View a FREE sample

This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What is the difference between metaphor and metonymy?
(a) In metaphor one sign is equal to another; in metonymy one sign is less than another.
(b) In metaphor one sign is substituted for another; in metonymy one sign is privileged over another.
(c) In metaphor one sign is subtituted for another; in metonymy one sign is associated with another.
(d) In metaphor one sign is privileged over another; in metonymy one sign is associated with another.

2. According to Eagleton, one of the gains of structuralism is that it represents a "remorseless _____of literature."
(a) Rationlization.
(b) Idealization.
(c) Mystification.
(d) Demystification.

3. According to Eagleton, what "staggering fact" could not be put right by a theoretical technique?
(a) There was no time in history where women and men were antagonists.
(b) That there was no time in history where half of the human race was not considered inferior.
(c) That there was no time in history where women were not considered superior.
(d) There was no time in history where half of the human race fought for equality.

4. According to Jacques Lacan, what stage does a child first develop an ego?
(a) During the Oedipal stage.
(b) During the imaginary stage.
(c) During the post-Oedipal stage.
(d) During the mirror stage.

5. For Jacques Lacan, "meaning is always in some sense an _______."
(a) Allocation.
(b) Abdication.
(c) Approximation.
(d) Amalgamation.

Short Answer Questions

1. What are Northrop Frye's four narrative categories at the root of all literature?

2. According to Eagleton, what is the "point" of literary theory?

3. What is the name of the Yale theorist who believed that all language is metaphorical?

4. According to Eagleton, there are forms of post-structuralism that represent what kind of withdrawal from history?

5. According to Eagleton, if structuralism examined the "product" of literature, but left out what?

Short Essay Questions

1. What was a "healthy" sign according to Roland Barthes and why is it significant?

2. What is Eagleton's main critique of the some forms of post-structuralism and why is it significant?

3. What is structuralism's lasting impact on literary theory and what is Eagleton's critique of their methodology?

4. What is the dominant ideology within academia and what are its major problems?

5. Why does Eagleton reject the idea of a disconnected individual in society?

6. How does Julia Kristeva view language and why is it significant?

7. What are the four areas Eagleton discusses rhetoric should target that would bring about transformation in society?

8. What is Sigmund Freud's Oedipus complex and why is it significant?

9. According to Eagleton, why should the notion of literary theory be abolished?

10. How did Northrop Frye attempt to combine the formalist focus on the text with the essence of new American criticism?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 893 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample