TS SET Paper 2 Mock Test - 8 (English) - TS TET MCQ

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

Key Points 

• Both the Assertion and Reason are true.
• Postcolonialism indeed examines the impact of colonialism on cultures and societies, emphasizing the need for decolonization and addressing the legacies of imperialism.
• The Reason correctly explains the Assertion by stating that Postcolonialism advocates for the recognition of diverse voices, cultures, and histories that have been marginalized and suppressed by colonial powers.

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 correct answer is 'Ulysses'.

Key Points

• Ulysses is a modernist novel written by the Irish author James Joyce.
• It is regarded as one of the most significant works of modernist literature.
• The work is very allusive, with prose that mimics the styles of various periods of English literature.
• Ulysses recounts the appointments and meetings of the wanderer Leopold Bloom in Dublin on an average day, June 16, 1904.

Therefore, the correct option is 'Option2'.

Additional Information

• Emily Bronte's first and only work, Wuthering Heights, was first published in 1847 under her pen name "Ellis Bell." It follows the Earnshaws and the Lintons, two landed gentry families residing on the West Yorkshire moors, and their troubled connections with the Earnshaw's foster son, Heathcliff.
• William Makepeace Thackeray's novel Vanity Fair recounts the lives of Becky Sharp and Amelia Sedley among their friends and family during and after the Napoleonic Wars. From 1847 to 1848, it was published as a 19-volume monthly serial under the title Pen and Pencil Sketches of English Society.
• Great Expectations is Charles Dickens' thirteenth and last completed work. It chronicles the schooling of Pip, an orphan (the novel is a Bildungsroman, or coming-of-age story).

The correct answer is 'The celebration of marriage and nature'.

Key Points

• "Prothalamion" is a marriage ode written by Edmund Spenser in 1596, celebrating the double marriage of the daughters of the Earl of Worcester.
• The poem beautifully intertwines the themes of marriage and nature, using the natural setting as a backdrop for the celebration of love and union.
• Spenser employs rich imagery of the natural world to symbolize purity, fertility, and harmony, all of which are congruent with the theme of marriage.
• The river Thames is personified and plays a significant role in the poem, showcasing the vital force of nature and its participation in human joy and celebration.
• The work is characterized by its use of allegory and classical references, contributing to the depth of the celebration by linking it to universal themes of love, beauty, and harmony.

The correct answer is "Webster".

Key Points

• 'Lexicography' is the study of lexicons or words that are required for the art of compiling and editing dictionaries. It finds its use in other academic disciplines.
•  Noah Webster is an American lexicographer, English-language spelling reformer, editor, author and political leader.
• An American Dictionary of the English Language published in 1828 also known as Merriam-Webster dictionary is one of his important works.

Therefore, the correct option is option 1.

The correct answer is 'Eliza Doolittle'.

Key Points

• "Pygmalion" is a play by George Bernard Shaw, centered around the theme of social mobility and transformation through education.
• Eliza Doolittle, a Cockney flower girl, undergoes the most profound transformation, both in terms of speech and manners, under the guidance of Henry Higgins.
• Eliza's journey from the streets to high society challenges the rigid British class system and highlights issues of identity and independence.
• This transformation is not merely external; Eliza develops self-awareness, confidence, and a firm stance on her own dignity and worth by the end of the play.
• Her character arc is central to the play's critique of societal norms and the exploration of the impact of education and personal willpower on one's destiny.

The correct answer "women's right's".

Key Points

• Emmeline Pankhurst started the "Suffragette Movement" in 1903 to advocate for American women's right to vote.

• In response to the movement, the U.S. Constitution's 19th Amendment was passed, granting women the right to vote for the very first time.

• The journalist Charles E. Hands used the term "suffragette" for the first time in the "London Daily Mail" in 1906.

• He used the term to mock women's suffrage activists rather than to support them.

Hence, the correct answer is option 2.

The correct answer is 'Use of vivid and powerful imagery'.

Key Points

• Sylvia Plath is renowned for her ability to craft vivid and powerful imagery in her poetry, using language that evokes intense emotional responses and paints striking visual pictures.
• Her work often delves into themes of self-identity, mental illness, the female experience, and death, with her imagery serving to bring these abstract concepts to life in a way that is both personal and universal.
• Poems like "Daddy" and "Lady Lazarus" are prime examples where Plath uses disturbing yet compelling imagery to explore her complex relationship with her father and her own struggles with mental health.
• Plath's use of imagery is not just descriptive but symbolic, often imbuing her poems with layers of meaning that invite deep analysis and interpretation.
• Her skillful use of metaphors and similes creates powerful connections between the everyday and the extraordinary, making her poetry resonant and impactful.

Therefore, the correct answer is ‘Option 2.’

Additional Information

• Unrestrained optimism about the future and emphasis on traditional poetic forms do not generally characterize Plath's work; her poetry is more known for its exploration of darker themes and innovation in style.
• While historical events can feature in her work, they are not the primary focus; her focus is more introspective and personal

The correct answer is 'French Revolution'.

Key Points

• "A Tale of Two Cities" is set against the backdrop of the French Revolution.
• The novel explores the themes of resurrection and sacrifice during this tumultuous historical period.
• Characters like Charles Darnay and Sydney Carton are deeply affected by the events of the French Revolution.

The correct answer is "(1-D), (2-C), (3-B), (4-A)"

Key Points 

•  "​A Lost Season" is a poem by Roy Broad Bent Fuller. It is written in 1944 and records his wartime experience. 
• "A Modern Folk Ballad" is a poem by Charles Stanley Causley.
• "My Sad Captains" is a poem by Thomas William Gunn which the poet tributes to people who have inspired the poet.
• "The Hawk in the Rain" is a poem by Ted Hughes. The poem is taken from his first poetry collection named 'Hawk in the Rain' published in 1957.  

​Therefore the correct answer is "option 2".

The correct answer is 'Radhakrishnan Commission'.

Key Points

• The Radhakrishnan Commission, formally known as the University Education Commission, was set up in 1948, shortly after India gained independence.
• It was named after its chairman, Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, who later became the second President of India.
• The commission was tasked with re-evaluating the country's education system and suggesting improvements to promote national development.
• It emphasized the importance of higher education in national development and advocated for educational reforms that included the universalization of education, improvement in the quality of education, and stressing the role of education in instilling a sense of democracy and social welfare.
• The commission recommended a greater emphasis on the study of humanities and social sciences to encourage a broader cultural outlook among students.
• It also underscored the need for academic freedom, the importance of teacher welfare, and the role of universities as centers of research and higher learning.

Therefore, the correct answer is 'Option 3'.

Additional Information

• The Kothari Commission, set up in 1964, focused on formulating a coherent policy for the Indian education system.
• The Mudaliar Commission, established in 1952, emphasized secondary education and suggested reforms to improve its quality and accessibility.
• The Hunter Commission, formed in 1882 during the British colonial period, was focused on elementary and secondary education, far earlier than the post-independence era.

Pope argues that the length of a work or that the preponderance of words in a work has nothing to do with whether that work is of artistic quality. In fact, according to him, the opposite is usually the case. If one were to dig beneath the layer of rotting leaves covering a forest's floor, one would find nothing that was producing anything akin to fruit. Likewise, by the time one searches beneath all of the words of a lengthy piece, one often finds nothing much has been said, nothing fruitful anyway. Nevertheless, Pope's "Essay on Criticism" is three books in length and is 744 lines long itself, despite his advice to avoid verbosity. Interestingly, Pope claimed he wrote his "Essay" in heroic couplets and in the form of a poem partially because he felt it would help reign in any attempts to be overly wordy.

Bathsheba is ambitious, independent, headstrong, determined, and free-spirited. From the very beginning, she makes it known that she could never become any man’s property, and she never shows any interest in getting married. In fact, she once says:

“Well what I mean is that I shouldn’t mind being a bride at a wedding, if I could be one without having a husband. But since a woman can’t show off in that way by herself, I shan’t marry-at least yet.”

The correct answer is Justice.

Key Points

Justice is a play written by John Galsworthy, published in the year 1910.

• It deals with the issues of crime and punishment criticising the judicial system of the world where the rich always go scot free leaving the poor to rot in the prison.​ 
• Revolving around the story of the poor clerk Falder and a miserable wife Ruth socially and sexually harassed by her husband, the play Justice throws light upon the misery and plight of the poor individuals of the society leading their lives like outcasts.
• It aimed to bring reforms in the British system of Justice.
• The play is not just about bringing reforms in solitary confinement but about the judicial process and the broader relationship of punishment to the crime. 
• Justice impacted and moved a lot of people including Winston Churchill and the solitary confinement scene greatly influenced him in the drama.
• Galsworthy wants his readers to realise the circumstances under which the poor man decides to commit this illegal act.

Additional Information

Look at the writers of the other plays/ dramas given in the options:

• Riders to the sea: J. M. Synge 
• Arms & the Man: G. B. Shaw 
• Midsummer’s Night Dream: William Shakespeare

Persuasion is the last novel fully completed by Jane Austen. It was published at the end of 1817, six months after her death.

The story concerns Anne Elliot, a young Englishwoman of 27 years, whose family is moving to lower their expenses and get out of debt. They rent their home to an Admiral and his wife. The wife’s brother, Navy Captain Frederick Wentworth, had been engaged to Anne in 1806, and now they meet again, both single and unattached, after no contact in more than seven years. This sets the scene for many humorous encounters as well as a second, well-considered chance at love and marriage for Anne in her second "bloom".

The correct answer is "To establish the scope of the study by identifying gaps in the existing literature."

Key Points

• Literature reviews are fundamental components of literary research methodology. Their primary purpose is not just to summarize existing works but to critically analyze them to identify what has been done and what remains to be explored.
• By identifying gaps in the existing literature, researchers can pinpoint where further study is needed or how a new perspective could contribute meaningfully to the field. This helps in shaping the research questions or hypotheses.
• Literature reviews also help in situating the current research within the broader scholarly conversation, showing how it relates to and builds upon previous studies.
• This process involves categorizing, comparing, and contrasting different approaches, outcomes, and methodologies witnessed in the existing body of work.
• A well-conducted literature review enables a research to avoid redundancy, ensuring that their work contributes new knowledge or insights.
• Beyond summarizing sources, literature reviews synthesize them in a way that provides a coherent overview of what is known and not known about a particular topic or question.

Therefore, the correct answer is 'Option 3'.

Additional Information

• Summarizing personal opinions is subjective and does not generally contribute to academic research.
• Biographical information can be relevant but is not the primary focus of a literature review unless directly related to the research topic.
• Arguing the superiority of one genre over others is not the objective of scholarly research and lacks academic neutrality.

• Jean-Francois Lyotard was a French philosopher and literary theorist. He believes that postmodernity is marked by an abundance of micronarratives as these works are inadequate to represent the beliefs and desires of the age. to prove his view, he draws inspiration from the notion of ‘language-games’ found in the work of Ludwig Wittgenstein.

• In his works specifically, in The Post Modern Condition: A Report on Knowledge, the term ‘language games’, sometimes also called ‘phrase regimens’, denotes the multiplicity of communities of meaning, the innumerable and incommensurable separate systems in which meanings are produced and rules for their circulation are created.

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 correct answer is 'Sonnet 31'.

Key Points

• "Astrophel and Stella" is a sonnet sequence composed by Sir Philip Sidney, reflecting the complexities of love through the experiences of the protagonist, Astrophel.
• Sonnet 31 is famous for addressing the moon, using it as a confidante to express the speaker's own unrequited love and desolation.
• This sonnet exemplifies the Renaissance interest in the relationship between earthly occurrences and the cosmos, suggesting a commonality of experience between man and the heavens.
• Through the apostrophe to the moon, Astrophel seeks companionship in his sorrow, projecting his emotional state onto the celestial body.
• The use of the moon as a metaphorical device allows Sidney to explore themes of distance, unattainable love, and the silent witness of nature to human emotion.

