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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. The chapter "Feminist Criticism" informs the reader that "for her notion of the basic opposition between semiotic and the symbolic Kristeva was indebted to Jacques Lacan and his distinction between two realms, the ________ and the ________.

2. ________ is defined as a discipline which has always tended to emphasize the difficulty of achieving secure knowledge about things.

3. Whom does Peter Barry credit for being the first person and anthropologist to use structuralism in their work?

4. What term does the narrator explain was a popular term in deconstructive criticism and literally means an impasse?

5. Author Peter Barry explains that a major "moment" in the history of postmodernism was the influential paper "Modernity-an Incomplete Project" delivered by the contemporary ________ theorist ________.

Short Essay Questions

1. What did Ferdinand de Saussure say about linguistic structures which the structuralists found so interesting?

2. Explain what Peter Barry means when he informs the reader "that it is much better to read intensely in theory than to read widely".

3. Compare post-colonialism to postmodernism as discussed in the chapter "Theory Before Theory--Liberal Humanism."

4. Briefly summarize author Peter Barry's own introduction to literary theory as seen in "My own stock-taking" found within the "Introduction."

5. How does Disneyland fit into the concept of hyperreality according to Baurdrillard?

6. Discuss what higher education was like in England until the first quarter of the nineteenth century, according to the chapter titled "Theory Before Theory--Liberal Humanism."

7. Explain what author Peter Barry means when he says the frame of mind he would recommend his readers is threefold.

8. What are some of the important characteristics of the literary modernism practice?

9. Why was Freudian interpretation interesting to literary critics?

10. What is the purpose of displacement and condensation?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Identify, analyze, and discuss the significance of the ten principles of liberal humanism that Peter Barry summarizes within the book "Beginning Theory."

Essay Topic 2

Identify, discuss, and analyze the history of English studies as foretold by Peter Barry.

Essay Topic 3

Describe and discuss how and why Sigmund Freud is relevant to literary theory. Give at least five supporting examples that indicate that relevance.

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This section contains 860 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample