UGC NET Paper 2 English Mock Test - 6 - UGC NET MCQ

The correct answer is "Belinda's dog".

Key Points

•  The Rape of the Lock is a mock-heroic narrative poem written by Alexander Pope.
• The poem  satirizes a minor incident of life, by comparing it to the epic world of the gods, and is based on an event recounted to Alexander Pope by his friend John Caryll. 
• Some of the prominent characters of "The Rape of Lock" are:
  • Belinda: Belinda is based on the historical Arabella Fermor
  • The Baron: This is the pseudonym for the historical Robert.
  • Caryl: The historical basis for the Caryl character is John Caryll, a friend of Pope .
  • Shock: Belinda’s lapdog
  • Ariel: Belinda’s guardian sylph

Therefore, the correct answer is option 2.

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

 Key Points

• Intentional Fallacy: The Intentional Fallacy is a term used in literary criticism to describe the error of interpreting a literary work based solely on the author's intentions or biographical information.
• New Critics' Focus on the Text: New Critics argue that the meaning of a literary work should be derived from the text itself, independent of the author's intentions. They believe that the author's intentions are irrelevant to the interpretation of the text, as the text is a self-contained object with its own inherent meaning.

Therefore, the correct answer is 'Option 1.' 

 Additional Information

• Option 2: Both the Assertion and Reason are true, and the Reason explains the Assertion.
• Option 3: The Assertion is true, and the Reason is also true, providing a valid explanation.
• Option 4: The Assertion is false, as the Intentional Fallacy is recognized within New Criticism as an error in literary interpretation.

The correct answer is 'Christopher Marlowe'.

Key Points

• Christopher Marlowe, a contemporary of William Shakespeare, was a master of blank verse. His use of this unrhymed iambic pentameter was innovative and influenced many playwrights who followed, including Shakespeare himself.
• His play 'Edward II' is particularly noted for its refined use of blank verse.
• While John Lyly, Thomas Kyd, and Ben Jonson all made significant contributions to Elizabethan drama, none of them are celebrated for their mastery of blank verse in the same way Marlowe is.
• Therefore, Marlowe's work, especially 'Edward II', is essential for studying the development and maturation of blank verse in English drama.

Therefore, the correct answer is Option 3.

The correct answer is 154.

Key Points

•  In 1609, Shakespeare released a quarto containing 154 sonnets. 
• For instance, the first 17 sonnets appear to be written to a lovely, young, aristocratic man pleading with him to marry and produce children. There are several possibilities for this Fair Youth's identity, but he remains unknown.
• There are 28 sonnets devoted to a woman toward the conclusion of the collection. They depict a female lover accused of making the poet obsessed, irrationally jealous, cheating on him and snatching away his boy companion, far from idealising a flawless lady. Nobody is aware of who the Dark Lady is.
• Shakespeare also composed six more sonnets, which were included in the productions of Romeo and Juliet, Henry V, and Love's Labor's Lost. 
• Shakespeare presents a young man instead of expressing worshipful adoration for an almost goddess-like but unreachable feminine love object, as had been done by Petrarch, Dante, and Philip Sidney. Additionally, he introduces the Dark Lady, a non-goddess. 

Therefore, option 3 is the correct answer.

Additional Information

•  The Italian sonnet tradition is modified from a Shakespearean sonnet. Some people refer to these sonnets as Elizabethan or English sonnets.
• Shakespeare wasn't the only author to use this poetry form. John Donne and John Milton were two of the well-known English poets of the time who produced sonnets.
• The following components are seen in Shakespearean sonnets:
  • There are 14 lines in all.
  • There are four subgroups made up of fourteen lines.
  • The first three subgroups are each comprised of four lines, or "quatrains," with rhyming phrases appearing in each group's second and fourth lines.
  • The final section of the sonnet is a two-line group that rhymes with itself.
  • The lines are often written in iambic pentameter and include ten syllables.

The correct answer is "a - II, b - I, c - IV, d - III".

