English Literature MCQs

Option A: He had known many “Biggers” in his life.

Option B: He was trying to overcome his fears of powerful men.

Option C: He was proud of all the African American men he had seen stand up to Whites.

Option D: He wanted to show African American males how not to live.

Correct Answer: A. He had known many “Biggers” in his life. ✔

Option A: Jean Toomer

Option B: Charles Chesnutt

Option C: Booker T. Washington

Option D: Frederick Douglass

Correct Answer: Booker T. Washington ✔

Option A: Their belief in necessary violence.

Option B: Their belief that women should have equal rights.

Option C: Their appeals to Christians.

Option D: Their belief that African Americans should govern themselves.

Correct Answer: Their appeals to Christians. ✔

Option A: That they learn from her mistakes.

Option B: That they have richer lives than hers.

Option C: That they have all they ever wished for themselves.

Option D: That they experience all the pain and embarrassment of being a woman.

Correct Answer: That they experience all the pain and embarrassment of being a woman. ✔

Option A: A Christian.

Option B: A radical.

Option C: An accomodationist.

Option D: A coward.

Correct Answer: An accomodationist. ✔

Option A: A period of time when African Americans moved North in large numbers.

Option B: When African Americans settled Liberia.

Option C: When slaves traveled the Underground Railroad.

Option D: When African Americans migrated to the South from the North.

Correct Answer: A period of time when African Americans moved North in large numbers. ✔

Option A: Strengthened the African American’s place in the world of literature

Option B: Perpetuated stereotypes

Option C: Allowed African American authors to sell their works more widely to white audiences

Option D: Showed that African Americans couldn’t speak properly.

Correct Answer: Showed that African Americans couldn’t speak properly. ✔

Option A: The 1960s protest movements

Option B: The attempts of African slaves to communicate with each other

Option C: Slave owners teaching slaves Elizabethan English

Option D: Slaves’ attempts to keep their conversations secret

Correct Answer: The attempts of African slaves to communicate with each other ✔

Option A: Her own memories of slavery.

Option B: Stories her grandmother told her.

Option C: The television series Roots.

Option D: Slave narratives.

Correct Answer: Slave narratives. ✔

Option A: Captivity narratives.

Option B: Abolitionist newspaper accounts.

Option C: Folktales.

Option D: African mythology.

Correct Answer: Captivity narratives. ✔

Option A: Trickster

Option B: Victim

Option C: Representation of the slave master

Option D: “Uncle Tom” character who feels slavery is best for the African American

Correct Answer: Trickster ✔

Option A: A waterfall.

Option B: Electricity.

Option C: A war.

Option D: A factory.

Correct Answer: Electricity. ✔

Option A: She is proud of her heritage.

Option B: She doesn’t want Maggie to have it.

Option C: She wants to display it for her friends to see.

Option D: She loves the beauty of it.

Correct Answer: She wants to display it for her friends to see. ✔

Option A: African mythology.

Option B: African American folktale.

Option C: Greek mythology.

Option D: Contemporary female artists.

Correct Answer: African mythology. ✔

Option A: The Bible.

Option B: Greek history.

Option C: Slave narratives.

Option D: Abolitionist newspapers.

Correct Answer: The Bible. ✔

Option A: Rabid dogs.

Option B: Her husband.

Option C: Snakes.

Option D: Bertha.

Correct Answer: Snakes. ✔

Option A: They showed that a hero would deliver them from slavery.

Option B: They gave hope that God would deliver them from slavery.

Option C: They helped them do their work faster.

Option D: They were based on African songs.

Correct Answer: They gave hope that God would deliver them from slavery. ✔

Option A: Sharecropping.

Option B: Slavery.

Option C: Segregation.

Option D: Prostitution.

Correct Answer: Sharecropping. ✔

Option A: The races should not intermarry.

Option B: Christians the only ones not to blame for the existence of slavery.

Option C: Blacks have the duty to resist slavery.

Option D: Blacks should return to Africa.

