English Literature MCQs

Option A: a history of everyday life

Option B: an instructional manual for manners

Option C: a book of devotion

Option D: a book of model letters

Correct Answer: a book of model letters ✔

Option A: a form of animism in which objects in the natural world are believed to be inhabited by spirits

Option B: a spontaneous belief in the supernatural based upon a surprise encounter with a supernatural being

Option C: a process by which things that are familiar and thought to be ordinary are made to appear miraculous and new to our eyes

Option D: the experience of hallucinating contact with the supernatural world when taking opium

Correct Answer: a process by which things that are familiar and thought to be ordinary are made to appear miraculous and new to our eyes ✔

Option A: Edgar Allan Poe

Option B: Herman Melville

Option C: Thomas Gray

Option D: Henry David Thoreau

Correct Answer: Herman Melville ✔

Option A: Henry David Thoreau

Option B: Benjamin Franklin

Option C: Robert Browning

Option D: Henrik Ibsen

Correct Answer: Henrik Ibsen ✔

Option A: Fanny Burney

Option B: Mary Wollstonecraft

Option C: Anna Letitia Barbauld

Option D: Jane Austen

Correct Answer: Jane Austen ✔

Option A: S T Coleridge

Option B: William Wordsworth

Option C: William Shakespeare

Option D: William Blake

Correct Answer: William Wordsworth ✔

Option A: theoretical science

Option B: metaphysics

Option C: abstract logical deductions

Option D: A, B, and C

Correct Answer: A, B, and C ✔

Option A: The Rape of the Lock

Option B: Solitude: An Ode

Option C: The Dunciad

Option D: Eloisa to Abelard

Correct Answer: Eloisa to Abelard ✔

Option A: often

Option B: long

Option C: much

Option D: fast

Correct Answer: much ✔

Option A: Addison

Option B: Bunyan

Option C: Crabbe

Option D: Dryden

Correct Answer: Dryden ✔

Option A: theoretical science

Option B: metaphysics

Option C: abstract logical deductions

Option D: A, B, and C

Correct Answer: A, B, and C ✔

Option A: verdant mead

Option B: checkered shade

Option C: simian rivalry

Option D: shining sword

Correct Answer: simian rivalry ✔

Option A: Macpherson

Option B: Merlin

Option C: Decameron

Option D: Ossian

Correct Answer: Ossian ✔

Option A: the trial and execution of Mary, Queen of Scots

Option B: the Toleration Act

Option C: the failed invasion of the Spanish Armada

Option D: the Act of Union

Correct Answer: the Act of Union ✔

Option A: Elizabeth I

Option B: James II

Option C: George II

Option D: William and Mary

Correct Answer: James II ✔

Option A: The Man of Feeling

Option B: In Memoriam

Option C: Song to Aella

Option D: Ozymandias

Correct Answer: Ozymandias ✔

Option A: Aristotle

Option B: Duns Scotus

Option C: David Hume

Option D: Immanuel Kant

Correct Answer: Immanuel Kant ✔

Option A: Goethe’s Faust in Faust, who is sinful because he attempts to exceed the bounds of human knowledge by making a pact with the devil but is nonetheless redeemed in his striving to break free of the bounds of mortality

Option B: Icarus, who is killed in attempting to fly because only Gods have the power to fly and mortals must be taught the limitations of human existence

Option C: Prometheus, who succeeds in stealing fire from the Gods and thereby surpasses the limitations placed on humans by the Gods

Option D: A and C only

Correct Answer: A and C only ✔

Option A: A Doll’s House

Option B: Riders to the Sea

Option C: A Handful of Dust

Option D: The Fatal Curiosity

Correct Answer: A Doll’s House ✔

Option A: the bluestockings

Option B: the coteries of plenty

Option C: the Pre-Raphaelites

Option D: the tattlers and spectators

Correct Answer: the bluestockings ✔

Option A: partition

Option B: segregation

Option C: enclosure

Option D: division

Correct Answer: enclosure ✔

Option A: supernatural phenomenon

Option B: perversion and sadism, often involving a maiden’s persecution

Option C: plots of mystery and terror set in inhospitable, sullen landscapes

Option D: all of the above

Correct Answer: all of the above ✔

Option A: Lord Byron

Option B: Percy Bysshe Shelley

Option C: William Woodsworth

Option D: Emily Dickinson

Correct Answer: Percy Bysshe Shelley ✔

Option A: Henry St. John

Option B: Robert Harley

Option C: John Churchill

Option D: Robert Walpole

Correct Answer: Robert Walpole ✔

Option A: Wordsworth because he wanted to distinguish his poetry and the poetry of his friends from that of the ancien régime, especially satire

Option B: English historians half a century after the period ended

Option C: “The Satanic School” of Byron, Percy Shelley, and their followers

Option D: Oliver Goldsmith in The Deserted Village (1770)

Correct Answer: English historians half a century after the period ended ✔

Option A: Lovesong of J.Alfred Prufrock

Option B: Sonnets from the Portuguese

Option C: Prelude

Option D: The Last Decalogue

Correct Answer: Lovesong of J.Alfred Prufrock ✔

Option A: the monarchy, in the person of Charles II

Option B: the dominance of the Tory Party

Option C: the “Book of Common Prayer”

Option D: toleration of religious dissidents

Correct Answer: the dominance of the Tory Party ✔

Option A: wit

Option B: sprezzatura

Option C: naturalism

Option D: gusto

Correct Answer: wit ✔

Option A: Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley’s Frankenstein

Option B: William Worsworth’s Lyrical Ballads

Option C: John Keats’s “To Autumn”

Option D: all but C

Correct Answer: all but C ✔

Option A: a French revolutionary

Option B: a Greek or Roman mythological figure

Option C: a monster fabricated in a laboratory

Option D: All would have been appropriate protagonists for a Romantic literary text.

Correct Answer: All would have been appropriate protagonists for a Romantic literary text. ✔

Option A: Spenser

Option B: John Gower

Option C: Geoffrey Chaucer

Option D: Langland

Correct Answer: Geoffrey Chaucer ✔

Option A: Kubla Khan

Option B: Hellas

Option C: The Phoenix and the Turtle

Option D: The Castaway

Correct Answer: Kubla Khan ✔

Option A: John Clare

Option B: John Keats

Option C: Robert Burns

Option D: A and C only

Correct Answer: A and C only ✔

Option A: William Blake

Option B: Alfred Lord Tennyson

Option C: Samuel Johnson

Option D: William Wordsworth

Correct Answer: William Wordsworth ✔

Option A: Anderson

Option B: Branwell

Option C: Richard

Option D: Pearson

Correct Answer: Branwell ✔

Option A: troubadour

Option B: skald

Option C: chorister

Option D: bard

Correct Answer: bard ✔

Option A: formal diplomatic relations with China

Option B: the exploitation of colonial resources, labor, and the slave trade

Option C: the creation of the bourgeois novel as a commodity

Option D: the union of England and Wales with Scotland

Correct Answer: the union of England and Wales with Scotland ✔

Option A: 10

Option B: 16

Option C: 14

Option D: 22

Correct Answer: 14 ✔

Option A: Heroine

Option B: Cocaine

Option C: Alcohol

Option D: Opium

Correct Answer: Opium ✔

Option A: Vanity Fair

Option B: Sense and Sensibility

Option C: Pride and Prejudice

Option D: Mansfield Park

Correct Answer: Vanity Fair ✔

Option A: Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe

Option B: Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels

Option C: Behn’s Oroonoko

Option D: Pope’s The Rape of the Lock

Correct Answer: Pope’s The Rape of the Lock ✔

Option A: Gay’s Beggar’s Opera

Option B: Butler’s Hudibras

Option C: Fielding’s Jonathan Wild

Option D: Dryden’s Absalom and Achitophel

Correct Answer: Dryden’s Absalom and Achitophel ✔

Option A: Macpherson

Option B: Merlin

Option C: Decameron

Option D: Ossian

Correct Answer: Ossian ✔

Option A: Mary Wollstonecraft and William Blake

Option B: Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley and Percy B. Shelley

Option C: William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge

Option D: Charles Lamb and William Hazlitt

Correct Answer: William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge ✔

Option A: the heroic couplet

Option B: blank verse

Option C: free verse

Option D: the ode

Correct Answer: the heroic couplet ✔

Option A: William Beckford’s Vathek

Option B: Matthew Lewis’s The Monk

Option C: Tobias Smollett’s Roderick Randsom

Option D: Ann Radcliffe’s The Italian

Correct Answer: Tobias Smollett’s Roderick Randsom ✔

Option A: abolitionists and enthusiasts for slavery

Option B: round-earthers and flat-earthers

Option C: the Welsh and the Scots

Option D: champions of ancient and modern learning

Correct Answer: champions of ancient and modern learning ✔

Option A: the heroic couplet

Option B: blank verse

Option C: free verse

Option D: the ode

Correct Answer: the heroic couplet ✔

Option A: love.”

Option B: honor.”

Option C: money.”

Option D: his party.”

