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This test consists of 15 multiple choice questions and 5 short answer questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. According to Jacques Lacan, what is the "symbolic order"?
(a) It is the pre-given structure of social and sexual roles that make up the family and society.
(b) It is the emergence of an imaginary conflict with the parental figures.
(c) It is the pre-given structure of social and sexual desires that make up a self.
(d) It is the reconciliation of an imaginary conflict with the parental figures.

2. In psychoanalytic treatment, what happens during transference?
(a) The patient "transfers" on to the analyst the conflicts she or he suffers from.
(b) The analyst "transfers" on to the patient the conflicts she or he suffers from.
(c) The patient "transfers" on to the analyst feelings she or he experiences.
(d) The analyst "transfers" on to the patient the diagnosis.

3. What is the "final logical move" for literary theory, according to Eagleton?
(a) To privatize theory for the general public.
(b) To recognize that it is an illusion.
(c) To subjugate literature for its own ends.
(d) To distance itself from the text.

4. For the literary theorist, Mikhail Bakhtin, "linguistic community" was what kind of society?
(a) Exclusive.
(b) Heterogeneous.
(c) Inclusive.
(d) Homogenous.

5. Why is structuralism "anti-humanist," for Eagleton?
(a) Because it rejected the myth the individual experience begins and ends with structure.
(b) Because it rejected the myth that humanity was humane.
(c) Because it rejected the myth that individuality was humanist.
(d) Because it rejected the myth that meaning begins and ends with individual experience.

6. According to Eagleton, "the idea that there are 'non-political' forms of criticism" is a what?
(a) Ideal.
(b) Fact.
(c) Myth.
(d) Reality.

7. According to Eagleton, what is the disadvantage of claiming literature as more valuable and rewarding than other texts?
(a) Because it is no longer true.
(b) Because it is untrue.
(c) Because it is true.
(d) Because it partly true.

8. In American deconstruction, why does literary criticism become an "ironic, uneasy business"?
(a) Because it lays bare the temporality of meaning.
(b) Because it lays bare the illusoriness of meaning.
(c) Because it lays bare the permanence of meaning.
(d) Because it lays bare the physicality of meaning.

9. According to Eagleton, structuralism exposed what "shocking truth"?
(a) That even our most intimate experience is the effect of a structure.
(b) That even our most painful experience is outside the realm of structure.
(c) The even our most private thoughts is caused by structure.
(d) That even our most pleasurable experience is outside the realm of structure.

10. What are the three points Eagleton notes about the method of structuralism?
(a) It is evaluative not analytic; it refuses obvious meaning of the text; and the narrative content is its meaning.
(b) It is analytic not evaluative; it refuses obvious meaning of the text; and the content of the narrative is its structure.
(c) It is idealistic not rational; it doesn't understand the obvious meaning of the text; and the narrative content is its meaning.
(d) It is rational not idealistic; it accepts the obvious meaning of the text; and the content of the narrative is its structure.

11. Why is psychosis difficult to cope with, according to Sigmund Freud?
(a) Because psychosis is difficult to perceive.
(b) Because psychosis is only treatable with shock therapy.
(c) Because the psychotic is violent.
(d) Because the psychotic has lost contact with reality.

12. According to Eagleton, "the tactic of _________criticism ... is to show how texts come to embarrass their own ruling systems of logic."
(a) Psychoanalytic.
(b) Post-structuralist.
(c) Feminist.
(d) Deconstructive.

13. For Eagleton, what are the two ways in which literary theory can have a distinct purpose and identity?
(a) It can define itself in terms of eradicating inquiry or the object being enquire into.
(b) It can define itself in terms of methods of inquiry or the object being enquired into.
(c) It can define itself in terms of other methods of inquiry and the manner of enquiry.
(d) It can define itself in terms of methods of inquiry and the manner of enquiry.

14. According to Eagleton, why is Sigmund Freud's discussion of women problematic?
(a) Because of his troubling personal relationships.
(b) Because of his glorification of men in his work.
(c) Because of his sexist and demeaning attitudes toward women.
(d) Because of his refusal to discuss women in his work.

15. What does Sigmund Freud call the first stage of sexual life?
(a) The oral stage.
(b) The anal stage.
(c) The erogenous stage.
(d) The phallic stage.

Short Answer Questions

1. How are "writable" texts different from ones that can be read?

2. According to Eagleton, who would an ideal reader be for a structuralist?

3. According to the Soviet semiotician Yury Lotman, a poetic text is "semantically _________."

4. Why should politics engage with questions of sexual ideology, according to Eagleton?

5. What literary movement, according to Eagleton, "brought structuralist and post-structuralist criticism to birth in the first place"?

(see the answer keys)

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