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This quiz consists of 5 multiple choice and 5 short answer questions through Conclusion, Political Criticism.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What is the root of the present crisis in literary studies, according to Eagleton?
(a) The subjugation of theory.
(b) The inclusion of non-canonical works.
(c) The conflict over methodology.
(d) The definition of the subject.

2. According to Eagleton, what is ironic about those who complain of the difficulty of literary theory?
(a) "That those who complain are often uncivilised and uneducated."
(b) "That those who complain would not expect to understand a textbook of biology or chemical engineering."
(c) "That those who complain are often civilised and educated."
(d) "That those who complain would expect to understand a textbook of biology or chemical engineering."

3. According to Eagleton, what does his book try to demonstrate about a body of literary theory?
(a) That there are several bodies of literary theory that spring from and is applicable to literature alone.
(b) That there is no body of literary theory that springs from or is applicable to literature alone.
(c) That there is one body of literary theory that springs from and is applicable to literature alone.
(d) That there is sometimes a body of literary theory that springs from and is applicable to literature alone.

4. According to the Soviet semiotician Yury Lotman, a poetic text is "semantically _________."
(a) Irrational.
(b) Transparent.
(c) Saturated.
(d) Rational.

5. For Roland Barthes, what kind of literature attempts to conceal the constructed nature of language?
(a) Fantasy.
(b) Post-structuralist.
(c) Feminist.
(d) Realist.

Short Answer Questions

1. In American deconstruction, why does literary criticism become an "ironic, uneasy business"?

2. What three sequential stages does Eagleton point out in the development of modern literary theory?

3. For Eagleton, what are the two ways in which literary theory can have a distinct purpose and identity?

4. What is "imaginative" literature or literature that is not necessarily true?

5. What is the name of the critic from the Constance school of reception aesthetics and the author of "The Act of Reading" who Eagleton discusses at length?

(see the answer key)

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