English Literature MCQs

Option A: with an absolute prerogative his father would have envied.

Option B: through a system of draconian military courts.

Option C: with deference to Parliament’s legislative supremacy.

Option D: only a small area around London and Oxford.

Correct Answer: with deference to Parliament’s legislative supremacy. ✔

Option A: Ben Jonson

Option B: Aemilia Lanyer

Option C: Samuel Daniel

Option D: Mary Wroth

Correct Answer: Mary Wroth ✔

Option A: the disestablishment of the church and the removal of bishops

Option B: the right of the people to dismiss and even execute their rulers

Option C: the free circulation of ideas without prior censorship

Option D: the restoration of the monarchy

Correct Answer: the restoration of the monarchy ✔

Option A: All royalties from the sale of books went to the crown (hence the name).

Option B: Poets were required to have a university diploma (the original \poetic license\).

Option C: All books had to be dedicated to a noble or royal patron.

Option D: All books had to be submitted for official approval before publication.

Correct Answer: All books had to be submitted for official approval before publication. ✔

Option A: praising Roman virtues whilst endorsing Christian beliefs

Option B: praising feminine virtue whilst mocking the fixation on chastity

Option C: celebrating Cromwell’s victories whilst inviting sympathy for the executed king

Option D: celebrating the Restoration whilst regretting the frivolity of the new regime

Correct Answer: celebrating Cromwell’s victories whilst inviting sympathy for the executed king ✔

Option A: Gerrard Winstanley

Option B: Oliver Cromwell

Option C: Praisegod Barebone

Option D: George Monk

Correct Answer: Oliver Cromwell ✔

Option A: the founding of the Jamestown settlement

Option B: the founding of the Plymouth colony

Option C: Henry Hudson’s fruitless search for the Northwest Passage

Option D: all of the above

Correct Answer: all of the above ✔

Option A: Pericles

Option B: Genghis Khan

Option C: Richard Lionheart

Option D: Augustus Caesar

Correct Answer: Augustus Caesar ✔

Option A: John Lilburne

Option B: William Laud

Option C: Roger Williams

Option D: Oliver Cromwell

Correct Answer: Roger Williams ✔

Option A: abolishing extra-legal taxes and courts

Option B: mounting a revolution and executing the king

Option C: bringing to trial the king’s hated ministers, Strafford and Laud

Option D: remaining in session until they themselves agreed to disband

Correct Answer: mounting a revolution and executing the king ✔

Option A: William Shakespeare

Option B: Ben Jonson

Option C: John Donne

Option D: John Milton

Correct Answer: John Milton ✔

Option A: Martin Luther

Option B: John Calvin

Option C: Henry VIII

Option D: Arminius

Correct Answer: John Calvin ✔

Option A: courtly ideals of the good life

Option B: carpe diem

Option C: loyalty to the king

Option D: pious devotion to religious virtues

Correct Answer: pious devotion to religious virtues ✔

Option A: \Air and Angels\

Option B: \Satire 3\

Option C: \The Apparition\

Option D: \The Indifferent\

Correct Answer: \Satire 3\ ✔

Option A: Othello

Option B: Volpone

Option C: King Lear

Option D: Antony and Cleopatra

Correct Answer: Volpone ✔

Option A: Izaak Walton

Option B: Katherine Philips

Option C: John Skelton

Option D: Isabella Whitney

Correct Answer: Izaak Walton ✔

Option A: the abolishment of public plays and sports

Option B: the conversion of the English church to Catholicism

Option C: the adoption of English as the official language

Option D: the consolidation of power in an absolute monarch

Correct Answer: the abolishment of public plays and sports ✔

Option A: William Collins

Option B: William Laud

Option C: William Shakespeare

Option D: William Tyndale

Correct Answer: William Laud ✔

Option A: the Fifth Monarchists

Option B: the Roarers

Option C: the Diggers

Option D: the Ranters

Correct Answer: the Ranters ✔

Option A: the novel

Option B: the sermon

Option C: the familiar essay

Option D: the diary

Correct Answer: the familiar essay ✔

Option A: choler

Option B: blood

Option C: cholesterol

Option D: black bile

Correct Answer: cholesterol ✔

Option A: The Litany in a Time of Plague

Option B: Utopia

Option C: Leviathan

Option D: The Advancement of Learning

Correct Answer: Leviathan ✔

Option A: Westminster Abbey

Option B: Tower Bridge

Option C: the Houses of Parliament

Option D: Buckingham Palace

Correct Answer: the Houses of Parliament ✔

Option A: celebrations of the transience of all life and beauty

Option B: celebrations of lesbian sexuality in terms that did not imply a male readership

