History of English Literature Objective Questions

1.     To which centuries do Robert Greene and Graham Greene belong?

Ans. Robert Greene belongs to the second half of the sixteenth century (1558-1592).
          And Graham Greene (2 October 1904 – 3 April 1991) belongs to the earlier twentieth century.

2.     Can you name the authors of Hudibras and Erewhon?

Ans. Hudibras was written by Samuel Bulter (1612-80) and Erewhon was written by another Samuel Butlar (1835-1902).

3.     Name two greatest elegies in English along with the names of the poet?

Ans. Lycidas and In Memoriam are two greatest elegies in English literature. The former was written by John Milton and the later by Alfred Tennyson.

4.     Who are the author of Pamela and Pride and Prejudice? Which of these two is epistolary novel?

Ans. Pamela, a novel published under the authorship of Richards and Pride and Prejudice was written by Jane Austen.

5.     Why are years 1611 and 1832 important?

Ans. The year 1611 is important for the publication of first authorized Bible in the reign of James I and 1832 is important for the passing of Reformation Act heralding extension of democratic rights in England.

6.     Can you name the authors of Annus Mirabilis and Frankenstein?

Ans. Dryden wrote Annus Mirabilis (1667) Mary Shelly wrote Frankenstein, a terror novel.

7.     To which centuries did Dryden and Pope belong?

Ans. Dryden (1631-1700) belonged to the later part of seventeenth century and pope (1688-1744) belonged to the first half of the eighteenth century.

8.     Why are the years 1611 and 1798 important?

Ans. The year 1611 is important for the official publication of the Authorized Version of the Bible in the reign of James I (under the supervision of James I).
         
          The year 1798 is notable for the publication of the Lyrical Ballads, the celebration work of the two great romantic poets Wordsworth and Coleridge.

9.     Can you name the author of Sonnets from the Portuguese and Modern painters?

Ans. The author of Sonnets from the Portuguese is Elizabeth Barrett Browning, the wife of Robert Browning, and John Ruskin is the author of Modern painters.

10. What is called dark comedy? Which plays of Shakespeare are known as dark comedy?

Ans. Dark comedy is called so as they are preoccupied with darker side of human experience. They contain much discussion of serious moral and intellectual problems.

          All well that Ends well, Troilus and Cressida, Measure for Measure etc. are known as dark comedies by Shakespeare.
    
11. Name the authors of An Essay on Criticism and Essays in Criticism. What are the types of these writings?

Ans. An Essay on criticism (1711).is written in heroic couplet by Alexander Pope. It is a long philosophical treatise in verse.  
          Essay in criticism (1865 & 1889) is a long critical essay on criticism by Matthew Arnold.

                                    
13.     Confusing works


Works                                                         Authors

Essay on Man       -                  a poem by Pope
Essay on Milton    -                  a prose by Macaulay
Essay on Criticism  -                  a poem by Pope
Essay In Criticism  -                  a prose by Mathew Arnold

Essays of Elia            -                  Charles Lamb
Essays of Ancient & Modern -   T. S. Eliot

The Rape of the Lock  -                   epic poem by Pope
The Rape of the Lucrecee -              a long poem by Shakespeare

The way of the World  -                  A comedy by William Congrave
The Way of All Flesh    -                  a novel by Samuel Butler.

The Prelude    -                  A poem by William Wordsworth 
Preludes    -                A poem by T. S. Eliot

Elizabethan Essays               -    Prose by T.  S. Eliot
Elizabeth and Essex              -    prose by Lytton Stretchey

Everyman           -                  One of the best known morality plays.
Everyman in His Humour    -                  Satirical comedy by Ben Jonson.

The Book of The Duchesse   -                  A poem by Chaucer
The Book of Martyrs      -                  a story by John Foxe

The Pilgrim’s Progress    -                  by John Bunyan
The Pilgrim’s of the Rhine     -                  by Bulwer Lytton

The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gent – a novel by Sterne
Tristram & Iscult           -                  Matthew Arnold

Lyrical Ballads   - Collection poems by Coleridge & Wordsworth
Prefare to Lyrical Bullads      -                  A prose by Wordsworth.

All for love   -                  A blank verse tragedy by Dryden
Love labour lost   -                  A drama by Shakespeare

Portrait of dare                                   -    a novel by Francis Bret James
A portrait of A lady                            -   a novel by Henry James

The Duchess of Dadna                       - a drama by Oscar Wilde
The Duchess of Malfi                         -   tragedy John Webster

A Tale of Two cities                           -   a novel by Dickens
A Tale of Manchester Life                  -   a novel by Mrs. E. Gaskell

The Anatomy of Melancholy               -    a critique by Robert Burton
The Anatomy of the world                  -   a poem on prince Henry written by
                                                                             Donne
The Battle of Books                           -   a satire by swift
The Battle of Maldon                          -   Anclo Saxon war poem.

