Victorian & Modern Criticism (Matthew Arnold & T. S. Eliot) - MCQ Test by Zayed

 

Victorian & Modern (Matthew Arnold & T. S. Eliot) Criticism - MCQ 

MCQ Sample Exam

By Mohamed Zayed

Choose the correct answer from a, b, c or d in the following sentences:

1) Mathew Arnold is considered the father of English criticism in . . .

a) Renaissance b) Victorian Age c) Restoration d) Modern-Day Literature

An Outline of Modern Criticism & T. S. Eliot's Tradition

An Outline of Modern Criticism & T. S. Eliot's Tradition 

Complied by Mohamed Zayed

a. Eliot’s Tradition:

 According to Eliot, “tradition” is a word that disagreeable to the English ear. The English praise the poet for his “individual” and original aspects. Eliot believes that the English praise the poet for the wrong things. Eliot believes that a great writer is someone who shows the maximum influence of the writers of the past (=tradition). Eliot revolted against Romantic subjectivity and individuality (=not following the poets of the past).

 The Value and Significance of Tradition: 

Overview & Summary Victorian Criticism & Matthew Arnold

 Overview & Summary Victorian Criticism & Matthew Arnold 

Victorian Criticism: Matthew Arnold

Complied by Mohamed Zayed 

The Victorian Age was an age of skepticism and the loss of religion as a result of scientific and industrial revolution. Matthew Arnold is considered the father of modern English criticism. 

Arnold and “The Function of Criticism”:

He is famous for his essay “The Function of Criticism”. That essay seeks to redefine the main responsibilities of criticism. In it, Arnold believes that creative power—the power to criticize—is the highest function of man. Arnold believes that a literary work doesn’t revolve around analysis and discovery but around creativity and proper explanation of such creativity “synthesis and exposition”. A literary work must be inspired by certain conditions and spiritual atmosphere. The aim or the function of a literary work is to express these ideas in an effective and attractive combination in a beautiful form. Hence, the function of criticism is to establish an order of ideas and to make the best ideas get control. It is through literary criticism that we can see the object or the work as it really is. Arnold wishes to apply scientific methods and reason to literary criticism.