Correct Answer: C. money.” ✔

Option A: Adonais

Option B: Bright Star

Option C: Ode on a Grecian Urn

Option D: La Bell Dame Sans Merci

Correct Answer: Ode on a Grecian Urn ✔

Option A: William Shakespeare

Option B: John Donne

Option C: Abraham Cowley

Option D: John Dryden

Correct Answer: Abraham Cowley ✔

Option A: Jane Austen’s Emma

Option B: Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein

Option C: William Godwin’s Caleb Williams

Option D: Sir Walter Scott’s Waverley

Correct Answer: William Godwin’s Caleb Williams ✔

Option A: A picture is worth a thousand words.

Option B: Poetry is the supreme artistic form.

Option C: Art should hold a mirror up to nature.

Option D: Poetry ought to be a visual as well as a verbal art.

Correct Answer: Poetry ought to be a visual as well as a verbal art. ✔

Option A: Ben Jonson

Option B: Alexander Pope

Option C: Robert Herrick

Option D: John Dryden

Correct Answer: Robert Herrick ✔

Option A: Alexander Pope

Option B: William Collins

Option C: Thomas Gray

Option D: Ben Jonson

Correct Answer: Thomas Gray ✔

Option A: William Butler Yeats

Option B: James Joyce

Option C: Thomas Moore

Option D: Edgar Allan Poe

Correct Answer: William Butler Yeats ✔

Option A: Coleridge’s Dejection: An Ode

Option B: Blake’s “Prophetic Books”

Option C: Wollstonecraft’s Vindication of the Rights of Woman

Option D: all but C

Correct Answer: all but C ✔

Option A: Hand labor became less common with the invention of power-driven machinery.

Option B: Velcro replaced buttons and snaps.

Option C: Steam, as opposed to wind and water, became a primary source of power.

Option D: both A and C

Correct Answer: both A and C ✔

Option A: Henry St. John

Option B: Robert Harley

Option C: John Churchill

Option D: Robert Walpole

Correct Answer: Robert Walpole ✔

Option A: Seagull

Option B: Albatross

Option C: Humming Bird

Option D: Crow

Correct Answer: Albatross ✔

Option A: Augustan

Option B: Metaphysical

Option C: Romantic

Option D: Neo-Romantic

Correct Answer: Augustan ✔

Option A: abolitionists and enthusiasts for slavery

Option B: round-earthers and flat-earthers

Option C: the Welsh and the Scots

Option D: champions of ancient and modern learning

Correct Answer: champions of ancient and modern learning ✔

Option A: John Dryden

Option B: Henry Vaughan

Option C: Alexander Pope

Option D: Ben Jonson

Correct Answer: Henry Vaughan ✔

Option A: Augustan

Option B: Metaphysical

Option C: Romantic

Option D: Neo-Romantic

Correct Answer: Augustan ✔

Option A: the trial and execution of Mary, Queen of Scots

Option B: the Toleration Act

Option C: the failed invasion of the Spanish Armada

Option D: the Act of Union

Correct Answer: the trial and execution of Mary, Queen of Scots ✔

Option A: William Carlos Williams

Option B: T.S. Eliot

Option C: Ernest Hemingway

Option D: Hart Crane

Correct Answer: T.S. Eliot ✔

Option A: The dramaturge and playwright had to be related.

Option B: All of the actors were male.

Option C: All of the actors were British.

Option D: The play was spoken.

Correct Answer: The play was spoken. ✔

Option A: Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe

Option B: Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels

Option C: Behn’s Oroonoko

Option D: Pope’s The Rape of the Lock

Correct Answer: Pope’s The Rape of the Lock ✔

Option A: a field of daffodils

Option B: the “Orient”

Option C: a graveyard

Option D: All of the above would be appropriate settings for Romantic literature.

Correct Answer: All of the above would be appropriate settings for Romantic literature. ✔

Option A: the Behnites

Option B: the bluestockings

Option C: the coteries of plenty

Option D: the Pre-Raphaelites

Correct Answer: the bluestockings ✔

Option A: To err is human, to forgive divine

Option B: Let not the sun go down upon your wrath

Option C: A little learning is a dangerous thing

Option D: Fools rush in where angels fear to tread

Correct Answer: Let not the sun go down upon your wrath ✔

Option A: New York City

Option B: Stanford, Connecticut

Option C: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Option D: Boston, Massachusetts

Correct Answer: New York City ✔

Option A: London and Rome

Option B: Paris and Rome

Option C: London and Paris

Option D: Berlin and London

Correct Answer: London and Paris ✔

Option A: economic independence

Option B: the Rights of Man

Option C: laissez-faire

Option D: enclosure

Correct Answer: laissez-faire ✔

Option A: Commercial and public lending libraries were established in order to provide for an enlarged reading public

Option B: Education reform increased literacy, thus creating a demand for commercial and public lending libraries.

Option C: A new aesthetics of valuing literature for its own sake emphasized reading for pleasure.

