A TO Z Literary Principles from History of English Literature: Note 72

A Set of 26 Objective Questions & Answers

UGC NET ENGLISH QUESTION BANK

1.  Which among the following statement is not logically bound by fact?

(I) Malory's Le morte d'Arthur was printed by William Caxton, as he was a friend of him.

(II) The growth of the middle class in the early 16^th century, the continuing development of trade, the new character and thoroughness of education for laypeople and not only clergy, the centralization of power and of much intellectual life in the court of the Tudor and Stuart monarchs, and the widening horizons of exploration gave a fundamental new impetus and direction to literature.

(III) Literary development in the earlier part of the 16th century was weakened by the diversion of intellectual energies to the polemics of the religious struggle between the Roman Catholic Church and the Church of England, a product of the Reformation.

(IV) The English part in the European movement known as humanism also belongs to this time. Humanism encouraged greater care in the study of the literature of classical antiquity and reformed education in such a way as to make literary expression of paramount importance for the cultured person.

A.    I is incorrect

B.     II is incorrect 

C.     III is incorrect

D.    I V is incorrect  

 2.   Long narrative poem majestic both in theme and style

A. short story

B. Rhetoric

C. Biography

D. Epic Read More about A to Z (Objective Questions)

3.   Given below are two statements, one labelled as Assertion (A) and the other labelled as Reason (R).

Assertion (A): Act of settlement was a victory for the Whig’s.

Reason (R): After Queen Anne’s death George I of Hanover ascended the throne. The Tories tried to reborn the Stuarts, but failed. In 1745, in the reign of George II (1727-69), the Tories made a more serious effort, but again failed.

Read More about A to Z (Objective Questions)

In this context above statements, identify which one of the following incorrect?

(I) (A) is correct but (R) is wrong.

(II)  Both (A) and (R) are wrong.

(III) (A) is wrong but (R) is correct.

(IV) (A) is correct and (R) is correct Explanation of it.

4. “He was, the first Englishman to challenge the Catholic Church. He started what is called the collard’s movement .He translated the bible from Latin in to native tongue and sent his poor priest to all parts, of the country for spreading his message of simplicity causticity & purity .His movement was the beginning of reformation.”

Who is ‘he’ in the quoted text?

I.                John Wycliffe 

II.                Langland

III.             Chaucer

IV.             Jack Straw

5. Watt Taylor, Jack Straw and John Bull were associated with the

A. The peasants’ revolt

B. The Protestant revolt

C. The  Oxford revolt

6.   Consider the following statements of “Song of Myself” and choose the given options.

I.   “Song of Myself” is by far Walt Whitman's best-known poem.

II. At the time of publication, the free verse and frank sexual content of the poem as exemplified in this excerpt, boldly distinguished Whitman's work from that of others in mid 19th century America. Read More about A to Z (Objective Questions)

III. The poem is an American epic.

IV.   It is a fine example of Whitman's distinctive philosophy of nature and the individual, ideas based in part on the writings of Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau.

          A.    I is correct and II, III & IV are its proper explanation

          B.     I is correct and II is its proper explanation

          C.     I is correct and III is its proper explanation

          D.    I is correct and IV is its proper explanation 

7. “14th-century Italian poet writes about his allegorical journey through hell, purgatory, and paradise. In the opening of the poem, He finds himself lost in a dark wood, which symbolizes his deviation from righteous living. While attempting to get his bearings, He spots a shining hill, which he calls the Mount of Joy. He begins to climb, but beasts, such as the she-wolf of unrestraint and the lion of ambition, block his way. Disheartened, He meets his guide poet, the 1st-century-bc Roman poet, who explains that to regain his way; he must travel with him (guide poet) through hell and purgatory, and, with another guide, visit paradise.”

Now identify the epic poem, 14th-century Italian poet and 1st-century-bc Roman poet in the given options?

    A.The Divine Comedy, Dante, Virgil

    B. The Divine Comedy, Virgil, Dante

    C. Aeneid, Virgil, Dante

    D. Aeneid, Dante, Virgil

8. 

I.        The English romantic poet Percy Bysshe Shelley wrote   Ode to the West Wind on a blustery day in 1819, while in a forest near Florence, Italy.

II.        In it he addresses an autumn wind known in the region as Ausonius.

III.       In the final stanza— it ends with the now famous line “If Winter comes, can Spring be far behind?”

IV.       Here Shelley appeals to the wind to help him spread the moral and political messages of his work.

Consider the statements and answer the question:

A.    All the Options are correct

B.     Only I is correct  

C.     Only III is incorrect

D.    Only I is correct  

9. One of the most celebrated novels by Charlotte Brontë’ in the English language with powerful voice and psychologically penetrating is Jane Eyre (1847). Now what is not truth for Jane?

A.  Jane is partially based on English novelist Charlotte Brontë’s own experiences.

B. After enduring this miserable childhood, Jane landed a job as governess to a young French-born girl named Adèle, who spoke mostly French and some English.

C. Jane Eyre, the heroine, was a happy young child and sent to live with a caring aunt who eventually placed her in a religious boarding school.

D.   Jane Eyre is sensitive and passionate, intelligent and reflective. 

10. Edmund Burke (1729-1797), British statesman and orator, is much famous for his Reflections on the Revolution in France (1790) . Now find out the right option of the given alternatives:

I.                   It began as a response to a young French friend who asked Burke whether he thought the new government in France would succeed where the old one had failed.

II.                It still stands as an eloquent expression of liberal principles.

III.             Burke urged gradual reform rather than rebellion as a means of correcting social and political problems. Instead of seeking to destroy their old state, he said, the French should have followed the English model and built on the foundations their predecessors had left them.Read More about A to Z (Objective Questions)

IV.             It seemingly contradicts Burke’s earlier support of the American War of Independence (1775-1783).

A.    All the Options are correct

B.     Only I is correct

C.     Only II is incorrect

D.    Only III is correct

11. “As Gregor Samsa awoke one morning from uneasy dreams he found himself transformed in his bed into a gigantic insect.”- The opening lines of Austrian-Czech novelist Franz Kafka’s “The Metamorphosis” reports the events following businessman Gregor Samsa’s inexplicable metamorphosis into a gigantic insect.

Throughout the story   the author is : 

(A) Indifferent

(B) Domineering

(C) Fearful

(D) guilt-ridden Read More about A to Z (Objective Questions)

12. “When the shadow of the sash appeared on the curtains it was between seven and eight o clock and then I was in time again, hearing the watch. It was Grandfather's and when Father gave it to me he said I give you the mausoleum of all hope and desire; it's rather excruciating-ly apt that you will use it to gain the reducto absurdum of all human experience which can fit your individual needs no better than it fitted his or his father's. I give it to you not that you may remember time, but that you might forget it now and then for a moment and not spend all your breath trying to conquer it. Because no battle is ever won he said. They are not even fought. The field only reveals to man his own folly and despair, and victory is an illusion of philosophers and fools.”

The quoted selection highlights a central theme of the novel—What is this?

A. mausoleum

 B. illusion Read More about A to Z (Objective Questions)

C. victory

D. Time

13. Which of the following is a pirate adventure story?

(A) Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe

(B) Robert Louis Stevenson’s Treasure Island

(C) H.W. Longfellow’s The Slave’s Dream 

(D) William Shakespeare’s The Tempest

14 “One ever feels his twoness,—an American, a Negro; two souls, two thoughts, two unreconciled strivings; two warring ideals in one dark body, whose dogged strength alone keeps it from being torn asunder.”

The quoted text best describes:

(A) The black controversy in America

(B) The black experience in America

(C) The black prejudice in America

 (D) The black authority in America

15. What is the central theme of Niccolò Machiavelli’s The Prince?

I. how a prince can gain and maintain power

II. The Reality of a King

III. Contradicts idealism of power

IV.political philosophy of power

The right combination according to the code is:

(A) I and II are correct.

(B) I, II and IV are correct.

(C) I and III are correct.

(D) All the Statements are correct. Read More about A to Z (Objective Questions)

16. The story consists of Santiago, the old fisherman, and Manolin, the boy who has fished with him for years. Though the old man hits a run of bad luck, Manolin still wishes to fish with him. But Manolin's parents demand that he fish with a more successful boat. What is the name of the story?

(A) Moll Flanders

(B) The Old Man and the Sea Read More about A to Z (Objective Questions)

(C) Robinson Crusoe

(D) Captain Singleton Read More about A to Z (Objective Questions)

17. Match the following quotes with the famous author/critic.   

Drama	Quote
(I) Thomas Babington Macaulay	(a) Middlemarch, the magnificent book which with all its imperfections is one of the few English novels for grown up people.
(II) Virginia Woolf	(b) Chaucer, I confess, is a rough diamond; and must be polished e'er he shines.
(III) John Dryden	(c) Jane Eyre strikes us as a personage much more likely to have sprung ready-armed from the head of a man and that head a pretty hard one, than to have experienced, in any shape, the softening influence of a female creation.
(IV) James Lorimer	(d) The Life of Johnson is assuredly a great, a very great work. Homer is not more decidedly the first of heroic poets, Shakespeare is not more decidedly the first of dramatists, Demosthenes is not more decidedly the first of orators, than Boswell is the first of biographers.