Correct Answer: Blacks have the duty to resist slavery. ✔

Option A: Slaveholders objected to losing leisure time.

Option B: Slaves outnumbered non-slaves and might rebel.

Option C: Slaveholders felt economic security rested on the system of slavery.

Option D: B and C.

Correct Answer: B and C. ✔

Option A: The name of a restaurant the pool players cannot enter.

Option B: A metaphor for colossal lies they have been buried with.

Option C: A metaphor for the pool players who are trying to dig out of their neighborhood.

Option D: The name of a pool hall.

Correct Answer: The name of a pool hall. ✔

Option A: The poem’s form of rhymed tetrameter couplets.

Option B: The poem shows her future work as a advocate of civil rights.

Option C: The poem is filled with Christian symbolism.

Option D: The fact that the poem is the most accurate account of the 1742 Indian-White engagement in Deerfield, Massachusetts.

Correct Answer: The fact that the poem is the most accurate account of the 1742 Indian-White engagement in Deerfield, Massachusetts. ✔

Option A: A child dying of SIDS.

Option B: The stillborn death of a child.

Option C: Abortion.

Option D: A murdered child.

Correct Answer: Abortion. ✔

Option A: Breaking the law.

Option B: Using violence when necessary.

Option C: Waiting for times to get better.

Option D: Disobeying unjust laws.

Correct Answer: Disobeying unjust laws. ✔

Option A: To describe the horrors of life on the Post-bellum plantation.

Option B: To explain his religious views.

Option C: To amuse the narrator’s sickly wife.

Option D: So they won’t interrupt his income from the neglected grape harvest.

Correct Answer: So they won’t interrupt his income from the neglected grape harvest. ✔

Option A: Harriet Beecher Stowe

Option B: Joel Chandler Harris

Option C: Richard Wright

Option D: Charles Chesnutt

Correct Answer: Charles Chesnutt ✔

Option A: It was the first African American novel.

Option B: It was the first African American newspaper.

Option C: It was published by Frederick Douglass.

Option D: It argued for a separate African American community in America.

Correct Answer: It was the first African American newspaper. ✔

Option A: Toasting is oral

Option B: Toasting is a male event

Option C: Toasting glorifies women

Option D: Toasting provides cultural identification

Correct Answer: Toasting glorifies women ✔

Option A: Getting an education.

Option B: Fighting.

Option C: Making friends with the guards.

Option D: Contacting famous authors.

Correct Answer: Getting an education. ✔

Option A: A Modernist poet

Option B: A performance poet

Option C: A classical poet

Option D: A traditional poet

Correct Answer: A performance poet ✔

Option A: Its character’s movement from slavery to freedom.

Option B: Its emphasis on Christian ideals.

Option C: The novel’s sensationalist scenes of violence.

Option D: Its didactic (teaching) tone of voice.

Correct Answer: Its character’s movement from slavery to freedom. ✔

Option A: The poem’s rhythmic lines.

Option B: The references to jazz songs and musicians.

Option C: The poem can be set to music.

Option D: There is repetition.

Correct Answer: The poem’s rhythmic lines. ✔

Option A: The scene invokes audience sympathy.

Option B: The heroine has to balance autonomy with self-denial.

Option C: The heroine conquers her passions.

Option D: A and B

Correct Answer: A and B ✔

Option A: Harriet Beecher Stowe

Option B: Richard Wright

Option C: Frederick Douglass

Option D: Phillis Wheatley

Correct Answer: Harriet Beecher Stowe ✔

Option A: Alice Walker

Option B: Etheridge Knight

Option C: Martin Luther King, Jr.

Option D: Langston Hughes

Correct Answer: Langston Hughes ✔

Option A: African American art should exclude women.

Option B: African American images should inspire African Americans.

Option C: African American art should subvert the art of Europeans and White Americans.

Option D: African American literature should replicate educated White language.

Correct Answer: African American images should inspire African Americans. ✔

Option A: Mystery.

Option B: Science Fiction.

