UGC NET Paper 2 English Mock Test - 1 - UGC NET MCQ

The correct answer is Eugene O'Neill

Key Points

• The Hairy Ape is a play by American playwright Eugene O'Neill that was published in 1921 and first performed in 1922. It is divided into eight scenes.
• Yank, the play's protagonist, is a beastly, unthinking worker who is looking for a place to belong in a world ruled by the wealthy.
• Yank loses control of his mental faculties in a struggle for societal acceptance, and he is ultimately defeated by an ape who reflects Yank's personality.
• The Hairy Ape shows how Yank, a dynamic character, is affected by industrialization and socioeconomic status.
• Eugene O'Neil  (1888 -1953) was the most prominent American playwright and the 1936 Nobel Prize winner in Literature.
• An extensive collection of his great plays includes Beyond the Horizon (1920), Anna Christie (1922), Strange Interlude (1928), Ah! Wilderness (1933), and The Iceman Cometh(1946),  Long Day's Journey into Night (produced posthumously in 1956). 

Therefore, the correct answer is option 2.

Additional Information

• Tennessee Williams (1911-1983), was an American playwright and screenwriter. His plays include A Streetcar Named Desire (for which he received the Pulitzer Prize for Drama), The Glass Menagerie, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Sweet Bird of Youth, and The Night of the Iguana.
• William Faulkner (1897 - 1962) was an American writer known for his novels and short stories he is best remembered for his novels The Sound and the Fury (1929), As I Lay Dying (1930), Sanctuary (1931), and Absalom, Absalom! (1936).
• Arthur Miller (1915 - 2005) was an American playwright, essayist, and screenwriter in 20th-century American theater. Among his most popular plays are All My Sons (1947), Death of a Salesman (1949), The Crucible (1953), and A View from the Bridge (1955). 

The correct answer is '1 - B, 2 - A, 3 - C, 4 - D.'

Key Points

• Roland Barthes is associated with "Mythologies," a series of essays in which he explores the meanings of various cultural phenomena, from wrestling to wine.
• Jane Jacobs wrote "The Death and Life of Great American Cities," a critical examination of traditional urban planning methodologies.
• Gayatri Spivak's "Can the Subaltern Speak?" is a foundational text in postcolonial studies. It explores questions of power, representation, and the status of the "subaltern."
• Claude Lévi-Strauss's "Tristes Tropiques" combines anthropological analysis with autobiographical elements.

The correct answer is 'Strong and Weak.'

Key Points

• The Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis is often presented in two versions: the strong version and the weak version.
• The strong version suggests that language determines thought, imposing a strict constraint on cognitive processes.
• The weak version, which is more widely accepted, proposes that language influences thought, shaping but not determining cognitive processes.
• These terms, "strong" and "weak," describe the degree of influence that language is believed to have on thought within the hypothesis.

Therefore, the correct answer is 'Option 4.'

Additional Information

• Option 1: While determinism and relativity are related concepts, they do not specifically describe the two versions of the Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis.
• Option 2: This does not accurately represent the terms used to describe the two versions of the hypothesis.
• Option 3: The terms "linguistic" and "cognitive" do not specifically describe the strong and weak versions of the hypothesis.

The correct answer is "W. H. Auden, Louis MacNeice, Cecil Day-Lewis, Stephen Spender and Christopher Isherwood".

Key Points

• In the 1930s, a group of British and Irish authors known as the Auden Group or Auden Generation comprised W. H. Auden, Louis MacNeice, Cecil Day-Lewis, Stephen Spender, Christopher Isherwood, and occasionally Edward Upward and Rex Warner.
• The Thirties poets is another name for them.
• Although there were numerous newspaper articles and books written about the "Auden Group," the group's existence was largely a journalistic myth.
• It served as a convenient label for poets and novelists who were roughly the same age, had attended Oxford and Cambridge, had interacted with one another at different points in their careers, and held more or less left-wing ideologies ranging from Upward's ardent communism to MacNeice's political scepticism.

Therefore, the correct answer is option 1.

The correct answer is 'A Dictionary of the English Language'.

Key Points

• "A Dictionary of the English Language," published by Samuel Johnson in 1755, was a monumental work in the field of lexicography and a significant contribution to non-fiction literature.
• It was not the first English dictionary, but it was the most comprehensive and scholarly of its time. Johnson's dictionary provided not just definitions but also quotations from a broad range of sources, demonstrating the usage of words.
• The dictionary played a crucial role in standardizing English spelling and usage, and it remained an authoritative reference for over a century.

Therefore, the correct answer is Option 3.

The correct answer is 'William Wordsworth.'

Key Points

• William Wordsworth (1770-1850) was a prominent English Romantic poet.
• The excerpt is from his famous poem titled "I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud" or "Daffodils."
• Wordsworth is known for his celebration of nature and its impact on human emotions.
• This poem reflects his connection with nature and the joy it brings.
• The daffodils in the poem symbolize beauty, inspiration, and the enduring power of nature.
• Wordsworth was one of the key figures in the Romantic movement, emphasizing emotions and individual experiences in poetry.

Therefore, the correct answer is 'Option 1'.

Additional Information

• John Keats (Option 2) was another notable Romantic poet, known for his odes and emphasis on sensuous imagery. 
• Percy Bysshe Shelley (Option 3) was a major poet of the Romantic era, associated with radical political and social ideas.
• Samuel Taylor Coleridge (Option 4) was a Romantic poet and close associate of Wordsworth, known for "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner" and "Kubla Khan."

The Two Cultures is the first part of an influential 1959 Rede Lecture by British scientist and novelist C. P. Snow. Its thesis was that "the intellectual life of the whole of western society" was split into the titular two cultures – namely the sciences and the humanities – and that this was a major hindrance to solving the world's problems.

Utopia is the most famous work of Thomas More and the founding novel of a literary genre called Utopian Novel. The book is divided into two parts, in the second part, Raphael Hythloday describes various features of the island, called utopia. He tells that Utopians works for six hours per day and sleep on average about eight hours a day.

Hence, they left with plenty of free time, which they are free to use as they wish, but not to spend it in festivities or idleness. Most people use their free time to engage in intellectual pursuits and public lecturing. They also involve themselves in music, gardening, and other physical activities. Playing cards and dicing are not a part of their leisure pastimes.

• Pygmalion therefore tries to illustrate the arbitrariness of basing a person's worth on his or her pronunciation.  
• The necessity for the artist to be free from domestic entanglements is a major theme of Love among the Artists (1881).  
• Caesar and Cleopatra : The hollowness of hero-worship
• Misalliance : Man-Woman relationship

(A) is true but (R) is false.

Ottava rima, Italian stanza form composed of eight 11-syllable lines, rhyming abababcc. It originated in the late 13th and early 14th centuries and was developed by Tuscan poets for religious verse and drama and in troubadour songs.

Tono-Bungay is a realist semiautobiographical novel written by H. G. Wells ... His nephew engineers his uncle's escape from England in an experimental aircraft he has built, but the ruined .... These novels are very personal as well, treating aspects of Wells's own life, matters which would come under attack ...

The correct answer is '(a) - (ii), (b) - (iii), (c) - (i), (d) - (iv)'.

Key Points

• The Mirror Stage is associated with Jacques Lacan and describes a stage where the infant recognizes their reflection as themselves, which is crucial for the development of the ego.
• Object Relations Theory, developed by Melanie Klein, focuses on the relationships between individuals, especially between children and their primary caregivers, and how these relationships impact psychological development.
• The Oedipus Complex, a concept introduced by Sigmund Freud, involves a child's unconscious desire for the opposite-sex parent and jealousy toward the same-sex parent.
• The Death Drive, another of Freud's contributions, refers to the hypothesized drive towards death, destruction, or a return to the inorganic state.

Therefore, the correct answer is 'Option 1'.

The correct answer is 'The Norman Conquest'.

Key Points

• The Norman Conquest of 1066 marked a pivotal moment in the history of the English language, leading to significant changes in vocabulary, grammar, and pronunciation.
• The introduction of Norman French as the language of the ruling class introduced a vast number of French words into the English language, particularly in areas of law, art, literature, and government.
• This bilingual environment for several centuries led to English re-emerging as the dominant language, albeit heavily influenced by French, evidencing the language's ability to evolve and adapt.
• The convergence of Old English and Norman French accelerated the transition from Old to Middle English, laying the foundation for Modern English.
• The Norman Conquest illustrates how political and social changes can have profound and lasting impacts on language evolution.

Therefore, the correct answer is 'Option 3'.

Additional Information

• While the Viking invasions and the invention of the printing press also contributed to the development of the English language, Joseph Williams highlights the Norman Conquest as a key factor.
• The isolation of the British Isles affected early linguistic development but did not contribute as rapidly to the evolution of English as the Norman Conquest.

The correct answer is 'To provide a detailed summary of each source's content, including its relevance, accuracy, and quality.'

Key Points

• Detailed Summary: The annotated bibliography offers a detailed summary of the content of each source, enabling others to grasp the essence of the material quickly.
• Assessment of Relevance: It includes an evaluation of how relevant the source is to the specific research topic, helping to clarify its importance.
• Critical Evaluation: The bibliography assesses the accuracy and quality of the source, providing insight into its reliability.
• Source Comparison: By offering a detailed account of numerous sources, it allows for comparison between them based on their contributions to the topic.
• Research Aid: This tool aids researchers in understanding the landscape of existing research and critically engaging with it.

Therefore, the correct answer is 'Option 3'.

Additional Information

• Option 1: While summarization is a part of an annotated bibliography, it involves more than just summarizing main arguments.
• Option 2: Critiquing validity is an aspect, but not the primary purpose of an annotated bibliography.
• Option 4: Though it could be used for selecting future research sources, the main purpose encompasses detailed summation and evaluation.

The correct answer is 'It is a cultural logic of late capitalism'.

Key Points

• Jameson posits postmodernism as the cultural expression of late capitalism, suggesting that economic and cultural spheres are interlinked.
• He describes postmodernism as a phase where global capitalism influences cultural products, leading to phenomena like pastiche, depthlessness, and the commodification of culture.
• According to Jameson, the stylistic innovation and eclecticism seen in postmodern culture reflect the fragmentation and superficiality bred by capitalist modes of production and consumption.
• This perspective suggests that postmodernism mirrors the complexities and contradictions of late capitalist societies, including their emphasis on consumerism, media saturation, and disconnection from historical and critical perspectives.
• Jameson argues that understanding postmodernism as a cultural form of late capitalism allows us to critically engage with its implications on identity, history, and politics.
• This relation underscores the importance of analyzing cultural phenomena through an economic and sociopolitical lens to fully grasp their significance and impact.

The correct answer is 'Social isolation and existential angst'.

Key Points

• The poem delves deeply into the psyche of its narrator, Prufrock, who is paralyzed by insecurity and indecision, reflecting broader themes of social isolation and existential angst.
• Prufrock's internal monologue reveals his acute self-consciousness and fear of judgment, which prevent him from acting upon his desires or engaging meaningfully with the world around him.
• The fragmented, stream-of-consciousness narrative style and the use of literary and cultural references convey the complexity of Prufrock's inner world and the existential questions he grapples with.
• Eliot's depiction of the modern city and its impersonal, alienating environment enhances the theme of isolation and the challenge of finding meaning and connection in the modern world.
• The repeated question, "Do I dare?" encapsulates Prufrock's existential dread and his struggle with the potential meaninglessness of life and actions.

The correct answer is 'Confidante'.

Key Points

• Friar Laurence serves as a trusted adviser and confidante to both Romeo and Juliet throughout the play. He is someone they both confide in and seek advice from.
• He performs the secret marriage ceremony for Romeo and Juliet, believing that it may help to reconcile the feuding families.
• Friar Laurence concocts the plan for Juliet to feign her death, which demonstrates his involvement in the lives of the young lovers and his desire to help them.
• His cell serves as a safe haven for both characters at different points in the play, highlighting his role as a supportive figure.
• Through his actions and interactions with Romeo and Juliet, Friar Laurence's role significantly impacts the development and outcome of the plot.

Therefore, the correct answer is 'Option 3'.

Additional Information

• Comic relief: This option would be more applicable to characters like Mercutio or the Nurse who provide humorous interludes.
• Antagonist: Refers to a character who opposes the protagonist, which does not describe Friar Laurence's relationship with Romeo and Juliet.
• Messenger: While Friar Laurence does send messages, this is not his primary role within the play.

The correct answer is ' Isolated moorland farmhouse'.

Key Points

• Wuthering Heights is situated in an isolated moorland setting, contributing to the eerie and desolate atmosphere of the novel.
• The isolated location reflects the wild and passionate nature of the characters, particularly Heathcliff.
• The farmhouse serves as a symbol of the harsh and unforgiving environment, mirroring the tumultuous relationships within the story.

Therefore, the correct answer is 'Option 2'.

Additional Information

• The isolated moorland setting plays a crucial role in shaping the tone and mood of the narrative.

The correct answer is Fredric Jameson.

Key Points

• Fredric Jameson is an American literary critic and Marxist political theorist. He is often associated with postmodern theory.
• While 'pastiche' as a concept has existed before, Jameson popularized its application in postmodern literature.
• According to Jameson, pastiche is a "blank parody", a mimicry without any humor or satirical impulse, often employed in postmodern works.
• In postmodern literature, pastiche signifies the utilization of styles or voices that do not originally belong to the author, reflecting the multiplicity and fragmentation of the postmodern world.
  

Therefore, the correct answer is Option 3.

The correct answer is "Taking a bath".

Key Points

• The speaker mentions the need to take a bath to purify himself after being touched, which indicates the belief in physical cleanliness as a form of caste purity.
• This act of bathing as purification reflects the ritual practices aimed at maintaining caste boundaries and social purity.
• It highlights the severity of caste-based 'defilement' where even an unintentional touch necessitates religious or ritual cleansing.
• The emphasis on the new dhoti and shirt reinforces the belief in physical contamination through caste-based contact, showing how deeply caste prejudices are ingrained in daily life and personal pride.
• This response underscores the societal norms and rituals designed to uphold the caste system, illustrating the pervasive and controlling nature of caste-based discrimination.

Nineteen Eighty-Four, arguably the most famous English novel of the 20th century, is a zeitgeist book. Orwell's dystopian vision was deeply rooted both in its author's political morality and in its time, the postwar years of western Europe. Its themes (the threat of the totalitarian state, censorship and the manipulation of language) continue to reverberate, with prophetic menace, like distant gunfire, into the present

A Modest Proposal, is a Juvenalian satirical essay written and published anonymously by Jonathan Swift in 1729.

• Quilp, Daniel An evil dwarf in The Old Curiosity Shop, who lends money to Nell's grandfather (who gambles it away and flees). Quilp attempts to find Nell and her grandfather as they travel through the country. Later Quilp is pursued by the police and, lost in the fog, drowns in the Thames.
• Toodle, Polly (Richards) Little Paul Dombey's nurse, known in the Dombey household as Richards.
• Dodger is a pickpocket, so called for his skill and cunning in that respect. Pumblechook, Mr. is Joe Gargerys uncle, (ìbut Mrs. Joe appropriated him) in Great Expectations. Conceited and utterly materialistic, he is awell-to-do corn- chandler in the nearest town, [with] his own chaise-cart.
• Jack Dawkins, better known as the Artful Dodger, is a character in the Charles Dickens novel Oliver Twist.

Cavalier poetry is different from traditional poetry in its subject matter. Instead of tackling issues like religion, philosophy, and the arts, cavalier poetry aims to express the joy and simple gratification of celebratory things much livelier than the traditional works of their predecessors.

It is usually assumed that all Gothic novels are much the same, and that the form is defined by the presence of some stock devices. ... As a historical form the Gothic novel flourished between 1764 and 1820; Walpole's The Castle of Otranto and Maturin's Melmoth the Wanderer are its limits of demarcation

True History of the Kelly Gang is a novel by Australian writer Peter Carey, based loosely on the history of the Kelly Gang. It was first published in Brisbane by the University of Queensland Press in 2000. It won the 2001 Booker Prize and the Commonwealth Writers Prize in the same year. Despite its title, the book is fiction and a variation on the Ned Kelly story.

In an effort to attract foreign readers to the story, the book's American publisher, Alfred Knopf, heralded the book as a "Great American Novel", even though the novel takes place entirely within Australia. The claim that this book is an "American novel" appears to be based on the fact that author Peter Carey, an Australian, has lived in New York City for many years.

Learners acquire language by trying to use it in real situations such as going shopping, introducing yourself, making calls, expressing your opinion and many more. Learner practice in particular communicative situations, illustrated with exemplary dialogues, vocabulary and important idioms. Learner’s first language or mother tongue also plays an important role in learning any other languages, specifically in translation method of language learning. Through communicative activities, students can learn to use language in real communication.

It is important that activities in Communicative Language Teaching focus on students to practice using the target language in the classroom. As all four parts of language learning are important, equally in themselves so language cannot be acquired if more stress given on writing rather than speech in the target language.

“Waiting for Godot” is an absurd play by Samuel Beckett, which revolves around the two characters, Vladimir and Estragon, who are waiting for the arrival of someone named Godot who never arrives, Vladimir is one of the two main characters and seems to be the more responsible and mature of the two.

He is called Didi by Estragon. Another one is Estragon seems weak and helpless, always looking for Vladimir’s protection called Gogo by Vladimir.

The Mimic Men is a novel by V. S. Naipaul a Nobel Prize-winning British writer of Trinidad first published in 1967. The novel Centred on a protagonist, Ralph Singh, an East Indian-West Indian politician from Isabella.

Wide Sargasso Sea is a postcolonial novel by the British author Jean Rhys in 1966. The novel is written as a prequel and response to Charlotte Bronte’s noted novel Jane Eyre.

Indigo is a novel written by Marina Warner published in 1992. The novel is a modernized and altered retelling of William Shakespeare s, famous Romantic comedy The Tempest.

Foe is a novel by South African-born Nobel laureate J. M. Coetzee written in 1986. the famous novel is woven around the existing plot of Robinson Crusoe with the protagonist Susan Barton.