A women killed with kindress              -   a drama by Heywood
The woman in the Moon                     - a play by Lily

Ode on The Nativity                           -  a poem by Milton
Ode on Duty                                      -   a poem by Wordsworth

14. What is an epic? Name one Indian and one Western epic.

Ans. The greatest and sublime form of poetry is epic. It is a long poem, divided into several books, celebrating the life, heroic deeds and achievements of a national hero whether historical or legendary.
Ramayana by Rwishi Balmiki & Iliad & Odyssey by Homer.

15. Name two important elegies and their authors.
Lycidas                           - Milton (elegy on Edward King)
Adonais                          - Shelley ( elegy on John Keats)
In Memoriam                   -  Tennyson ( elegy on Arther Henry Hallam)
Thyrsis                           -  Arnold (elegy on Arthur Hugh) Clough

16. Name two attempts of writing English epics after ‘Paradise Lost’.

Ans. The Rape of the Lock                 - Alexander Pope
Tom Jones                                         - Fielding
(The first one is mock heroic poem while the next one is a novel, a comic epic)

17. Who introduced ‘Pindaric Ode’ in English and why is it so called?

Ans.  This form of poetry is usually attributed to Cowley, whose Pinderique Odes were published in 1656.

 The Pindaric Odes are written on the model of the odes written by Pindar, the great Greek poet. They are choric in character and designed to be sung by a troupe of dancer in churches or Public halls.

18. Who is the first female sovereign of England?

Ans. Mary (1553-8)
Elizabeth (1558-1603)
Anne (1702-14)
Queen Victoria (1837-1901)
Elizabeth II (1952-

19. Name any famous prose Satire.

Ans. Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels (a satire on mankind).
Jonson’s Volpone (a satire on cleverness and covetousness).


Ans.     List of Poet Laureate of England :

John Dryden 1668-1689
Thomas Shadwell 1689-1692
Nahum Tate 1692-1715
Nicholas Rowe 1715-1718
Laurence Eusden 1718-1730
Colley Cibber 1730-1757
William Whitehead 1757-1785
Thomas Warton 1785-1790
Henry James Pye 1790-1813
Robert Southey 1813-1843
William Wordsworth 1843-1850
Alfred, Lord Tennyson 1850-1892
Alfred Austin 1896-1913
Robert Bridges 1913-1930
John Masefield 1930-1967
C. Day Lewis 1968-1972
Sir John Betjeman 1972-1984
Ted Hughes 1984-1998
Andrew Motion 1999- 2009
Carol Ann Duffy 2009- until now.

21. Name any two Lake poets.

Ans. William Wordsworth, S. T. Coleridge, Robert Southey. 


They are called Lake poets because they all lived in the Lake district of England at the turn of the nineteenth century. As a group, reviewed by Francis  Jeffrey in the Edinburgh Review they shared their common habitation but no such poetic ideology. However, they are considered part of the Romantic Movement. Dorothy Wordsworth, Charles Lloyd, Hartley Coleridge, John Wilson, and Thomas De Quincey are other poets of this group.


22. What group of plays is known as ‘dark comedy’?
Ans. All’s well that ends well, Troilus and Cressida and Measure for Measure are known as dark comedies.
       Dark comedy are those which are tragic-comic in tone and form; plays in which laughter, grief, wretchedness and despair are intermingled.

23. How is In Memoriam related to Adonais?
Ans. These are two famous elegies written by Tennyson and P. B. Shelley respectively. In In Memoriam Tennyson laments the death of his college friend Arther Hemry Hallam who died in shipwreck, while Adonais is Shelley’s elegy on the premature death of Keats. Here Shelley criticizes those critics whom he finds responsible for Keats premature death.

24. What was the pen name of Mary Ann Evans?

Ans. List of Pen names

Pen names                                                                  Authors

Autolycus                                          ¬  Aldous Huxley
Mark Twain                                        ¬  Samuel Cemens
George Eliot                                       ¬  Mary Ann Evans
Elia                                                    ¬   Charles Lamb
Boz                                                    ¬ Charles Dickens
Currer Bell                                         ¬  Charlottle Bronte
Ellis Bell                                             ¬  Emily Bronte
Acton Bell                                          ¬ Anne Bronte

25. How are Adonais and Thyrsis related?
Ans. Both are two great elegies written by Shelley and Arnold respectively in memory of their friends Keats and Arthur Hugh Clough.



26. Who are known as graveyard school of poets?
Ans. The graveyard or Churchyard school of poets is those who write elegies. These poets belong to no particular age, no particular period, nor are they poets who wrote only elegies and no other kind of poetry. Quite a large number of poets including Spenser, Milton, Gray, Shelley, Tennyson and Arnold wrote elegies. They can be said to be the graveyard school of poets.