Option C: Horror.

Option D: Tragedy.

Correct Answer: Science Fiction. ✔

Option A: The narrator’s attempt to stay hidden.

Option B: The narrator’s desire to be safe.

Option C: The narrator’s invisibility to society.

Option D: The narrator’s attempt to stay out of prison.

Correct Answer: The narrator’s invisibility to society. ✔

Option A: To keep the slave offspring of White slave owners from inheriting.

Option B: To allow mixed-race children to get scholarships meant for African Americans.

Option C: To make sure mothers of mixed-race children got custody.

Option D: To keep White slave owner parents of mixed-race offspring from having to pay for their children.

Correct Answer: To keep the slave offspring of White slave owners from inheriting. ✔

Option A: It was home to the Harlem Renaissance.

Option B: Most of its inhabitants worked for White people.

Option C: It was primarily African American.

Option D: It was destroyed after the Civil War.

Correct Answer: It was primarily African American. ✔

Option A: Characters are not as important as plot.

Option B: Presentation is objective.

Option C: Ordinary language is used.

Option D: Events are plausible.

Correct Answer: Characters are not as important as plot. ✔

Option A: To help the other inmates escape.

Option B: To win money by fighting.

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

Option D: To keep the Blacks and Whites separated.

Correct Answer: To do what the other inmates were afraid to do. ✔

Option A: The ability of an African American to live as a White person.

Option B: To do well on one’s schoolwork.

Option C: To leave one’s past behind.

Option D: To gain approval from one’s community.

Correct Answer: The ability of an African American to live as a White person. ✔

Option A: Betrayal by the educational system.

Option B: Betrayal by her sister.

Option C: Betrayal by her community.

Option D: Betrayal by a family member.

Correct Answer: Betrayal by her sister. ✔

Option A: Its fractured, collage effect.

Option B: Its insistence on plot.

Option C: Its focus on landscape.

Option D: Its focus on modern city life.

Correct Answer: Its fractured, collage effect. ✔

Option A: She almost died in childbirth with her first child.

Option B: She doesn’t want to lose her figure.

Option C: Her husband has threatened to leave her.

Option D: She is afraid it may have dark skin.

Correct Answer: She is afraid it may have dark skin. ✔

Option A: Supplying them with narcotic eggs.

Option B: Letting them choose their own mates.

Option C: Freeing the males after they are hosts.

Option D: Paying them very well.

Correct Answer: Supplying them with narcotic eggs. ✔

Option A: Having a bathroom with warm water.

Option B: Following one’s dreams.

Option C: Getting food on the table.

Option D: Finding a mate.

Correct Answer: Having a bathroom with warm water. ✔

Option A: Negro spirituals being sung in the cotton fields.

Option B: The call and response of an African American church congregation.

Option C: African American toasting on a city street corner.

Option D: Blues being played in a Harlem bar.

Correct Answer: Blues being played in a Harlem bar. ✔

Option A: She tries to pass as White.

Option B: She washes clothes for White women.

Option C: She lets a man help her out.

Option D: She marries a Black man.

Correct Answer: She marries a Black man. ✔

Option A: Redefining black people in terms of a presence, not an absence.

Option B: Working against the existing racist stereotypes.

Option C: A struggle ongoing since 1619.

Option D: All of the above

Correct Answer: All of the above ✔

Option A: Discussion of race relations in the North and South.

Option B: Condemnation of the plantation myth.

Option C: Examination of the psychological damage of slavery.

Option D: Insistence on desegregation.

Correct Answer: Examination of the psychological damage of slavery. ✔

Option A: Explain how African Americans could not learn standard English

Option B: Make his written inaccessible to white audiences

Option C: To encourage feelings of pride in African American readers

Option D: Challenge American stereotypes about race

Correct Answer: Challenge American stereotypes about race ✔

Option A: Whites should pay reparations to former slaves.

Option B: African Americans should acculturate to mainstream White culture.

Option C: White institutions should reform to meet African American needs.

