Statements Wise Question

Correct Answer: 1. B, C and E Only ✅ Corrected Matches: B. Tiger Claw – Lakhan Deb ✅ A historical play focused on Tipu Sultan, written by the Indian playwright and poet Lakhan Deb. C. The Flute of Krishna – P. A. Krishnaswami ✅ A children's play written by P. A. Krishnaswami, dramatizing scenes from Lord Krishna's life. E. Hayavadana – Girish Karnad ✅ A landmark Indian play written in 1971, exploring identity, completeness, and folklore. ❌ Incorrect Matches: A. Hali – Rabindranath Tagore ❌ Hali is a long poem written by Altaf Hussain Hali, not a play, and not by Rabindranath Tagore. D. Nalini – Gurucharan Das ❌ Nalini is actually an early play by Rabindranath Tagore, not Gurucharan Das. Gurucharan Das is known for plays like Mira and Larins Sahib.

Detailed Explanation:

:

This type of matching question is common in UGC NET English, testing both literary knowledge and precision in attribution. Remembering lesser-known authors and their unique contributions — such as Lakhan Deb or P. A. Krishnaswami — can give you an edge. Always verify early plays and poetry to avoid confusion between genres and authors

Correct Answer: 2. A, D and E Only ✅ A. Geoffrey Chaucer wrote The Canterbury Tales, Troilus and Criseyde and Legend of Goode Women. ✔️ Correct Chaucer is the author of all three: The Canterbury Tales: A famous collection of stories told by pilgrims. Troilus and Criseyde: A tragic love poem based on classical sources. The Legend of Good Women: A dream vision poem focused on virtuous women. ❌ B. John Milton wrote The Masque of Comus, Astrophel and Stella, and Paradise Lost. ❌ Incorrect The Masque of Comus and Paradise Lost were indeed written by John Milton. But Astrophel and Stella was written by Sir Philip Sidney, not Milton. ❌ C. S. T. Coleridge composed The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, Christabel, and The Curse of Kehama. ❌ Incorrect The Rime of the Ancient Mariner and Christabel are by Coleridge. But The Curse of Kehama was written by Robert Southey, not Coleridge. ✅ D. Shakespeare wrote Two Gentlemen of Verona, Rape of Lucrece, and Troilus and Cressida. ✔️ Correct All three are authentic works by William Shakespeare: Two Gentlemen of Verona: One of his early comedies. The Rape of Lucrece: A narrative poem. Troilus and Cressida: A tragicomedy blending history and classical myth. ✅ E. Alexander Pope's works include The Dunciad, The Rape of the Lock, and Epistle. ✔️ Correct These are all major works by Alexander Pope: The Dunciad: A satirical poem. The Rape of the Lock: A mock-epic. Epistles: Includes Epistle to Dr Arbuthnot and others from Moral Essays. 📘

Detailed Explanation:

(UGC NET English)

This question tests your foundational knowledge of canonical authors and their major works — a core area in UGC NET English. Always double-check for attribution errors, especially with authors like Coleridge and Milton, who are often confused with contemporaries. A well-maintained timeline of authors and titles helps crack such questions swiftly in the exam.

Correct Answer: 3. B, C and E Only 🔍 A. Patrick White, Christina Stead and Robertson Davies are famous Australian novelists. ❌ Incorrect Patrick White and Christina Stead are Australian novelists. Robertson Davies, however, is a Canadian novelist. So, this statement is partially correct, but the inclusion of Davies makes it factually incorrect for this question. ✅ B. The notion of "civilized barbarity" was anticipated in H. Rider Haggard's 1887 novel Allan Quatermain, in which "Civilization" is said to be "only savagery silver-gilt". ✔️ Correct This is an accurate description of a central theme in Allan Quatermain, where Haggard critiques the thin veneer of British imperial civilization. ✅ C. Novels like The French Lieutenant’s Woman, Midnight’s Children, and Waterland deconstruct traditional notions of history and subjectivity. ✔️ Correct These are all postmodern novels known for: Metafictional techniques Historiographic metafiction (as per Linda Hutcheon) Challenging linear narratives and fixed identity. ❌ D. O'Brian's Country Girls trilogy and McGahern's The Dark, which were banned in Ireland, were published during 1950s. ❌ Incorrect The Country Girls by Edna O'Brien was published in 1960, not the 1950s. The Dark by John McGahern was published in 1965. So the decade mentioned is wrong. ✅ E. The trauma of the mid-century years accounts for the prevalence of dystopian elements in novels like A Clockwork Orange, Lanark, and The Handmaid’s Tale. ✔️ Correct All three novels portray dystopian or dark social visions, shaped by: Post-WWII trauma Cold War anxieties Concerns over authoritarianism, gender oppression, and loss of individuality.

