I. EASY CATEGORY 9.

      In poetry, what do we call a single, related chunk of lines or a unit

or group of lines which forms one particular faction in poetry?
1.      In linguistics, the International Phonetic Alphabet is a system of A.    Rhythm and Rhyme                      C. Poetic Foot
phonetic notation devised by linguists to accurately and uniquely B.     Tone                                              D. Stanza
represent each of the wide variety of sounds (phones or Answer: D (Stanza)
phonemes) used in spoken human language. Using the IPA, how
many standard phonetic symbols comprise the word ‘ENGLISH’? 10.  In morphology, some classes of words are called “closed” because
A.    Two                                                           C. Seven they contain relatively small number of items to which no new
B.     Six                                                             D. Four words or bound morphemes can normally be added. (the question)
Answer: B (Six) Which of the following belongs to closed word classes?
A.    Fear                                                           C. Across
2.      In the production of speech sounds, what articulator plays a B.     Boy                                                           D. Live
decisive role in forming the constrictions for many consonants and Answer: C (Across)
in distinguishing vowels, and which is considered as the most
mobile and flexible structure in the vocal tract? 11.  What particular literary genre presents a historical account of facts
A.    Pharynx                                                     C. Velum or events in the order of time and usually continuous and detailed
B.     Tongue                                                      D. Hard Palate but without analysis or interpretation?
Answer: B (Tongue) A.    Chronicle                                                   C. Biography
B.     Historical Myth                                         D. Diary
3.      The word BOY has one, BOYS has two, and BOYISHNESS has Answer: A (Chronicle)
three. What do we call the basic semantic unit of language?
A.    Phoneme                                                   C. Syllable 12.  What do we call the modern verse or poetry without any formal
B.     Morpheme                                                 D. Inflection structure; that is without systematic regularity in rhythm and in
Answer: B (Morpheme) rhyme?
A.    Blank Verse                                  C. Free Verse
4.      What literary criticism approach has been considered as a subset B.     Diamond Verse                             D. Nursery Rhyme
of historical criticism, the focus being narrowed to the author’s life Answer: C (Free Verse)
and thought, relating these to his or her literature?
A.    Freudian Psychological Criticism             13.  Nouns are used in different ways: “The dog barks. The man bit the
B.     Biographical Criticism dog.” In the first case, dog is the actor, or the one that initiates the
C.     Marxist Criticism                                      action of the verb. In the second, dog is acted upon. In “The dog
D.    Structuralism barks,” the dog is the subject of the verb. In the other sentence,
Answer: B (Biographical Criticism) dog is________.
A.    Indirect object                   C. Subject complement
5.      Listen as I read a stanza: B.     Direct object                     D. Predicate nominative
In the fell clutch of circumstance Answer: B (Direct Object)
I have not winced nor cried aloud
Under the bludgeoning of chance 14.  In Greek mythology, he is the youth loved and accidentally killed by
My head is bloody, but unbowed. Apollo who memorializes him with a flower growing from the
(The question) In the 2012 game Mass Effect 3, this second stanza youth’s blood.
of the poem is cited by one of the main characters: Ashley A.    Adonis                                                      C. Hyacinthus
Williams, lieutenant-commander of the Alliance. From what poem B.     Narcissus                                                   D. Theseus
the stanza was taken? Answer: C (Hyacinthus)
A.    Tagore’s Gitanjali                                     
B.     Henley’s Invictus 15.  It names a quality, a characteristic or an idea (e.g. popularity,
C.     Tu Fu’s The Little Rain                             coldness, efficiency).
D.    Frost’s The Road Not Taken A.    Concrete noun                               C. Abstract noun
Answer: B (Henley’s Invictus) B.     Compound noun                           D. Collective noun
Answer: C (Abstract noun)

6.      Which idiom best supplies the given statement: Last night, we 16.  In the sentence, “He was tired; therefore, he stayed home,” the
(blank) my grandmother’s old diary while clearing out the attic? word THEREFORE modifies the clause of which is a part and
A.    Came down with                          C. Came about connects the clause to the previous part of the sentence.
B.     Came across                                  D. Came up with THEREFORE is not to be used as a conjunction, hence the
Answer: B (Came across) semicolon. In word classes, adverbs like therefore, accordingly,
besides, etc. are called?
7.      Many areas of the world are populated by people who speak A.    Conjunctive adverbs                     C. Adverbs of time
diverse languages. In such areas where groups desire social or B.     Relative adverbs                           D. Adverbs of manner
commercial communication, one language is used by common Answer: A (Conjunctive adverbs)
agreement. Such language is called a lingua franca. (The
question) If French, at one time, was the lingua franca of 17.  This book of the Bible deals with Hebrew’s escape from Egypt and
diplomacy, and Latin was a lingua franca of the Roman Empire their journey back to Palestine under the able leadership of Moses.
and of Western Christendom for a millennium, what has been A.    Leviticus                                       C. Genesis
called as the lingua franca of the whole world? B.     Exodus                                          D. Deuteronomy
A.    Greek                                            C. English Answer: B (Exodus)
B.     Chinese                                         D. Anglo-Saxon
Answer: C (English) 18.  Historically, men have controlled literary production and criticism,
so the female voice has been grossly underrepresented in both.
8.      “We will win the championships,” coach Kenn Marquez confidently What emerging literary criticism approach focuses on literature by
declared yesterday. In campus journalism, the sample news story female authors, previously ignored genres to which female authors
lead can be classified as___________. were once limited and the representation of females in literature?
A.    Literary Allusion Lead                  C. Question Lead A.    Historicism                                    C. Deconstructionism
B.     Direct Address Lead                    D. Quotation Lead B.     Jungian Psychological Criticism   D. Feminist Criticism
Answer: D (Quotation Lead) Answer: D (Feminist Criticism)
 B.     Clipping                                                    D. Affixation
19.  For example, TOILET is usually classified as a noun. But in UK, Answer: B (Clipping)
primary school teachers often speak of toileting children (I had to
TOILET John twice today.). In describing such a sentence, you 7.      It is an Egyptian pessimistic literary work that describes a topsy-
should be guided by the internal grammar of the sentence (syntax) turvy world in which everything is awry, the poor usurping the land
rather than the dictionary. Here TOILET is a transitive verb. If this and place of the rich, the foreigners invading the land, no respect
usage becomes standard, lexicographers will record it. (the and no virtue anywhere, yet redeemer is at hand.
question) What kind of word formation takes place? A.    The Shipwrecked Sailor
A.    Derivation                                     C. Conversion B.     The Story of Eloquent Peasant
B.     Neologism                                     D. Agglutination C.     Dialogue of a Pessimist with His Soul     
Answer: C (Conversion) D.    The Admonitions of An Egyptian Sage
Answer: D (The Admonitions of an Egyptian Sage)
20.  (Complete this statement) The examination ___________two
hours, didn’t it? 8.      The nucleus of this Indian epic concerns the battle between two
A.    Didn’t last                                     C. Should last rival bands of brothers, both descendants of a common
B.     Lasted                                           D. Hasn’t lasted grandfather who came to war over their heritage.
Answer: B (lasted) A.    Mahabharata                                 C. Savitri
B.     Ramayana                                     D. Bhagavad Gita
21.  What do we call an expression that has become hackneyed and Answer: A (Mahabharata)
trite; an expression that has lost its precise meaning by constant
reiteration, in other words, becomes stereotyped? 9.      Which of these statements best describes a KICKER in a campus
A.    Cliché                                                        C. Slang paper?
B.     Colloquial                                                  D. Jargon A.    It is a line giving the source of the story or illustration, as “reprinted
Answer: A (Cliché) from the Manila Times.”
      B.     A tagline placed above but smaller than the headline, also known
22.  Complete the statement: Arlington National Cemetery was built as teaser. If it is bigger than the headline, it is called hammer.
(blank) and other war heroes during the American Civil War. C.     The beginning of a news story
A.    According to honour         C. In order to honour soldiers D.    The title of any news story
B.     For honour of soldiers  D. To soldiers that we honoured Answer: B (A tagline placed above but smaller than the
Answer: C (In order to honour soldiers)                            headline, also known as teaser. If it is bigger than the
headline, it is called hammer.)

