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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. 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 relation to the actual social world.
(d) Because it is marked by a deep sorrow for the actual social world.

2. According to Roland Barthes, what kind of sign draws attention to its own arbitrariness?
(a) An unhealthy sign.
(b) An unproductive sign.
(c) A healthy sign.
(d) A productive sign.

3. What is NOT a material reality in the oppression of women?
(a) Equal wages.
(b) Motherhood.
(c) Job Discrimination.
(d) Unequal wages.

4. What is the root of the present crisis in literary studies, according to Eagleton?
(a) The definition of the subject.
(b) The conflict over methodology.
(c) The inclusion of non-canonical works.
(d) The subjugation of theory.

5. In structuralism, the relationship between the sign and what it refers to is what?
(a) Necessary.
(b) Opposite.
(c) Arbitrary.
(d) Identical.

Short Answer Questions

1. According to Eagleton, structuralism exposed what "shocking truth"?

2. Literary texts are code-productive, code-transgressive, and code_____.

3. From a structuralist perspective, why could literature could no longer claim to be a unique discourse?

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

5. What three neurotic symptoms can a person develop that are the result of internal conflict, according to Sigmund Freud?

Short Essay Questions

1. According to Sigmund Freud, what are the two conflicting principles that all people are motivated by and why is it significant?

2. Who developed semiotics and what was his contribution to literary theory?

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

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

5. What was the significance of the Prague structuralists?

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

7. According to Eagleton, why should rhetorical science replace literary theory and what is its objective?

8. Beyond helping the status of women, what is the women's movement's goal and why is it significant?

9. What is structuralism and how what does it share in common with formalism?

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

(see the answer keys)

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