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Literary Criticism PYQs UGC-NET English
1. Who among the following refers to “high seriousness” as a quality of a great poet and quotes John Milton to prove the same?
[A] T. S Eliot
[B] Ezra Pound
[C] Matthew Arnold
[D] I. A. Richards
[E] G. M. Hopkins
2. In “The Function of Criticism at the Present Time” what is proposed by Matthew Arnold as the essence of criticism?
3. Which of these countries does Montaigne’s essay, “Of Cannibals,” focus on primarily?
4. In “The Life of Cowley” which two of the following criticisms were made by Samuel Johnson against a group of writers he termed the ‘metaphysical poets’?
(a) They made an inappropriate combination of wit and imagination
(b) Instead of writing poetry, they only wrote verses
(c) They neither copied nature nor life
(d) They never tried to be singular in their thoughts
5. Match List-I and List-II:
List-I (Text)
(a) Advancement of Learning
(b) Past and Present
(c) English Traits
(d) Illness as Metaphor
List-II (Author)
I. Susan Sontag
II. Francis Bacon
III. Thomas Carlyle
IV. R.W. Emerson
6. How does T.S. Eliot sum up the peculiar quality of Marvell’s “Horatian Ode”?
7. Which two of the following are fallacious evaluations of poetry according to Matthew Arnold’s “The Study of Poetry”?
(a) Contextual estimate
(b) Personal estimate
(c) Comparative estimate
(d) Historic estimate
8. In his recasting the canon of English poetry in “New Bearings in English Poetry” which of the following pairs was downgraded by F.R. Leavis?
9. Who among the following was of the view that poetry was only an imitation of an imitation and therefore trivial?
10. Arrange chronologically the following texts in terms of their years of first publication:
(a) Edmund Spenser’s The Faerie Queene
(b) Coleridge and Wordsworth’s Lyrical Ballads
(c) Pablo Neruda’s Canto General
(d) Charles Baudelaire’s The Flowers of Evil
11. Who wrote the essay “My First Acquaintance with Poets”?
12. Arrange the following terms in their chronological sequence of appearance:
(a) Dissociation of Sensibility
(b) Unreliable Narrator
(c) Theatre of Cruelty
(d) Egotistical Sublime
13. The following passage considered to be the “death knell” of the neo-classical criticism is attributed to _____
“It ought to be the first endeavour of a writer to distinguish nature from custom, or that which is established because it is right from that which is right only because it is established; that he may neither violate essential principles by a desire of novelty, nor debar himself from the attainment of beauties within his view by a needless fear of breaking rules which no literary dictator had authority to enact.”
14. Which of the following statements hold true with respect to Alexander Pope’s “Essay on Criticism”?
[A] It is “an inquiry into the nature and value of poetry”
[B] It presents “a series of generalizations about good taste”
[C] It explores the challenges of impartial and just criticism
[D] It underlines the traits of “the good critic”
[E] It critically reflects on Plato’s rejection of poetry
15. Given below are two statements:
Statement I: The term ‘Negative Capability’ was coined by John Keats.
Statement II: While analysing the term ‘Dissociation of Sensibility’, T.S. Eliot proclaims that Hamlet is an artistic failure.
16. Given below are two statements:
Statement I: The best poetry will be found to have a power of forming, sustaining and delighting us, as nothing else can.
Statement II: No man has ever been a great poet without being, at the same time, a great critic.
17. Who defined ‘hamartia’ as ‘tragic flaw’?
18. Given below are two statements:
Statement I: Dr. Johnson had an inclination toward the Tory political ideology.
Statement II: Dr. Johnson strongly believed in transcendental scepticism.
19. Which of the following is not true about “Lyrical Ballads”?
20. The “ancient and modern quarrel” in western literary criticism appears during:
21. Which of the following are Plato’s main objections against poetry?
[A] The poet is an imitator
[B] The poet is incapable of bravery
[C] The poet, by fueling passions and emotions, weakens the reasoning capacity of the citizens
[D] The poet is less responsible
[E] The poet has no knowledge of the world
22. A. L. Tennyson in the following lines:
“Yet I doubt not through the ages one increasing purpose runs.
And the thoughts of men are widen’d with the process of the suns”
“Yet I doubt not through the ages one increasing purpose runs.
And the thoughts of men are widen’d with the process of the suns”
23. What does Aristotle mean by the phrase “language with pleasurable accessories” in his definition of tragedy?
[A] A language full of pompous vocabulary
[B] An embellished language
[C] A language full of rhythm and harmony
[D] A language superadded with song
[E] Emotive language
24. Francis Bacon’s “The Advancement of Learning” attempted to draw a distinction between two kinds of ‘truth’. Which are these?