Detailed Explanation:

(UGC NET English)

This type of multi-statement question is a staple in UGC NET English, blending literary history, postcolonialism, and modern/postmodern analysis. A critical eye for minor factual inaccuracies — like wrong decades or misattributed nationalities — is key to accuracy. Regular reading of literary timelines and thematic groupings enhances success in such questions.

Correct Answer: 3. A, C and E Only

Detailed Explanation:

:



✅ A. Charles Lamb was a lifelong friend of Coleridge and defender of the poetic creed of Wordsworth.

✔️ Correct

Lamb and Coleridge were indeed lifelong friends from their school days at Christ’s Hospital.





While not a prominent literary theorist himself, Lamb supported and admired Wordsworth’s poetry, though with a critical mind.







❌ B. The London crowd, with its pleasures and occupations, wever [sic] attracted Charles Lamb.

❌ Incorrect

This is factually incorrect.





Lamb loved London and often wrote about it affectionately in his Essays of Elia.





However, the term "never attracted" (assuming "wever" is a typo) is wrong — he was indeed charmed by London life.







✅ C. Charles Lamb gave us the best pen-portraits of Coleridge, Hazlitt, Landor, Hood, and many more of the interesting men and women of his age.

✔️ Correct

His essays often included vivid sketches of his contemporaries, especially in Essays of Elia.





These character sketches are admired for their warmth and insight.







❌ D. Charles Lamb wrote Essays of Elia, Tales from Shakespeare and The Revolt of the Tartars.

❌ Incorrect

Lamb did not write The Revolt of the Tartars.





That was written by Thomas De Quincey.





However, he did co-author Tales from Shakespeare with his sister Mary Lamb, and authored Essays of Elia.







✅ E. Lamb was especially fond of old writers, and was apparently unable to express his new thought without using their old quaint expressions.

✔️ Correct

Lamb had a deep love for Elizabethan and earlier prose writers.





His style often mirrors quaint, antiquated diction, especially that of Thomas Browne and Fuller.







✅ Correct Answer: 3. A, C and E Only



📝 Commentary (UGC NET English)

This question reflects the kind of deep contextual familiarity required for UGC NET English. Candidates must distinguish between biographical fact, literary attribution, and stylistic characterization. Misattributions like The Revolt of the Tartars are frequent traps in the exam. Knowing Charles Lamb’s literary circle, his stylistic preferences, and his contribution as an essayist is crucial to mastering the Romantic and early Victorian prose sections.

Correct Answer: 2. A, B and D Only

Detailed Explanation:

Language is correctly defined in the statements A, B, and D.

The first statement is accurate because language does use symbols—primarily vocal but sometimes visual—and involves phonetics, phonology, writing systems, orthography, and nonverbal communication, all of which are recognized subfields.

The second statement rightly emphasizes communication and includes appropriate subfields like sentence processing, pragmatics, discourse analysis, and conversation analysis, which focus on how language is used in context.

The fourth statement offers a well-accepted general definition of language, highlighting its systematic and symbolic nature using sounds, signs, gestures, or marks with shared meanings.

Statement C is partly true in describing symbols with conventional meanings, but the subfields listed such as universal grammar and emergentism are theoretical models or interdisciplinary fields rather than traditional linguistic subfields.

Statement E inaccurately limits the definition by saying language is region-specific. While some subfields listed are correct, the framing is misleading and narrows the concept of language unnecessarily.

Final Answer: A, B, and D only

Commentary (UGC NET English):

UGC NET English often tests conceptual clarity in linguistics. Questions on language definitions aim to assess your understanding of both classical definitions and the proper classification of linguistic subfields. Stick to definitions that reflect universal features of language.

