Correct Answers and Analysis
Description: ENG2613 Exam Portfolio for October/November 2023 containing verified answers,
essays, and analytical responses. Covers critical interpretation, poetry analysis, and academic
writing components required for the ENG2613 module.
Keywords: ENG2613 exam portfolio 2023 english literature exam answers critical interpretation
analysis verified portfolio responses unisa english studies
ENG2613 Exam Portfolio October/November 2023 || Verified English Studies Portfolio with
Correct Answers and Analysis
Disclaimer: This portfolio is a study guide designed to simulate the type of questions and
analytical responses expected in the ENG2613 exam. It is based on common literary concepts,
critical approaches, and prescribed texts typical of this module. Students should use this in
conjunction with their own notes, the official study guide, and prescribed texts.
Section A: Foundations of Literary Study & Critical Approaches (Questions 1-30)
1. What is the primary focus of literary theory?
a) To find the one true meaning of a text.
b) To appreciate the beauty of language.
c) To provide readers with a set of tools and perspectives for interpreting texts.
d) To summarize the plot of a story.
Answer: c) To provide readers with a set of tools and perspectives for interpreting texts.
2. A critic using Marxist theory would be most interested in:
a) The author's unconscious desires.
b) The representation of class struggles and economic power.
c) The symbolic meaning of natural imagery.
d) The grammatical structure of sentences.
Answer: b) The representation of class struggles and economic power.
3. What is the term for the "I" voice in a poem or narrative?
a) Protagonist
,b) Persona
c) Speaker
d) Narrator
Answer: c) Speaker (While often used interchangeably with 'narrator', 'speaker' is the
preferred term for poetry.)
4. Feminist criticism primarily seeks to:
a) Analyze texts written only by women.
b) Examine how literature reinforces or challenges patriarchal ideologies.
c) Focus exclusively on the portrayal of female characters.
d) Promote female authors over male authors.
Answer: b) Examine how literature reinforces or challenges patriarchal ideologies.
5. The phrase "a host of golden daffodils" is an example of:
a) A metaphor
b) A simile
c) Personification
d) An allusion
Answer: a) A metaphor (The daffodils are directly compared to a host without using "like"
or "as".)
6. In narratology, the difference between 'story' (fabula) and 'plot' (sjuzhet) is:
a) Story is the chronological sequence of events; plot is the order and manner in which they are
presented.
b) Story is the emotional impact; plot is the logical structure.
c) They are synonymous terms.
d) Story is for novels; plot is for short stories.
Answer: a) Story is the chronological sequence of events; plot is the order and manner in
which they are presented.
7. Which critical approach is most concerned with the unconscious mind, dreams, and
repression?
a) Psychoanalytic Criticism
b) Postcolonial Criticism
c) New Criticism
d) Reader-Response Criticism
Answer: a) Psychoanalytic Criticism
8. The term 'intertextuality' refers to:
a) The relationship between text and images.
, b) The way texts influence and refer to other texts.
c) The internal structure of a single text.
d) The study of ancient texts.
Answer: b) The way texts influence and refer to other texts.
9. Defamiliarization, a concept from Russian Formalism, aims to:
a) Make readers feel comfortable and familiar with a text.
b) Make the familiar seem strange to refresh our perception.
c) Use familiar folk tales as a basis for new stories.
d) Translate texts into familiar languages.
Answer: b) Make the familiar seem strange to refresh our perception.
10. A postcolonial critic reading Things Fall Apart would likely focus on:
a) Okonkwo's personal tragic flaw.
b) The rhythmic structure of the proverbs.
c) The impact of British colonialism on Igbo society and identity.
d) The novel's use of biblical allusions.
Answer: c) The impact of British colonialism on Igbo society and identity.
11. What does the 'signifier' and 'signified' constitute in Saussurean linguistics?
a) The author and the reader.
b) The sound/image of a word and the concept it represents.
c) The beginning and the end of a story.
d) The protagonist and the antagonist.
Answer: b) The sound/image of a word and the concept it represents.
12. Reader-Response theory argues that meaning is primarily created by:
a) The author's intention.
b) The text itself.
c) The reader's interaction with the text.
d) The historical context.
Answer: c) The reader's interaction with the text.
13. What is the primary setting of Waiting for the Barbarians by J.M. Coetzee?
a) A lush, tropical island.
b) A remote frontier settlement of an unnamed Empire.
c) Victorian London.
d) The American Wild West.
Answer: b) A remote frontier settlement of an unnamed Empire.