Key Points

• Sir John Falstaff is a character in William Shakespeare's play "The Merry Wives of Windsor". Two housewives, Mistress Ford and Mistress Page are pursued by a big, dishonourable Sir John Falstaff, but they outsmart and humiliate him in the process.
• Shakespeare's Macbeth has a fictional figure named King Duncan. He is the father of two young sons and the victim of his dependable commander Macbeth's well-planned regicide in an attempt to seize power.
• In Shakespeare's play Cymbeline, King Cymbeline's daughter is named Imogen.
  • William Hazlitt referred to her as "probably the most sensitive and the most artless" of all the women in Shakespeare's plays.
• One of the conspirators in Shakespeare's Julius Caesar was the Roman commander Marcus Brutus. Despite being a man of honour and a friend of Caesar, Brutus participates in the plot to assassinate him by persuading himself that Caesar's demise is in the best interests of Rome.

Therefore, the correct answer is option 1.

The correct answer is 'The societal expectations imposed on women.'

 Key Points

• In "The Yellow Wallpaper," the yellow wallpaper is a symbol of the restrictive and oppressive gender roles imposed on women in the 19th century.
• The narrator's obsession with the wallpaper mirrors her own confinement and the stifling expectations of society regarding women's behavior.
• The wallpaper's intricate patterns become a reflection of the complexities of the narrator's own situation and mental state.
• The story critiques the medical profession's treatment of women, particularly the "rest cure" prescribed for the narrator.
• Gilman uses the symbolism of the wallpaper to illuminate the damaging effects of societal expectations on women's mental and emotional well-being.

Therefore, the correct answer is 'Option 2'.

 Additional Information

• Option 1 is incorrect. While the yellow wallpaper plays a role in the narrator's mental state, its primary symbolism is societal.
• Option 3 is incorrect. The yellow wallpaper is not a manifestation of creativity but rather a representation of societal constraints.
• Option 4 is incorrect. While the story does critique the medical profession, the yellow wallpaper specifically symbolizes societal expectations rather than the medical profession's oppression.

‘Account of the Augustan Age in England (1759)’ was written by Oliver Goldsmith (1730-1774), an important poet of the Augustan Age of English Literature. Oliver Goldsmith was an Anglo- Irish poet, playwright and novelist. Some of his important works include, ‘The Deserted Village’, ‘The Vicar of Wakefield’ and ‘She Stoops to Conquer’.

French postmodern theorist Jean Baudrillard (1929–2007) is considered to be one of the most intellectual figures of the present age. Philosophy, social theory, and an idiosyncratic cultural metaphysics are a few of his fields of study.
His best-known works include 'Simulacra and Simulation' (1981), 'America' (1986), and 'The Gulf War Did Not Take Place' (1991). In the 1991 work, Baudrillard points out that he fails to see the actual political stakes and reasons for the Vietnam war, as well as the significance of the struggles between capitalist and communist blocs. He argues that it was a media spectacle and not a genuine war.

Thomas Gray’s “Elegy written in a Country Churchyard” is the most famous elegy of English Literature and perhaps the prime cause behind his prominence. The poem has been written in iambic Pentameter.

All nature is but art, unknown to thee is one of the most quoted lines from An Essay on Man, a poem by Alexander Pope.

Full many a flower is born to blush unseen” is the 3rd line from stanza 14 of the Elegy. Far from the madding crowd” is from stanza 19. “A youth to Fortune and Fame unknown” is the second line from epitaph.

Note: Thomas Hardy took the title of his novel from the line “Far from the madding crowd”. The novel, published with the same name in 1874 and got successful.

Thackeray's previous writings had been published either unsigned or under pseudonyms; Vanity Fair was the first work he published under his own name. The novel takes its title from the place designated as the centre of human corruption in John Bunyan's 17th-century allegory Pilgrim's Progress.

The Lake Poets were a group of English poets who all lived in the Lake District of England, United Kingdom, in the first half of the nineteenth century. As a group, they followed no single "school" of thought or literary practice then known. They were named, only to be uniformly disparaged, by the Edinburgh Review. They are considered part of the Romantic Movement.

The three main figures of what has become known as the Lakes School were William Wordsworth, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, and Robert Southey. They were associated with several other poets and writers, including Dorothy Wordsworth, Charles Lamb, Charles Lloyd, Hartley Coleridge, John Wilson, and Thomas De Quincey.

Mount Helicon is a mountain in the region of Thespiai in Boeotia, Greece, celebrated in Greek mythology. With an altitude of 1,749 metres (5,738 ft), it is located approximately 10 kilometres (6 mi) from the north coast of the Gulf of Corinth. Some researchers[who?] maintain that Helicon was also the Greek name of mount Rocca Salvatesta in Sicily as a river started from it was called also Helikon

The next two novels, The Return of the Native (1878) and The Mayor of Casterbridge (1886), established Hardy as a formidable writer. Hardy published two more novels, Tess of the d'Urbervilles (1891) and Jude the Obscure (1895), which were his last long fiction works.

The correct answer is '(i) and (iii)'.

Key Points

• Langston Hughes is celebrated for his vivid, lyrical portraits of black life in America from the twenties through the sixties, and his work is emblematic of the Harlem Renaissance's exploration of African American identity and culture.
• Claude McKay, a Jamaican-American writer and poet, was a significant figure whose works articulated the racial and economic injustices that African Americans faced and were influential in spurring the Harlem Renaissance.
• The Harlem Renaissance was a cultural and intellectual explosion centered in Harlem, New York, during the 1920s and 1930s, showcasing the literary, artistic, and intellectual achievements of African Americans.
• Poetry of the era often focused on themes of racial pride, resistance to societal discrimination, and the celebration of African American culture.
• Hughes and McKay used their poetry to challenge stereotypes, advocate for racial justice, and express the complexities of black life in America.

Therefore, the correct answer is 'Option 2'.

Additional Information

• Option 1 incorrectly combines Langston Hughes with Zora Neale Hurston, who, while a significant figure in the Harlem Renaissance, is better known for her work in prose.
• Option 3 pairs Zora Neale Hurston with W.E.B. Du Bois, linking a novelist and an activist/scholar rather than focusing on poets.
• Option 4 incorrectly combines Claude McKay with W.E.B. Du Bois, overlooking Langston Hughes' pivotal contributions to Harlem Renaissance poetry.

The correct answer is 'Jürgen Habermas'.

Key Points

• Jürgen Habermas, a German sociologist and philosopher, is best known for introducing and developing the concept of "The Public Sphere" in his pivotal work, "The Structural Transformation of the Public Sphere," published in 1962.
• The public sphere is conceived as the space of communication in which individuals gather to discuss and identify societal problems, and through such rational discourse, influence political action.
• Habermas's model highlights the critical role of media, particularly newspapers and periodicals, in the emergence of the public sphere during the Enlightenment in Europe.
• The concept emphasizes inclusivity, rational debate, and the separation of the public sphere from both the state and the official economy, advocating for a democratic process of public opinion formation.
• Habermas critiques the decline of the public sphere in contemporary society, attributing it to the commercialization of mass media and the consequent blurring of lines between private and public interests.
• His theory has sparked extensive debate and research on the role of the public sphere in democratic societies, including discussions on digital media's impact on public discourse.

Therefore, the correct answer is 'Option 2'.

Additional Information

• Louis Althusser: A Marxist philosopher known for his theory of ideological state apparatuses, not the public sphere.
• Raymond Williams: A Welsh Marxist theorist who contributed to cultural materialism and the study of media, culture, and society but isn't primarily known for the concept of the public sphere.
• Benedict Anderson: Best known for his work on nationalism, particularly his concept of "Imagined Communities," not the public sphere

The correct answer is 'The material conditions of society shape cultural phenomena.'

Key Points

• Cultural Materialism, coined by Raymond Williams, posits that the material conditions and economic structures of society play a crucial role in shaping cultural phenomena.
• Williams emphasized the interconnectedness of culture, economics, and social structures.
• Cultural Materialism challenges idealistic views that detach culture from its material and social context.
• According to Williams, understanding the material conditions helps unravel the meanings embedded in cultural practices and expressions.
• Cultural Materialism has influenced the study of literature, media, and popular culture by emphasizing the relationship between culture and socioeconomic factors.

Therefore, the correct answer is 'Option 1.'

Additional Information

• Option 2: Cultural Materialism does not assert that cultural artifacts have inherent value regardless of societal context.
• Option 3: Cultural Materialism does not emphasize that culture is primarily shaped by intellectual elites.
• Option 4: Cultural Materialism does not prioritize the spiritual and emotional aspects of culture as paramount.

The correct answer is 'Romanticism'.

