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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 75 of 160

1481. In Talbot county, Eastern Shore, Maryland, near Easton, the county town of that country, there is a small district of country, thily populated, and remarkable for nothing that I know of more than for the worn-out, sandy, deserts-like appearance of its soil, the general dilapidation of its farms and fences, the indigent and spiritless character of its inhabitants, and the prevalence of ague and fever. What does dilapidation mean ?

  • A. Hunger or famine
  • B. Decrease
  • C. Derivation
  • D. Neglect or decray

Explanation: Dilapidation means a state of decay or neglect, fitting the passage's description of deteriorating farms and fences.

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Correct answer: Neglect or decray

1482. The following extract presents a suitable answer to the hacknied argument drawn by the defender of Slavery from the songs of the Slave, and is also a good specimen of the powers of observation and manly heart of the writer. The word hacknied is an old form of the word hackneyed. What does it mean ?

  • A. Lacking in freshness and originality
  • B. Saddened
  • C. Double meaning
  • D. Blue-eyed

Explanation: Hackneyed means overused and lacking freshness or originality, which suits an argument repeatedly employed by defenders of slavery.

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Correct answer: Lacking in freshness and originality

1483. What type of myth is the tale "The Jealous Uncle" ?

  • A. Origin tale
  • B. Trickster tale
  • C. Hero tale
  • D. A fable

Explanation: “The Jealous Uncle” is classified as a hero tale because its narrative centres on a significant character involved in extraordinary…

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Correct answer: Hero tale

1484. This term is an elaborate comparison between two different subjects___________?

  • A. Simile
  • B. Conceit
  • C. Sermon
  • D. Anomoly

Explanation: A conceit is an extended or elaborate comparison between apparently unlike things, especially common in metaphysical poetry.

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Correct answer: Conceit

1485. The process of passing on sayings, songs and tales ?

  • A. Narration
  • B. History
  • C. Persuasion
  • D. Oral Tradition

Explanation: Oral tradition is the transmission of cultural material such as sayings, songs, legends, and tales by word of mouth across generations.

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Correct answer: Oral Tradition

1486. This is the implied comparison between two dissimilar things_______________?

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

Explanation: A metaphor makes an implied comparison between unlike things without using “like” or “as.” A simile would make the comparison explicitly…

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Correct answer: Metaphor

1487. This is a system of fundamental laws governing a society______________?

  • A. Discourse
  • B. Constitution
  • C. Language
  • D. Connotation

Explanation: A constitution is the fundamental body of laws and principles that establishes how a society or government is organised.

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Correct answer: Constitution

1488. The cautious old gentleman knit his brows tenfold closer after this explanation, being sorely puzzled by the ratiocination of the syllogism; while methought the one in pepper and salt eyed him with something of a triumphant leer. At length he observed, that all this was very well, but still he thought the story a little extravagant - there were one or two points on which he had his doubts. "Faith, sir," replied the story-teller, "as to that matter, I don't believe one half of it myself." This passage exemplifies_____________?

  • A. Narrative frame
  • B. Hortatory sermon
  • C. Snaring
  • D. Jamming

Explanation: The passage places a story inside a surrounding conversation between listeners and a storyteller, creating a narrative frame.

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Correct answer: Narrative frame

1489. But when to their feminine rage the indignation of the people is added, when the ignorant and the poor are aroused, when the unintelligent brute force that lies at the bottom of society is made to growl and mow, it needs the habit of magnanimity and religion to treat it godlike as a trifle of no concernment. What does "mow" mean in this context ?

  • A. To grimace
  • B. To bleat like sheep
  • C. To lift heavy things
  • D. To cut grass

Explanation: Here, “mow” is an archaic verb meaning to make grimaces or distorted facial expressions.

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Correct answer: To grimace

1490. " I hear my being dance from ear to ear". Here ear to ear refers to_____________?