Correct Answer: 1. B, C and E Only

Detailed Explanation:

The correct events corresponding with their respective years are:

The first ELTI (English Language Teaching Institute) was established in Allahabad in 1954.

The Central Institute of English and Foreign Languages (CIEFL) was established in Hyderabad in 1958.

The National Education Policy (NEP) and Programme of Action (POA) were launched in 1986.



Other Options

The statement about the Official Languages Commission is incorrect because it was established in 1955, not 1936.

Also, the National Policy on Education did not come in 1960—it was first framed in 1968.

So, the correct statements are B, C, and E only.

Correct Answer: 2. B, C and E Only "She dominates the lives of kings and conquerors in fiction." – This is a key observation made by Virginia Woolf in A Room of One’s Own about how women are idealized in fiction but silenced in reality. ✅ "She pervades poetry from cover to cover; she is all but absent from history." – This too comes from Woolf’s critique of historical erasure of women despite their literary presence. ✅ "(I)n real life she could hardly read, could scarcely spell, and was the property of her husband." – Woolf famously contrasts the imaginative power granted to women in literature with their restricted roles in real life. ✅ "She is born stupid and can do nothing but stupidity." – This is not Woolf’s view; it is contrary to her feminist stance. ❌ She criticized Shakespeare for being harsh and rude to his female characters in his plays. – Woolf did not criticize Shakespeare for his portrayal of women; in fact, she praised his imaginative sympathy and lamented the lack of opportunity for a hypothetical sister of Shakespeare. ❌ Thus, B, C, and E only are the correct statements.

Detailed Explanation:

(UGC NET English):

UGC NET English frequently includes questions on Virginia Woolf's feminist thought. Focus on A Room of One’s Own for recurring themes like gendered history, literary representation of women, and the social constraints on female creativity.

Correct Answer: 4. A, C and D only Here is the verified explanation: "The ability to know what is best" – Matthew Arnold, in Culture and Anarchy (1869), defines culture as the ability to recognize the best that has been thought and said in the world. ✅ "The mental and spiritual application of what is best" – Arnold emphasizes that culture is not just knowledge but its internalization and application, particularly in the spiritual and moral realm. ✅ "The pursuit of what is best" – Arnold sees culture as an active process, a continual pursuit of human perfection by seeking the best ideals and values. ✅ "The ability to know what is worst" and "The pursuit of what is worst" – These are not Arnoldian ideas and go against the core of his humanistic and idealistic vision. ❌ Hence, the correct set is: A, C, and D only

Detailed Explanation:

(UGC NET English):

In UGC NET English, Arnold’s views on culture, anarchy, and sweetness and light are crucial. His notion of culture as moral and intellectual refinement rooted in the best traditions of thought appears frequently in cultural studies and criticism-related questions.

Correct Answer: 2. A, C and D Only

Detailed Explanation:

Statement A: "The husband was called the lord of the wife."

✅ Correct – J. S. Mill clearly criticizes the historical legal subordination of women, stating that men were often referred to as the lords over their wives, both legally and socially.

Statement B: "She is a slave of any boy whose parents forces a ring upon her finger."

❌ Incorrect – This exact phrasing does not appear in Mill’s text. It uses hyperbolic language that is uncharacteristic of Mill's more measured and philosophical tone.

Statement C: "Wives are in general no better treated than slaves."

✅ Correct – Mill makes direct analogies between wives and slaves, pointing out the lack of legal rights and agency women had in marriage.

Statement D: "The wife is the actual bondservant of her husband."

✅ Correct – Mill compares wives to bondservants, describing how patriarchal marriage structures reduce women’s status to that of lifelong servitude.

Statement E: "If all women are not the victim of actual rape, then all of them are the victims of the threat of rape."

❌ Incorrect – This is a well-known feminist slogan from second-wave feminism, often attributed to Susan Brownmiller, not Mill.



✅ Final Answer: A, C and D Only



Commentary (UGC NET English):

Mill’s The Subjection of Women is foundational in early feminist theory and liberal political thought, making it a key text in UGC NET English, especially in units related to gender studies, Victorian prose, and political philosophy in literature. Recognizing Mill’s rational, legal, and philosophical tone helps distinguish his ideas from those of later feminist movements.

