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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. According to Eagleton, why is it an illusion to think that he can be present to us in what he says and writes?

2. For Eagleton, what are the two ways in which literary theory can have a distinct purpose and identity?

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

4. According to Eagleton, structuralism has proved that there is nothing _____ about codes.

5. What year did France's student movement strike against the authoritarianism of the educational institutions and in solidarity with the working-class?

Short Essay Questions

1. Who is Ferdinand de Saussure and what was his contribution to the field of literary theory?

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

3. How did Mikhail Bakhtin view language?

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

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

6. What does Julia Kristeva define as "semiotic" and why is it significant?

7. Why does Eagleton claim that Northrop Frye's work emphasized the "utopian root'" of all literature and what is his response?

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

9. How does the philosopher Jacques Derrida conceive of language?

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

What is the relationship between politics and literature, according to Eagleton? How does the production of literature inculcate and disseminate ideological values?

Essay Topic 2

Discuss liberal humanism.

1) Identify liberal humanism as a group, viewpoint, and methodology.

2) What is liberal humanism an instrument for, according to Eagleton?

3) Are liberal humanists politically conscious? Why or why not?

Essay Topic 3

Define the notion of estrangement and choose two examples from the book as evidence for this concept.

(see the answer keys)

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