II. AVERAGE CATEGORY 10.  In the play Much Ado About Nothing, noted playwright William
Shakespeare’s character Dogberry says, “Our watch, sir, have
1.      He was the first of the free-verse poets and his “frankness of indeed comprehended two auspicious persons.” Instead, what the
expression” disturbed many literary critics. character means to say is “Our watch, sir, have apprehended two
A. Washington Irving             C. James suspicious persons.” What trick is used to ensure that the two
Cooper                     words sound similar enough for the reader to catch onto the
B. Walt Whitman                    D. John Milton intended switch and find humour in the result?
Answer: B (Walt Whitman) A.    Malapropism                                             C. Litotes
B.     Nemesis                                                     D. Onomatopoeia
2.      It is the oldest complete prophetic book in the Bible which voices a Answer: A (Malapropism)
stern and uncompromising warning to the Kingdom of Israel; a
warning of utter annihilation unless social reforms are immediately 11.  In Greek mythology, it is described as a monster, shaped half like a
affected. man and half like a bull, confined in the labyrinth built by Daedalus
A.    Hosea                                                        C. Amos for King Minos. It is given a periodic tribute of youths and maidens
B.     Micah                                                        D. Isaiah as food until slain by Theseus.
Answer: C (Amos) A.    Gorgon                                                      C. Cyclops
B.     Centaur                                                     D. Minotaur
3.      What novel of Chinua Achebe documents the disintegration of a Answer: D (Minotaur)
rural community under the impact of Westernization and is a
classical statement of this archetypal theme? 12.  What controversial novel begins: “[a person’s name], light of my life,
A.    The Palm-Wine Drunkard             C. A Man of People fire of my loins. My sin, my soul,”?
B.     Things Fall Apart                          D. Girls At War A.    Vladimir Nabokov’s Lolita                       C. Thomas Keneally’s
Answer: B (Things Fall Apart) Schindler’s Ark
B.     C S Lewis’s Susan                                    D. Charlotte Bronte’s
4.       Which American philosopher, and often-quoted advocate of Jane Eyre
individualism, published essays on Self-Reliance, Love, Heroism, Answer: A (Vladimir Nabokov’s Lolita)
Character and Manners in his Collections of 1841 and 1844?
A.    Benjamin Franklin C. Ralph Waldo Emerson 13.  In Philippine literature, what religious poetry in octosyllabic
B.     Mark Twain                       D. Edgar Allan Poe quintillas penned by Gaspar Aquino de Belen in1704 which has
Answer: C (Ralph Waldo Emerson) become entrenched in the Filipino’s commemoration of Christ’s
agony and resurrection at Calvary?
5.      He is the most distinguished name in English literature of the A.    Ang Mahal na Passion ni Jesu Christong Panginoon natin na tola
Medieval Period whose brilliant character portrayals made his B.     Manual de Urbanidad
Canterbury Tales an enduring literary legacy. C.     Ejemplo                                                    
A.    Geoffrey Chaucer             C. William Caxton                  D.    Memorial de la vida Cristiana en lengua tagala
B.     William Shakespeare         D. William Blake Answer: A (Ang Mahal na Passion ni Jesus Christong
Answer: A (Geoffrey Chaucer) Panginoon natin na tola)

6.      The medical term “PAP SMEAR” means a test usually done on 14.  What type of literary plot presents a change from ignorance to
females for detecting cancer of the cervix. What word formation knowledge, producing love or hatred between the persons,
takes place if the traceable original term for this is destined by the author for good or bad fortunes?
PAPPENICOLAOU? A.    Anagnorisis                                               C. Catastrophe
A.    Acronymy                                                 C. Blending B.     Reversal of intention                                 D. Peripeteia
 Answer: A (Anagnorisis) A.    Carlos P. Romulo                                      C. Jose Antonio Vargas
        B.     Bienvenido Santos                                    D. Jessica Hagedorn
15.  In the dictionary of newsroom terms, what term best applies to an Answer: C (Jose Antonio Vargas) Jose Antonio Vargas was
apprentice to a printer? born on February 3, 1981 in Antipolo city, Rizal. He earned his
A.    Dogwatch                                                 C. Cub Bachelor of Arts degree at San Francisco State University. In
B.     Bimo (read as bymow)                              D. Devil his career as a journalist, filmmaker and activist, he was
Answer: D (Devil)     awarded Pulitzer Prize and the Sidney Award. He is also the
founder of “Define America,” a non-profit organization to
16.  Which of these best classifies Richard Bach’s Jonathan Livingston open up dialogue about criteria people use to determine who