Option C: celebrations of religious ecstasy and divine inspiration

Option D: celebrations of female friendship in Platonic terms normally reserved for male Friendships

Correct Answer: celebrations of female friendship in Platonic terms normally reserved for male Friendships ✔

Option A: human reverence for the classics

Option B: the belief that the English were direct descendants of the ancient Greeks

Option C: pride for the vernacular language

Option D: a and c only

Correct Answer: a and c only ✔

Option A: Archbishop Cranmer

Option B: Catherine of Aragon

Option C: Elizabeth I

Option D: Mary Tudor

Correct Answer: Mary Tudor ✔

Option A: a magical power whereby poetry plays tricks on the reader

Option B: a divine power whereby poetry transmits a message from God to the reader

Option C: a moral power whereby poetry encourages the reader to emulate virtuous models

Option D: a defensive power whereby poetry and its figurative expressions allow the poet to avoid censorship

Correct Answer: a moral power whereby poetry encourages the reader to emulate virtuous models ✔

Option A: Anne Boleyn

Option B: Martin Luther

Option C: Pope Leo X

Option D: Ulrich Zwingli

Correct Answer: Martin Luther ✔

Option A: Elizabeth Eisenstein

Option B: Johannes Gutenberg

Option C: Henry VIII

Option D: William Caxton

Correct Answer: William Caxton ✔

Option A: They relied on admission charges, an innovation of the period.

Option B: The early versions were oval in shape.

Option C: They were located outside the city limits of London.

Option D: all of the above

Correct Answer: all of the above ✔

Option A: ignominy

Option B: unwarranted abuse

Option C: odium

Option D: love

Correct Answer: love ✔

Option A: Tudor

Option B: Windsor

Option C: York

Option D: Lancaster

Correct Answer: Tudor ✔

Option A: Atheism

Option B: Protestantism

Option C: Catholicism

Option D: Ancestor-worship

Correct Answer: Catholicism ✔

Option A: manifest destiny

Option B: extreme unction

Option C: royal absolutism

Option D: constitutional monarchism

Correct Answer: royal absolutism ✔

Option A: the patron of the acting company, eg, the Lord Chamberlain

Option B: the bishop of London

Option C: the printer

Option D: the acting company

Correct Answer: the acting company ✔

Option A: George Puttenham

Option B: Philip Sidney

Option C: Walter Ralegh

Option D: Thomas Wyatt

Correct Answer: George Puttenham ✔

Option A: Elizabeth II

Option B: Henry IX

Option C: James I

Option D: Charles I

Correct Answer: James I ✔

Option A: Ulster

Option B: the Protectorate

Option C: the Pale

Option D: West Britain

Correct Answer: the Pale ✔

Option A: They caused excessive noise and traffic.

Option B: They charged too much.

Option C: They excited illicit sexual desires.

Option D: They drew young people away from work.

Correct Answer: They charged too much. ✔

Option A: Cavalcanti

Option B: Castiglione

Option C: Pirandello

Option D: Boccaccio

Correct Answer: Castiglione ✔

Option A: remained constant.

Option B: fell from 375,00 to barely 100,000.

Option C: doubled from 60,000 to 120,000.

Option D: doubled from 600,000 to 1,200,000

Correct Answer: doubled from 60,000 to 120,000. ✔

Option A: Christopher Marlowe’s Doctor Faustus

Option B: William Shakespeare’s King Lear

Option C: Thomas More’s The History of King Richard III

Option D: Thomas More’s Utopia

Correct Answer: Thomas More’s Utopia ✔

Option A: charity

Option B: patronage

Option C: censorship

Option D: subscription

Correct Answer: patronage ✔

Option A: ruinous condition.