      

      (I) (II) (III) (IV) 

(A) (b) (d) (c) (a) 

(B) (d) (a) (b) (c) 

(C) (b) (c) (d) (a)  

(D) (c) (d) (b) (a) 

18. Match the following lists:

          List – I(Novels)    List – II(Theme/s)

I. Things fall Apart                  1. Society and bureaucratic wheel

II. David Starr, Space Ranger 2. Absurdity

III. The Stranger                      3. Good against evil

IV. Hullabaloo in the Guava Orchard 4. Custom and Tradition

The right combination according to the code is:

       I II III IV

(A) 4  1   3   2

(B) 1  2   3   4

(C) 4  3   2   1

(D) 3  4   1   2 Read More about A to Z (Objective Questions)

19. Which of the following African writer is not a Nobel Laureate?”

A. Chinua Achebe

B. Naguib Mahfouz

C. Albert Camus 

D. Nadine Gordimer

20. “MERCUTIO O! then, I see Queen Mab hath been with you.
She is the fairies' midwife...
And in this state she gallops night by night
Through lovers' brains, and then they dream of love.”

This extract is from William Shakespeare’s:

(A) Romeo and Juliet

(B)  Othello

(C)  Macbeth

(D)  Twelfth Night

21. “Jim, darling,” she cried, “don’t look at me that way. I had my hair cut off and sold it because I couldn’t have lived through Christmas without giving you a present. It will grow out again – you won’t mind, will you? I just had to do it. My hair grows awfully fast. Say ‘Merry Christmas!’ Jim, and let’s be happy. You don’t know what a nice – what a beautiful, nice gift I have got for you.”

This is one of the key arresting passages from O’ Henry’s Short Story. What is called this narrative point?

(A) Key Factor

(B)  Magic Moment

(C)  Surprising Twist

(D)  Biblical Point

22. What is true for literature in Québec?

 I. It is part of Canadian Literature.

II. Literature in Québec is multiethnic.

III. Québec literature rewinds an unresolved push for national sovereignty and separation from Canada.

IV. Québec literature has the popular success of historical novels.

The right combination according to the code is:

(A) I and II are correct.

(B) I, II and IV are correct.

(C) I and III are correct.

(D) All the Statements are correct. Read More about A to Z (Objective Questions)

23. “To enliven morality with wit, and to temper wit with morality.” It is how the author explained their work. What is that work?

A. Spectator papers

B. The Rambler

C. The Germ

D. Pickwick Papers

24. Which of the following novel is written in epistolary style?

          A.    Clarissa (1747-1748)

          B.     Joseph Andrews (1742)

          C.     Tom Jones (1749)

          D.    The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman (1759-1767)

25.  Match the following Jane Austen’s   novels with their characters:

I. Emma	a.  Fanny Price
II. Mansfield Park	b. Catherine Morland
III. Northanger Abbey	c. Anne Elliot
IV. Persuasion	d. Mr. Knightley

(I) (II) (III) (IV) (A) (d) (b) (c) (a) (B) (d) (a) (b) (c) (C) (b) (c) (d) (a) (D) (c) (a) (b) (d)

26. Which of the Quick Tips on MLA Style is wrong?

I. Web addresses, or URLs, are contained within angle brackets (<>).

II. For each source listed in the Works Cited, the name of the main author is written in last-first order, e.g., Doe, John. Any subsequent names are written in first-last order, e.g., Doe, John, Jane Roe, and Ronald Roe. Read More about A to Z (Objective Questions)

III. If there is more than one author, names are separated by commas; the word “and” precedes the final name.

IV. Whenever possible, the full first and middle names of authors are used. If only initials are available, it is acceptable to use them.

The right combination according to the code is:

(A) I and II are correct.

(B) I, II and IV are correct.

(C) I and III are correct.

(D) All the Statements are correct. Read More about A to Z (Objective Questions)

 Ref: 1. History of English Literature- Albert     

        2. The Concise Cambridge History of English Literature

        3. UGC NET OLD QUESTION PAPERS