Key Points

• Thomas Carlyle is closely associated with Romantic criticism of the industrial society, emphasizing emotion, individualism, and nature over the mechanistic and dehumanizing aspects of the Industrial Revolution.
• He believed that industrialization led to the devaluation of the individual, reducing human beings to mere cogs in a machine, and advocated for a return to spiritual and moral values in society.
• Carlyle criticized the materialism and utilitarian ethos of his time, arguing that these could not adequately address the human need for meaning and fulfillment.
• His works, such as "Sartor Resartus" and "Past and Present," express his disdain for the mechanical nature of society and his yearning for a more authentic, spiritually enriched life.
• Carlyle's emphasis on the heroic in history—his belief in the importance of great individuals and their capacity to shape the destiny of nations—reflects his Romantic idealism and his opposition to the deterministic view of history implied by industrial capitalism.
• Despite his critique of society, Carlyle did not propose a clear path to reform, emphasizing instead the power of individual moral and spiritual awakening as a counter to the corrosive effects of industrialization.

Therefore, the correct answer is ‘Option 2.’

Additional Information

• Utilitarianism is more closely associated with John Stuart Mill, not Carlyle's critique.
• Empiricism and Stoicism do not directly relate to Carlyle’s critique of industrial society, focusing instead on differing philosophical pursuits

The correct answer is 'The reconciliation and marriage of Jane and Mr. Bingley'.

Key Points

• J ane and Mr. Bingley’s journey to marriage involves separation, misunderstandings, and the influence of external parties, notably Mr. Darcy and Caroline Bingley, illustrating the multifaceted path to marital happiness.
• Their eventual reconciliation and marriage demonstrate that happiness in marriage involves overcoming obstacles and misunderstandings, a process that involves more than mere chance.
• The evolution of their relationship showcases the necessity of communication, sincerity, and external support in navigating the pathway to marital happiness.
• The depiction of their relationship challenges the notion that marriage happiness is purely a matter of chance by emphasizing the active roles individuals and their communities play in fostering successful unions.
• Jane and Mr. Bingley's story underscores the importance of mutual affection, trust, and perseverance in the face of societal pressures and misinterpretations, highlighting the intricacies of achieving marital happiness.

Therefore, the correct answer is 'Option 3'.

Additional Information

• Option 1 ('Mr. Collins's proposal to Elizabeth') and option 2 ('Charlotte Lucas's acceptance of Mr. Collins') reflect other aspects of marriage considerations in the novel but do not illustrate the complexity of achieving happiness as directly as Jane and Mr. Bingley’s narrative.
• Option 4 ('The elopement of Lydia with Mr. Wickham') presents a cautionary tale regarding impulsiveness and lack of understanding, which contrasts with the theme of happiness through mutual growth and understanding exemplified by Jane and Mr. Bingley.

The correct answer is "The Bluest Eye".

Key Points

• "The Bluest Eye", published in 1970, is Toni Morrison’s first novel. It is a poignant examination of the African American experience, particularly the destructive effects of racism on the individual's self-worth and identity, presented through the tragic life of Pecola Breedlove, a young African American girl who dreams of having blue eyes.
• The novel is set in Lorain, Ohio, in 1941, and delves into the harsh realities of race and beauty standards imposed by a predominantly white society. Morrison explores how these societal ideals can lead to internalized racism and a profound sense of inadequacy and self-loathing among African Americans.
• Through Pecola's story, Morrison addresses complex issues like colorism, gender dynamics, and the legacy of slavery, presenting a critique of the American culture that glorifies white beauty standards and marginalizes people of color.
• Morrison’s use of vivid imagery, symbolism, and language in the novel serves to underscore the devastating impact of racism on the psyche and lives of African Americans, making it an essential work for understanding the nuances of African American identity and societal norms.
• "The Bluest Eye" represents a critical voice in American literature, challenging readers to confront and reflect upon the prevailing racial biases and their consequences on individuals and communities.

Therefore, the correct answer is 'Option 4'.

Additional Information

• "Beloved" focuses on the haunting legacy of slavery and motherhood.
• "Song of Solomon" explores African American heritage and identity through a multi-generational saga.
• "Sula" examines the friendship between two women against the backdrop of racial and social changes.

