Resource Index
- Q51: Critical Phrases & Authors Match
- Q52: Tabula Rasa & John Locke
- Q53: Biography of Richard Savage
- Q54: Works of Thomas Carlyle
- Q55: The "Condition of England" Debate
- Q56: Critics on Charlotte Brontë
- Q57: Peacock's "Four Ages of Poetry"
- Q58: Texts of Victorian Criticism
- Q59: Chronology of Prose Writers
- Q60: New Criticism Texts & Critics
- Set 4: Active Recall Zone
- Set 4: Frequently Asked Questions
Question 51: Match List I with List II
List I (Concepts)
A. Egotistical sublime
B. Willing suspension of disbelief
C. Touchstone
D. Pleasures of the Imagination
List II (Critics/Authors)
I. Matthew Arnold
II. Joseph Addison
III. John Keats
IV. Samuel Taylor Coleridge
Choose the correct answer from the options given below:
Answer: 1. (A)-(III), (B)-(IV), (C)-(I), (D)-(II)
Correct Mappings:(Asked in Exam)
- Egotistical sublime -> John Keats: A phrase coined by Keats in an 1818 letter to describe the poetry of William Wordsworth, expressing its underlying self-centred nature. This contrasts with Keats's ideal of 'negative capability' found in Shakespeare.
- Willing suspension of disbelief -> Samuel Taylor Coleridge: The phrase first appeared in Coleridge's Biographia Literaria (1817), suggesting readers avoid critical logic to enjoy stories with implausible elements if infused with "human interest."
- Touchstone -> Matthew Arnold: Introduced in his "Preface to the volume of 1853 poems," denoting short, distinctive passages from great poets used to determine the relative value of other works.
- Pleasures of the Imagination -> Joseph Addison: A philosophical essay published in The Spectator (1712).
Question 52: Who proposed the idea that the mind at the time of birth is like a blank slate or tabula rasa?
Answer: 1. John Locke
John Locke proposed the idea of the mind as a "tabula rasa" in "An Essay Concerning Human Understanding" (1689).(Asked in Exam)
He describes the mind at birth as a blank slate (tabula rasa, although he did not use those actual Latin words in the text) filled later through experience. The essay was one of the principal sources of empiricism in modern philosophy and influenced Enlightenment philosophers such as David Hume and George Berkeley.
Other Explanations
- Francis Bacon: Called the father of empiricism. He argued for scientific knowledge based only upon inductive reasoning.
- J. S. Mill: A proponent of utilitarianism and author of The Subjection of Women.
- Bertrand Russell: Wrote Principia Mathematica, a milestone in classical logic.
Question 53: An Account of the Life of Mr Richard Savage, Son of Earl Rivers (1744) was the first major biography published by
Answer: 3. Samuel Johnson
Samuel Johnson's "Life of Mr Richard Savage" (1744) is a significant biography that marked his debut in the genre.(Asked in Exam)
Published anonymously, it portrays the tumultuous life of Richard Savage, a London poet and close acquaintance of Johnson. The biography delves into Savage's assertion of being the illegitimate child of a noble family who disowned him. Its inclusion later in The Lives of the Poets (1779) solidified its importance as a stepping stone in Johnson's career.
Other Explanations
James Boswell's The Life of Samuel Johnson, LL.D. (1791) is a renowned biography chronicling the life of Dr. Samuel Johnson himself. It stands out for its comprehensive accounts of Johnson's conversations and is regarded as one of the greatest biographies in the English language.
Question 54: Which of the following works have been authored by Thomas Carlyle?
A. Chartism
B. Past and Present
C. The French Revolution
D. Suspiria de Profundis
E. The English Mail Coach
Choose the correct answer from the options given below:
Answer: 1. A, B and C
Thomas Carlyle authored Chartism, Past and Present, and The French Revolution.(Asked in Exam)
Major Works by Thomas Carlyle:
- Sartor Resartus (1831)
- The French Revolution: A History (1837)
- Chartism (1839)
- On Heroes, Hero-Worship, and the Heroic in History (1841)
- Past and Present (1843)
- Oliver Cromwell's Letters and Speeches (1845)
Other Explanations
Thomas De Quincey authored the remaining works:
- Suspiria de profundis (1845): A collection of essays/prose poems examining the process of memory influenced by hallucinogenic drug use.
- The English Mail-Coach (1849): A masterpiece essay published in Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine.
Question 55: The debate on "the condition of England question" was initiated by
Answer: 3. Thomas Carlyle
The Condition-of-England question was proposed by Thomas Carlyle in his essay Chartism (1839).(Asked in Exam)
It was a debate in the Victorian era over the issue of the English working class during the Industrial Revolution. After assessing Chartism as "the bitter discontent grown fierce and mad... of the Working Classes of England", Carlyle raised critical questions about their future integration and relief.
Other Explanations
- William Hazlitt: Known for Characters of Shakespeare's Plays (1817) and The Spirit of the Age (1825).
- Walter Bagehot: Co-founder of the National Review (1855) and author of The English Constitution.
- Matthew Arnold: Championed the concept of "culture" in Culture and Anarchy (1869).
Question 56: Who, among the following, wrote about Charlotte Bronte that her mind contained nothing but hunger, rebellion, and rage"?