27. What is called Satire? Give two examples.
Ans. It is a literary composition whose principal aim is to ridicule folly or vices. It provides humour and laughter and the true end of satire is the amendment of vices by correction.

Exp. Dryden’s Absalom and Achitophel
Butter’s Hudibras
Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels
Pope’s Dunciad.

28. What is called regional novel? Give two examples.
Ans. In this type of novel a particular region, it’s geographic paint, social and religious customs, people and manners are highlighted with a faithful account.

     Hardy’s Wessex novels, Narayan’s Mulgudi novels are such examples.

29. What is an epic? Give two examples.
Ans. An epic is a long narrative poem. Usually it deals with heroic feats, wars and national causes. The epic depicts the age consciousness and the dialogism.
 
      There are two types of epic classical and Romantic.
Milton’s Paradise Lost is a classical epic
Spenser’s Faery Queene is a romantic epic.

30. What do you mean by PRB?

Ans. The initial PRB stands for Pre Raphaelite Brotherhood. At first the brotherhood exhibited together anonymously, signing all their paintings with the monogram P.R.B. when their identity and youth were discovered I 1850, their works were harshly criticized for its disregard of academic ideals of beauty but also for its apparent irreverence in treating religious themes with an uncompromising realism. Nevertheless, the leading art critic John Ruskin defended them and their art.

31. What do you mean by Gothic fiction?

Ans. It is a type of crude, horror and mysterious novel plot. The little word comes from ‘Goth’ a medieval tribe in Germany and their love for magic, witch craft and delight in ‘ruins’. By the interest of medievalism this type of novel has a rapid growth at the end of 18th century.

Authors                                                                 Novels

Horace Walpole                - Castle of Otranto
Clara Reeve                        -   Old English Baron
Ann Radcliffe                      -  Romance of the Forest
M.G. Lewis                      - Ambrosio or the Monk

32. What is common in A Room of One’s own, A Vindication for the right of Women and The Second Sex?

Ans. These three works are notable writing on Feminist movement. Mary Wollstonecraft’s A Vindication for the right of women laid the foundation of the feminist movement. Virginia Woolf’s A Room of One’s own and Simone de Beanuoir’s The Second Sex followed next.

33. What is dramatic monologue?

Ans. Dramatic monologue is a type of poetry where the speaker through this interior monologue reveals same of his crises of mind. It is dramatic in the sense that one or more than one passive listener might be present whose reaction can be felt by the very words of the speaker. Exi-Two in the Champagne, The Laboratory.

34. Abbey Theatre: (earlier name Irish Literary theatre, Irish National Theatre) founded by W. B. Yeats, Lady Gregory in 1899. It produced plays with a markedly national emphasis. W. B. Yeats was director of the Abbey Theatre until his death in 1939. Other major playwrights who contributed are J. M. Synge, Sean O’ Casey, James Stephens etc.

35. Court Comedy: These are the comedies written to be performed at the royal court. They are of artificial plot, little action; elaborate costume and scenery, prominence of music, song, wit etc. Examples: Love’s Labour’s Lost (Shakespeare), Endimion, Alexander and Compaspe (Lyly).

36. Domestic tragedy: These are the tragedies related to ordinary, day-to-day affairs of life. Instead of great heroic personage it includes ordinary people and their problems. Exmp: Thomas Heywood’s A Woman killed with kindness, John Mansfield’s Tragedy of Nun. Miller’s The Death of Salesman.

37. Rhyme royal: It was used by Chaucer for the first time in English in Troilus and Criseyde and then by Shakespeare in The Rape of Lucrece. The rhyme scheme of the seven line stanza in rhyme royal is a b a b bcc. It looks as it a quatrain has been dovetailed on to two couplets.

38. Ottava rima – It was introduced in England by Wyatt in the 16th century. The premier example of this verse form is Byron’s Don Juan. The rhyme scheme of the eight line stanza is a b ab ab cc.

39. Pathetic fallacy – First coined by John Ruskin. It is similar to personification where attribution of human capacities is given to natural objects.  

40. Why are the year 1066 and 1215 important in the history of England?

Ans: 1066 is the date of Norman Conquest of England and the beginning of Anglo – Norman literature in England.
And 1215 is important because Magna Carta was signed by King John. It is the first charter of rights submitted before the king. It is the first step to the democratic process in England.

41. To which country did King Alfred belong? Name one of his prose works?

Ans: Alfred belonged to the ninth century. He was the king of Wessex (871).

Alfred is actually noted for his translation works. He translated or got translated Pastoral Care of Pope Gregory. His other major contribution is compilation of Anglo Saxon chronicle.

