and entrapment had the alternative title Things as They Are ____________? |
| A. | Jane Austen’s Emma |
| B. | Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein |
| C. | William Godwin’s Caleb Williams |
| D. | Sir Walter Scott’s Waverley |
| Answer» D. Sir Walter Scott’s Waverley | |