Answer: 2. Matthew Arnold
Matthew Arnold complained that Charlotte Brontë's mind "contained nothing but hunger, rebellion, and rage."(Asked in Exam)
Jane Eyre, published under the pseudonym Currer Bell, was an instant success but was considered coarse by some contemporaries due to its gothic intensity. While Virginia Woolf also caught onto the violent aspects of Brontë's work (asserting that "All her force... goes into the assertion, 'I love,' 'I hate,' 'I suffer'"), it was Arnold who explicitly criticised her underlying rage and rebellion.
Question 57: Thomas Love Peacock authored the essay
Answer: 3. "Four Ages of Poetry"
"The Four Ages of Poetry" is an 1820 essay by Thomas Love Peacock.(Asked in Exam)
It serves as a significant study of poetry and notably inspired his close friend Percy Bysshe Shelley to write his "Defence of Poetry." Peacock parodies both poets and utilitarians, critiquing Romantic poets from a utilitarian perspective with a sharp, satirical edge.
William Hazlitt
Authored "An Essay on the Principles of Human Action" (1805), Characters of Shakespeare's Plays, and The Spirit of the Age.
Thomas De Quincey
Authored "Revolt of the Tartars" (1837), Confessions of an English Opium-Eater, and Suspiria de Profundis.
John Ruskin
Authored "The Seven Lamps of Architecture" (1849), Modern Painters, and The Stones of Venice.
Question 58: Some of the following are significant texts of Victorian Criticism. Identify them.
A. Studies in the History of the Renaissance
B. From Rituals to Romance
C. "Hamlet and His Problems"
D. "The Function of Criticism in the Present Time"
E. Modern Painters
Choose the correct answer from the options given below:
Answer: 2. A, D, and E
Victorian Criticism Texts:(Asked in Exam)
- A. Studies in the History of the Renaissance (1873): By Walter Pater, an English essayist and critic. It became a manifesto for Aestheticism.
- D. "The Function of Criticism at the Present Time" (1865): A highly influential essay by Matthew Arnold serving as the preface to his Essays in Criticism.
- E. Modern Painters (1843-1860): A five-volume work by Victorian art critic John Ruskin defending J. M. W. Turner and arguing for accurate documentation of nature.
Other Explanations (Modernist Texts)
B. From Ritual to Romance (1920): By Jessie Weston. An examination of King Arthur legends and the Holy Grail tradition (influenced T.S. Eliot).
C. "Hamlet and His Problems" (1919): By T.S. Eliot. Coined the "objective correlative" and claimed Hamlet is an artistic failure.
Question 59: What is the correct chronological sequence of the following English non-fictional prose writers according to their years of birth?
A. Joseph Addison
B. Francis Bacon
C. Charles Lamb
D. Virginia Woolf
E. Matthew Arnold
Choose the correct answer from the options given below:
Answer: 2. B, A, C, E, D
1561
Francis Bacon (1561-1626): Influential English philosopher and statesman.
1672
Joseph Addison (1672-1719): English essayist, poet, and co-creator of The Spectator.
1775
Charles Lamb (1775-1834): Renowned for Essays of Elia.
1822
Matthew Arnold (1822-1888): Victorian poet and social critic (Culture and Anarchy).
1882
Virginia Woolf (1882-1941): Novelist and foundational literary critic (A Room of One's Own).
Question 60: Match List I with List II
List I (Texts)
A. Practical Criticism
B. The New Criticism
C. The Well-Wrought Urn
D. The Great Tradition
Choose the correct answer from the options given below:
Answer: 2. A-III, B-I, C-IV, D-II
Correct Mappings:(Asked in Exam)
- Practical Criticism -> I.A. Richards: Published in 1929, crucial for establishing the methodology of New Criticism.
- The New Criticism -> John Crowe Ransom: His 1941 book gave this formalist movement its official name.
- The Well Wrought Urn -> Cleanth Brooks: A seminal 1947 New Critical study analyzing the structure of poetry (referencing John Donne).
- The Great Tradition -> F.R. Leavis: A 1948 work mapping the pantheon of great English novelists (Austen, Eliot, James, Conrad).
Active Recall Zone
Solidify your knowledge from the Literary Criticism section (Q51-Q60):
- Who coined the phrase "egotistical sublime" to describe Wordsworth's poetry?
(John Keats) - Which Victorian critic stated that Charlotte Brontë's mind contained "nothing but hunger, rebellion, and rage"?
(Matthew Arnold) - Who initiated the "Condition of England" debate in 1839 with the essay *Chartism*?
(Thomas Carlyle) - Which 1941 book by John Crowe Ransom gave an entire 20th-century formalist movement its name?
(The New Criticism)
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Matthew Arnold's concept of a "Touchstone"?
Introduced in his 1853 Preface, "touchstones" are short, distinctive, and universally recognized passages of great poetry (from poets like Shakespeare or Milton) used as an objective standard to judge the merit of other poems.
What was the significance of John Locke's "tabula rasa"?
In his 1689 Essay Concerning Human Understanding, Locke posited that the human mind is a blank slate at birth, and that all knowledge is subsequently derived entirely from sensory experience. This became the foundational concept of philosophical empiricism.
