Kerala SET Paper 2 Mock Test - 3 (English) - KTET MCQ

The correct answer is 'Both Options 1 and 2 are true.'

 Key Points

• Thomas Hardy's "Jude the Obscure" (Statement 1): The novel indeed explores the challenges faced by the protagonist, Jude Fawley, in navigating societal expectations and moral constraints.
• Charles Dickens' "Bleak House" (Statement 2): "Bleak House" does, in fact, provide a scathing critique of the legal system in Victorian England, emphasizing its complexities and inefficiencies.

Therefore, the correct answer is 'Option 3.'

 Additional Information

• Option 1 (Incorrect): This option is incorrect as Statement 1 is true; it accurately reflects the theme of Thomas Hardy's "Jude the Obscure."
• Option 2 (Incorrect): This option is incorrect as Statement 2 is true; "Bleak House" by Charles Dickens does critique the legal system in Victorian England.
• Option 4 (Incorrect): This option is incorrect as both statements are true, contradicting the assertion that both are false.

The correct answer is Both 3 and 1Key Points

• An Apology for the Life of Mrs Shamela Andrews by Henry Fielding is an insightful and highly effective parody of Samuel Richardson’s popular epistolary novel Pamela (1740).
• Shamela was published on 2 April 1741, less than five months after the first edition of Pamela had appeared and three weeks after the third edition was released. Fielding’s well-timed text was highly topical, a factor which contributed significantly to its success.
• Fielding is no longer concerned with the genuineness or falsity of Pamela’s sexual morality, and what is more, the parodic motive has receded drastically.  
• The plot begins with a direct link to Richardson’s novel: Pamela has married Mr. B, and Fielding has endowed her with a brother, Joseph Andrews, who is in the service of Mr. Booby’s uncle, Sir Thomas Booby.
• Sir Thomas’s wife occupies a role analogous to that of Mr. B. in Pamela, as she soon sets about trying to seduce the attractive Andrews. 

Therefore, Option 4 is the correct answer.

 Additional Information

• Henry Fielding – novelist, playwright and magistrate – was an active and influential public figure in the early 18th century.
• Running short of funds, Fielding turned to writing, as did his sister, the novelist Sarah Fielding.
• His earliest theatrical writings so sharply satirised Prime Minister Sir Robert Walpole that they were said to have catalysed the passage of the Theatrical Licensing Act of 1737, 
• Samuel Richardson is remembered today as one of the most important innovators of the novel form – and yet he did not publish his first novel until he was 51.
• Only once he was an established printer did Richardson turn his attention to literary innovation.
• His first began work on a collection of conduct letters, offering stylistic tips on how to give form to ideas and sentiments.

The correct answer is 'The real and the hyperreal'.

Key Points

• Baudrillard theorized the concept of hyperreality, where the distinction between reality and a simulated version of it becomes blurred.
• He argued that in contemporary society, simulations or copies of reality (the hyperreal) often replace or become more significant than the original reality, leading to a loss of meaning.
• This concept reflects Baudrillard's concern with how media and technology create a world where the "real" is no longer distinguishable from simulations, impacting how we understand and interact with the world.
• Hyperreality is evidenced in phenomena such as reality TV, theme parks, and social media, where simulacra (copies without originals) dominate and shape our perceptions of reality.
• Baudrillard's analysis suggests that in the hyperreal condition, people are increasingly alienated from the physical, tangible world, losing touch with the authentic or original experiences.
• He believed that this evolution of society into the hyperreal was indicative of a broader cultural and historical shift, which has profound implications on identity, society, and culture.

Therefore, the correct answer is 'Option 2'.

