In his essay “The Death of the Author,” Roland Barthes argues what about literature ?

A. Biographical information about the author must be considered when evaluating literature.
B. A text and its author text are unrelated.
C. It is possible to distill meaning from a work based on the author’s politics.
D. Authorial intent must be considered when evaluating literature.

What does Edward Said argue about the concept of the Orient ?

A. It has little relationship to the colonization of asian countries by the west.
B. It illustrates the fundamental political equality of all nations.
C. It was produced by western scholarship.
D. Its literature is less proud that that of the west.

The Frankfurt School of literary theory was most greatly influenced by which of the following schools of thought ?

A. Formalism
B. Structuralism
C. Poststructuralism
D. Marxism

In Fredric Jameson’s book The Political Unconscious, what does Jameson suggest about literature ?

A. History comprises the essential framework for the performance of literary analysis
B. Politics and the economy are the most important factors in literary analysis
C. Biography is essential to literary analysis
D. Psychoanalysis is critical to literary analysis

What is defamiliarization ?

A. A concept associated with russian formalism
B. An idea explored by viktor shklovsky
C. A term that describes the capacity of art to counter the effects of habit
D. All of the above.

According to trauma theorists, a testifying subject needs which of the following to deliver a successful testimony ?

A. A figure of judgment
B. Religious belief
C. A witness
D. Psychological treatment

What is generally considered to be Theodor W. Adorno’s primary concern as a theorist ?

A. The effect of literature in enlightening the human mind
B. The effect of modern society on human suffering
C. The effect of the economy on women’s concerns
D. The effect of the unconscious mind on the conscious self

New trends in literary theory tend to do which of the following ?

A. Reject all previous modes of literary theory
B. Focus on a return to traditional critical methods
C. Make use of different literary theories in order to develop new theories
D. Work only with ideas developed by post-marxist theorists

Which of the following statements offers the best definition of the concept of strange attractors in chaos theory ?

A. Strange attractors are mysterious forces that are entirely random.
B. Strange attractors are complex forces that are determined by the laws of physics.
C. Strange attractors are mysterious forces that are both random and determined.
D. Strange attractors are complex forces that are entirely random.

In his essay “The Business of Theory,” William Deresiewicz argues which of the following about Terry Eagleton’s book After Theory ?

A. It offers a strong outline for how theory can be conducted in the 21st century.
B. It should not be read or considered by any student or scholar.
C. It offers some valid ideas and critiques, but its author is not entirely trustworthy.
D. It offers a strong counterpoint to jacques derrida’s notion of deconstruction.