Correct Answer: 3. A, C and E Only

Detailed Explanation:

:

A. When using the month-day-year style in prose, a comma must be placed after the year unless another punctuation mark follows it.

✅ Correct – Example: On July 4, 1776, the Declaration was signed. The comma after the year is required unless a period or other punctuation follows.



B. Use a comma between month and year or between season and year.

❌ Incorrect – No comma is used between the month and year or season and year when no specific day is mentioned.

Example: He was born in July 1990. (no comma)



C. Decades can be written out or expressed in numerals.

✅ Correct – Both the eighties and the 1980s are acceptable, as long as the style is consistent.



D. Spell out centuries in uppercase letters.

❌ Incorrect – Centuries should be spelled out using lowercase letters.

Correct example: the nineteenth century, not Nineteenth Century.



E. Numerals are used for most times of the day. Generally, use the twelve-hour clock system in prose.

✅ Correct – Example: He arrived at 4:00 p.m. is acceptable in prose. Times are usually written in numerals using the twelve-hour clock.



✅ Final Answer: A, C and E Only



Commentary (UGC NET English):

Familiarity with MLA formatting rules is important for academic writing and thesis submission. Knowing conventions like comma placement in dates, decade representation, and time formatting is essential for proper documentation, especially in research-based units of the UGC NET English syllabus.

Correct Answer: 4. A, B and E Only

Detailed Explanation:

A. Miller's play The Crucible was first written in verse.

✅ Correct – Arthur Miller initially experimented with writing The Crucible in verse form, though the final version was in prose. His aim was to capture the heightened, almost biblical language of the Puritan era.



B. The American Dream is a play by Edward Albee about the absurd situation and immediate realities.

✅ Correct – Edward Albee’s The American Dream (1961) is an absurdist one-act play that critiques the emptiness and artificiality of American family life and consumerism.



C. The American Dream is a novel by Ionesco about the problems of a middle-aged professional.

❌ Incorrect – Eugène Ionesco did not write The American Dream. He was known for plays like The Bald Soprano and Rhinoceros. The American Dream is by Albee, and it’s a play, not a novel.



D. Miller's play The Price is set in a baroque palace in Eastern Europe teasing social and metaphysical sophistication...

❌ Incorrect – The Price (1968) by Arthur Miller is not set in a baroque palace in Eastern Europe. It takes place in an attic full of old furniture in New York City, focusing on two brothers dealing with their father's estate and unresolved emotional histories.



E. Miller's play The Price explores the extent to which we retrospectively invent our own history.

✅ Correct – This is a central theme of the play. The characters reflect on past choices and interpret events differently, suggesting that personal narratives are often constructed with selective memory.



✅ Final Answer: A, B and E Only



Commentary (UGC NET English):

Understanding the thematic and structural aspects of American drama, especially works by Arthur Miller and Edward Albee, is essential for Paper II. This question also tests awareness of absurdist theatre and American realist drama—important categories in the literary criticism and theory sections of the UGC NET English syllabus.

Correct Answer: 1. A, D and E Only

Detailed Explanation:

A. A mixed metaphor conjoins two or more obviously diverse metaphoric vehicles.

✅ Correct – A mixed metaphor occurs when two metaphors are combined in a way that produces a clash of imagery or logic, often unintentionally. For example: “We’ll burn that bridge when we come to it.”



B. In metonymy, a part of something is used to signify the whole.

❌ Incorrect – This is actually the definition of synecdoche, not metonymy.

Metonymy is when something is referred to by the name of something closely associated with it (e.g., “the crown” for monarchy).





Synecdoche uses a part to represent the whole (e.g., “all hands on deck”).







C. To scan a passage of verse is to go through it line by line to analyze its content, theme and diction.

❌ Incorrect – Scanning (or scansion) means to analyze a line of verse to determine its meter and rhythmic pattern, not its theme or diction.



D. The term 'kenning' denotes the recurrent use, in the poems written in old Germanic languages, of a descriptive phrase in place of the ordinary name for something.

