English Language

Literary Analysis

4,216 Questions

Analyze classic and modernist novels, autobiographies, plays, and graphic novels across various genres. This topic tests your familiarity with prominent authors, literary movements, and thematic elements. Questions appear regularly in the English language sections of SSC, banking, and teaching competency exams.

Classic and modernist novelsAutobiographies and biographiesPoetic language and farcesThematic literary elements

Literary Analysis Questions

Multiple choice
  1. I only

  2. I and II only

  3. II and III only

  4. III and I only

Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
B Correct answer
Explanation

Muller, born in 1953, is renowned for her depiction of the harsh conditions under Romanian dictator Nicolae Ceausescu's regime. She immigrated to Germany in 1987, after being dismissed from her job in Romania during the 1970s due to her refusal to co-operate with the regime's secret police. A few of the author's works have been translated into English, including The Passport' (1986), The Land of Green Plums' (1994) and The Appointment'. 2007 Nobel Laureate Doris Lessing is the author of the books: Martha Quest (1952), A Proper Marriage (1954), A Ripple from the Storm (1958), Landlocked (1965) and The Four-Gated City (1969).

Multiple choice
  1. who almost hates the child she is about to give birth to has won one of the Britain's most prestigious literary prize.

  2. who almost hates the child she is going to give birth to has won one of the Britain's most prestigious literary prize.

  3. who hates the child she is about to give birth to has won one of Britain's most prestigious literary prizes.

  4. who hate the child she is about to give birth to has won one of the Britain's most prestigious prizes.

Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
C Correct answer
Explanation

The expression “one of the” is always followed by a plural noun so, C option is the answer. In D incorrect form of the verb 'hate' is used since the subject “woman” is singular so singular verb 'hates' should be used. Awkward phrasing is done in E.

Multiple choice
  1. Written in 1742, Henry Fielding scored a literary hit with his first novel Joseph Andrews.

  2. Written in 1742, Joseph Andrews, the first novel by Henry Fielding, scored a literary hit.

  3. Written in 1742, Henry Fielding scored a literary hit with Joseph Andrews, his first novel.

  4. Joseph Andrews, which was written in 1742 by Henry Fielding, scored a literary hit with his first novel.

  5. Joseph Andrews, the first novel scored a literary hit for Henry Fielding by its being written in 1742.

Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
B Correct answer
Explanation

Correct; the noun, Joseph Andrews, is correctly placed next to the modifier 1742.

Multiple choice
  1. obsessions

  2. compulsions

  3. addictions

  4. impressionability

  5. receptivity

  6. passivity

Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
D Correct answer
Explanation

(1) Incorrect. The correct option has to depict the differences between Nabakov and Shakespeare. This option has the same connotation as fixations.

(2) Incorrect. The correct option has to depict the differences between Nabakov and Shakespeare. This option has the same connotation as fixations.
(3) Incorrect. The correct option has to depict the differences between Nabakov and Shakespeare. The given option does not bring forth that difference.
(4) Correct. The option brings out the contrast between Nabokov and Shakespeare by comparing one's fixation with the other's impressionability.
(5) Correct. The option brings out the contrast between Nabokov and Shakespeare by comparing one's fixation with the other's receptivity. (6) Incorrect. The correct option has to depict the differences between Nabakov and Shakespeare. The given option does not bring forth that difference.

Multiple choice
  1. Portia is the heroine of Shakespeares Merchant of Venice.

  2. Portia is the heroine of Shakespeare’s Merchant of Venice.

  3. Portia is the Heroine of Shakespeares merchant of Venice.

  4. Portia is the heroine of Shakespeare’s merchant of Venice.

Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
B Correct answer
Explanation

 'Merchant of Venice' is a proper noun (name of a play). It must begin with a capital letter. Case of possessive is here. So, "Shakespeare's" will be used.

Multiple choice
  1. The Tempest

  2. Othello

  3. Macbeth

  4. Cariolanus

Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation

These famous lines 'We are such stuff As dreams are made on, and our little life Is rounded with a sleep' appear in Shakespeare's play The Tempest, spoken by the character Prospero. This speech reflects on the impermanence and illusory nature of human life and the world itself. Options B, C, and D are other Shakespeare plays but do not contain this quote.

Multiple choice
  1. Justice

  2. Loyalties

  3. The Skin Game

  4. The Silver Box

Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
D Correct answer
Explanation

John Galsworthy, best known for The Forsyte Saga, began his playwriting career with The Silver Box in 1906. This social drama established his reputation as a serious playwright before he gained fame as a novelist.

Multiple choice
  1. has no trace of personal element

  2. is notable for its autobiographical passages

  3. is quite objective

  4. has none of the above qualities

Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
B Correct answer
Multiple choice

Directions: Choose the correct answer for the following question on the basis of the given passage:

The author makes a reference to James Weldon Johnson's Autobiography of an Ex-colored Man most probably to _______________________________.

