Free Literary Movements and Periods MCQs with Answers
529 Literary Movements and Periods MCQs from English Literature, each with the correct answer and a written explanation of why it is correct. Free and unlimited, with no account needed.
Last updated
529 questions · page 13 of 27
- A. The erratic movement of time and place
- B. The readers' unwavering empathy for Frankenstein
- C. The reliable narrator
- D. The mix of language in terms of voice, diction, and rhythm
Explanation: The novel uses a framed, non-linear narrative that moves between different times, places, and narrators, creating Gothic uncertainty.
Correct answer: The erratic movement of time and place- A. The anticipation of the violation of one's person versus an act of physical violence
- B. Plotted revenge versus random violence
- C. The male Gothic versus the female Gothic
- D. The persistence of the past in the present versus the betrayal in the present of the paternal protector
Explanation: Terror depends on suspense and the anticipation of danger, while horror presents the shocking sight or reality of violence.
Correct answer: The anticipation of the violation of one's person versus an act of physical violence- A. Daydreams
- B. Aberrant mental states
- C. Violence
- D. Sexual rapacity
Explanation: Gothic fiction commonly explores abnormal mental states, violence, and threatening sexual desire, whereas daydreams are not normally…
Correct answer: Daydreams- A. Realism
- B. An epistolary format
- C. A focus on the individual
- D. An English setting
Explanation: Like many eighteenth- and early-nineteenth-century novels, Gothic fiction centres on the individual and that person's fears, desires, and…
Correct answer: A focus on the individual- A. Antonia
- B. Charlotte Perkins Gilman
- C. Jane Eyre
- D. Mina Murray Harker
Explanation: Antonia, the vulnerable heroine of Matthew Lewis's The Monk, is presented chiefly as a persecuted and passive victim rather than as an…
Correct answer: Antonia- A. It shows the possible dangers of science.
- B. It exposes the deep flaws in medieval ways of thinking about the world.
- C. It marks a return to more primitive ways of pre-Enlightenment thought and expression.
- D. It suggests that reason is more important than emotion.
Explanation: The Castle of Otranto reacts against Enlightenment rationalism by reviving medieval settings, supernatural events, and older modes of…
Correct answer: It marks a return to more primitive ways of pre-Enlightenment thought and expression.- A. Imperialism
- B. The Woman Question
- C. Labor unions
- D. Theories of Darwinian evolution
Explanation: Dracula engages with imperial anxiety, changing gender roles, and contemporary evolutionary ideas, including fears shaped by Darwinism.
Correct answer: Labor unions- A. It represents a "doubling" of Queen Victoria by English women as they remake themselves in her image.
- B. It represents the "transformation" of the traditional Victorian woman from the private sphere to the public sphere.
- C. It represents the rise in psychological pathologies or "madness" in women in the late 19th century.
- D. It represents the "pollution" of the ideal woman by foreign influences.
Explanation: The New Woman was Gothic because she challenged the traditional Victorian division between a private female sphere and a public male…
Correct answer: It represents the "transformation" of the traditional Victorian woman from the private sphere to the public sphere.- A. It engenders confusion for both the novel's protagonist and readers.
- B. It offers a secure refuge for the novel's protagonist.
- C. It provides the space for a large community of people to congregate.
- D. It represents the glory of a bygone age.
Explanation: Gothic architecture uses corridors, towers, hidden rooms, and labyrinthine spaces to disorient both characters and readers.
Correct answer: It engenders confusion for both the novel's protagonist and readers.- A. They are almost always the subjects of omens and curses.
- B. They are typically heroes.
- C. They always express deviant sexual tendencies.
- D. They are perceived as dangerous because they are unknown.
Explanation: In Gothic fiction, the Other represents what lies outside familiar social, cultural, or psychological boundaries.
Correct answer: They are perceived as dangerous because they are unknown.- A. The unknown
- B. Transgression
- C. Reason
- D. The grotesque
Explanation: The Gothic is associated with the unknown, transgression, and grotesque imagery, whereas reason usually represents the force challenged by…
Correct answer: Reason- A. It represents male sexuality.
- B. It suggests female complicity in sexual deviance.
- C. It refers to the location of murder in Gothic novels.
- D. It symbolizes the forced sequestration of women both before and after marriage.
Explanation: The bloody bedchamber evokes women confined and controlled within domestic or marital spaces, often under threat of sexual violence.
Correct answer: It symbolizes the forced sequestration of women both before and after marriage.- A. Stoker's "Dracula"
- B. Beckford's "Vathek"
- C. Ancient civilizations worldwide
- D. Walpole's "The Castle of Otranto"
Explanation: The vampire myth predates Gothic novels and appears in various forms in the folklore and religious traditions of ancient and later…
Correct answer: Ancient civilizations worldwide- A. The decline in animal dissections
- B. The increase in scientific experimentation
- C. The end of absolute monarchy
- D. The end of the Vitalist Controversy
Explanation: The rise of scientific experimentation, especially investigations of anatomy, electricity, and the boundaries between life and death…
Correct answer: The increase in scientific experimentation- A. The body is represented in abnormal ways.
- B. Women's issues are interrogated.
- C. Gender issues are often overlooked.
- D. Many protagonists' mothers are absent.
Explanation: Queer and camp theory often focuses on bodies, identities, and performances that disrupt accepted norms.
Correct answer: The body is represented in abnormal ways.256. How did the term "Gothic" become associated with the literary phenomenon known as the Gothic novel ?
- A. The excessive violence found in the Gothic novel
- B. The barbarians that populate the Gothic novel
- C. The use of the word in the subtitle of Walpole's novel
- D. The style of architecture found in the Gothic novel
Explanation: Horace Walpole’s The Castle of Otranto carried the subtitle “A Gothic Story,” linking the word Gothic with the new literary form.
Correct answer: The use of the word in the subtitle of Walpole's novel- A. It leads the reader to overlook the beauty of nature.
- B. It reminds readers of their civic duties.
- C. It causes an experience of elestasis, or transport.
- D. It creates a sense of contentment.
Explanation: The sublime combines awe, terror and overwhelming grandeur, producing a feeling of ecstatic transport or elevation beyond ordinary…
Correct answer: It causes an experience of elestasis, or transport.- A. The American Revolution
- B. The French Revolution
- C. The Battle of Waterloo
- D. The Industrial Revolution
Explanation: Gothic fiction often became a metaphor for the French Revolution, especially the return of suppressed violence and the collapse of…
Correct answer: The French Revolution- A. The focus on the middle and working classes
- B. The consideration of the sensibilities of the protagonists
- C. Plots taken from everyday life
- D. The exploration of cultural taboos
Explanation: The Gothic novel differs from the emerging realist tradition by confronting forbidden desires, fears and cultural taboos rather than…
Correct answer: The exploration of cultural taboos- A. Vaulted ceilings
- B. The Middle Ages
- C. Complicated floor plans
- D. Neo-classicism
Explanation: Vaulted ceilings, medieval associations and complex structural designs are linked with Gothic architecture.
Correct answer: Neo-classicism