• Art for art’s sake is a term or phrase used to describe a literary movement aestheticism which originates against the notion of indifference or hostility toward any art that was not useful or did not teach moral values. Aestheticism advocates art for its own value and should be judged apart from any themes, such as morality, religion, History, or politics. The phrase is an English translation of French l’art pour l’art” states that a work of art should be treated beautiful and to be contemplated as an end in itself without depending upon formal perfection and moral purpose.
• Neo realism is an Italian literary movement emerged after the Fascist regime fell at the end of World War II. The literature or cinema related to the movement known for depicting the events leading up to the war and the social problems that were generated during the time and afterwards.
• Didacticism is a literary term that based upon the notion that the motive of any art should be transmission of information and instructions along with pleasure and entertainment. For example, John Bunyan’s “Pilgrim’s Progress”it instructs the reader and entertain as well.
• Realism is an artistic movement in field of literature, paintings and other forms of arts as well. It advocate to represent life in true sense as real as it is It include those activities and experience of real life which usually devoid from artistic works.

The correct answer is 'Epic theatre'.

Key Points

• Bertolt Brecht was a German playwright and poet, who wrote actively during and after the second world war.
• Brecht pioneered Epic theatre, which was a movement in theatre that began in the twentieth century.
• The Epic Theatre is rooted in the idea that a work of art should not attempt to lull the audiences into believing that the work is realistic.
• Rather, a play should actively remind the audience that the play being performed is only a dramatic construction.
• Epic theatre believes in stopping the audience from suspending their disbelief for the sake of art. It achieves this goal through the technique of 'Verfremdungseffekt' or the "alienation effect".
• Brecht's plays "Mother Courage and Her Children" and "The Good Person of Szechwan" are both works of Epic Theatre.

Therefore, option 4 is the correct answer.

The correct answer is 'It emphasizes the importance of both material conditions and symbolic or discursive practices in shaping culture'. 

Key Points

• Raymond Williams was a Welsh Marxist theorist who introduced the concept of "Cultural Materialism".
• Cultural Materialism, as per Williams, does not solely focus on the economic base of society (the 'base-superstructure' model), unlike what traditional Marxist criticism suggests
• Williams' approach refutes the idea that culture is largely independent of material conditions and also goes beyond the assertion that cultural artefacts merely reflect the ideological superstructure.
• Instead, Williams emphasizes the importance of both material conditions (economic factors, physical environment, etc.) and symbolic or discursive practices in shaping culture, making it a dynamic entity influenced by various factors.

Therefore, the correct answer is Option 4.

The correct answer is "Naturalism".

Key Points

• Between 1880 and 1903, George Robert Gissing (22 November 1857 – 28 December 1903) authored 23 books in England.
• The Nether World (1889), New Grub Street (1891), and The Odd Women (1893) are a few of them.
• Realism gave way to the movement of Naturalism in the late nineteenth century. 
• Realism placed a strong emphasis on the elements of daily life as a depiction of the characters' social context.
• The subjects shifted to largely being persons of lower birth in naturalist writing. 
• Gissing and other authors in the genre focused on society's seedier aspect and the struggles of the lower classes.
• In the nineteenth century, Darwinism and Marxism both had a significant impact on Naturalism.

Therefore, the correct answer is option 2.

Additional Information 

• ​Romanticism was an intellectual, artistic, and literary movement that began in Europe at the close of the 18th century and reached its pinnacle in most places between the years of 1800 and 1850.
• A philosophical movement known as transcendentalism emerged in New England in the late 1820s and early 1830s. Although society and its institutions have tainted the innocence of the individual, a basic notion is that people are at their best when they are truly "self-reliant" and autonomous.
• Beginning in the early 1900s and lasting through the first few years of the 1940s, modernism is a period in literary history. In general, modernist authors protested against formulaic verse and straightforward storytelling from the 19th century.

The Chicago School of literary criticism was a form of criticism of English literature begun at the University of Chicago in the 1930s, which lasted until the 1950s. It was also called Neo-Aristotelianism, due to its strong emphasis on Aristotleís concepts of plot, character and genre.

The correct answer is 'Powers of Horror.'

