Marxist Criticism -- Quiz #1

The Writer's Workshop

Marxist Criticism #1

If you have any questions or comments on this quiz, please email Dr. Tom Fish.

No. of Questions= 10

1. The concept of ___________denotes the Marxist perception that literature not only reflects the material circumstances of a society but also expresses a society's essential ideology.

a) proletariat

b) superstructure

c) reflection theory

d) dialectic

2. Which of the following is NOT a Marxist critical assumption?

a) History provides a continuing record of class struggle.

b) The proletariat shapes the dominant ideology of a society.

c) Literature, like all other products of culture, is ideological.

d) The class struggle within a culture is inherently and inevitably economic at its base.

3. __________ refers to the collective attitudes and values of a culture which work to preserve the basic power structure of society.

a) status quo

b) base

c) superstructure

d) ideology

4. The __________ of a culture works to maintain status quo.

a) superstructure

b) proletariat

c) dialectic

d) binary opposition

5. For a Marxist critic, Dickens depiction of the impact of industrialization on English culture in the nineteenth century might illustrate how a society's __________ shapes its social institutions.

a) bourgeoisie

b) ideology

c) superstructure

d) mode of production

6. __________ denotes the institutions of a society, all of which are shaped by its basic class conflicts.

a) base

b) superstructure

c) hegemony

d) ideology of form

7. Fredric Jameson coins the term __________ to delineate the changing themes of culture observable in the broad panorama of history as one mode of production gives way to another (e.g. tribalism to feudalism to capitalism).

a) hegemony

b) dialectic

c) ideologemes

d) deconstruction

8. In Conrad's Heart of Darkness, Marlow's growing sympathy for the African natives along with his growing disenchantment with his fellow white traders illustrates __________.

a) that he is a member of the status quo

b) the dialectic of oppositional class forces at work in his society

c) that he is an idealistic champion of the proletariat

d) the affective fallacy

9. __________ refers to the ideological web of institutional forces in culture — educational, religious, political, etc. — that shape and control of the lives and thinking of people.

a) base

b) mode of production

c) commodification

d) hegemony

10. Which of the following statements does NOT reflect Marxist assumptions or strategies?

a) Although for much of the play Hamlet seems paralyzed by social circumstances beyond his control, in the end he learns how to be true to himself, he becomes master of his destiny.

b) That Chaucer is more interested in the Wife of Bath or the Miller than he is in the Knight is a sign of change coming to the feudal world.

c) In The Glass Menagerie, Tom Wingfield escapes nightly from the family's tenement apartment for the freedom of the theater, but the heroic fantasies of the movies is only a more subtle manifestation of the social forces delimiting his existence.

d) From the picture of Krebs in college, to his memories of war, to dialogue with his mother, Hemingway consistently shows his hero hopelessly encircled by social forces indifferent to his individuality.

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� 1999 Thomas E. Fish
Cumberland College
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1.	The concept of ___________denotes the Marxist perception that literature not only reflects the material circumstances of a society but also expresses a society's essential ideology.

	a)	proletariat
	b)	superstructure
	c)	reflection theory
	d)	dialectic


2.	Which of the following is NOT a Marxist critical assumption?

	a)	History provides a continuing record of class struggle.
	b)	The proletariat shapes the dominant ideology of a society.
	c)	Literature, like all other products of culture, is ideological.
	d)	The class struggle within a culture is inherently and inevitably economic at its base.


3.	__________ refers to the collective attitudes and values of a culture which work to preserve the basic power structure of society.

	a)	status quo
	b)	base
	c)	superstructure
	d)	ideology


4.	The __________ of a culture works to maintain status quo.

	a)	superstructure
	b)	proletariat
	c)	dialectic
	d)	binary opposition


5.	For a Marxist critic, Dickens depiction of the impact of industrialization on English culture in the nineteenth century might illustrate how a society's __________ shapes its social institutions.

	a)	bourgeoisie
	b)	ideology
	c)	superstructure
	d)	mode of production


6.	__________ denotes the institutions of a society, all of which are shaped by its basic class conflicts.

	a)	base
	b)	superstructure
	c)	hegemony
	d)	ideology of form


7.	Fredric Jameson coins the term __________ to delineate the changing themes of culture observable in the broad panorama of history as one mode of production gives way to another (e.g. tribalism to feudalism to capitalism).

	a)	hegemony
	b)	dialectic
	c)	ideologemes
	d)	deconstruction


8.	In Conrad's Heart of Darkness, Marlow's growing sympathy for the African natives along with his growing disenchantment with his fellow white traders illustrates __________.

	a)	that he is a member of the status quo
	b)	the dialectic of oppositional class forces at work in his society
	c)	that he is an idealistic champion of the proletariat
	d)	the affective fallacy


9.	__________ refers to the ideological web of institutional forces in culture — educational, religious, political, etc. — that shape and control of the lives and thinking of people.

	a)	base
	b)	mode of production
	c)	commodification
	d)	hegemony


10.	Which of the following statements does NOT reflect Marxist assumptions or strategies?

	a)	Although for much of the play Hamlet seems paralyzed by social circumstances beyond his control, in the end he learns how to be true to himself, he becomes master of his destiny.
	b)	That Chaucer is more interested in the Wife of Bath or the Miller than he is in the Knight is a sign of change coming to the feudal world.
	c)	In The Glass Menagerie, Tom Wingfield escapes nightly from the family's tenement apartment for the freedom of the theater, but the heroic fantasies of the movies is only a more subtle manifestation of the social forces delimiting his existence.
	d)	From the picture of Krebs in college, to his memories of war, to dialogue with his mother, Hemingway consistently shows his hero hopelessly encircled by social forces indifferent to his individuality.