Option B: performing bears.

Option C: graffiti.

Option D: bookshops.

Correct Answer: bookshops. ✔

Option A: villain tragedy

Option B: poetic tragedy

Option C: heroic tragedy

Option D: revenge tragedy

Correct Answer: revenge tragedy ✔

Option A: the growing authority of the Pope over domestic English affairs

Option B: the expansion of England’s colonial possessions

Option C: the rise in the power and confidence of the aristocracy

Option D: the countering of feudal power structures by a stronger central authority

Correct Answer: the countering of feudal power structures by a stronger central authority ✔

Option A: iambic pentameter in rhyming couplets

Option B: the verse form of the Shakespearean sonnet

Option C: free verse, without rhyme or regular meter

Option D: unrhymed iambic pentameter

Correct Answer: unrhymed iambic pentameter ✔

Option A: It was aimed primarily at sons of the nobility and gentry.

Option B: Its curriculum emphasized ancient Greek, the language of diplomacy, professions, and higher learning.

Option C: It was conducted by tutors in wealthy families or in grammar schools.

Option D: It was ordered according to the medieval trivium and quadrivium

Correct Answer: Its curriculum emphasized ancient Greek, the language of diplomacy, professions, and higher learning. ✔

Option A: Castiglione’s \The Courtier\

Option B: Dante’s \Divine Comedy\

Option C: Boccaccio’s \Decameron\

Option D: Machiavelli’s \The Prince\

Correct Answer: Machiavelli’s \The Prince\ ✔

Option A: lead poisoning contracted from handling printer’s ink

Option B: the brutal punishment for printing without a license

Option C: the pre-Reformation ban on printing the Bible in English

Option D: the perception among court poets that printed verses were less exclusive

Correct Answer: the perception among court poets that printed verses were less exclusive ✔

Option A: shepherd and shepherdesses who fall in love and engage in singing contests

Option B: heroic stories in epic form

Option C: a celebration of the humility, contentment, and simplicity of living in the country

Option D: A and C only

Correct Answer: A and C only ✔

Option A: English travelers were not obliged to learn French, Italian, or Spanish during their explorations of the Continent.

Option B: English was fast supplanting Latin as the second language of most European intellectuals.

Option C: English travelers often returned from the Continent with foreign fashions, much to the delight of moralists.

Option D: Intending his Utopia for an international intellectual community, Thomas More wrote in Latin, since English had no prestige outside of England.

Correct Answer: Intending his Utopia for an international intellectual community, Thomas More wrote in Latin, since English had no prestige outside of England. ✔

Option A: interludes

Option B: spectacles

Option C: meditations

Option D: mysteries

Correct Answer: interludes ✔

Option A: nostalgia and ill-concealed envy.

Option B: bewilderment and visceral loathing.

Option C: admiration and elegiac sympathy.

Option D: bigotry and shallow triumphalism.

Correct Answer: admiration and elegiac sympathy. ✔

Option A: 1300 to 1350

Option B: 1337 to 1453

Option C: 1302 to 1343

Option D: none of the above

Correct Answer: 1337 to 1453 ✔

Option A: Their leaders were Lollards, advocating radical religious reform.

Option B: The common people were still essentially pagan.

Option C: They believed that writing, a skill largely confined to the clergy, was a form of black magic

Option D: The church was among the greatest of oppressive landowners.

Correct Answer: The church was among the greatest of oppressive landowners. ✔

Option A: Alfred

Option B: Richard III

Option C: Richard II

Option D: Ethelbert

Correct Answer: Ethelbert ✔

Option A: Julian of Norwich

Option B: Margery Kempe

Option C: William Langland

Option D: Sir Thomas Malory

Correct Answer: Sir Thomas Malory ✔

Option A: Bede

Option B: Sir Thomas Malory

Option C: Geoffrey Chaucer

Option D: Caedmon

Correct Answer: Geoffrey Chaucer ✔

Option A: the Anglo-Saxon Conquest beginning in the 1450s.