  • A. a round about way of telling things
  • B. a heart warming smile
  • C. listening through an ear and pass it off through the other
  • D. a complete experience

Explanation: “From ear to ear” suggests something extending across the whole range of a person’s experience or being in this poetic context.

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Correct answer: a complete experience

1491. Define oral tradition______________?

  • A. The passing on from one generation to another of songs, chants, proverbs, and other verbal compositions after it has been written down.
  • B. The telling of songs, chants, proverbs, and other verbal compositions to a single generation within and between nonliterate cultures
  • C. The use of "like" or "as" to draw a comparison between two unlike things
  • D. The passing on from one generation (and/or locality) to another of songs, chants, proverbs, and other verbal compositions within and between non-literate cultures by word of mouth

Explanation: Oral tradition transmits verbal compositions such as songs, proverbs, and chants by word of mouth across generations and communities…

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Correct answer: The passing on from one generation (and/or locality) to another of songs, chants, proverbs, and other verbal compositions within and between non-literate cultures by word of mouth

1492. Which among the following is an example acronym ?

  • A. Smog
  • B. UNESCO
  • C. Buzz
  • D. Edit

Explanation: UNESCO is formed from the initial letters of “United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization” and is pronounced as a…

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Correct answer: UNESCO

1493. Which among the following is an example for portmanteau__________________?

  • A. Smog
  • B. UNESCO
  • C. Buzz
  • D. Edit

Explanation: Smog combines parts of “smoke” and “fog,” so it is a portmanteau or blend.

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Correct answer: Smog

1494. Words such as 'UNESCO' and 'RADAR' are instances of ____________?

  • A. Compounding
  • B. Acronym
  • C. Re__duplicates
  • D. Conversion

Explanation: UNESCO and RADAR are made from the initial letters of longer expressions and are pronounced as words, which is the defining feature of…

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Correct answer: Acronym

1495. Words such as 'edit' and 'house__keep' are instances of ____________?

  • A. Compounding
  • B. Portmanteau
  • C. Derivation
  • D. Backformation

Explanation: Backformation creates a shorter word by removing an element mistakenly understood as a suffix: “edit” developed from “editor,” and…

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Correct answer: Backformation

1496. Words such as 'smog' and 'motel' are instances of ____________?

  • A. Compounding
  • B. Portmanteau
  • C. Derivation
  • D. Backformation

Explanation: A portmanteau blends parts of two words: “smog” combines smoke and fog, while “motel” combines motor and hotel.

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Correct answer: Portmanteau

1497. _____________________is a processes of word formation whereby new words are formed by subtracting a root by deleting final syllable which is misunderstood as a suffix?

  • A. Compounding
  • B. Portmanteau
  • C. Derivation
  • D. Backformation.

Explanation: Backformation forms a new word by removing a supposed suffix from an existing word, as in “edit” from “editor.” It is therefore…

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Correct answer: Backformation.

1498. ______________involves a different analysis of the structure of the word by attaching a consonant at the end of a word or a vowel at the beginning of the next word ?

  • A. Portmanteau
  • B. Onomatopoeia
  • C. Clipping
  • D. Met analysis

Explanation: Metanalysis, or rebracketing, changes the perceived structure of adjoining sounds or words, such as transferring a consonant across a word…

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Correct answer: Met analysis

1499. ______________________is a processes of word formation wherein new words are coined by combining the segments of two different existing words?

  • A. Compounding
  • B. Portmanteau
  • C. Derivation
  • D. Backformation.

Explanation: A portmanteau is formed by blending segments of two existing words, as in brunch from breakfast and lunch.

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Correct answer: Portmanteau

1500. The /d/ in 'middle' is an instance of __________________?

  • A. Lateral plosion
  • B. Alveolar plosion
  • C. Nasal plosion
  • D. Incomplete plosion.Language Resources

Explanation: In middle, /d/ is followed by the lateral consonant /l/, so the released air escapes along the sides of the tongue, producing lateral…

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Correct answer: Lateral plosion
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