Option D: African Americans will have to help themselves by becoming educated.

Correct Answer: African Americans will have to help themselves by becoming educated. ✔

Option A: Rejecting all White assistance.

Option B: Allowing Whites to help African

Option C: Calling for violent uprisings.

Option D: Separating Blacks by income level

Correct Answer: B. Allowing Whites to help African
Americans to reach their potential. ✔

Option A: The persona that the characters show the world.

Option B: The carved masks of African gods.

Option C: Characters from the Bible.

Option D: Who the narrator wishes to be.

Correct Answer: The persona that the characters show the world. ✔

Option A: Get an education.

Option B: Get a job.

Option C: To be clean.

Option D: To be a teacher

Correct Answer: Get an education. ✔

Option A: Resistance to the overseers.

Option B: Learning to be midwives.

Option C: Resistance against dehumanization.

Option D: Lower suicide rates.

Correct Answer: Resistance against dehumanization. ✔

Option A: The importance of men to the African American family.

Option B: The negative consequences of feminism on the African American family.

Option C: The importance of African religious influence in America.

Option D: The importance of African American craftsmanship.

Correct Answer: The negative consequences of feminism on the African American family. ✔

Option A: William Wells Brown

Option B: Nella Larsen.

Option C: Charles Chesnutt

Option D: James Weldon Johnson

Correct Answer: Nella Larsen. ✔

Option A: Most slave children lived in two family homes.

Option B: Slave owners did not allow their slaves to live as married couples.

Option C: Slaves were given limited civil rights.

Option D: Most slaves were not Christian.

Correct Answer: Most slave children lived in two family homes. ✔

Option A: The theme of man against nature.

Option B: The theme of man against man.

Option C: The theme of heredity.

Option D: Nature as an invisible force.

Correct Answer: The theme of man against man. ✔

Option A: Led to novels of passing.

Option B: Existed only in fiction by White authors.

Option C: Developed in the 20th century.

Option D: Existed only in fiction by female authors.

Correct Answer: Led to novels of passing. ✔

Option A: Because in was cheaper to live in Africa.

Option B: Because he did not feel African Americans would ever achieve equality in America.

Option C: He was asked by African countries to bring African Americans to Africa.

Option D: He had to leave the country.

Correct Answer: Because he did not feel African Americans would ever achieve equality in America. ✔

Option A: Highly original.

Option B: Typical of Colonial poetry.

Option C: Progressive and challenging.

Option D: Abolitionist in subject.

Correct Answer: Typical of Colonial poetry. ✔

Option A: 1804

Option B: 1865

Option C: 1848

Option D: 1807

Correct Answer: 1865 ✔

Option A: Bringing African culture to the United States.

Option B: Leaving the African peoples alone.

Option C: Writers who took African themes for their work.

Option D: Completing an oppressed people’s quest for freedom, liberty and democracy.

Correct Answer: Completing an oppressed people’s quest for freedom, liberty and democracy. ✔

