MTTC ENGLISH EXAM QUESTIONS AND
CORRECT ANSWERS
Biographical, deconstructionist, feminist, formalist, historical, mythological,
psychological, reader-response, sociological - Answer-Types of criticism
Formalist/New Criticism - Answer-Approach that analyzes the inherent features of a
text. Focus is not on author, historical context, or our own rxns, but on the text itself.
Focus on things like grammar, symbols, images...
Reader-Response - Answer-Approach that literature is a transaction between the
physical text and the readers mind. Readers might have different interpretations.
Ben Jonson - Answer-Major poet and dramatist of 17th century
"The Alchemist," "Volpone," and "Every Man in his Humor"
John Dryden - Answer-Great English poet, playwright, literary critic, and satirist
"The Conquest of Granada" (heroic play), "Marriage A-la-mode," "Don Sebastian," "All
for Love," (comedy's and tragedys), and "Absalom and Achiyophel" (satire poem)
Jeb-Baptiste Poquelin (Moliere) - Answer-Greatest playwright of his time
"The School for Wives" (New type of comedy, 1622), "La Tartuffe," and "The
Misanthrope"
John Donne - Answer-English metaphysical poet, pomes have strong sensual style
"To Catch a Falling Star," "The Flea," and "The Good Morrow"
Francis Bacon - Answer-English Renaissance essayist and philosopher, wrote on
science and scientific inquiry, promoted scientific method, 1600's
"New Atlantis," and "Instaruratio Magna"
Prose Fiction - Answer-Relies on peoples imagination, using universal themes to trigger
emotional responses from readers; opposite of nonfiction (facts)
Types: short stories, novels, novellas
Euripides - Answer-Master at creating complex characters with Rich emotional lives;
many of place are about the foolishness of war
, "Medea," "Hippolytus," and "Electra"
Aristophanes - Answer-Great playwright, greatest comedic right of his time; plays were
noted for brilliant dialogue, poetic lyrics, sharp parodies
"The Clouds," "The Wasps," "The Frogs," "The Birds," and "Lysistrata"
Virgil - Answer-One of the greatest Roman poets
"The Aeneid" (1 of the most influential in early classical literature, tells trials and
triumphs of Homer),"Eclogues," "Georgics"
Dante Alighieri - Answer-Greatest of Italian poets, major figure in the Renaissance's
revolution of arts and letters, critique of famous figures (Homer, Julius Caeser)
"The Divine Comedy" (religious themes, imagery)
Geoffrey Chaucer - Answer-ME Author, expanded writing beyond moral ideals to a
more inclusive view of the world
"The Canterbury Tales" (1st book of poetry written in English, characters are relevant to
Modern Day)
Sir Thomas Malory - Answer-Famous characters in his stories: King Arthur, Sir
Lancelot, Sir Gawain, Queen Guinevere
"Le Morte de Arthur"
Francois Rabelais - Answer-Works were a mix between social satire, comedy, and
humanist philosophy; works banned from Catholic Church
"Gargantuan and Pantagreul"
Christopher Marlowe - Answer-English author, most important Elizabethan dramatist
prior to Shakespeare, passionate protagonists, strength of verse, brilliant plotting
"Edward II", "Dr. Faustas," "Tamburlaine the Great," and " The Jew of Malta"
Edmund Spenser - Answer-Great Elizabethan poet and playwright
"The Faerie Queen" and "The Shepherdess Calendar"
T.S. Elliot - Answer-Poet, won 1948 Nobel Prize in literature; writing is abstract but has
innovative style, invented symbolism in Modern Era
CORRECT ANSWERS
Biographical, deconstructionist, feminist, formalist, historical, mythological,
psychological, reader-response, sociological - Answer-Types of criticism
Formalist/New Criticism - Answer-Approach that analyzes the inherent features of a
text. Focus is not on author, historical context, or our own rxns, but on the text itself.
Focus on things like grammar, symbols, images...
Reader-Response - Answer-Approach that literature is a transaction between the
physical text and the readers mind. Readers might have different interpretations.
Ben Jonson - Answer-Major poet and dramatist of 17th century
"The Alchemist," "Volpone," and "Every Man in his Humor"
John Dryden - Answer-Great English poet, playwright, literary critic, and satirist
"The Conquest of Granada" (heroic play), "Marriage A-la-mode," "Don Sebastian," "All
for Love," (comedy's and tragedys), and "Absalom and Achiyophel" (satire poem)
Jeb-Baptiste Poquelin (Moliere) - Answer-Greatest playwright of his time
"The School for Wives" (New type of comedy, 1622), "La Tartuffe," and "The
Misanthrope"
John Donne - Answer-English metaphysical poet, pomes have strong sensual style
"To Catch a Falling Star," "The Flea," and "The Good Morrow"
Francis Bacon - Answer-English Renaissance essayist and philosopher, wrote on
science and scientific inquiry, promoted scientific method, 1600's
"New Atlantis," and "Instaruratio Magna"
Prose Fiction - Answer-Relies on peoples imagination, using universal themes to trigger
emotional responses from readers; opposite of nonfiction (facts)
Types: short stories, novels, novellas
Euripides - Answer-Master at creating complex characters with Rich emotional lives;
many of place are about the foolishness of war
, "Medea," "Hippolytus," and "Electra"
Aristophanes - Answer-Great playwright, greatest comedic right of his time; plays were
noted for brilliant dialogue, poetic lyrics, sharp parodies
"The Clouds," "The Wasps," "The Frogs," "The Birds," and "Lysistrata"
Virgil - Answer-One of the greatest Roman poets
"The Aeneid" (1 of the most influential in early classical literature, tells trials and
triumphs of Homer),"Eclogues," "Georgics"
Dante Alighieri - Answer-Greatest of Italian poets, major figure in the Renaissance's
revolution of arts and letters, critique of famous figures (Homer, Julius Caeser)
"The Divine Comedy" (religious themes, imagery)
Geoffrey Chaucer - Answer-ME Author, expanded writing beyond moral ideals to a
more inclusive view of the world
"The Canterbury Tales" (1st book of poetry written in English, characters are relevant to
Modern Day)
Sir Thomas Malory - Answer-Famous characters in his stories: King Arthur, Sir
Lancelot, Sir Gawain, Queen Guinevere
"Le Morte de Arthur"
Francois Rabelais - Answer-Works were a mix between social satire, comedy, and
humanist philosophy; works banned from Catholic Church
"Gargantuan and Pantagreul"
Christopher Marlowe - Answer-English author, most important Elizabethan dramatist
prior to Shakespeare, passionate protagonists, strength of verse, brilliant plotting
"Edward II", "Dr. Faustas," "Tamburlaine the Great," and " The Jew of Malta"
Edmund Spenser - Answer-Great Elizabethan poet and playwright
"The Faerie Queen" and "The Shepherdess Calendar"
T.S. Elliot - Answer-Poet, won 1948 Nobel Prize in literature; writing is abstract but has
innovative style, invented symbolism in Modern Era
