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This test consists of 15 multiple choice questions and 5 short answer questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. According to Sigmund Freud, what is the process by which human beings cope with desires they cannot fulfill by directing them towards a more socially valued goal?
(a) Transference.
(b) Repression.
(c) Sublimation.
(d) Idealization.

2. The English philosopher J. L. Austin saw language as what?
(a) Progressive.
(b) Performative.
(c) Penultimate.
(d) Pejorative.

3. According to Eagleton, who would an ideal reader be for a structuralist?
(a) Someone who had intelligent codes at her or his disposal.
(b) Someone who had all the codes at her or his disposal.
(c) Someone who had the right codes at her or his disposal.
(d) Someone who didn't have any codes at her or his disposal.

4. In American deconstruction, why does literary criticism become an "ironic, uneasy business"?
(a) Because it lays bare the physicality of meaning.
(b) Because it lays bare the temporality of meaning.
(c) Because it lays bare the illusoriness of meaning.
(d) Because it lays bare the permanence of meaning.

5. Why do feminists embrace the work of Jacques Lacan, despite the fact that he was contemptuous of the women's movement?
(a) Because Lacan taught Freudianism.
(b) Because Lacan rewrote Freudianism.
(c) Because Lacan rejected Freudianism.
(d) Because Lacan embraced Freudianism.

6. According to Eagleton, why does Northrop Frye emphasize the "utopian root of literature"?
(a) Because it is marked by a deep immersion in the actual social world.
(b) Because it is marked by a deep fear of the actual social world.
(c) Because it is marked by a deep sorrow for the actual social world.
(d) Because it is marked by a deep relation to the actual social world.

7. Why is psychosis difficult to cope with, according to Sigmund Freud?
(a) Because psychosis is difficult to perceive.
(b) Because psychosis is only treatable with shock therapy.
(c) Because the psychotic is violent.
(d) Because the psychotic has lost contact with reality.

8. How are "writable" texts different from ones that can be read?
(a) Writable texts encourage the reader/critic to become a producer of the text.
(b) Writable texts encourage the author/writer to become the reader/critic of the text.
(c) Writable texts encourage the author/writer to reject the reader/critic of the text.
(d) Writable texts encourage the reader/critic to become a consumer of the text.

9. The transition from structuralism to post-structuralism is partly in response to what movement?
(a) Student movement.
(b) Christian movement.
(c) Women's movement.
(d) Marxist's movement.

10. What three neurotic symptoms can a person develop that are the result of internal conflict, according to Sigmund Freud?
(a) Pain, hysteria, and fatigue.
(b) Obsession, phobia, and depression.
(c) Fatigue, pain, and depression.
(d) Obsession, hysteria, and phobia.

11. According to Eagleton, structuralism exposed what "shocking truth"?
(a) That even our most painful experience is outside the realm of structure.
(b) That even our most pleasurable experience is outside the realm of structure.
(c) The even our most private thoughts is caused by structure.
(d) That even our most intimate experience is the effect of a structure.

12. According to Eagleton, "the meaning of a sign is a matter of what the sign is _____."
(a) Signifying.
(b) Doing.
(c) Not.
(d) For.

13. According to Eagleton, what is the disadvantage of claiming literature as more valuable and rewarding than other texts?
(a) Because it partly true.
(b) Because it is untrue.
(c) Because it is no longer true.
(d) Because it is true.

14. For the literary theorist, Mikhail Bakhtin, "linguistic community" was what kind of society?
(a) Exclusive.
(b) Heterogeneous.
(c) Homogenous.
(d) Inclusive.

15. What is a belief in "ultimate word, presence, essence, truth, or reality"?
(a) Phallocentric.
(b) Technocentric.
(c) Egocentric.
(d) Logocentric.

Short Answer Questions

1. What is the name of two principles Sigmund Freud identified?

2. According to Eagleton, what is the oldest form of literary criticism?

3. According to Eagleton, why is Shakespeare considered great literature?

4. According to Eagleton, "the tactic of _________criticism ... is to show how texts come to embarrass their own ruling systems of logic."

5. According to Eagleton, "the idea that there are 'non-political' forms of criticism" is a what?

(see the answer keys)

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