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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. In Chapter 2, what does fiction aim to achieve?

2. Examining the time period prior to modern literature, in what fashion are these works of fiction analyzed for literary theory?

3. According to Chapter 4, what is Hamlet about on a deeper level?

4. What literary form do parts of Robert Burns' poetry imitate?

5. What theory believes that language limits the ability to think?

Short Essay Questions

1. According to the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis, what does language determine?

2. Modern Western literature can be traced back to what group and when?

3. What factors determine what will be read by a particular society?

4. What does literary theory work to uncover, according to Chapter 1?

5. How do literary theorists explain the procedure used by poetics?

6. According to the Western culture, what does language help to express?

7. Why is publishing considered a stamp of approval on a literary work?

8. According to Chapter 3, how have cultural studies expanded the literary canon?

9. Why is there concern that cultural study may surpass literary theory?

10. What was the theme of Goethe's work as discussed in "Chapter 1, What is Theory"?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Explain the five points of literature, citing specific examples to illustrate each point.

Essay Topic 2

Literary theory has the power to create new ideas and to destroy old ones. Write an essay on the power of literary theory to change a social mindset based on its social influence.

Essay Topic 3

Literary theorists use poetics and hermeneutics to translate the meaning of a text. Write a brief essay examining these two methods and their function in understanding literature.

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