All Free English Literature MCQs with Answers
Every English Literature question in the bank, across all chapters, each with the correct answer and a written explanation. Free and unlimited, with no account needed.
3,192 questions · page 105 of 160
- A. Homer
- B. Dante
- C. Virgil
- D. Milton
Explanation: Homer is conventionally regarded as the father of epic poetry because the Iliad and the Odyssey became foundational models of the Western…
Correct answer: Homer- A. "Paradise Lost"
- B. "The Odyssey"
- C. "The Iliad"
- D. All of the above
Explanation: Paradise Lost, The Odyssey, and The Iliad are all epics, though they belong to different periods and traditions.
Correct answer: All of the above- A. A pastoral elegy
- B. A satire
- C. An epic
- D. A mock-epic
Explanation: Lycidas is a pastoral elegy, combining the conventions of pastoral poetry with mourning for Milton’s friend Edward King.
Correct answer: A pastoral elegy- A. John Milton
- B. Ludovico Ariosto
- C. Sir Philip Sidney
- D. William Shakespeare
Explanation: Orlando Furioso is the famous Italian epic poem by Ludovico Ariosto, first published in its complete form in 1532.
Correct answer: Ludovico Ariosto- A. Sir Philip Sidney
- B. Sir Thomas More
- C. Thomas Wyatt
- D. Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey
Explanation: Thomas Wyatt wrote Whoso List to Hunt, an English adaptation of Petrarch's sonnet about pursuing a hind.
Correct answer: Thomas Wyatt- A. Sir Thomas More
- B. Sir Walter Raleigh
- C. John Lyly
- D. Sir Philip Sidney
Explanation: Sir Philip Sidney develops the Horatian principle of poetry's double purpose, teaching and delighting, in his Defence of Poesy.
Correct answer: Sir Philip Sidney2087. According to many British Romantic poets, who is the protagonist of John Milton's "Paradise Lost" ?
- A. Satan
- B. Adam
- C. Eve
- D. Christ
Explanation: Many Romantic poets admired Satan's defiance and treated him as the poem's striking heroic or Byronic figure, although Milton's…
Correct answer: Satan- A. Milton
- B. Wordsworth
- C. Aristo
- D. Both A and B
Explanation: Spenser was strongly influenced by Ludovico Ariosto's Italian epic poetry, especially the romantic-epic tradition of Orlando furioso.
Correct answer: Aristo- A. 9
- B. 10
- C. 12
- D. 14
Explanation: A Petrarchan sonnet has fourteen lines, divided into an octave of eight lines and a sestet of six.
Correct answer: 14- A. Epic poetry is of a moral nature and tends to the promotion of virtue.
- B. "Canterbury Tales" is an example of epic poetry.
- C. All of the above answers are true.
- D. None of These
Explanation: Epic poetry presents the deeds of heroic figures on a grand scale and commonly promotes moral ideals and virtue.
Correct answer: Epic poetry is of a moral nature and tends to the promotion of virtue.- A. Petrarch
- B. Dante
- C. Langland
- D. Machiavelli
Explanation: William Langland's Piers Plowman examines social injustice and the hardship of the poor, including an early economic analysis of poverty.
Correct answer: Langland- A. "Canterbury Tales"
- B. "The Faerie Queen"
- C. "Paradise Lost"
- D. "The Prelude"
Explanation: Paradise Lost retells the Genesis story of Creation, Adam and Eve, their temptation, and the Fall.
Correct answer: "Paradise Lost"- A. Medieval
- B. Victorian
- C. Romantic
- D. None of the above
Explanation: Sidney’s Astrophil and Stella anticipates the inward, self-conscious treatment of emotion associated with the Romantic revolution, despite…
Correct answer: Romantic- A. Trochaic trimeter
- B. Terza rima
- C. Iambic pentameter
- D. Anapestic pentameter
Explanation: The Petrarchan sonnet usually has fourteen lines divided into an octave and sestet, traditionally written in iambic pentameter in English.
Correct answer: Iambic pentameter- A. Thomas Wyatt
- B. Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey
- C. John Donne
- D. Both A and B
Explanation: Thomas Wyatt introduced the Italian or Petrarchan sonnet into English, while Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey, helped develop and popularise…
Correct answer: Both A and B- A. Pound's "In a Station of the Metro"
- B. Bishop's "One Art"
- C. Auden's "Paysage Moralisé"
- D. William Shakespeare's "Sonnet 18"
Explanation: Pound's "In a Station of the Metro" is a very brief imagistic poem arranged in two lines and strongly influenced by the Japanese haiku's…
Correct answer: Pound's "In a Station of the Metro"- A. Lines of text with words that rhyme at the end
- B. A continuous block of text
- C. Unrhymed lines
- D. All of these
Explanation: Poetry may use rhymed lines, prose-like blocks such as a prose poem, or unrhymed lines such as blank verse and free verse.
Correct answer: All of these- A. An ode
- B. An elegy
- C. An epitaph
- D. A ballad
Explanation: A ballad is a narrative poem designed for singing, usually recounting a dramatic, adventurous, or supernatural episode.
Correct answer: A ballad- A. For revenge
- B. To change the weather
- C. To bring forth life-in-death
- D. It is never directly stated why he does so.
Explanation: Coleridge gives the act itself but never supplies a definite reason for it: the Mariner simply shoots the albatross.
Correct answer: It is never directly stated why he does so.- A. Satan was ultimately heroic.
- B. The fall of Adam and Eve was a tragic event.
- C. Adam and Eve were driven to evil by their children.
- D. God abandoned the realm of Eden without reason.
Explanation: Book 9 of Paradise Lost presents the temptation and Fall of Adam and Eve, a grave and tragic turning point in human history.
Correct answer: The fall of Adam and Eve was a tragic event.