42. Name two war poems in the Anglo – Saxon period that have different conclusions.

Ans: The Battle of Brunanburg is based on true war fought between the Saxons and Scots in which Saxons were Victorian.
          The Battle of Maldon has for its theme the battle which took place in 993 and in which the old Chief of the East-Saxons met his death and the poem ends in sorrow.

43. What is meant by Kennings? Give two examples.

Ans: Kennings mean picturesque compounds used by the Old English poets. They have metaphorical quality. For exp. ‘Seowood’ is used for ship, ‘peace weaver’ for women.

44. Name two poems attributed to Cynewulf.

Ans: Poems attribtuted to Cynewulf are Andreas, the Dreams of the Rood, Phoenix and

45. To which century did Alfred belong? What are his principle works?

Ans: Alfred belonged to the nineth century. He was the king of Wessex (871). He translated or got translated Postoral Care of Pope Gregory, the History  of the World of Orsius, the Ecclesiostical History of Bede, The consolation of Philosophy by          and the Soliloquies of St. Augustine. The Anglo Saxon Chronicle inspired and Sponsored by Alfred was his greater achievement.

46. Name two Metrical Romance relating to the matter of England.

Ans: King Horn and The Guy of Warwick are two metrical romances relating to the matter England i.e. Saxon kings.

47. Name the four manuscripts in which the surviving Old English poetry is preserved.

Ans: The manuscripts of Old English poetry are four in number and dated late-
a)     Beowulf MS (dated 1000)
b)    Junius MS (containing Caedmon poems, dated 1655)
c)     Exeter Book (dated 1050)
d)    Vercelli Book (containing Cynewulf poems dated 1560)

48. When was England converted to Christianity?

Ans: The most significant landmark in Anglo – Saxon history is the conversion of the people to Christianity. The work began in 597 with Augustine’s mission and was completed in the period upto 605.

49. Why is the year 1066 important?

Ans: Norman Conquest (by William of Normandy) of England.

50. From which country did the Saxons come to England?

Ans: The Saxons came to England from Germany.

51. Who is John Wycliffe? Give some name of his works?

Ans: John Wycliffe is a popular figure as a translator Bible into English. He further issues many pamphlets in English. He contributes Latin too. His Latin books consist of revolutionary opinions and ideals.

52. Name the first Anglo – Saxon love poem?

Ans: Wife’s complaint – It has more personal tone. It is of a woman who has been falsely accused and banished from her husband’s presence.

Husband’s message – Here the husband delivers his message on wooden piece and sends it to his beloved. Here is unpretentious and sincere feeling.

These two poems are the early stress of Anglo Saxon love poems.

53. Name one of the four poems, which contain the signature of Cynewulf in rumic characters.

Ans: Four poems that contain the signature of Cynewulf in rumic characters are Juliana, Elene, The Fates of the Apostle, and Christ.

54. What is the Latin title of Bede’s work Ecclesiastical History of English Race?

Ans: The original title of Bede’s work is Historia Ecclesiastica.

55. To what race did Beowulf belong? Whom did he help from a monster?

Ans: Beowulf belongs to the pagan race of Geats. He comes to extend his martial help to king of Danes Hrothger, and after a prolonged battle kills the monster Grendel and Grendel’s mother.

56. Name two Anglo – Saxon elegies that have stanza pattern and refrain.

Ans: Deor’s Lament and Wulf and Eadwacer are two Old English poems with stanza and refrain.

57. Name two war poems in the Anglo Saxon period that have different conclusions.

Ans: The battle of Maldan which recounts the war in 993 has a sad end where the old chief of the East Saxons breates his last.
          On the other hand, The Battle of Brunanburg relates the actual war between the Saxons and Scots. The poem is a victory song for Saxon’s win.

58. What is ‘Kennings’? Give two examples.

Ans: In the old English poetry we often find some picturesque compounds which are metaphorical and sometimes, symbolical. These compounds are called ‘Kennings’.

          For example ‘sea wood’ is used for ship, ‘picture-tomb’ for urn, ‘peace-weaver’ for women etc.

59. Name two verse chronicles of the Anglo-Norman period?

Ans: Written about 1205, Layamon Brut popularizes the Arthurian legend in English. Here is the collection of the stories related Leir, Kinbelin, Cloten, Arviragus etc. the rhyming is here alliterative with assonance.

          Another chronicle, Robert of Gloucester’s written about 1300 introduces long lines instead of two half lines of old English poems.

60. What is the historical importance of 1327 in England?

Ans: In 1327 the hundred years’ war with France begins in the Reign of Edward III. The historical importance of this war is that.

61. What is the period of the middle ages? What are the sources of information about the middle ages?

Ans: Roughly speaking, the middle age refers to the period of 1066 to 1485 (Norman Conquest of England to the end of the wars of Roses).

          The middle age is briefly reflected in Domesday Book, pipe Rolls, Court Rolls, chancery records and account books.

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