Start learning →

MA English Literature Catharsis — practice questions

Explore 4 free Catharsis questions in MA English Literature English Literature. Open each question or exercise to read its content, reference answers and available explanation.

Practise Catharsis with Quill →

Catharsis questions and exercises with answers

Showing questions 1–4 of 4.

In Aristotle, tragedy effects 'the proper purgation of':Read the answer and worked solution →Aristotle's emotions of catharsis (pity and fear) are aroused by:Read the answer and worked solution →Catharsis, as Aristotle uses the term, refers to:Read the answer and worked solution →Tragedy effects the purgation of pity and:Read the answer and worked solution →

Worked practice questions

In Aristotle, tragedy effects 'the proper purgation of':

  1. Love and hate
  2. Joy and grief
  3. Pity and fear
  4. Hope and despair
Show answer and solution

Correct answer: C. Pity and fear

1. This is the canonical formula for catharsis. 2. The two emotions are aroused by witnessing tragic events. 3. Their purgation is tragedy's distinctive effect. _Source: Project Gutenberg #1974 — Aristotle's Poetics — "pity and fear effecting the proper purgation of these emotions"_

Open this question →

Aristotle's emotions of catharsis (pity and fear) are aroused by:

  1. Witnessing tragic events
  2. Reading philosophical dialogues
  3. Singing hymns
  4. Public debate
Show answer and solution

Correct answer: A. Witnessing tragic events

1. The Poetics ties the emotions specifically to dramatic spectatorship. 2. The two emotions distinguish tragedy's effect from comedy or epic. 3. The cathartic mechanism is a spectator-based theory of art. _Source: Project Gutenberg #1974 — Aristotle's Poetics — "The emotional purification occurs "through pity and fear," which are aroused by witnessing tragic events"_

Open this question →

Catharsis, as Aristotle uses the term, refers to:

  1. Emotional purgation produced by tragedy
  2. A rhetorical device
  3. A metrical pattern
  4. A type of plot twist
Show answer and solution

Correct answer: A. Emotional purgation produced by tragedy

1. Catharsis is the audience's emotional effect. 2. It is achieved via 'pity and fear.' 3. The brief's Theory bucket includes catharsis explicitly. _Source: Project Gutenberg #1974 — Aristotle's Poetics — "pity and fear effecting the proper purgation of these emotions"_

Open this question →

How to practise

  1. Choose a Catharsis question and try to work out your answer.
  2. Open the question to check the correct answer and read its worked solution.
  3. Continue in the app for bite-sized lessons, explanations and review with Quill. You can start without creating an account.

More English Literature topics

ShakespeareLiterary TheoryIndian English LiteratureAmerican LiteratureTagoreModernismWhitmanLiterary History