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MA English Literature Literary History — practice questions

Explore 16 free Literary History questions in MA English Literature English Literature. Open each question or exercise to read its content, reference answers and available explanation.

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Literary History questions and exercises with answers

Showing questions 1–16 of 16.

Which 19th-century novelist is conventionally placed in the Victorian period of British literature?Read the answer and worked solution →Among the canonical Romantic poets, the 'big six' standardly include all EXCEPT:Read the answer and worked solution →Which period spans the Old English / Anglo-Saxon literature?Read the answer and worked solution →Restoration drama refers to plays written after which event?Read the answer and worked solution →'Prosody' is the study of:Read the answer and worked solution →Which of the following is a rhetorical figure?Read the answer and worked solution →The Renaissance period in English literature coincides broadly with:Read the answer and worked solution →Medieval English literature follows which period?Read the answer and worked solution →Hamartia, as a literary term, denotes:Read the answer and worked solution →Catharsis, as Aristotle uses the term, refers to:Read the answer and worked solution →A 'foil' in literature is a character whose contrast highlights another character's:Read the answer and worked solution →The Romantic period spans roughly:Read the answer and worked solution →Victorian period dates are roughly:Read the answer and worked solution →The Anglo-Saxon period ends with which event?Read the answer and worked solution →The Renaissance in English literature spans roughly:Read the answer and worked solution →Order the ages of English writingRead the answer and worked solution →

Worked practice questions

Which 19th-century novelist is conventionally placed in the Victorian period of British literature?

  1. Christopher Marlowe
  2. Geoffrey Chaucer
  3. John Donne
  4. Charles Dickens
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Correct answer: D. Charles Dickens

1. The Victorian period spans approximately 1837-1901. 2. Dickens published most of his major novels in that window. 3. Chaucer (medieval), Donne (metaphysical), Marlowe (Renaissance) belong to earlier periods. _Source: Literary History — composite reference — "Romantic, Victorian, Modern, Postmodern (periodisation context)"_

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Among the canonical Romantic poets, the 'big six' standardly include all EXCEPT:

  1. Wordsworth
  2. Tennyson
  3. Coleridge
  4. Shelley
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Correct answer: B. Tennyson

1. Wordsworth, Coleridge, Byron, Shelley, Keats, Blake are the canonical six. 2. Tennyson belongs to the next generation (Victorian). 3. The chronology cleanly separates Romantic from Victorian. _Source: Literary History — composite reference — "Wordsworth, Coleridge, Keats, Shelley — Romantic cluster"_

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Which period spans the Old English / Anglo-Saxon literature?

  1. c.450-1066
  2. c.1066-1485
  3. c.1500-1660
  4. c.1660-1700
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Correct answer: A. c.450-1066

1. Anglo-Saxon literature runs from Anglo-Saxon migrations to the Norman Conquest (1066). 2. Beowulf is its single most canonical work. 3. The brief names 'Anglo-Saxon' as a period in the History bucket. _Source: Coverage brief — Literary History bucket — "Anglo-Saxon, Medieval, Restoration, Enlightenment, Modernism, Postmodernism"_

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