Option D: all of the above

Correct Answer: all of the above ✔

Option A: William Hogarth

Option B: Jonathan Swift

Option C: Samuel Johnson

Option D: Ben Jonson

Correct Answer: Samuel Johnson ✔

Option A: civilization

Option B: woman

Option C: God

Option D: nature

Correct Answer: nature ✔

Option A: Gay’s Beggar’s Opera

Option B: Butler’s Hudibras

Option C: Fielding’s Jonathan Wild

Option D: Pope’s Dunciad

Correct Answer: Pope’s Dunciad ✔

Option A: Danes and English

Option B: Dutch and English

Option C: Normans and English

Option D: French and English

Correct Answer: Danes and English ✔

Option A: Too many of its readers were women.

Option B: It required less skill than other genres.

Option C: It lacked the classical pedigree of poetry and drama.

Option D: all of the above

Correct Answer: all of the above ✔

Option A: William Godwin’s Inquiry Concerning Political Justice

Option B: Percy Bysshe Shelley’s England in 1819

Option C: William Godwin’s Caleb Williams

Option D: all of the above

Correct Answer: all of the above ✔

Option A: the neo-classical influence of Pope and Dryden

Option B: the clumsiness of Shakespeare’s plots

Option C: the Orientalist fantasies of Coleridge

Option D: Wordsworth’s devotion to the ordinary and everyday

Correct Answer: Wordsworth’s devotion to the ordinary and everyday ✔

Option A: It has universal appeal.

Option B: It can stand the test of time.

Option C: It makes connections.

Option D: All of the above.

Correct Answer: All of the above. ✔

Option A: Charlotte Perkins Gilman, Mary Wroth, and Elizabeth Cary

Option B: Aphra Behn, Delarivier Manley, and Eliza Haywood

Option C: Anne Finch, Anne Killigrew, and Lady Mary Wortley Montagu

Option D: Rachel Speght, Katherine Philips, and Frances Burney

Correct Answer: Aphra Behn, Delarivier Manley, and Eliza Haywood ✔

Option A: wit

Option B: sprezzatura

Option C: naturalism

Option D: gusto

Correct Answer: wit ✔

Option A: Elephant and Castle

Option B: Grub Street

Option C: Covent Garden

Option D: Cheapside

Correct Answer: Grub Street ✔

Option A: civilization

Option B: woman

Option C: God

Option D: nature

Correct Answer: nature ✔

Option A: King David’s son

Option B: A Judge of Israel

Option C: Bathsheba’s first husband

Option D: Absalom’s advisor

Correct Answer: Absalom’s advisor ✔

Option A: Bleak House

Option B: Great Expectations

Option C: A Tale of Two Cities

Option D: The Pickwick Papers

Correct Answer: Great Expectations ✔

Option A: All knowledge is derived from experience.

Option B: Human perceptions are constructed and reflect structures of political power.

Option C: The search for essential or ultimate principles of reality.

Option D: The sensory world is an illusion.

Correct Answer: All knowledge is derived from experience. ✔

Option A: snide indifference

Option B: biblical reverence

Option C: condemning censure

Option D: satirical derision

Correct Answer: biblical reverence ✔

Option A: The Duke of Monmouth

Option B: Charles II

Option C: The Earl of Shaftesbury

Option D: Cromwell

Correct Answer: The Duke of Monmouth ✔

Option A: Jane Austen

Option B: Charlotte Bronte

Option C: Edith Wharton

Option D: Emily Bronte

Correct Answer: Charlotte Bronte ✔

Option A: about half of middle class men

Option B: almost all working class men

Option C: all women

Option D: A, B and C

Correct Answer: A, B and C ✔

Option A: 3

Option B: 4

Option C: 5

Option D: 6

Correct Answer: 4 ✔

Option A: verdant mead

Option B: checkered shade

Option C: simian rivalry

Option D: shining sword

Correct Answer: simian rivalry ✔

Option A: opium

Option B: dreams

Option C: childhood

Option D: A, Band C

Correct Answer: A, Band C ✔

Option A: A picture is worth a thousand words.

Option B: Poetry is the supreme artistic form.

Option C: Art should hold a mirror up to nature.

Option D: Poetry ought to be a visual as well as a verbal art.

Correct Answer: Poetry ought to be a visual as well as a verbal art. ✔

Option A: Percy Bysshe Shelley

Option B: William Wordsworth

Option C: George Gordon, Lord Byron

Option D: all of the above

Correct Answer: all of the above ✔

Option A: The Way of the World

Option B: The Foundational Ladder

Option C: The Order of Angels

Option D: The Great Chain of Being

Correct Answer: The Great Chain of Being ✔