Seagull? is an American. About himself he says, “I am an American. I
A.    A novel about seagulls                              C. A fable in a short story just don’t have the right papers.”
B.     A fable in a novella                                   D. A biographical sketch
Answer: B (A fable in a novella)      4.      What literary device is employed by a novelist when in the middle
            of the character’s dilemmas, the protagonist is suddenly led to find
17.  Complete the statement with an appropriate conjunction. “My goal a solution through a divine intervention?
is to become a doctor; ___________, I work especially hard in my A.    Doppelganger                                            C. Deus ex Machina
science classes.” B.     Epithet                                                      D. Hubris
A.    Nevertheless                                              C. However Answer: C (Deus ex Machina) Deus ex Machina is a rather
B.     But                                                                        D. Therefore debatable and often criticized form of literary device. It refers
Answer: D (Therefore) to the incidence where an implausible concept or character is
brought into the story in order to make the conflict in the
18.  A three-headed dog that in Greek mythology, guards the entrance story resolve and to bring about a pleasing solution. The use
to Hades: of Deus ex Machina is seldom recommended as it is seen to
A.     Charon                                                       C. Cerberus be the mark of a poor plot that the writer needs to resort to
B.     Dionysus                                                   D. Chiron random, insupportable and unbelievable twists and turns to
Answer: C (Cerberus) reach the end of the story.
5.      “He had no idea of the disastrous chain of events to follow.” In this
19.  It is an examination of the morphemic structure of words; an sentence, while the protagonist is clueless of further
appreciation of the fact that words with common roots share developments, the reader learns that something disastrous and
common meanings, and the affixes change words in predictable problematic is about to happen to/for him. What then, is employed
and consistent ways. by the writer to suggest an upcoming outcome to the story?
A.    Phonology                                                 C. Semantics A.    Flashback                                                  C. Faulty Parallelism
B.     Morphology                                              D. Lexicography B.     Euphony                                                    D. Foreshadowing
Answer: B (Morphology) Answer: D (Foreshadowing) Foreshadowing refers to the use
of indicative words or phrases and hints that set the stage for
a story to unfold and give the reader a hint of something that
is going to happen without revealing the story or spoiling the
20.  It concerns Rama (an incarnation of Vishnu) and his wife Sita; suspense.
Rama’s exile; Sita’s faithfulness when tempted by Ravana, an evil
spirit; and Rama’s eventual destruction of Ravana. 6.      What literary device is employed in the poetic line: “He spoke of
A.    Mhabharata                                               C. times past and future, and dreamt of things to be”?
Vedas                                 A.    Anagram                                                   C. Allusion
B.     Ramayana                                                 D. Gora B.     Anastrophe                                                D. Aphorism
Answer: B (Ramayana) Answer: B (Anastrophe) Anastrophe is a form of literary
device wherein the order of the noun and adjective in the
sentence or line is exchanged. In standard parlance and
III. DIDIFFICULT CATEGORY writing, the adjective comes first before the noun but when
one is employing an anastrophe, the noun is followed by the
1.      The award winning 2005 children's book And Tango Makes adjective. This reserved order creates a dramatic impact and
Three has been subject to much controversy as it was seen to be lends weight to the description offered by the adjective.
highlighting what behaviour in the animal kingdom?
A.    Cruelty                                                      C. Homosexuality 7.      What is the opening sentence of the book that ends with “It was
B.     Discrimination                                           D. Rivalry the devious-cruising Rachel that in her retracing search after
Answer: C (Homosexuality) The book is based on the true missing children, only found another orphan.”?
story of Roy and Silo, two male Chinstrap Penguins in New A.    Call me Ishmael                                        C. Come here, Rachel
York's Central Park Zoo. Due to the penguin parents being of B.     Oh My Captain Ahab                               D. The Whale, The Whale
the same sex, some adults in the United States have objected Answer: A (Call me Ishmael) from Herman Melville’s Moby-
to children reading the book. Dick

2.      In a certain poem, the word SMOG, built in combining FOG and 8.      What evident literary device is used by the poet in the line: The
SMOKE is used by a poet to mean something that has the soft whistling teapot informed him it was time for breakfast?