Option B: the Norman Conquest of 1066.

Option C: the Peasant Uprising of 1381.

Option D: the Dissolution of the Monasteries in the 1530s.

Correct Answer: the Dissolution of the Monasteries in the 1530s. ✔

Option A: the short story

Option B: the heroic epic

Option C: the morality play

Option D: the romance

Correct Answer: the morality play ✔

Option A: his birth date

Option B: his death year

Option C: his father’s name

Option D: none of the above

Correct Answer: his birth date ✔

Option A: a poet

Option B: a merchant

Option C: a civil servant

Option D: none of the above

Correct Answer: a civil servant ✔

Option A: courtiers entering the service of Richard II

Option B: translators of French romances

Option C: women who have chosen to live as religious recluses

Option D: knights preparing for their first tournament

Correct Answer: women who have chosen to live as religious recluses ✔

Option A: Geoffrey of Monmouth

Option B: the Gawain poet

Option C: the Beowulf poet

Option D: Chrétien de Troyes

Correct Answer: the Gawain poet ✔

Option A: Chaucer’s corner

Option B: poet’s corner

Option C: legend’s corner

Option D: none of the above

Correct Answer: poet’s corner ✔

Option A: beating a friar in a London street

Option B: for writing poetry against the church

Option C: for crossing the border of Great Britain

Option D: none of the above

Correct Answer: beating a friar in a London street ✔

Option A: a musician

Option B: an astronomer

Option C: a nun

Option D: none of the above

Correct Answer: a nun ✔

Option A: leather merchant

Option B: civil servant

Option C: a vintner

Option D: none of the above

Correct Answer: a vintner ✔

Option A: Edward III

Option B: Henry II

Option C: Richard II

Option D: none of the above

Correct Answer: Henry II ✔

Option A: Westminster Palace

Option B: Tower of London

Option C: St. George’s chapel at Windsor

Option D: Buckingham Palace

Correct Answer: Buckingham Palace ✔

Option A: embellishment at the service of Christian doctrine

Option B: repetition of parallel syntactic structures

Option C: ironic understatement

Option D: stress on every third diphthong

Correct Answer: ironic understatement ✔

Option A: the reign of King Arthur

Option B: the coronation of Henry II

Option C: King John’s seal of the Magna Carta

Option D: the marriage of Henry II to Eleanor of Aquitaine

Correct Answer: the reign of King Arthur ✔

Option A: 1374 to 1385

Option B: 1350 to 1360

Option C: 1360 to 1400

Option D: none of the above

Correct Answer: 1374 to 1385 ✔

Option A: banishment to Asia

Option B: everlasting shame

Option C: conversion to Christianity

Option D: mild melancholia

Correct Answer: everlasting shame ✔

Option A: Dante’s Divine Comedy

Option B: Boccaccio’s Decameron

Option C: The Dream of the Rood

Option D: Chaucer’s Legend of Good Women

Correct Answer: Dante’s Divine Comedy ✔

Option A: She sought unsuccessfully to restore classical paganism.

Option B: She was a virgin martyr.

Option C: She is the first known woman writer in the English vernacular.

Option D: She made pilgrimages to Jerusalem, Rome, and Santiago.

Correct Answer: She is the first known woman writer in the English vernacular. ✔

Option A: Sir Thomas Malory

Option B: Geoffrey Chaucer

Option C: Caedmon

Option D: John Gower

Correct Answer: Geoffrey Chaucer ✔

Option A: Geoffrey of Monmouth

Option B: the Gawain poet

Option C: the Beowulf poet

Option D: Chr´tien de Troyes

Correct Answer: the Gawain poet ✔

Option A: a work derived from a Latin text of the Roman Empire

Option B: a story about love and adventure

Option C: a Roman official

Option D: a work written in the French vernacular

Correct Answer: a work written in the French vernacular ✔

Option A: Alfred

Option B: Richard III

Option C: Richard II

Option D: Ethelbert

Correct Answer: Ethelbert ✔

Option A: Their leaders were Lollards, advocating radical religious reform.

