A TO Z Literary Principles from History of English Literature: Note 103

A Set of Objective Questions & AnswersUGC NET ENGLISH QUESTION BANK

1.Oxymoron: A figure of speech made up of two seemingly opposite words.

2. John Dryden’s poems that describe the political and social events of the Restoration period: Astraea Redux, in celebration of Charles II’s return to the English throne and Annus Mirabilis giving a spirited account of the great fire in London . The title Annus Mirabilis means the wonders of the year .

3. Absalom and Achitophel: Dryden wrote Absalom and Achitophel. It is a political satire in the form of allegory. The historical figures hidden under the Biblical characters referred to in the title are Charles II, the Duke of York and the Earl of Shaftsbury.

4. Allusion: A passing reference to something outside of a literary work.

5. Restoration: Restoration indicates the restoration of monarchy. Charles II was restored the throne of England after a period of Puritan vale.

6. The personal satire by Dryden: Macflecknoe. Dryden satirized his political and poetical rival Shadwell.

7. Dryden’s play on the subject of Shakespeare’s Antony and Cleopatra: All For Love and The World Well Lost.

8. Dryden’s longest prose work: Essay of Dramatic Poesie .It is a major piece of English literary criticism. It shows the lucid direct prose style that Dryden introduced.

9.John Dryden wrote The Hind and the Panther: It is an allegorical defense of the Roman Catholic faith written after the accession of James.

10. Restoration comedies by William Congreve: The Old Bachelor , The Double Dealer, Love for Love, The Way of the World ,  The Morning Bride –a tragedy. 

11. Plays / comedies by William Wycherley: Love in a Wood , The Gentleman Dancing-master , The Country-wife , The Plain Dealer .
12. Two plays by George Farquhar: The Recruiting Officer , The Beaux Stratagem .

13. Two Restoration Tragedies: Venice Preserved by Thomas Olway, Caligula by John Crowne.

14. Genre: A class of literature.

15. Antagonist: The person or thing that presents a problem.

16. Samuel Butlers: Samuel Butler wrote Hubibras . It was a satire on the Puritans. Samuel Butler wrote Hubibras and he belonged to the later 17th century. Another Samuel Butler wrote Erewhon and The Way of all Flesh. And he belonged to the later 19th century.  John Bunyan wrote The Pilgrim’s Progress.

17. Important diarists of the Restoration period: Samuel Pepys and John Evelyn.

18. Metaphor: A type of figurative language that makes a direct comparison not using like or as. (Simile: A type of figurative language that makes a comparison using like or as.)

19. Allusion: The representation of ideas or moral principles by means of symbolic characters, events, or objects.

20. Setting: The time and place a story takes place.

21. Two graveyard poets of the 18th century: Thomas Parnell, Thomas Gray, Edward Young etc.

22. The Red cross Knight is Spenser’s Faerie Queene represents: Truth. Here it is philosophical treatise. Truth, a concept in philosophy that treats both the meaning of the word true and the criteria by which we judge the truth or falsity in spoken and written statements. Philosophers have attempted to answer the question ‘What is truth?’ for thousands of years. The four main theories they have proposed to answer this question are the correspondence, pragmatic, coherence, and deflationary theories of truth.

23. The Snows of Kilimanjaro by Ernest Hemingway: A writer on safari in Africa is close to death and looks back on his life regrettably in this short tale.


25. Macbeth: The line Present fears/Are less than horrible imaginings appear in: Macbeth .Macbeth, tragedy in five acts, written by English playwright and poet William Shakespeare. First performed in about , the play was originally printed in the  edition of Shakespeare's works known as the First Folio. The author’s principal source for Macbeth was Chronicles of England, Scotland, and Ireland  by English chronicler Raphael Holinshed. The play’s title role is loosely based on the career of a King Macbeth of Scotland. A commander under King Duncan I, Macbeth murdered Duncan in  and claimed the kingdom for himself. After a rule of  years, Macbeth was killed by Duncan’s son Malcolm, who later became King Malcolm III.

26. Reflections: Edmund Burke denounced the French Revolution in: Reflections.

 Ardhendu De
Ref: 1. History of English Literature- Albert     
2. The Concise Cambridge History of English Literature
4. Baugh, A.C and Cable T . A History of the English Language. th ed. London: Routledge