Key Points

• "Powers of Horror: An Essay on Abjection" (1982) is Julia Kristeva's seminal work wherein she delves into the concept of abjection, explaining it as a profound psychological reaction to what is fundamentally excluded or cast off by the self and society.
• Kristeva uses psychoanalysis to explore how abjection confronts individuals with the breakdown between subject and object, confronting them with the fragile nature of their identities and social constructs.
• The abject includes bodily fluids, decay, and corpses, but also the maternal body in certain contexts, symbolizing the threat to identity that comes from the place where the self is not yet differentiated from the other.
• Through her analysis, Kristeva shows how the experience of abjection is at the root of religion, morality, and art, arguing it is a necessary step towards autonomy and away from the pre-symbolic emotional tie to the mother.
• The work extends beyond literary and psychoanalytic theory, offering insights into cultural practices, ethics, and the construction of the self and other within societal structures.

Therefore, the correct answer is 'Option 2'.

Additional Information

• Option 1, "Revolution in Poetic Language," focuses more on the interaction between the semiotic and the symbolic in language and literature, not on abjection.
• Option 3, "Tales of Love," discusses the complexities of love through psychoanalytic and literary lenses, separate from her work on abjection.
• Option 4, "Desire in Language," is a collection of essays that examine language, literature, and psychoanalysis, including intertextuality and semiotic, but does not focus on abjection specifically.

A word newly coined or used in a new sense

The correct answer is 'Giving Due Credit to Authors.'

Key Points 

• Proper citation practices in research methodology serve the purpose of giving due credit to the authors of the original works referenced in a research paper.
• Citations acknowledge the sources of information, ideas, and theories that contribute to the research, demonstrating academic integrity.
• Citing sources allows readers to trace the information back to its origin, facilitating further exploration and verification.
• It also helps in avoiding plagiarism by clearly distinguishing between the researcher's original work and borrowed ideas.
• Citations contribute to the scholarly conversation by acknowledging the intellectual contributions of other researchers in the field.

Therefore, the correct option is ‘Option 1.’

Additional Information 

• Option 2 is incorrect. Enhancing word count is not the purpose of proper citation practices; it is about acknowledging sources.
• Option 3 is incorrect. Avoiding citations altogether is not a responsible or ethical approach in academic writing.
• Option 4 is incorrect. Reducing the impact of references contradicts the purpose of giving credit and acknowledging intellectual contributions.

The correct answer is 'The importance of fulfilling familial duties.'

Key Points

• The quote emphasizes the duty of comforting family and returning them to the fatherland, highlighting the importance of fulfilling familial responsibilities. 
• While death is mentioned, the central theme is the obligation to family and the potential negative consequences if this duty is neglected.

Therefore, the correct option is ‘Option 2.’

Additional Information 

• Option 1 is incorrect. While death is mentioned, the primary focus is on fulfilling duties to family, not the inevitability of death.
• Option 3 is incorrect. Exile is mentioned, but the central theme is the duty to family rather than the consequences of exile.
• Option 4 is incorrect. Personal happiness is not the central theme; the emphasis is on familial duties.

The correct answer is 'The family will die in exile.'

Key Points

• The speaker expresses concern that if sorrow weighs them down to the point of death, the family will suffer and potentially face death in exile. 
• This underscores the urgency and importance of fulfilling familial duties within the specified timeframe.

Therefore, the correct option is ‘Option 2.’

Additional Information 

• Option 1 is incorrect. The concern is about the family suffering, not becoming stronger.
• Option 3 is incorrect. Returning to the fatherland is the desired outcome, not a consequence of sorrow weighing the individual down.
• Option 4 is incorrect. The concern is about the potential suffering and death of the family, not personal happiness.

Everyman is a 15th century morality play in which abstract qualities are presented as character to teach moral lessons to the audience. The play is the metaphorical representation of the life of Everyman, who stands for all mankind.