✅ Correct – A kenning is a figurative, often compound expression used in place of a more straightforward noun, common in Old English and Norse poetry (e.g., “whale-road” for sea).



E. Figurative language is often divided into two categories: Tropes and Schemes.

✅ Correct – This is a standard rhetorical classification:

Tropes involve a change in the meaning of words (e.g., metaphor, irony).





Schemes involve a change in the order or pattern of words (e.g., alliteration, anaphora).







✅ Final Answer: A, D and E Only



Commentary (UGC NET English):

This question tests your foundational knowledge of rhetorical and poetic devices, crucial for Literary Criticism and Poetry Analysis sections. Understanding these distinctions—like trope vs. scheme, metonymy vs. synecdoche—is essential for interpreting literary language and scoring well in Paper II.

Correct Answer: 1. A, C and E Only

Detailed Explanation:

A. Mikhail Bakhtin traces the roots of the novel back into imperial Rome and ancient Hellenistic romances.

✅ Correct – Bakhtin, in The Dialogic Imagination, suggests that the roots of the novel lie in ancient forms of prose fiction, including Menippean satire and Hellenistic romances.



B. Henry James considers the novel as the epic of a prosaic modern world.

❌ Incorrect – This idea actually comes from Georg Lukács, not Henry James. While James championed the psychological and artistic depth of the novel, he didn't define it in these epic terms.



C. Margaret Anne Doody locates the novel's birthplace in the cultures of the ancient Mediterranean.

✅ Correct – In her book The True Story of the Novel, Doody asserts that the novel's origins are ancient, non-European, and rooted in the Mediterranean world, challenging the idea that it began in 18th-century Europe.



D. F. R. Leavis defines a novel as "one bright book of life".

❌ Incorrect – This phrase is from Robert Louis Stevenson, not F. R. Leavis. Leavis emphasized moral seriousness and tradition in fiction but didn’t coin this phrase.



E. Georg Lukács calls the novel "the epic of a world abandoned by God".

✅ Correct – In The Theory of the Novel, Lukács famously defines the novel as "the epic of a world that has been abandoned by God," reflecting its existential and modern character.



✅ Final Answer: A, C and E Only



Commentary (UGC NET English):

This question is rooted in literary criticism and history of the novel. Knowing the contributions of Bakhtin, Lukács, and Doody helps frame the novel as a historically evolving genre. This insight is critical for Paper II discussions on prose forms, genre theory, and literary history.

Correct Answer: 2. A, C and D Only

Detailed Explanation:

A. Macaulay was the practical man of affairs, helping and rejoicing in the progress of his beloved country.

✅ Correct – Thomas Babington Macaulay was indeed a practical statesman, historian, and essayist. His role in drafting the Minute on Indian Education (1835) and his commitment to British liberalism reflect his practical engagement in governance and cultural dissemination.



B. Ruskin was like a Hebrew prophet just in from the desert, and the burden of his message was, "Woe to them that are at ease in Zion!"

❌ Incorrect – This metaphorical description has been used about Carlyle, not Ruskin. Though John Ruskin was a social critic and a reformer, the exact comparison to a "Hebrew prophet" with that specific message is more in line with Carlyle’s intense moralistic tone.



C. Arnold was much like the cultivated Greek; his voice was soft, his speech suave, but he left the impression that you must be deficient in culture.

✅ Correct – Matthew Arnold promoted “sweetness and light” in culture, echoing a classical Greek ideal of moderation and refinement. This statement reflects how his tone could subtly critique readers lacking cultural depth.



D. Newman was like the best French prose writers in expressing his thought with such naturalness and apparent ease that, without thinking of style, we received exactly the impression which he meant to convey.

✅ Correct – John Henry Newman's prose, especially in works like The Idea of a University, is admired for its clarity and elegance. This comparison to the lucidity of French prose style is accurate and often noted by critics.



E. [Not provided, hence eliminated from the answer options.]



✅ Final Answer: A, C and D Only



Commentary (UGC NET English):

This question explores 19th-century British prose stylists, their rhetorical modes, and character as essayists. Such metaphoric descriptions reflect their critical ethos, which is an important dimension of Paper II under Prose and Non-fictional Prose Writers.