The correct answer is 'Plot'

Key Points

• Aristotle's "Poetics" prioritizes plot (mythos) as the soul of a tragedy.
• He argues that the sequence of events, or the structure of the story, is paramount for evoking the intended emotional responses of pity and fear.
• Aristotle believes that a well-constructed plot must have a beginning, middle, and an end, and exhibit unity of action.
• According to him, the plot should be complex, incorporating elements like reversal and recognition to deeply engage the audience.
• The potency of the tragedy is not solely dependent on the characters or their moral fiber but on the actions that result from their choices and the plot’s unfolding.

Therefore, the correct answer is 'Option 2'.

The correct answer is 'Horatian satire'.

Key Points

• "The Rape of the Lock" by Alexander Pope is an example of a mock-epic, a form of light, gentle, and indirect satire termed as Horatian satire.
• Unlike the bitter and critical tone employed in Juvenalian satire, Horatian satire focuses on humor and mockery, holding up folly to a somewhat lighthearted ridicule.
• Pope uses this style to mock the upper society's trivial concerns (specifically a fight over a lock of hair), treating it with the seriousness of a national catastrophe and thereby invoking humor and critique.
• Through his effective usage of Horatian Satire, Pope humorously plumbs the social frivolity of the aristocratic class.

Milton! thou shouldst be living at this hour:

England hath need of thee: she is a fen

Of stagnant waters: altar, sword, and pen,

Fireside, the heroic wealth of hall and bower,

Have forfeited their ancient English dower

Of inward happiness. We are selfish men;

Oh! raise us up, return to us again;

And give us manners, virtue, freedom, power.

Thy soul was like a Star, and dwelt apart:

Thou hadst a voice whose sound was like the sea:

Pure as the naked heavens, majestic, free,

So didst thou travel on life's common way,

In cheerful godliness; and yet thy heart

The lowliest duties on herself did lay.

"Recessional" is a poem by Rudyard Kipling. It was composed for Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee, in 1897

Written on the Body is a secret code only visible in certain lights: the accumulation of a lifetime gather there. In places the palimpsest is so heavily worked that the letters feel like braille. I like to keep my body rolled away from prying eyes, never unfold too much, tell the whole story. I didn't know that Louise would have reading hands. She has translated me into her own book.

In the story of The Invisible Man, a mysterious man goes to a village called Iping, which is in the middle of a snowstorm. He then stays in an inn that is owned and run by the husband and wife George and Janny Hall. They ask him to not be worried about the storm, so he goes to his room with his luggage. This man’s name is Griffin, a scientist, who usually spends his time in his room experimenting with different chemicals and formulas.

"The King and the Beggar-maid" is a 16th-century broadside ballad that tells the story of an African king, Cophetua, and his love for the beggar Penelophon (Shakespearean Zenelophon). The story has been widely referenced and King Cophetua has become a byword for "a man who falls in love with a woman instantly and proposes marriage immediately"

Language transfer (also known as L1 interference, linguistic interference, and crosslinguistic influence) refers to speakers or writers applying knowledge from one language to another language.

“King Lear” is one of the four greatest tragedies of Shakespeare written around 1605, between “Othello” and “Macbeth”. Edgar is one of the main characters of the play. He is the eldest and legitimate son of Gloucester. His illegitimate brother Edmund tricks his father into believing that Edgar, is trying to kill him.

Fleeing the manhunt that his father has set for him, Edgar disguises himself as a crazy beggar and calls himself “Poor Tom. “He plays many different roles, such as a gullible fool easily tricked by Edmund, then assuming a disguise as a mad beggar to evade his father’s men, then carrying his impersonation further to aid Lear and Gloucester.

• Syllabic verse is a poetic form having a fixed or constrained number of syllables in each line. Syllables play the major role while stress, quantity, or tone plays a secondary or no role at all in the structure of poem.
• Languages such as Japanese or modern French or Finnish have these features as opposed to stress-timed languages such as English, in which stress and quantity play a significant role in structure of the verse.

• These lines have been given from one of “the best-known and best-loved poems in the English, Thomas Gray’s “Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard”.
• The poet states that proud, ambitious, beautiful, grand or rich people should not make fun of the poor people in the churchyard because everyone waits for the unavoidable hour (death). Everybody whether famous or not, rich or poor, all of those paths lead only to the GRAVE.