The main characters of the play are: messenger, God, death, Fellowship, Everyman, kindred, cousins, good deeds, knowledge, goods, confession, beauty, strength, discretion, five wits, angels and doctor. Hence Christian is not one of the characters of the allegorical play.

"Song of Myself” is a poem comprised in Leaves of Grass, most celebrated collection of poems by Walt Whitman. It is an open combination of biography, sermon, and poetic meditation.

The poet mainly speaks about the idea of the self which is individual and universal both and the identification of the self with other selves. …. I, now thirty-seven years old in perfect health begin, Hoping to cease not till death… These lines comprised in the first stanza of the poem tells that Whitman begins his spiritual awakening at the age of thirty seven and will continue the celebration of self till his death.

The Marriage of Heaven and Hell is a book by the English poet and printmaker William Blake. It is a series of texts written in imitation of biblical prophecy but expressing Blake's own intensely personal Romantic and revolutionary beliefs. ... The plates were then coloured by Blake and his wife Catherine.

The correct answer is 'The Early Modern English period'.

Key Points

• The Early Modern English period, spanning from the late 15th century to the mid-to-late 17th century, is recognized as the dawn of the modern form of the English language.
• This period witnessed the standardization of English spelling and grammar, facilitated by the advent of the printing press, which played a crucial role in disseminating standardized language forms.
• The Great Vowel Shift, a major phonetic shift in the pronunciation of English vowels, occurred during this time and is a distinctive linguistic feature that helped to differentiate Early Modern English from Middle English.
• The works of William Shakespeare and the publication of the King James Bible are hallmark achievements of this era, both of which had a profound influence on English literature and language.
• The increase in overseas trade, exploration, and colonization led to the borrowing of words from numerous foreign languages, significantly enriching the English vocabulary.
• Early Modern English laid the groundwork for the grammatical and syntactical structure of contemporary English, making it a pivotal period in the language's evolution.

Therefore, the correct answer is 'Option 2'.

Additional Information

• Option 1 (The Late Middle English period) preceded the Early Modern English period and saw significant developments in the language but did not mark the beginning of its modern form.
• Option 3 (The Elizabethan Era) falls within the Early Modern English period and, while influential, is a subset rather than the broader period marking the transition to modern English.
• Option 4 (The Contemporary English period) represents the current form of the language, characterized by the influences of technology and globalization, following the development of earlier forms

Donne had refused to take the previous iteration, the Oath of Supremacy, a requirement for graduation from English universities, and thus never receive his degrees from both Oxford and Cambridge

The correct answer is "Antonio Gramsci".

Key Points

• The word "hegemony" comes from the Greek word "hgemonia," which means "dominance over."
• This phrase was used to characterize interactions between city-states before.
• Antonio Gramsci, an Italian politician and Marxist philosopher used it in political analysis.
• Hegemony, according to Gramsci, was a kind of control used largely by a society's superstructure rather than its foundation or its social relations of production, which were primarily of an economic nature.

Therefore, the correct answer is option 4.

Additional Information

• Welsh socialist Raymond Henry Williams was a well-known author, professor, novelist, and critic on the New Left and in popular culture. His writings on literature, politics, culture and the media added to the Marxist critique of the arts and culture.
• Paul-Michel Foucault was a French philosopher, author, political activist, literary critic, and historian of ideas. The main focus of Foucault's theories is on how power and knowledge interact and how societal institutions employ them to exert social control.
• German philosopher Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel is regarded as one of the key figures in German idealism and a founder of contemporary Western philosophy. 

The correct answer is 'Poetry should not represent the language spoken by common man'.

Key Points

• The Preface to Lyrical Ballads is an essay written by William Wordsworth for the second edition of the poetry collection Lyrical Ballads.
• It was released in 1800, also known as the manifesto of Romantic age.
• The manifesto includes four principles.
• The ideal subject for poetry is everyday life.
• Poetry should represent the language spoken by common people.
• Feelings are more essential than action or narrative.
• Poetry is the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings.