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 correct answer is 'Suffering is always unique and personal to each individual.'

Key Points

• The speaker states that "suffering is exact," suggesting that it is unique and specific to each individual. 
• This is supported by the fact that the speaker's own suffering is described in vivid and personal detail.
• The speaker's use of the word "exact" implies that suffering is precise and cannot be generalized or compared to the suffering of others.
• The speaker does not suggest that suffering is always fair, just, predictable, or caused by external factors.

Therefore, the correct answer is ‘Option 3.’

The correct answer is "a-iii, b-iv, c-i, d-ii".

Key Points

• The play The Elder Statesman is a verse play by Eliot. The play was written by him in 1958. 
• The Doctor's Dilemma was written by G.B Shaw, looking into the question of medical ethics. 
• A Doll's House is a famous play written by Norwegian writer Henrik Ibsen. The play deal with the life of a married woman Nora Helmer.
• A Woman of No Importance is a four-act play by Oscar Wilde. The play is a satire on upper English society. 

Therefore, Option 3 is the correct answer. 

Additional Information

• Though the play A Doll's House projects a feminist theme, the writer Ibsen had no intention of writing a feminist play. 
• A Woman of No Importance is one of the least famous plays by Wilde.
• The play The Elder Statesman deals with Lord Claverton, who is a retired banker and a cabinet minister. He confronts his past in the play. 

• 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.

Politics and the English Language is an essay by George Orwell that highlight as well as criticize the debase and inaccurate written English of his time and examines the relation between political orthodoxies and the degradation of the language. The rules are as follows:

1. Never use a metaphor, simile or other figure of speech which you are used to seeing in print.
2. Never use a long word where a short one will do.
3. If it is possible to cut a word out, always cut it out.
4. Never use the passive where you can use the active.
5. Never use a foreign phrase, a scientific word, or a jargon word if you can think of an everyday English equivalent.
6. Break any of these rules sooner than say anything outright barbarous.

Origin of Miles to Go Before I Sleep. This phrase appears in the two last lines of Robert Frost's simple poem Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening. The speaker in the poem repeatedly utters it in the fourth stanza of the poem, indicating that the phrase is very important.

The correct answer is 'A Metaphor for Superstition.'

Key Points

• The scorpion's sting in the poem serves as a metaphor for superstition.
• It symbolizes the irrational fears and beliefs ingrained in the villagers.
• The reaction of the villagers to the scorpion's bite reflects their deeply rooted superstitious beliefs.
• The poem explores how superstition can evoke communal solidarity and collective response.
• Ezekiel uses the scorpion as a literary device to critique the impact of irrational beliefs on human behavior.
• The scorpion's sting becomes a powerful symbol, representing the influence of superstition on the community.

Therefore, the correct answer is 'Option 2.'

Additional Information

• A Symbol of Evil: While the scorpion's sting has negative consequences, it primarily represents superstition rather than evil.
• A Catalyst for Unity: While the villagers unite in response to the scorpion's sting, the central focus is on superstition.
• A Representation of Divine Intervention: The poem doesn't present the scorpion as a representation of divine intervention but rather as a symbol of superstition.

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.

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.

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.

The correct answer is "Thalaba the Destroyer".

Key Points

• Robert Southey was a prominent poet of the Romantic era and, along with William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge, was one of the so-called "Lake Poets".
• Among Southey's significant works is the oriental epic "Thalaba the Destroyer", which tells the story of a young Arabian man who seeks to avenge the death of his father.
• The poem is notable for its exotic setting and its experimental use of unrhymed, irregularly metered verse, which Southey referred to as "an irregular ode".
• While Southey's reputation has been overshadowed by his more famous contemporaries, he was highly regarded in his time and served as Poet Laureate for 30 years.

Therefore, the correct answer is Option 1.