Option B: The common people were still essentially pagan.

Option C: They believed that writing, a skill largely confined to the clergy, was a form of black magic.

Option D: The church was among the greatest of oppressive landowners.

Correct Answer: The church was among the greatest of oppressive landowners. ✔

Option A: the short story

Option B: the heroic epic

Option C: the morality play

Option D: the romance

Correct Answer: the morality play ✔

Option A: banishment to Asia

Option B: everlasting shame

Option C: conversion to Christianity

Option D: being buried alive

Correct Answer: everlasting shame ✔

Option A: Romantic love is a guiding principle of moral conduct.

Option B: Its formal and dignified use of speech was distant from everyday use of language.

Option C: Irony is a mode of perception, as much as it was a figure of speech.

Option D: Christian and pagan ideals are sometimes mixed

Correct Answer: Romantic love is a guiding principle of moral conduct. ✔

Option A: Latin

Option B: Dutch

Option C: French

Option D: Celtic

Correct Answer: Dutch ✔

Option A: symbolism

Option B: simile

Option C: metonymy

Option D: kenning

Correct Answer: kenning ✔

Option A: embellishment at the service of Christian doctrine

Option B: repetition of parallel syntactic structures

Option C: ironic understatement

Option D: stress on every third diphthong

Correct Answer: ironic understatement ✔

Option A: Boethius’s Consolidation of Philosophy

Option B: Saint Jerome’s translation of the Bible

Option C: Bede’s Ecclesiastical History of the English People

Option D: a code of laws promulgated by King Ethelbert

Correct Answer: a code of laws promulgated by King Ethelbert ✔

Option A: nostalgia and ill-concealed envy.

Option B: bewilderment and visceral loathing.

Option C: admiration and elegiac sympathy.

Option D: bigotry and shallow triumphalism.

Correct Answer: admiration and elegiac sympathy. ✔

Option A: Sir Thomas Malory

Option B: Margery Kempe

Option C: Geoffrey Chaucer

Option D: William Langland

Correct Answer: William Langland ✔

Option A: the Normans

Option B: the Geats

Option C: the Celts

Option D: the Anglo-Saxons

Correct Answer: the Anglo-Saxons ✔

Option A: the royal family and upper orders of the nobility

Option B: the lower orders of the nobility

Option C: agricultural laborers

Option D: the clergy

Correct Answer: the clergy ✔

Option A: Boethius’s Consolidation of Philosophy

Option B: Saint Jerome’s translation of the Bible

Option C: Malory’s Morte Darthur

Option D: a code of laws promulgated by King Ethelbert

Correct Answer: a code of laws promulgated by King Ethelbert ✔

Option A: tenth

Option B: eleventh

Option C: twelfth

Option D: fourteenth

Correct Answer: fourteenth ✔

Option A: Romantic love is a guiding principle of moral conduct.

Option B: Its formal and dignified use of speech was distant from everyday use of language.

Option C: Irony is a mode of perception, as much as it was a figure of speech.

Option D: Christian and pagan ideals are sometimes mixed

Correct Answer: Romantic love is a guiding principle of moral conduct. ✔

Option A: lady-in-waiting to Queen Philip pa of Hainaut

Option B: nurse of royal court

Option C: governess to Henry IV

Option D: none of the above

Correct Answer: lady-in-waiting to Queen Philip pa of Hainaut ✔

Option A: 1386

Option B: 1300

Option C: 1343

Option D: none of the above

Correct Answer: 1386 ✔

Option A: Dante’s Divine Comedy

Option B: Boccaccio’s Decameron

Option C: The Dream of the Rood

Option D: Chaucer’s Legend of Good Women

Correct Answer: Dante’s Divine Comedy ✔

Option A: the Battle of Hastings

Option B: Saint Patrick’s mission

Option C: the Fourth Lateran Council

Option D: his marriage to Eleanor of Aquitaine

Correct Answer: his marriage to Eleanor of Aquitaine ✔