properties of both. In formal stylistic analysis, what device best A.    Paradox                                                     C. Nemesis
defines the practice? B.     Negative Capability                                  D. Pathetic Fallacy
A.    Spoonerism                                               C. Verisimilitude Answer: D (Pathetic Fallacy) Pathetic fallacy is a type of
B.     Portmanteau                                              D. Cacophony literary device whereby the author ascribes the human
Answer: B (Portmanteau) In stylistics, portmanteau is a feelings of one or more of his/her characters to non-human
practice of joining together two or more words in order to objects or nature or phenomenon. It is a type of
create an entirely new word; this is often done in order to personification, and is known to occur more by accident and
create a name or word for something by combining the less on purpose.
individual characteristics of two or more other words.
9.      What French classical theory of language style posses a high
3.      Who is the Filipino-born journalist, filmmaker, and immigration aesthetic characteristics and is used by poets and other literary
activist who authored and contributed to three Washington artists?
Post articles about the Virginia Tech Shootings that were awarded A.    Stylus Altus                                              C. Stylus Humilis
the 2008 Pulitzer Prize for Breaking News Reporting? B.     Stylus Mediocris                                       D. Explication de Texte
 Answer: A (Stylus Altus) Stylus Mediocris or style of high prose. The original Sanskrit work, now long lost, and which
society is a language style used by the royalties; Stylus some scholars believe was composed in the 3 rd century BCE,
Humilis or style of low society is a language style for all kinds is attributed to Vishnu Sarma.
of people or language style of the masses; while, Explication
de Texte is a French school which developed a method of text 15.  John F. Kennedy's often quoted sentence in his 1961 inaugural
analysis and interpretation known as close reading. Stylus address was inspired by which Lebanese-American poet who
Altus or work of art is a language style used by poets and wrote "Are you a politician asking what your country can do for you
other literary artists. or a zealous one asking what you can do for your country?..."?
10.  In Carl Gustav Jung’s heroic archetypes, which hero of tragedy has A.    Aminal Rayhani                                        C. David Diop
a fatal flaw which brings about his downfall but not without B.     Ibn Amjed                                                 D. Khalil Gibran
achieving some kind of realization or wisdom? Answer: D (Khalil Gibran (1883-1931) He was born in Lebanon
A.    Hero as a Scapegoat                                  C. Transcendent hero and spent much of his productive life in the United States.
B.     Apocalyptic hero                                       D. Proto-Feminist hero One of his most notable lines of poetry in the English
Answer: C (Transcendent hero) Carl Jung first applied the speaking world is from Sand and Foam (1926), which reads :
term archetype to literature. He recognized that there were 'Half of what I say is meaningless, but I say it so that the other
universal patterns in all stories and mythologies regardless of half may reach you'. This was taken by John Lennon and
culture or historical period and hypothesized that part of the placed, though in a slightly altered form, into the song "Julia"
human mind contained a collective unconscious shared by all from The Beatles' 1968 album The Beatles (a.k.a. The White
members of the human species, a sort of universal, primal Album).
memory. Transcendent heroes are archetypes first observed
in Greek and Shakespearean tragedies----Oedipus, Hamlet, 16.  In what great 20th century novel does Rose of Sharon having lost
Macbeth, etc.) her baby offer milk from her breasts to a starving man?
A.    The Grapes of Wrath                                C. Of Mice and Men
11.  In Sigmund Freud’s psychoanalytic approach to literary criticism, an B.     The Great Gatsby                                      D. The Old Man and the
art or literature is considered as reconciliation between pleasure Sea
and reality principles, a sublime working through of Eros and Answer: A (The Grapes of Wrath) (1939) by John Steinbeck
Thanatos and the fulfilment of basic bodily drives via
transformation into something “better,” civilized and artistic. (The 17.  After this novel was published in the country it was set in, the
question) If Richard Crashaw’s poems depict his adoration to the author was sued by Mineko Iwasaki claiming that the author
mother figure and anathematization of the father, a psychoanalytic violated their agreement to protect her anonymity if she told him
analyst would likely reconsider what certain stage in the about her life and profession. What is this 1997 novel that
psychoanalytic development? chronicles the pursuit of Chiyo Sakamoto to become an
