Introduction to Literary Studies

A. An awareness of the historical circumstances surrounding a text’s production
B. A set of objective criteria for critical analysis
C. An awareness of the economic circumstances surrounding a literary text
D. Strict criteria for evaluating the quality of a literary text

A. Typically poetic and fanciful language
B. Ancient languages
C. Complicated and difficult language
D. Common, everyday language

A. Pathos refers to a writer’s presentation of character and image.
B. Pathos refers to a writer’s ability to present evidence.
C. Pathos refers to a writer’s ability to inspire action in readers.
D. Pathos refers to a writer’s ability to inspire emotional responses in readers.

A. They involve the solving of a crime.
B. They explore mysterious religious topics.
C. They were written by medieval mystics.
D. They were produced by medieval craft guilds, which were knows as “mysteries”.

A. In a Greek tragedy, evil people are vanquished by the forces of good.
B. In a Greek tragedy, characters undergo reversals of fortune, usually for the worse.
C. In a Greek tragedy, the hero suffers but always survives at the end of the play.
D. In a Greek tragedy, the tragic hero dies at the end of the play.

A. According to research, 22 percent of the American population owns an unsecured handgun.
B. I own a handgun and keep it in a secure place in my house.
C. Every month in the United States, at least 100 children are wounded or killed as a result of unsecured handguns.
D. Handguns don’t kill people, people do

A. Shakespeare presents political rulers as flawless, perfect human beings.
B. Shakespeare presents political rulers as often meeting ruinous and violent endings.
C. Shakespeare only presents fictional political rulers and does not explore any political realities.
D. Shakespeare considers all political rulers to be corrupt.

A. a feeling of being disconnected from the world.
B. a sense of something being familiar and foreign at once.
C. terror at the thought of death.
D. a realization of one’s empowered position in the world.