Therefore, the correct option is 'Option 4'.

Important Points

• Wordsworth's "Preface" indicates a radical departure from neoclassical poetry of the eighteenth century. Wordsworth advocated that poetry should focus on portraying the ordinary individual in the best positive light possible.
• Wordsworth's "Preface" to Lyrical Ballads is notable for its emphasis on exalting the ordinary man, the use of simple language, a concentration on nature as a manifestation of the divine, and a belief that poetry should be lyrical or passionate.

Additional Information

• ​William Wordsworth was an English Romantic poet who, along with Samuel Taylor Coleridge, helped to inaugurate the Romantic Age in English literature with their joint work Lyrical Ballads (1798).
• William Wordsworth's well-known works include "Resolution and Independence", "I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud", "My Heart Leaps Up", "Ode: Intimations of Immortality", "Ode to Duty", and "The Solitary Reaper".

The story is narrated in flashback by Achakka, a wise woman in the village. She, like her female audience (whom she addresses as “sisters”), has survived the turbulence of social and political change which was induced by Mohandas K. Gandhi’s passive resistance against the British government. Achakka provides a detailed picture of the rural setting, establishing both an ambiance and a rhythm for the novel. It is clear that her speech and idiomatic expression are meant to express a distinctively feminine viewpoint an extraordinary achievement for a male Indo-English novelist. Achakka quickly creates a faithful image of an Indian way of life, circumscribed by tradition and indebted to its deities, of whom Kenchamma, the great and bounteous goddess, is made the village protectress. She is invoked in every chapter, for the characters never forget that her power resides in her past action. It is she who humanizes the villagers, and their chants and prayers ring out from time to time.

The narrator establishes the parameters of the story within old and new legends. While Kenchamma and Siva are remembered for their marvelous feats and interventions in human affairs, analogies are sometimes drawn with contemporary figures such as Gandhi who serve to turn fact and history into folklore, and who provide the motive for political struggle. At the beginning, while there are simply rumors of Gandhi’s activities, the villagers follow their customary routines. Then, Moorthy, a young, dedicated Brahmin, inspired by Gandhi, returns to Kanthapura to propagandize the cause of the Indian National Congress and Gandhi’s satyagraha (truth-force) movement. The colonial masters (nicknamed “Red-men” for their ruddy complexions) are a palpable, tyrannical presence but are sensed only obliquely at the beginning via the mysterious passing policeman who is treated as a spy and who, consequently, seeks refuge on the Skeffington Coffee Estate run by a brutal gang-boss.

The Great Exhibition, also known as Crystal Palace Exhibition, was one of the first international exhibitions of the world. The exhibition took place in Hyde Park in 1851. It was an exhibition of culture and industry and organized by Henry Cole and Prince Albert (Husband of Queen Victoria) in order to expose British design to foreign competition. The Kohinoor, the world’s largest known diamond originally from India, was one of the most popular attractions of the Exhibition.

The correct answer is ‘A, B, C, D, E.’

 Key Points

• Romanticism (A) emerged in the late 18th century and early 19th century.
• Realism (B) emerged in the mid-19th century.
• Modernism (C) emerged in the early 20th century.
• Postmodernism (D) emerged in the mid-20th century.
• New Formalism (E) emerged in the late 20th century.
• Literary movements are broad cultural and intellectual trends that influence the style and content of literary works.
• Literary movements often overlap and interact with each other.
• Literary movements reflect the changing values and beliefs of society.

The correct answer is "Mary Astell".

Key Points

• Mary Astell's work A Serious Proposal to the Ladies was published in 1694.
• Astell's issue is not that women are materially oppressed or that they lack rights in a patriarchal culture.
• Instead, she claims that their selves have been perverted, that most women lack autonomy - internal independence and self-mastery - and are instead ruled by their emotions.
• The first section of this article argues that wealthy women who do not intend to marry should use their dowries to fund residential women's colleges that give upper- and middle-class women the recommended education.