Correct Answer: 1. A, B and E Only

Detailed Explanation:

A. To describe and trace the history of all observable languages.

✅ Correct – One of the fundamental goals of historical and comparative linguistics is to describe the structure of languages and trace their evolution over time. Linguistics involves documenting and analyzing both ancient and modern languages.



B. To determine the forces that are permanently and universally at work in all languages.

✅ Correct – This refers to the search for universal principles that underlie all human languages, such as phonological rules, syntactic structures, and semantic patterns. This is central to theoretical linguistics, especially in approaches like Universal Grammar (Noam Chomsky).



C. To study manifestations of civilized human speech only.

❌ Incorrect – Linguistics does not discriminate between civilized or uncivilized, standard or non-standard speech. It studies all forms of language, including dialects, slang, pidgins, creoles, and even sign languages.



D. To consider only correct speech and flowery language.

❌ Incorrect – Linguistics is descriptive, not prescriptive. It does not judge whether language use is correct or elegant; rather, it observes and analyzes how language is used in real contexts, regardless of formality.



E. To delimit and define itself.

✅ Correct – Linguistics, like any field of study, involves setting boundaries for its scope, such as identifying subfields (phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics, pragmatics, etc.) and defining its own methods and goals.



✅ Final Answer: A, B and E Only



Commentary (UGC NET English):

This question relates to Linguistics as a Scientific Discipline, a part of Unit 5: Language and Linguistics. Understanding its descriptive nature, universal objectives, and non-judgmental methodology is essential for mastering this unit.

Correct Answer: 1. A, C and E Only

Detailed Explanation:

:

A. English literature was first offered as a subject of study at King's College, London in 1831.

✅ Correct – King’s College London was the first British institution to introduce English literature as a subject of study in 1831, which marked a key moment in the institutionalization of English studies.



B. English was first offered as a subject of study in England only in 1828 in the universities of Oxford and Cambridge.

❌ Incorrect – While English was eventually introduced at Oxford and Cambridge, it was not in 1828. In fact, both these institutions resisted offering English literature until much later in the 19th century, as they were heavily focused on Classics.



C. Though taught as a medium of instruction and a subject of study in India since 1850s, Oxford and Cambridge did not allow the new subject of English literature to be taught till the end of the nineteenth century.

✅ Correct – English was introduced in colonial India earlier than it became institutionalized in Oxford and Cambridge. British universities held on to classical education longer, while India saw the rise of English studies due to Macaulay’s Minute (1835) and educational policies of the Raj.



D. In 1931, English replaced the study of classics in Greek and Latin (the language of the Church) in Oxford and Cambridge.

❌ Incorrect – This date is not accurate. The replacement of Classics by English at Oxford and Cambridge was a gradual process and was largely completed by the early 20th century, but not precisely in 1931.



E. Until the end of the nineteenth century literature meant only the study of great books in classical languages like Greek and Latin in Oxford and Cambridge.

✅ Correct – Before the institutionalization of English, literature meant Classical literature (Homer, Virgil, Cicero, etc.) in Greek and Latin. English literature was considered inferior and unworthy of formal academic study until the late nineteenth century.



✅ Final Answer: A, C and E Only



Commentary (UGC NET English):

This question helps contextualize the institutional history of English literature as a discipline, relevant to Unit 1: Teaching of English in India and English Studies in the University. Knowing how and when English became an academic subject reflects broader shifts in educational priorities, colonial influence, and canon formation.

Correct Answer: 1. A, B and D Only

Detailed Explanation:

✅ A. "Deconstruction is not synonymous with destruction..."

Correct – Barbara Johnson famously clarified that deconstruction is not the same as destruction. This was in response to the common misconception that deconstruction aims to tear texts apart. Instead, it reveals the internal contradictions already at work within them.



✅ B. "The deconstruction of a text does not proceed by random doubt or arbitrary subversion..."

Correct – Johnson emphasized that deconstruction is not arbitrary or nihilistic. It is a precise, rigorous reading method, attentive to the unstable meanings and contradictions embedded in the text itself. This counters the criticism that deconstruction is relativistic or chaotic.



❌ C. "Deconstruction is not a dismantling of the structure of a text but a demonstration that it has already dismantled itself."