Option A: Dover Beach

Option B: My last Duchess

Option C: The Eve of St. Agnes

Option D: The Lotus Eaters

Correct Answer: The Lotus Eaters ✔

Option A: a romantic

Option B: a Victorian

Option C: a Pre…Raphaelite

Option D: none of these

Correct Answer: a Victorian ✔

Option A: The Rainbow

Option B: Ullysses

Option C: Lady Chatterley’s Lover

Option D: Sons and Lovers

Correct Answer: Ullysses ✔

Option A: Lord Tennyson

Option B: William Wordsworth

Option C: John Keats

Option D: Lord Byron

Correct Answer: Lord Byron ✔

Option A: The ability to sympathize with other

Option B: Say bad thing, about others

Option C: To empathize

Option D: None of these

Correct Answer: To empathize ✔

Option A: The Mousetrap

Option B: Romeo and Juliet

Option C: Othello

Option D: Macbeth

Correct Answer: The Mousetrap ✔

Option A: choice of words for writing

Option B: choice of characters

Option C: choice of rhythms

Option D: choice of simile and metaphor

Correct Answer: choice of words for writing ✔

Option A: Classical

Option B: Romantic

Option C: Victorian

Option D: Elizabethan

Correct Answer: Romantic ✔

Option A: 42

Option B: 67

Option C: 98

Option D: 114

Correct Answer: 114 ✔

Option A: Robert Herrick

Option B: Jeremy Taylor

Option C: Samuel Richardson

Option D: Thomas Hobbes

Correct Answer: Samuel Richardson ✔

Option A: W.B. Yeats

Option B: L. Tolstoy

Option C: A. Pope

Option D: H.G. Wells

Correct Answer: A. W.B. Yeats ✔

Option A: Coleridge

Option B: Blake

Option C: Shelley

Option D: None of these

Correct Answer: None of these ✔

Option A: a novel of short length

Option B: a novel personal feelings

Option C: a Novella

Option D: a novel of correspondence among the characters

Correct Answer: a novel of correspondence among the characters ✔

Option A: a diary

Option B: a biography

Option C: an autobiography

Option D: a chronicle

Correct Answer: an autobiography ✔

Option A: Tennyson

Option B: Byron

Option C: Southey

Option D: Wordsworth

Correct Answer: Southey ✔

Option A: classical

Option B: modern

Option C: romantic

Option D: Greek

Correct Answer: romantic ✔

Option A: The Taming of the Shrew

Option B: As you Like it

Option C: Two Gentlemen of Verona

Option D: Titus Andronicus

Correct Answer: Titus Andronicus ✔

Option A: revival or rebirth

Option B: representation

Option C: presentation

Option D: rebel

Correct Answer: revival or rebirth ✔

Option A: John Dryden

Option B: William Shakespeare

Option C: John Milton

Option D: None of these

Correct Answer: William Shakespeare ✔

Option A: Marlowe

Option B: Ben Johnson

Option C: King Henry

Option D: John Milton

Correct Answer: Ben Johnson ✔

Option A: Macbeth

Option B: Hamlet

Option C: As You like It

Option D: Othello

Correct Answer: Hamlet ✔

Option A: Wordsworth

Option B: Coleridge

Option C: Shelley

Option D: None of these

Correct Answer: Shelley ✔

Option A: Merchant of Venice

Option B: Two gentleman of Verona

Option C: Midsummer’s Night Dream

Option D: Anthony and Cleopatra

Correct Answer: Merchant of Venice ✔

Option A: Elegy

Option B: Epic

Option C: Lyric

Option D: None of these

Correct Answer: Lyric ✔

Option A: The Idylls of the kings

Option B: Charge of the Light Brigade

Option C: In Memoriam

Option D: None of these

Correct Answer: In Memoriam ✔

Option A: his love of poetry

Option B: his love of ancient cultures

Option C: his love of Greek culture and art

Option D: None of these

Correct Answer: his love of Greek culture and art ✔

Option A: a long verse

Option B: a long narrative poem

Option C: an overriding view

Option D: an overstatement about something

Correct Answer: an overstatement about something ✔

Option A: Friendly

Option B: Indifferent

Option C: Vindictive

Option D: None of these

Correct Answer: Indifferent ✔

Option A: Bradley

Option B: Dover Wilson

Option C: Earnest Jones

Option D: Freud

Correct Answer: Earnest Jones ✔

Option A: R.K. Narayan

Option B: Salman Rushdie

Option C: Jhumpa Lahiri

Option D: Arundhuti Roy

Correct Answer: Salman Rushdie ✔

Option A: a playwright

Option B: a film-maker

Option C: a historian

Option D: a modern painter

Correct Answer: a playwright ✔

Option A: Aphra Ben

Option B: Robert Herrick

Option C: Jeremy Taylor

Option D: Thomas Hobbes

Correct Answer: Aphra Ben ✔

Option A: assistant

Option B: director

Option C: writer

Option D: Editor e… none of these

Correct Answer: D. Editor e… none of these ✔