25. To whom do you attribute this famous statement?
“I shall be ambitious to have it said of me, that I have brought Philosophy out of Closets and Libraries, Schools and Colleges, to dwell in Clubs and Assemblies, at Tea-Tables, and in Coffee-Houses.”
26. Dr Johnson’s Dictionary of the English Language was published in:
27. “An Essay on the Principles of Human Action” was written by:
28. Identify the correct ones among the following:
[A] The Apologie for Poetrie was written by Sir Philip Sidney
[B] Sir Philip Sidney wrote the Apologie for Poetrie as a counterblast to Stephen Gosson’s The School of Abuse
[C] Stephen Gosson wrote The School of Abuse in the euphuistic style
[D] Sidney’s style was characterised by neoclassical restraint
[E] Sidney and Gosson wrote their critical treatise in the eighteenth century
29. Which of the following works have NOT been written by Thomas Carlyle?
[A] Of Heroes and Hero-Worship
[B] The French Revolution
[C] Of Human Bondage
[D] The Hour and the Man
[E] Hudibras
30. Which of the following works have NOT been authored by John Stuart Mill?
[A] Subjection of Women
[B] Thoughts on Parliamentary Reform
[C] Past and Present
[D] Explorations
[E] On Liberty
31. Identify the correct pairs:
[A] Aristotle – Rhetoric
[B] Quintilian – Oratorical Institutions
[C] Brooks and R. P. Warren – Understanding Fiction
[D] Allen Tate – The Verbal Icon
[E] Harold Bloom – The Great Tradition
32. Find the chronological order of publication of the given works:
[A] Boswell’s Life of Johnson
[B] Hobbes’s Leviathan
[C] Pepys’s Diary
[D] Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress
[E] Locke’s Human Understanding
33. Given below are two statements:
Statement I: “Anagenesis” is the final part of the drama just after the climax in which there is resolution for any conflicts left in the plot.
Statement II: “Anagenesis” is the turning point of the play where audience observes unpredictable change in the play.
34. What did Matthew Arnold imply by the term “Hebraism” in his “Culture and Anarchy”?
35. In “An Essay on Criticism,” Pope:
[A] analyses the causes of faulty criticism and praises the great critics of the past
[B] analyses the causes of faulty criticism and characterises the good critic
[C] analyses the structure of a good essay and praises the great critics of the past
[D] analyses the structure of a good essay and suggest how such an essay could be converted into good criticism
[E] analyses the merits of the poetry of Wordsworth and praises the great critics of the past
Which of the above statements are correct?
Literary Criticism PYQs UGC-NET English
36. Match List I with List II:
List I
[A] Plato
[B] Aristotle
[C] P. B Shelley
[D] Philip Sydney
List II
[I] Rhetoric
[II] Symposium
[III] Apology of Poetry
[IV] Defence of Poetry
37. Match List I with List II:
List I
[A] “Negative Capability”
[B] “Sweetness and light”
[C] “Esemplastic”
[D] “Dissociation of Sensibility”
List II
[I] Matthew Arnold
[II] Samuel Taylor Coleridge
[III] T.S. Eliot
[IV] John Keats
38. Arrange the works in chronological sequence:
[A] Matthew Arnold’s Culture and Anarchy
[B] Thomas Browne’s The Anatomy of Melancholy
[C] Thomas Hobbes’ Leviathan
[D] Walter Pater’s Studies in the History of the Renaissance
[E] PB Shelley’s Defense of Poesie
39. Who, among the following, wrote about Charlotte Brontë that her mind contained ‘nothing but hunger, rebellion, and rage’?
40. Who proposed the idea that the mind at the time of birth is like a blank slate or tabula rasa?
41. Which of the following works have been authored by Thomas Carlyle?
[A] Chartism
[B] Past and Present
[C] The French Revolution
[D] Suspiria de Profundis
[E] The English Mail Coach
42. Arrange the correct chronological sequence of the publication of the following texts:
[A] Essay of Dramatic Poesy
[B] A Room of One’s Own
[C] Culture and Anarchy
[D] The Lives of the Poets
[E] “Preface to the Lyrical Ballads”
43. Match List I with List II:
List I
[A] Egotistical Sublime
[B] Willing Suspension of Disbelief
[C] Touchstone
[D] Pleasures of the Imagination
List II
[I] Matthew Arnold
[II] Joseph Addison
[III] John Keats
[IV] Samuel Taylor Coleridge
44. What is the correct chronological sequence of the following texts?
[A] “The Advancement of Learning”
[B] “An Apologie for Poetry”
[C] “The Uses of the Spectator”
[D] “My Relations”
[E] “How it Strikes a Contemporary”
45. Match List I with List II:
List I
[A] Response to Stephen Gosson
[B] The Individual Talent
[C] Catharsis
[D] Sweetness and Light
List II
[I] Aristotle
[II] Matthew Arnold
[III] T.S. Eliot
[IV] Philip Sidney
46. Given below are two statements:
Statement 1: Criticism is the construction of a judgment about the negative or positive qualities of someone or something.
