APSET Paper 2 Mock Test - 5 (English) - AP TET MCQ

• Edgar Allan Poe's "The Purloined Letter" is widely recognized as one of the earliest examples of detective fiction.
• The story features the detective C. Auguste Dupin, who uses his analytical skills to solve a baffling crime involving a stolen letter.
• Poe's Dupin stories are considered foundational works in the development of the detective fiction genre.

• Option 1 is incorrect because "The Purloined Letter" does not fit the genre of social fiction, which typically focuses on the portrayal of social issues and relationships.
• Option 2 is incorrect because while "The Purloined Letter" does contain psychological elements, it is not primarily a work of psychological fiction.
• Option 4 is incorrect because "The Purloined Letter" does not belong to the genre of romantic fiction.

The correct answer is 'The ability to evoke a sense of the sublime in the audience.'

Key Points

• Longinus, in his treatise "On the Sublime," identifies the sublime as the quality of great literature that elevates the soul of the reader or audience, transcending the ordinary and the mundane.
• He believes that great poetry touches the audience on an emotional level, inspiring awe, and wonder through its grandeur and beauty.
• Longinus argues that the sublime arises from the poets' ability to express strong and passionate emotions effectively, using what he calls "lofty language."
• The focus is not merely on the use of grand words but also on crafting impactful ideas that stir the readers' spirits and leave a lasting impression.
• He points out that the sublime can be achieved through various means, including powerful imagery, noble diction, and thought-provoking ideas, all aimed at moving the audience profoundly.
• For Longinus, the impact of the sublime lies in its capacity to provoke a powerful emotional response, making the poetic experience memorable and transformative.

Therefore, the correct answer is 'Option 2'.

Additional Information

• Option 1: Incorrect because Longinus values the emotional impact and transcendence of poetry over strict grammatical rules.
• Option 3: Incorrect as Longinus does not prioritize complex or obscure vocabulary; rather, the focus is on conveying profound emotions and ideas.
• Option 4: Incorrect since Longinus emphasizes the sublime's emotional impact rather than formal aspects like rhyme and meter.

• Nuruddin Farah is a well –known novelist and playwright of Somalia. He pursued a degree in Philosophy, literature and Sociology at Punjab University in Chandigarh, India from the year 1966 to 1970.
• Ben Okri is a post colonial novelist of Nigeria and his novel The Famished Road won the Booker Prize for Fiction in 1991.
• Helon Habila is a poet and novelist of Nigeria His first novel, Waiting for an Angel, won the Commonwealth Writers Prize in the year 2002.
• Benjamin Kwakye is a novelist from Ghana who won the 1999 Commonwealth Writers Prize for his first novel named The Clothes of Nakedness.

The correct answer is 'Language divergence.'

Key Points

• Evolution Over Time: Language divergence occurs when a single language evolves over time into distinct languages, usually due to geographic, social, or political separation of its speakers.
• Divergence Factors: Factors that contribute to language divergence include isolation of speaker groups, different external influences on each group, and the natural evolution of languages over time.
• Historical Examples: The Romance languages (e.g., French, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Romanian) diverging from Latin is a classic example of language divergence.
• Mechanism of Change: Language divergence is a key mechanism in the linguistic evolution process, demonstrating how languages change and evolve into entirely new forms.
• Cultural and Identity Factors: As groups diverge, their languages adapt to their unique cultural experiences and influences, contributing to the development of new identities tied to specific languages.

Therefore, the correct answer is 'Option 3'.

Additional Information

• Option 1: Grammaticalization refers to the process by which words develop into grammatical elements over time, not the splitting of languages.
• Option 2: Language convergence describes a process where languages come to resemble each other more over time due to contact, opposite of divergence.
• Option 4: Phonemic innovation refers to changes in the sounds of a language, which can contribute to but is not synonymous with the process of language divergence.

The correct answer is ‘The speaker takes off his cycle-clips, moves forward and runs his hand around the font, mounts the lectern, pronounces "Here endeth", signs the book at the door, and donates an Irish sixpence.’ 

Key Points

• The speaker takes off his cycle-clips in awkward reverence. 
• He moves forward and runs his hand around the font.
• He mounts the lectern and peruses a few hectoring large-scale verses.
• He pronounces "Here endeth" much more loudly than he intended.
• He signs the book at the door and donates an Irish sixpence.