Incorrect – This famous line is by Jacques Derrida, not Barbara Johnson. Derrida said that a text already contains the seeds of its own deconstruction, and the critic merely makes this evident.



✅ D. "If anything is destroyed in a deconstructive reading, it is not the text, but the claim to unequivocal domination of one mode of signifying over another."

Correct – This is Johnson’s explanation of what gets undermined in deconstruction: hierarchies, such as speech over writing, or male over female, not the text itself. She was particularly influential in feminist and gender theory for using deconstruction this way.



❌ E. "Deconstruction as a mode of interpretation works by a careful and circumspect entering of each textual labyrinth..."

Incorrect – This sounds more poetic and generalized, but it’s not one of Johnson’s well-attributed statements. It is likely a paraphrase or an interpretive extension, not her original phrasing.



✅ Final Answer: A, B and D Only



Commentary (UGC NET English):

This question falls under Literary Theory and Criticism, specifically Post-Structuralism and Deconstruction. Recognizing Barbara Johnson’s role helps distinguish between Jacques Derrida’s original formulations and how later theorists like Johnson interpreted and applied them in feminist and literary contexts.

Explanations

These schools reject the rigid boundary Formalism draws between literary and ordinary language, focusing instead on context, interpretation, and discourse:

Reader Response Criticism emphasizes the role of the reader and interprets meaning as constructed rather than intrinsic to the text, directly challenging Formalism’s focus on the text alone.





Speech-Act Theory (linked to Austin and Searle) treats language as performative and functional, challenging the idea that literary language is a special category distinct from everyday speech.





New Historicism examines texts in relation to historical and cultural contexts, rejecting Formalist ideas of autonomous literary language or aesthetic isolation.





In contrast, while Marxism and Postcolonialism also critique Formalism, their focus is more on ideology, class, and power, and not specifically on the formal/ordinary language divide—making B, C, and D the most appropriate combination for this question in the context of opposition to Formalism’s linguistic divide.

Correct Answer: 1. A, D and E Only

Detailed Explanation:

Critics associated with the Frankfurt School:

Walter Benjamin

Max Horkheimer

Leo Lowenthal





The Frankfurt School was a group of German intellectuals associated with critical theory, founded at the Institute for Social Research in Frankfurt in the 1920s–30s. Their work often combined Marxism, psychoanalysis, and cultural criticism.

Walter Benjamin is considered a major figure, known for his works on aura, mechanical reproduction, and cultural history.

Max Horkheimer was one of the founding theorists, co-author of Dialectic of Enlightenment with Adorno.

Leo Lowenthal studied popular literature and mass culture under the lens of ideology and sociology.





Incorrect options:

Laura Mulvey is a feminist film theorist known for "Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema" and not part of the Frankfurt School.





Travis Henderson is not a recognized critic in literary or cultural theory. Likely a distractor.

Correct Answer: 2. A, B and D Only

Detailed Explanation:

:

A. ✔ "Feminism is concerned with the marginalization of women in a patriarchal culture."

This is one of the core concerns of feminism. It examines how patriarchy structures society, suppressing women’s voices, rights, and identities.





B. ✔ "Feminist critics explain how the subordination of women is reflected or challenged by literary texts..."

Correct. Feminist criticism is intersectional and examines multiple identities (race, class, sexuality, culture) in relation to gender.





C. ❌ "Mary Wollstonecraft defines four models of sexual difference..."

Incorrect. Mary Wollstonecraft (in A Vindication of the Rights of Woman, 1792) focused on rational education and equality, not theoretical models like biological, linguistic, psychoanalytic, or cultural. Those categories are more associated with later feminist theorists, particularly Toril Moi or Judith Butler.





D. ✔ "Feminist critics' goals: to expose patriarchal premises..."

This is a classic summary of feminist literary criticism’s aims: uncovering gender bias, recovering women writers, and analyzing social/psychological influences.





E. ❌ "Simone de Beauvoir prefers 'womanism' to 'feminism.'"

Incorrect. Simone de Beauvoir’s The Second Sex (1949) is foundational in feminism, but she never used or preferred the term “womanism.” That term was coined by Alice Walker to address Black women's specific experiences, emphasizing race and gender.