The Writer's Workshop Socio-Historical Criticism #1 If you have any questions or comments on this quiz, please email Dr. Tom Fish. No. of Questions= 10 1. To the traditional socio-historical critic, literature is a(n) __________ activity because its meaning is linked irrevocably to the author's objective in writing. Web Reference a) allegorical b) purposive c) deliberate d) didactic 2. In Matthew Arnold's "Dover Beach," the references to Sophocles and the Aegean Sea are examples of __________ because they point to important cultural contexts. a) allusions b) symbols c) unit ideas d) naturalization 3. For E. D. Hirsch, this basic criterion establishes a reading as probably accurate if the interpretation acknowledges and accounts for all linguistic elements in a text. Web Reference a) coherence b) generic appropriateness c) legitimacy d) correspondence 4. The persona that Jonathan Swift uses in several of his pieces is often shaped by his own opinions and attitudes toward society. E. D. Hirsch would term this Swiftian persona the __________. Web Reference a) speaking subject b) structured act c) narrator d) narrative voice 5. If an interpretation of a text reflects the specific conventions of its genre, the interpretation has met the requirements of what criterion? Web Reference a) legitimacy b) correspondence c) generic appropriateness d) coherence 6. The Great Chain of Being (the belief that the universe is a hierarchal system structuring all elements of human experience) is one important __________ of the Renaissance world that would interest a critic interested in "the history of ideas." Web Reference a) element of the status quo b) convention c) unit idea d) episteme 7. According to E. D. Hirsch, to meet the criterion of legitimacy, an interpretation must __________. Web Reference a) account for all linguistic elements in a text b) be sensitive to the public norms of language applicable to the text c) make an interpretation that reflects the specific conventions of a text's genre d) articulate a text's meaning in the context of the author's persona 8. A discussion of literature as a __________ focuses on tracing key elements of the mindset of a culture during a specific time period and other unit ideas that have influenced it. Web Reference a) linear sign-system b) a reflection of the base c) purposive activity d) history of ideas 9. __________, E. D. Hirsch's decisive criterion for verifying the probability of an interpretation, articulates a text's meaning in the context of the author's experience and normal pattern of thought Web Reference a) coherence b) generic appropriateness c) correspondence d) legitimacy 10. Which of the following is NOT an assumption of traditional Socio-Historical criticism? Web Reference a) A work must be placed in its historical setting b) A familiarity with the author's life is an essential component upon which to base literary interpretation. c) History is subjective. d) Literature contains contextual clues that point to historical information central to its meaning. Go to top of quiz © 1999 Thomas E. Fish Cumberland College Created with QuizPlease
The Writer's Workshop
If you have any questions or comments on this quiz, please email Dr. Tom Fish.
Go to top of quiz © 1999 Thomas E. Fish Cumberland College Created with QuizPlease