A.    Oral Stage                                                 C. Genital Stage entertainer?
B.     Phallic Stage                                             D. Sadistic-anal Stage A.    The Makioka Sisters                                  C. Haruki Murakami
Answer: B (Phallic Stage) In this stage, the child undergoes B.     Memoirs of a Geisha                                 D. Crouching Tiger,
the Oedipal complex of desire for the mother, rivalry with the Hidden Dragon
father, and appropriate super-ego guilt taught through Answer: (Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden) Golden
castration anxiety which causes the child to desire others listed Iwasaki as a source in his acknowledgments for the
outside of the family. novel, causing her to face a serious backlash. In 2003,
Golden's publisher settled with Iwasaki out of court for an
12.  What do we call the practice as that initiated by Roland Barthes, of undisclosed sum of money. Iwasaki later went on to write her
analyzing sign systems, not just language, but objects, images, own autobiography, which shows a very different picture of
and behaviours, and which opens itself up to literary and media twentieth-century geisha life than the one shown in Golden's
studies of film, television, and pop culture? novel. The book was published as Geisha, a Life in the U.S.
A.    Cryptology                                                C. Semantics and Geisha of Gion in the U.K.
B.     Semiotics                                                   D. Intertextuality
Answer: B (Semiotics) Semiotics is a general philosophical 18.  Originally coined by a Czech theorist, Jan Mukarovsky
theory of signs and symbols that deals especially with their as aktualisace, it is a term in English borrowed from the Prague
function in both artificially constructed and natural languages School of Linguistics and encompasses deviations from linguistic
and comprises syntactic, semantics, and pragmatics. or other socially accepted norms which invoke the analogy of a
literary figure seen against a background.
13.  Which best-selling 1989 novel begins “My father has asked me to A.    Foregrounding                                          C. Stylistic Deviation
be fourth corner at the X. I am to replace my mother, whose seat at B.     De-familiarization                                     D. Automatization
the mah-jong table has been empty since she died two months Answer: A (Foregrounding) Foreground is a term usually used
ago”? in art, having opposite meaning to background. In literature
A.    The Notebook                                           C. The Joy Luck Club foregrounding is described as ‘artistically motivated
B.      Waiting Between the Trees                      D. The Curious Case of deviation’ which refers to stylistic effects that occur whether
Benjamin Button in at the phonetic, grammatical and/or semantic levels.
Answer: C (The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan) It focuses on four
Chinese American immigrant families in San Francisco, 19.  What literary awards of the Philippines have been termed by
California who start a club known as "the Joy Luck Club," the Manila Standard as the Pulitzer Prize of the
playing the Chinese game of mah-jong for money while Philippines although, unlike the nominations for the Pulitzers,
feasting on a variety of foods. The book is structured entries to these awards competitions have to be previously
somewhat like a mah-jong game, with four parts divided into unpublished pieces?
four sections to create sixteen chapters. (NO CHOICES)
Answer: The Palanca Awards or the Don Carlos Palanca
14.  Karataka and Damanaka are the names of the two jackals that are Memorial Awards for Literature. The Palanca Awards,
retainers to a lion king. Their lively adventures as well as the organized by the Carlos Palanca, is one of the Philippines
stories they tell one another make up nearly half of which classic most long-running awards. It was established in 1950 to
ancient Sanskrit work? inspire Filipino writers to improve their literary works. In 2009,
A.    The Panchatantra                                      C. Jatakas it added a category for poetry for children in both Filipino and
B.     Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves                D. Sinbad, The Sailor English.

Answer: A (The Panchatantra) literally, ‘Five Principles’, it is a 20.  Which functional style of the English language has an aesthetic-
collection of originally Indian animal fables in verse and cognitive function and employs genuinely imaginative means and
 stylistic devices, the use of words in their contextual meaning and
the peculiar individual selection of syntax?
A.    The Publicist Functional Style                  C. The Official Documents
Functional Style
B.     The Scientific Prose Functional Style       D. The Belles-Letters
Functional Style
Answer: D (The Belles-Letters Functional Style) The term
BELLE is a French term which literally means “beautiful” or
“fine.” Belles Letters Functional Style of the English language
is usually employed in poetries, emotive prose and dramas.
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