Therefore, the correct answer is ‘Option 1.’

The correct answer is 'A poem in which the speaker addresses a silent or absent listener, revealing their inner thoughts and feelings.'

 Key Points

• A dramatic monologue is a type of poem where a single speaker addresses a silent or absent listener.
• The speaker reveals their innermost thoughts, emotions, and often engages in self-revelation or confession.
• This form allows for an exploration of the speaker's character, providing insights into their personality, motivations, and experiences.
• The listener, though silent, becomes a crucial part of the poem, serving as a sounding board for the speaker's reflections.
• Prominent examples of dramatic monologues include Robert Browning's "My Last Duchess" and T.S. Eliot's "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock."

Therefore, the correct answer is 'Option 2'.

 Additional Information

• Option 1 is incorrect. While dramatic monologues share similarities with theatrical monologues, they are distinct forms. Dramatic monologues are poems, not performances within a play.
• Option 3 is incorrect. Dramatic monologues typically feature a single speaker, not multiple voices.
• Option 4 is incorrect. While dramatic monologues can be intense and emotional, they do not necessarily follow a fixed rhyme scheme.

He means that his neighbour is a traditionalist and is not prepared to change his views.

• "O Captain! My Captain!" was written by Walt Whitman in 1865, shortly after the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln.
• The poem is an elegy, a poem of mourning, that expresses Whitman's grief over Lincoln's death.
• In the poem, Whitman compares Lincoln to a ship's captain who has successfully guided his ship through a perilous journey, only to die just as the ship reaches its destination.

• Option 1 is incorrect because "O Captain! My Captain!" was not composed in 1765.
• Option 3 is incorrect because "O Captain! My Captain!" was not composed in 1885.
• Option 4 is incorrect because "O Captain! My Captain!" was not composed in 1895.

The correct answer is 'Spiritual rebirth and death'.

Key Points

• Water in "The Waste Land" serves as a multifaceted symbol, imbued with meanings of both death and rebirth, reflecting the cycle of life and the potential for spiritual renewal amidst decay.
• The poem juxtaposes instances of water's life-giving properties with its powers of destruction, mirroring the paradoxes present within the human condition and spiritual journeys.
• Notably, the opening lines mention April as the "cruellest month," because it breeds life from "the dead land," suggesting discomfort with the idea of rebirth and the painful processes of growth and change.
• The Thames River is referenced multiple times, serving as a historical and cultural marker that has witnessed both the flourish and the decay of civilizations, suggesting a cyclic nature of existence.
• The allusion to the myth of the Fisher King, whose sterility reflects the spiritual barrenness of the modern world, further emphasizes the theme of spiritual drought that requires metaphorical rain (or spiritual insight) for renewal.
• Eliot’s use of contrasting images of water as both a threatening force and a source of purification underscores the complex relationship between spirituality and the material world, suggesting that spiritual enlightenment and rebirth are possible but fraught with challenges.

Therefore, the correct answer is ‘Option 2.’

Additional Information

• Economic prosperity and technological advancement are themes not directly associated with the symbolism of water in "The Waste Land."
• Political uprisings, though a part of the chaotic backdrop to which the poem alludes, are not the primary focus of water symbolism

The correct answer is 'The study of the reader's role in interpreting a text'.

Key Points

• Reception Theory, also known as Reader-Response Criticism, is a school of literary theory that focuses on the reader's reception of a literary text.
• It emerged in the late 20th century, challenging the then-dominant New Criticism which focused on the text itself, disregarding the reader's role in giving it meaning.
• Reception theorists like Hans-Robert Jauss and Wolfgang Iser argue that a text does not exist in isolation. Instead, its meaning is a dynamic process created in the interaction between the reader and the text.
• This means that every reader, based on their background, experiences, and context, will have a unique interpretation of the text.
• Thus, in Reception Theory, the text's meaning isn't fixed or inherent but is constructed and reconstructed by its readers.

The Waste Land is a long poem by T. S. Eliot, widely regarded as one of the most important poems of the 20th century and a central work of modernist poetry. 

The poem's structure is divided into five sections. The first section, "The Burial of the Dead," introduces the diverse themes of disillusionment and despair. The second, "A Game of Chess," employs vignettes of several characters—alternating narrations—that address those themes experientially. "The Fire Sermon," the third section, offers a philosophical meditation in relation to the imagery of death and views of self-denial in juxtaposition influenced by Augustine of Hippo and eastern religions. After a fourth section, "Death by Water," which includes a brief lyrical petition, the culminating fifth section, "What the Thunder Said," concludes with an image of judgment.

The correct answer is 'Andrew Marvell and Robert Herrick.'

 Key Points

• The Cavalier Poets were a group of 17th-century poets associated with the court of Charles I.
• Andrew Marvell and Robert Herrick are two prominent Cavalier Poets who expressed themes of love, carpe diem, and the pleasures of life.
• Marvell's famous works include "To His Coy Mistress," exploring themes of time and seduction.
• Herrick is known for his carpe diem poetry, celebrating the transient nature of life, as seen in poems like "To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time."
• **The Cavalier Poets often contrasted with the metaphysical poets of the same period, emphasizing sensuality and enjoyment of life.

Therefore, the correct answer is 'Option 3'.

 Additional Information

• Option 1 is incorrect. John Donne and George Herbert are associated with the Metaphysical Poets, not the Cavalier Poets.
• Option 2 is incorrect. Ben Jonson and Christopher Marlowe are Elizabethan/Jacobean playwrights, not Cavalier Poets.
• Option 4 is incorrect. John Milton and Edmund Spenser belong to different literary periods and styles, not the Cavalier Poets.

• Russian Formalism claims that art is a sum of literary and artistic devices that the artist manipulates to craft his work. Form and techniques are those devices. The Russian Formalism redirected the attention from authors and their historical and social background to verbal ‘devices’ and claimed that ‘the device is the only hero of literature’. It never asks what is the author’s motive in the poem? , but laid stress on what happens to the sonnet (Device) here?

• Phenomenology is a method of inquiry in philosophy, developed by German Philosophers Edmund Husserl and Martin Heidegger. The theory puts emphasis on the importance of human consciousness and states that reality consists of objects and events (“phenomena”) as they are perceived or understood in the human consciousness. It is an approach like reader-response criticism in literature.

• New Criticism took poem as an aesthetic object rather than historical document and examined the interactions of their verbal features and the ensuing complications of meaning rather than the historical intentions and background of the author. The new critics (Cleanth Brooks, John Crowe Ransom, W. K. Wimsatt), focus on ambiguity, paradox, irony, and the effects of connotation and poetic imagery and sought to show the contribution of each element of poetic form to a unified framework.

• Deconstruction is an avant garde theory given by French Philosopher Jacques Derrida. Deconstruction means breaking something down into smaller parts (ideas) to understand how it is originated. It gives stress on opposites and how they work on giving sense to each other for example, white has no meaning alone until it is compared to black. In Literature deconstruction pays attention to those meanings and ideas which are not implied by the author, intentionally.

• Derek Walcott's family has a diverse descent, including English, Dutch, and African heritage.
• The term "Mongoloid" typically refers to a racial category and is not associated with Derek Walcott's family background.
• Walcott himself was of mixed-race heritage, reflecting the cultural complexity of the Caribbean.

The correct answer is 'The plot'.

Key Points

• "Romeo and Juliet" is a tragedy about two young lovers who are forbidden from being together.
• "Othello" is a tragedy about a Moorish general who is driven to madness by jealousy.
• The plot of "Romeo and Juliet" is more straightforward than the plot of "Othello".

Additional Information

• (1) The setting of "Romeo and Juliet" is Verona, Italy, while the setting of "Othello" is Venice, Italy and Cyprus.
• (2) The genre of "Romeo and Juliet" and "Othello" is tragedy.
• (4) The themes of "Romeo and Juliet" and "Othello" are similar, as both plays explore the themes of love, jealousy, and betrayal.

Therefore, the correct answer is 'Option 3'.

• The line hints toward the bird described in the poem. As soon the bird realized the presence of the poet or a human it felt cautious and stirred his head as he doesn’t know about the next step of the stranger.
• The action of the bird reflects his fear of an upcoming danger.

• Antithesis is a rhetorical device in which two opposite ideas are put together in a sentence to achieve a contrasting effect. As in the above line two contrasting ideas “fair” and “cruel” put together in order to draw the attention of the listeners or readers.

• Bathos are the word ever since has been used for an unintentional descent in literature when, straining to be pathetic or passionate or elevated, the writer overshoots the mark and drops into the trivial or the ridiculous Anticlimax”is non-derogatory, and denotes a writer’s deliberate drop from the serious and elevated to the trivial and lowly in order to achieve a comic or satirical effect.

• It sometimes employed as an equivalent of bathos; but in a more useful application. Circumlocution is the use of an unnecessarily large number of words to express an idea. The key to circumlocution is that the statement has to be unnecessarily long and complicated.

• For example: In many religious traditions, practitioners use other names to refer to God. So they come up with circumlocutions such as “Our Father who art in Heaven.

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.

The enigmatic character of stray cats accentuated by two words “doubt” and “mystery”. The word mandatory does not used for stray cats in the poem and faith word is employed to show how stray cats lost their faith in domestic life “dissidents who have lost their faith”The figure of stray cats in horror films are utilized to create the mystry. As in last lines of the poem the stray cats presented as a shadow of doubt “they lurk in the light like a giant shadow of doubt”stray cats are image of doubt for those people who consider them as an ill omen.

The correct answer is 'It celebrates a successful love affair.'

Key Points

• Most Elizabethan sonnet sequences, following the tradition of Petrarch, focused on unrequited love or the torments of love. However, Spenser's "Amoretti" is unusual in that it ends in success: the poet's beloved returns his affection, they marry, and he writes a beautiful epithalamion (a marriage song) to celebrate.
• This theme is unique and offers an optimistic perspective on love, contrasting with the usual themes of despair and unrequited love in other sonnet sequences of the time.

Therefore, the correct answer is Option 2.

The correct answer is 'To a Skylark.'

 Key Points

• "To a Skylark" is a major work by Percy Bysshe Shelley, known for its revolutionary and visionary themes.
• The poem is an ode addressed to a skylark, celebrating the bird's unbounded freedom and contrasting it with the limitations of human existence.
• Shelley uses the skylark as a symbol of the poet's aspirations for a better, more liberated world.
• The poem reflects Shelley's belief in the transformative power of poetry to inspire social change.
• Shelley, a Romantic poet, was deeply influenced by political and social issues, and "To a Skylark" exemplifies his visionary and revolutionary spirit.

Therefore, the correct answer is 'Option 2'.

 Additional Information

• Option 1 is incorrect. "Ode to a Nightingale" is a poem by John Keats, not Shelley. It explores themes of mortality and the contrast between the ideal and the real.
• Option 3 is incorrect. "Endymion" is a narrative poem by John Keats, not Shelley. It follows the mythological story of Endymion and focuses on the theme of beauty and ideal love.
• Option 4 is incorrect. "The Eve of St. Agnes" is another poem by John Keats, not Shelley. It is a romantic narrative poem with elements of the supernatural.

As the poet says “The horror is in the seeing. What you see is altered by the act of seeing. ” stray cats have often been looked upon as a symbol of evil omens but only by those people who watch them with their superstitious and narrow eyes. The eyes, which are not capable of seeing reality or truth, but put on their conservative spectacles. It can be an unexceptionable superstition, in general terms but not in context of the poem. Neither it is an example of human obsession nor an indicative of homelessness of stray cats.

The correct answer is 'Ordinary Life'.

Key Points

• According to William Wordsworth, ordinary life should be the subject for poetry.
• The Preface to Lyrical Ballads is an essay written by William Wordsworth for the second edition of the poetry collection Lyrical Ballads, released in 1800, and then considerably expanded in the third edition in 1802.
• Wordsworth employs common man's language.
• 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.
• 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.

Therefore, the correct option is 'Option 1'.

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).
• His most famous works include "Lyrical Ballads, with a Few Other Poems (1798)" , "Preface to the Lyrical Ballads" , "Poems, in Two Volumes (1807)" , "Resolution and Independence" , "French Revolution" , "To the Cuckoo" , "The Excursion"

The correct answer is 'E, B, A, D, C.'

