SPECIALIZATION - ENGLISH - TEST
Directions: Read each item carefully; then choose the letter of the best answer.
1. The first Asian to receive the Nobel Prize for Literature.
A. Yasunari Kawabata B. Rabindranath Tagore C. Wole Soyinka D. Po Chu-I
2. Filial piety is a basic tenet of this school of thought.
A. Taoism B. Confucianism C. Hinduism D. Buddhism
3. This ethical concept suggests a sense of obligation or indebtedness which explains the sense of
patriotism and nationalism of the Japanese.
A. on B. seppuku C. giri D. Kami
4. What insight is suggested by this haiku from Basho?
Poverty’s child –
He starts to grind the rice
And gazes at the moon.
A. Nature has a soothing effect on the human spirit. C. The poor dreams and are hopeful of better
things in their life.
B. Child labor is a reality in many Asian nations D. Life is never-ending routine of work and
leisure.
5. He is the leading figure of the Negritude movement.
A. Leopold Senghor B. Dennis Brutus C. Wole Soyinka D.
David Diop
6. The plot development of the Ramayana.
A. Circular B. En medias res C. Linear D. Pyramid
7. The South African novelist and short story writer whose major themes are on exile and alienation, won
the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1991.
A. Ousmane Sembene B. Nadine Gordimer C. Bessie Head D.
Barbara Kimenye
8. This novel is based on the pilgrimage of the Bhuddist monk Xuangzang to India in search of sacred texts.
A. The Tale of Genji C. Record of a Journey to the West
B. Dream of the red Chamber D. On Learning to be an Indian
9. Fine arts and literature flourished during this dynasty which is viewed as the Golden Age of Chinese
civilization.
A. Han B. T’ang C. Ch’in D. Shang
10. This excerpt from Soyinka’s Telephone Conversation indicates the universal issue of _________.
“ARE YOU DARK?OR VERY LIGHT?” Revelation came.
“You mean- like plain or milk chocolate?” Her assent was clinical, crushing its light Impersonality. Rapidly,
wave length adjusted, I chose, “West African sepia.” – and as an afterthought, “Down in my passport.”
A. gender discrimination B. colonial mentality C. human rights violation D.
racial discrimination
11. The Hindu belief that life is an illusion is __________.
A. dharma B. artha C. maya D. kama
12. In which Jane Austen novel do the following lines appear?
“It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want
of a wife.”
A. Mansfield Park B. Northanger Abbey C. Pride and Prejudice D. Sense and
Sensibility
13. Which novel by Thomas hardy begins with the hero selling his wife and daughter to a sailor who is on
his way to Canada?
A. Return to the Native B. Tess of d’Urberville C. Under the Greenwood Tree D. The Mayor
of Casterbridge
14. In what Shakespearean play do the following lines appear?
What a piece of work is a man! How noble in reason! How infinite in faculties! In form and moving, how
express and admirable!
A. Hamlet C. A Midsummer Night’s Dream
B. Romeo and Juliet D. King Henry IV
15. What is the title of Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley’s ‘Tale of Horror’?
A. Bleak House B. Frankenstein C. Heart of Darkness D. Tale Tale heart
16. Identify the poem from which the lines are taken:
“I LOVE THEE WITH A LOVE I SEEMED TO LOSE WITH MY LOST SAINTS- I LOVE THEE
WITH THE BREATH, SMILES, TEARS, OF ALL MY LIFE! – AND, IF GOD CHOOSE, I SHALL BUT
LOVE THEE BETTER AFTER DEATH.”
A. Sonnet 53 B. Sonnet 43 C. Sonnet 15 D. Sonnet 14
17. What sound device is exemplified in the first two lines of Poe’s ‘The Raven’?
Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there wondering,
fearing,
Doubting, dreaming dreams no mortal ever dared to dream before;
But the silence was unbroken, and the stillness gave no token,
And the only word there spoken was the whispered word, “Lenore?”
This I whispered and an echo murmured back the word, Lenore!”
Merely this and nothing more.
From The Raven
Edgar Allan Poe
A. Anaphora B. Onomatopoeia C. Assonance D. Alliteration
18. What atmosphere do the images create?
A. Confusion B. Contentment C. Longing D. Solitude
19. What figure of speech is exemplified in the following lines from Shakespeare’s ‘As You like It’?
Blow, blow, thou winter wind,
Thou are not so unkind as man’s ingratitude
A. Allusion B. Apostrophe C. Personification D. Metaphor
20. Who did Abraham Lincoln call “the little woman who started the Civil War”?
A. Rosa parks B. Sojourner Truth C. Harriet Beecher Stowe D. Zora Neale Hurston