RC Passage 4:
Roger Rosenblatt’s book Black Fiction, manages to alter the approach taken in many previous studies by making an attempt to apply literary rather than sociopolitical criteria to its subject. Rosenblatt points out that criticism of Black writing has very often served as a pretext for an expounding on Black history. The recent work of Addison Gayle’s passes a judgement on the value of Black fiction by clearly political standards, rating each work according to the ideas of Black identity, which it propounds.
Though fiction results from political circumstances, its author react not in ideological ways to those circumstances, and talking about novels and stories primarily as instruments of ideology circumvents much of the fictional enterprise. Affinities and connections are revealed in the works of Black fiction in Rosenblatt’s literary analysis; these affinities and connections have been overlooked and ignored by solely political studies.
The writing of acceptable criticism of Black fiction, however, presumes giving satisfactory answers to a quite a few questions. The most important of all, is there a sufficient reason, apart from the racial identity of the authors, for the grouping together of Black authors? Secondly, what is the distinction of Black fiction from other modern fiction with which it is largely contemporaneous? In the work Rosenblatt demonstrates that Black fiction is a distinct body of writing, which has an identifiable, coherent literary tradition. He highlights recurring concerns and designs, which are independent of chronology in Black fiction written over the past eighty years. These concerns and designs are thematic, and they come form the central fact of the predominant white culture, where the Black characters in the novel are situated irrespective of whether they attempt to conform to that culture or they rebel against it.
Rosenblatt’s work does leave certain aesthetic questions open. His thematic analysis allows considerable objectivity; he even clearly states that he does not intend to judge the merit of the various works yet his reluctance seems misplaced, especially since an attempt to appraise might have led to interesting results. For example, certain novels have an appearance of structural diffusion. Is this a defeat, or are the authors working out of, or attempting to forge, a different kind of aesthetic? Apart from this, the style of certain Black novels, like Jean Toomer’s Cane, verges on expressionism or surrealism; does this technique provide a counterpoint to the prevalent theme that portrays the fate against which Black heroes are pitted, a theme usually conveyed by more naturalistic modes of expressions?

Irrespective of such omissions, what Rosenblatt talks about in his work makes for an astute and worthwhile study. His book very effectively surveys a variety of novels, highlighting certain fascinating and little-known works like James Weldon Johnson’s Autobiography of an Ex-Coloured Man. Black Fiction is tightly constructed, and levelheaded and penetrating criticism is exemplified in its forthright and lucid style.
  1. highlight the affinities between Rosenblatt's method of thematic analysis and earlier criticism

  2. elucidate regarding the point made regarding expressionistic style earlier in the passage

  3. qualify the assessment of Rosenblatt's book made in the first paragraph of the passage

  4. demonstrate the affinities among the various Black novels talked of by Rosenblatt's literary analysis

  5. present a specific example of one of the accomplishments of Rosenblatt's work.

Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
E Correct answer
Explanation

 The mention of James Weldon Johnson's Autobiography of an Ex-colored Man is an example of the level of completin of Rosenbatt's work.

Multiple choice

Directions: Choose the correct answer for the following question on the basis of the given passage:

The author is of the opinion that Black Fiction would have been improved had Rosenblatt ________________________________________________.

RC Passage 4:
Roger Rosenblatt’s book Black Fiction, manages to alter the approach taken in many previous studies by making an attempt to apply literary rather than sociopolitical criteria to its subject. Rosenblatt points out that criticism of Black writing has very often served as a pretext for an expounding on Black history. The recent work of Addison Gayle’s passes a judgement on the value of Black fiction by clearly political standards, rating each work according to the ideas of Black identity, which it propounds.
Though fiction results from political circumstances, its author react not in ideological ways to those circumstances, and talking about novels and stories primarily as instruments of ideology circumvents much of the fictional enterprise. Affinities and connections are revealed in the works of Black fiction in Rosenblatt’s literary analysis; these affinities and connections have been overlooked and ignored by solely political studies.
The writing of acceptable criticism of Black fiction, however, presumes giving satisfactory answers to a quite a few questions. The most important of all, is there a sufficient reason, apart from the racial identity of the authors, for the grouping together of Black authors? Secondly, what is the distinction of Black fiction from other modern fiction with which it is largely contemporaneous? In the work Rosenblatt demonstrates that Black fiction is a distinct body of writing, which has an identifiable, coherent literary tradition. He highlights recurring concerns and designs, which are independent of chronology in Black fiction written over the past eighty years. These concerns and designs are thematic, and they come form the central fact of the predominant white culture, where the Black characters in the novel are situated irrespective of whether they attempt to conform to that culture or they rebel against it.
Rosenblatt’s work does leave certain aesthetic questions open. His thematic analysis allows considerable objectivity; he even clearly states that he does not intend to judge the merit of the various works yet his reluctance seems misplaced, especially since an attempt to appraise might have led to interesting results. For example, certain novels have an appearance of structural diffusion. Is this a defeat, or are the authors working out of, or attempting to forge, a different kind of aesthetic? Apart from this, the style of certain Black novels, like Jean Toomer’s Cane, verges on expressionism or surrealism; does this technique provide a counterpoint to the prevalent theme that portrays the fate against which Black heroes are pitted, a theme usually conveyed by more naturalistic modes of expressions?

Irrespective of such omissions, what Rosenblatt talks about in his work makes for an astute and worthwhile study. His book very effectively surveys a variety of novels, highlighting certain fascinating and little-known works like James Weldon Johnson’s Autobiography of an Ex-Coloured Man. Black Fiction is tightly constructed, and levelheaded and penetrating criticism is exemplified in its forthright and lucid style.
  1. undertaken a more careful evaluation of the ideological and historical aspects of Black Fiction

  2. been more objective in his approach to novels and stories by Black authors

  3. attempted a more detailed exploration of the recurring themes in Black fiction throughout its history

  4. established a basis for placing Black fiction within its own unique literary tradition

  5. calculated the relative literary merit of the novels he analyzed thematically.

Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
E Correct answer
Explanation

  Roger Rosenblatt's book Black Fiction, manages to alter the approach taken in many previous studies by making an attempt to apply literary rather than sociopolitical criteria to its subject.