Key Points

• "Frankenstein" by Mary Shelley was published in 1818, introducing the genre of science fiction.
• "Crime and Punishment" by Fyodor Dostoevsky came out in 1866, delving into philosophical discussions of morality and redemption.
• "Ulysses" by James Joyce, released in 1922, is known for its stream-of-consciousness technique and deep exploration of the mundane.
• "The Waste Land" by T.S. Eliot, published in 1922 as well, is considered one of the most important modernist texts.
• "To Kill a Mockingbird" by Harper Lee was published in 1960, addressing issues of racial injustice and moral growth.

The correct answer is ‘Edgar is not as passionate as Heathcliff.’

Key Points

• Heathcliff believes that Edgar is incapable of loving Catherine as much as he does because Edgar is not as passionate as he is. 
• He also believes that Edgar's love for Catherine is not as deep as his own.

Conclusion:

Therefore, the correct answer is ‘Option 1.’

The correct answer is 'Look Back in Anger.'

 Key Points

• "Look Back in Anger" is a groundbreaking play by John Osborne, first performed in 1956.
• The play is a seminal work of the "Angry Young Men" movement in British drama, reflecting the discontent and disillusionment of the working class in post-war Britain.
• The protagonist, Jimmy Porter, becomes a symbol of the angry and frustrated young man railing against societal conventions.
• Osborne's play is characterized by its raw emotion, social critique, and departure from traditional theatrical conventions.
• "Look Back in Anger" marked a significant shift in British drama, challenging the established order and paving the way for more realistic and socially relevant plays.

Therefore, the correct answer is 'Option 2'.

 Additional Information

• Option 1 is incorrect. "The Caretaker" is a play by Harold Pinter, not John Osborne. It explores themes of power, identity, and social dynamics.
• Option 3 is incorrect. "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" is a play by Edward Albee, not John Osborne. It delves into the complexities of marriage and societal expectations.
• Option 4 is incorrect. "The Birthday Party" is a play by Harold Pinter, not John Osborne. It involves psychological tension and absurdity.

In "Signs Taken For Wonders," Homi K. Bhabha examines several moments in postcolonial ... that depict the "sudden, fortuitous discovery of the English book" (102). ... that the English book points toward the fixity of Colonial power, along with its ... the "English book" serve as a foil for Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak's essay "Can ...

• Allegory is a literary device that uses symbols and metaphors to represent abstract ideas or concepts.
• In John Dryden's poem "Absalom and Achitophel", the biblical characters and events are used to allegorize a political crisis in contemporary England.
• The character of Ling David represents King Charles II, Absalom represents the Duke of Monmouth, and the events of the story parallel the political struggles of the time.

Therefore, the correct answer is 'Option 2.'

• Option 1: Symbolism is the use of symbols to represent abstract ideas or concepts, but in this case, the characters and events in "Absalom and Achitophel" are not merely symbols; they are used to allegorize a specific historical event.
• Option 3: A chronicle play is a type of historical drama that presents a series of events from history, but "Absalom and Achitophel" is not a chronicle play in the traditional sense; it is a political allegory that uses biblical characters and events to represent contemporary events.
• Option 4: Melodrama is a type of play that emphasizes sensationalism and emotion, but "Absalom and Achitophel" is not a melodrama; it is a political allegory that uses wit and satire to comment on contemporary events.

The correct answer is 'The resilience and hope for a revival of the harp's music.'

Key Points

• The speaker portrays the harp as hanging lonely on a withered bough, emphasizing its desolation.
• Describing the harp as unstrung forever, the poem highlights its perpetual silence and abandonment.
• The harp's current state reflects neglect, muteness, and desolation, akin to a ruined monument in a deserted landscape.
• Despite its desolation, the speaker expresses a strong desire for the revival of the harp's music, symbolizing a hopeful resurgence of India's cultural heritage.

The correct answer is 'Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts of 1844.'

Key Points

• The "Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts of 1844" outline Marx's theory of alienation, which describes the estrangement of people from aspects of their human nature due to living in a society of stratified social classes.
• Marx discusses how workers are alienated from the products of their labor, the labor process, their species-being, and from other workers.
• This work introduced some of the core ideas that would later be developed in Marx's critique of capitalism.
• Marx's theory of alienation is foundational to understanding his critique of capitalist society and its impact on human relations and labor.
• This manuscript remains a crucial text for understanding Marx's early philosophical and sociological thought.
• It highlights the dehumanizing aspects of labor under capitalism and emphasizes the need for human emancipation.