Therefore, the correct answer is option 1.

Additional Information

• Mary Wollstonecraft was a British writer, philosopher, and feminist activist. Wollstonecraft's life, which included multiple unusual personal connections at the time, gained more attention than her writing until the late twentieth century.
• Mary Shelley was an English novelist best known for her Gothic novel Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus, which is regarded as an early example of science fiction. She also edited and promoted the works of her husband, Percy Bysshe Shelley, a Romantic poet and philosopher.
• The feminist who initiated the second wave of the women's liberation movement was Kate Millett, author of the revolutionary bestseller Sexual Politics. Millett proposed that the personal is political for women. The basis of Sexual Politics (1970) was an analysis of patriarchal power.

The correct answer is ‘Both Assertion and Reason are true, and Reason is the correct explanation of the Assertion.’

Key Points 

• Both the Assertion and Reason are true.
• In "The Advancement of Learning," Francis Bacon critiques the traditional scholastic methods of learning prevalent during the Renaissance.
• Bacon advocates for a more empirical and inductive approach to acquiring knowledge, emphasizing observation, experimentation, and systematic inquiry.
• He believes that knowledge should be derived from experience and the careful observation of nature rather than relying solely on deductive reasoning.
• The Reason correctly explains the Assertion by stating that Bacon's work signifies a shift towards empirical methods and a departure from the rigid scholasticism of the time.

Therefore, the correct option is ‘Option 1.’

Additional Information 

• Option 2 is incorrect. The Reason is a correct explanation of the Assertion.
• Option 3 is incorrect. Both the Assertion and Reason are true.
• Option 4 is incorrect. The Assertion is true, and the Reason is true.

The Beggar’s Opera is a three –act ballad opera or a social satire written in 1728 by John Gay. Mr Peachum is the main character of the opera, a powerful leader of a gang of thieves, highwaymen and prostitutes. He is not a pimp, but a fencer of goods stolen by his gang of robbers and profiting by their earnings.

He is not a Lawyer but when his affiliates are no longer of use, he betrays them to the criminal court system or impeach them for a respectable reward for himself. It satirizes Italian opera, which was much popular in those days in London.

Note: Three Penny Opera, a modern opera with new music by Bertolt Brecht and Elisabeth Hauptmann is a parody of Gay’s The Beggar’s Opera, with closely similar to characters and plot as well,

This play has its setting both in Venice and Cyprus.

Reader used by eighteenth-and nineteenth-century novelists to address the reader of their words. Henry Fielding, for example, used it eleven times in Joseph Andrews adding in- stances of O reader, (O) my good reader. One of the best-known literary quotes is from Charlotte Bronte's JaneEyre: Reader, I married him.

Jacques Derrida, a French philosopher best known for developing the groundbreaking theory of deconstruction. Derrida was known and appraised worldwide for his views and America is not an exception.

Geoffrey Hartman, Paul de Man, J. Hills Miller were literary critics, theorists, and philosophers of literature and influenced by Jacques Derrida’s philosophy of deconstruction.

These theorists were affiliated with Yale University (America) in the late 1970s and some of the theorists of Yale School. These three theorists and Harold Bloom considered to be prominent literary critics and American disciples of Derrida as well.

King Lear is one of the four greatest tragedies of Shakespeare and perhaps of the English Literature. Disguise is an old tradition, employed by Shakespeare in almost all his plays, whether it is comedy or tragedy. In King Lear, there are two disguises first one is Edgar and the other is Kent and both are misfortune and exiled.

Kent is a loyal, selfless and devoted nobleman of the King Lear. He is exiled by the king for his exceptionally blunt and outspoken nature. He assumes the disguise of a peasant named Caius, to stay close to the king and serve him even after get banished.