Statement 2: Criticism can be theoretical, practical, impressionistic, affective, prescriptive, or descriptive.
In the light of the above statements, choose the correct answer:
Statement 1: Criticism is the construction of a judgment about the negative or positive qualities of someone or something.
Statement 2: Criticism can be theoretical, practical, impressionistic, affective, prescriptive, or descriptive.
In the light of the above statements, choose the correct answer:
47. Thomas Hobbes’s philosophical tract Leviathan was first published in
48. The Aesthetics of Thomas Aquinas is written by
49. Francis Bacon’s The Advancement of Learning was dedicated to
50. An Account of the Life of Mr Richard Savage, Son of the Earl Rivers (1744) was the first major biography published by
51. The debate on ‘the condition of England question’ was initiated by
52. Which among the following was not recognized as a major dialogue of Plato?
53. Arrange the chronological sequence in which the following works were published:
[A] Reflections on the Revolution in France
[B] Preface to Shakespeare
[C] The Social Contract
[D] Treatise on Human Nature
[E] Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding
Literary Criticism PYQs UGC-NET English
54. From which poem are the following lines extracted?
“Some are bewildered in the maze of schools, And some made coxcombs Nature meant but fools. In search of wit these lose their common sense, And then turn critics in their own defense”
55. Of which of the following was Charles Dickens the founding editor?
[A] North and South
[B] The Newcomes
[C] Household Words
[D] The Way We Live Now
[E] All the Year Round
56. Who among the following was the author of The Voyage of the Beagle?
57. Arrange the following writers chronologically in accordance with their years of birth:
[A] James Boswell
[B] Edward Gibbon
[C] Samuel Johnson
[D] Edmund Burke
[E] Richard Brinsley Sheridan
58. Who among the following acknowledged that poetry is formed from the same elements as prose; the difference lies in the different combination of these elements and the difference of purpose?
59. Who among the following translated Aristotle’s Poetics in Latin?
60. In which year was Edmund Burke’s Enquiry into the Origin of Our Ideas of the Sublime and the Beautiful published?
61. Who among the following was NOT one of the original members of Johnson’s Literary Club?
62. Which of the following were written by Thomas Love Peacock?
[A] Headlong Hall
[B] Nightmare Abbey
[C] Imaginary Conversations
[D] The Spirit of the Age
[E] Specimens of the English Dramatic Poets who Lived about the Time of Shakespeare
63. Who was the author of Novum Organum?
64. Match List I with List II:
List I
[A] Purushottam Lal
[B] Adil Jussawalla
[C] A.K. Ramanujan
[D] R. Parthasarathy
List II
[I] Speaking of Siva
[II] The Man of Dharma and the Rasa of Silence
[III] Rough Passage
[IV] Missing Person
65. Given below are two statements:
Statement I: Unlike Plato, Aristotle considers that poetry at its best requires great skill, and also differentiates between good and bad poetry on clear and systematic aesthetic grounds.
Statement II: Aristotle accepts Plato’s insight that the emotions are important to poetry, but rejects Plato’s distrust of the emotions.
Statement II: Aristotle accepts Plato’s insight that the emotions are important to poetry, but rejects Plato’s distrust of the emotions.
In the light of the above statements, choose the correct answer:
66. Who among the following had observed in the pamphlet titled ‘Plays Confuted in Five Actions’ (1582):
“I may boldly say it, because I have seen it, that… bawdy comedies in Latin, French, Italian, and Spanish, have been thoroughly ransacked to furnish the playhouses in London.”
67. Which of the following books were published in the year 1791?
[A] Adam Smith’s The Wealth of Nations
[B] James Boswell’s The Life of Samuel Johnson
[C] Johnson’s Dictionary of the English Language
[D] Burke’s Thoughts on the Cause of the Present Discontents
[E] Paine’s The Rights of Man
68. Arrange the chronological sequence in which the following works of T. S. Eliot were first published:
[A] The Sacred Wood
[B] Notes towards the Definition of Culture
[C] The Metaphysical Poets
[D] The Function of Criticism
[E] The Use of Poetry and the Use of Criticism
69. “All writers since Chaucer have come from the middle class… have had good, at least expensive education….” Where has Virginia Woolf explained it?
70. Who among the following declared in 1920 that “there is no longer any intellectual life in England”?
71. Which among the following are not mentioned as the aspects of the novel by E.M. Forster?
[A] Story
[B] Imagination
[C] Plot
[D] Harmony
[E] Prophecy
72. Which work of Francis Bacon explains the new logic or inductive method of reasoning?
73. “Did not Shakespeare hate and despise Iago and Edmund?” Identify the book in which this question has been mentioned.
