All Free English Literature MCQs with Answers

• A. "She is a woman of beauty and wonder."
• B. "Death, that which feels nothing."
• C. "Milton, thou shouldst be living at this hour: / England hath need of thee."
• D. "I wandered lonely as a cloud."

Explanation: Apostrophe directly addresses an absent person, dead person, abstract idea, or object, as Wordsworth addresses Milton in the quoted line.

• A. A recurring element in a story that is symbolically significant
• B. A character's fatal flaw
• C. A rhyme scheme
• D. A character's moment of selfrealization in a narrative

Explanation: A motif is a recurring image, idea, action, or element that gains significance through repetition in a work.

• A. Ethos refers to a writer's presentation of character and image.
• B. Ethos refers to a writer's ability to present evidence.
• C. Ethos refers to a writer's ability to inspire action in readers.
• D. Ethos refers to a writer's ability to inspire emotional responses in readers.

Explanation: Ethos is persuasive force derived from character, credibility, and the image presented by a speaker or writer.

• A. Pathos refers to a writer's presentation of character and image.
• B. Pathos refers to a writer's ability to present evidence.
• C. Pathos refers to a writer's ability to inspire action in readers.
• D. Pathos refers to a writer's ability to inspire emotional responses in readers.

Explanation: Pathos is an appeal that arouses pity, sympathy, or other strong feelings in an audience.

• A. According to research, 22 percent of the American population owns an unsecured handgun.
• B. I own a handgun and keep it in a secure place in my house.
• C. Every month in the United States, at least 100 children are wounded or killed as a result of unsecured handguns.
• D. Handguns don't kill people, people do

Explanation: The reference to children being wounded or killed is designed to arouse fear, pity, and concern, making it an appeal to pathos.

• A. Billy Budd
• B. Hamlet
• C. Captain Ahab
• D. Ophelia

Explanation: Billy Budd is an innocent victim whose execution results from the faults and prejudices of others, making him a classic scapegoat figure.

• A. To miss the mark
• B. Sin
• C. Tragic flaw
• D. Flaws

Explanation: Hamartia comes from a Greek word meaning “to miss the mark,” suggesting an error or failure in judgment.

• A. William Worsworth
• B. Browning
• C. Coleridge
• D. Eliot

Explanation: Coleridge coined “esemplastic” from Greek roots meaning to shape into one, using it to describe the imagination’s power to unify diverse…

• A. Oedipus the Rex
• B. Oedipus at Colonus
• C. Antigone
• D. Jocasta, the Queen of Thebes

Explanation: Freud named the Oedipus complex after Sophocles’ tragedy Oedipus Rex, in which Oedipus unknowingly kills his father and marries his…

• A. Perfection
• B. Birth
• C. Evil
• D. Death

Explanation: In archetypal symbolism, seven commonly represents completeness, harmony, or perfection.

• A. Metahor
• B. Oxymoron
• C. Simile
• D. Irony

Explanation: The comparison uses the word "like" to compare the eyes with frightened beads, which is the defining structure of a simile.

• A. Connotation
• B. Connection
• C. Constitution
• D. Description

Explanation: Connotation is the emotional or associative meaning attached to a word beyond its dictionary definition, or denotation.

• A. Connotation
• B. Constitution
• C. Convocation
• D. Exposition

Explanation: Exposition is discourse that explains or informs, as in a repair manual or an instructional guide.

• A. Description
• B. Metaphor
• C. Persuation
• D. Narration

Explanation: Description presents the qualities or appearance of a person, place, object, or scene, often using details that appeal to sight, sound…

• A. Persuasion
• B. Prejudice
• C. Promise
• D. Promotion

Explanation: Persuasion is discourse designed to influence someone’s beliefs, judgment, or actions.

• A. To borrow
• B. To steal
• C. To ruin
• D. To return

Explanation: To purloin means to take something dishonestly or secretly, that is, to steal it.

• A. Tradition
• B. Constitution
• C. History
• D. Myth

Explanation: History is a factual account of the development of a people, nation, institution, or culture.

• A. Jamming
• B. Snaring
• C. Hortatory sermon
• D. Framing

Explanation: A hortatory sermon uses religious reasoning to urge an audience toward a moral or social response.

• A. A recurrent thematic element in an artistic or literary work.
• B. The struggle found in fiction
• C. Giving human qualities to animals or objects
• D. A story about a mischievous, supernatural being

Explanation: A trickster tale centres on a cunning, mischievous figure, often a supernatural being or animal, who disrupts accepted rules.

• A. Fiction
• B. Narration
• C. Exposition
• D. Persuasion

Explanation: Narration is the mode of discourse that presents or relates a sequence of events as a story.