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MA English Literature Terms — practice questions

Explore 3 free Terms 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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Terms questions and exercises with answers

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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 →

Worked practice questions

Hamartia, as a literary term, denotes:

  1. A verse foot
  2. A successful business decision
  3. A rhetorical figure of speech
  4. A tragic error or frailty in the protagonist
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Correct answer: D. A tragic error or frailty in the protagonist

1. The term comes from Aristotle's Poetics. 2. It is distinguished from vice or depravity. 3. Hamartia is the cause of the tragic hero's fall. _Source: Project Gutenberg #1974 — Aristotle's Poetics — "misfortune is brought about not by vice or depravity, but by some error or frailty"_

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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
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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"_

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A 'foil' in literature is a character whose contrast highlights another character's:

  1. Family origins
  2. Distinguishing traits
  3. Costume choices
  4. Verse forms
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Correct answer: B. Distinguishing traits

1. Fortinbras as foil to Hamlet illustrates the device. 2. Active prince vs introspective prince — the contrast is structural. 3. The term is a basic critical category. _Source: Project Gutenberg #1524 — Shakespeare's Hamlet — "Fortinbras ... represents external political pressure and active revenge (contrasting Hamlet's hesitation)"_

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ShakespeareLiterary TheoryIndian English LiteratureAmerican LiteratureTagoreModernismWhitmanLiterary History