Cleanth Brooks – Irony as a Principle of Structure – MCQ Quiz (Exam Pattern)

Cleanth Brooks – Irony as a Principle of Structure – Exam Pattern MCQs

1. Cleanth Brooks is most closely associated with: (UGC NET 2016; SET 2018; PGTRB 2020)

A) Romanticism

B) New Criticism

C) Structuralism

D) Postcolonialism

Ans: B) New Criticism

2. “Irony as a Principle of Structure” is commonly discussed in connection with Brooks’ book: (SET 2017; UGC NET 2015; PGTRB 2019)

A) Orientalism

B) The Well Wrought Urn

C) The Anatomy of Criticism

D) Tradition and the Individual Talent

Ans: B) The Well Wrought Urn

3. In Brooks’ New Critical framework, a poem is best understood as: (UGC NET 2017; SET 2019; PGTRB 2021)

A) A direct biography of the poet

B) A self-contained verbal object

C) A political manifesto only

D) A historical document only

Ans: B) A self-contained verbal object

4. For Brooks, “irony” in poetry most often functions to: (SET 2016; UGC NET 2018; PGTRB 2020)

A) Destroy meaning completely

B) Hold together tensions and opposites in a unified structure

C) Replace form with content

D) Eliminate ambiguity

Ans: B) Hold together tensions and opposites in a unified structure

5. Brooks argues that irony is central because poetic meaning is typically: (UGC NET 2019; SET 2020; PGTRB 2022)

A) Single and literal

B) Complex and contextual

C) Always moralistic

D) Entirely referential

Ans: B) Complex and contextual

6. The New Critical method primarily emphasizes: (UGC NET 2016; SET 2017; PGTRB 2018)

A) Close reading of the text

B) Author’s intention and letters

C) Reader’s emotions only

D) Political history only

Ans: A) Close reading of the text

7. Brooks’ view of irony is closely related to the New Critical concept of: (SET 2018; UGC NET 2017; PGTRB 2020)

A) Stream of consciousness

B) Paradox

C) Free indirect discourse

D) Naturalism

Ans: B) Paradox

8. According to Brooks, poetic language differs from scientific/prose language because it is: (UGC NET 2018; SET 2019)

A) Purely denotative

B) Organically structured with multiple meanings

C) Always ungrammatical

D) Only decorative

Ans: B) Organically structured with multiple meanings

9. “Irony as a Principle of Structure” suggests that irony is: (PGTRB 2019; SET 2020)

A) A minor ornament

B) An organizing structural principle

C) A historical accident

D) A flaw in poetry

Ans: B) An organizing structural principle

10. Brooks is known for criticizing which approach as a “fallacy”? (UGC NET 2015; SET 2017; PGTRB 2019)

A) Intentional fallacy

B) Historical fallacy

C) Linguistic fallacy

D) Colonial fallacy

Ans: A) Intentional fallacy

11. The “intentional fallacy” is associated with: (SET 2018; UGC NET 2016)

A) Brooks and Wimsatt

B) Frye and Barthes

C) Derrida and Foucault

D) Leavis and Arnold

Ans: A) Brooks and Wimsatt

12. Brooks also critiques evaluating poems by readers’ emotional response as: (UGC NET 2017; PGTRB 2020)

A) Affective fallacy

B) Genetic fallacy

C) Pathetic fallacy

D) Naturalistic fallacy

Ans: A) Affective fallacy

13. In Brooks’ criticism, “unity” of a poem is achieved through: (SET 2019; UGC NET 2018; PGTRB 2021)

A) Eliminating contradictions

B) Organizing tensions into an integral whole

C) Adding historical notes

D) Using only simple meanings

Ans: B) Organizing tensions into an integral whole

14. Brooks’ view is closest to the idea that poetic meaning is produced by: (UGC NET 2016; SET 2018)

A) Pure reference to the external world

B) The interrelation of parts within the poem

C) The author’s diary entries

D) The reader’s personal life

Ans: B) The interrelation of parts within the poem

15. Brooks considers paraphrase of a poem’s meaning as problematic because: (PGTRB 2020; UGC NET 2017; SET 2019)

A) Poems have no meaning

B) Paraphrase reduces complex structure to a flat statement

C) Paraphrase improves poetic meaning

D) Paraphrase replaces irony with rhyme

Ans: B) Paraphrase reduces complex structure to a flat statement

16. Brooks famously uses the term “heresy of paraphrase” to argue that: (SET 2017; UGC NET 2015; PGTRB 2018)

A) Poems should be paraphrased fully

B) A poem’s meaning cannot be separated from its form

C) Form is irrelevant

D) Poetry is only biography

Ans: B) A poem’s meaning cannot be separated from its form

17. Brooks often links irony with which feature of poetry? (UGC NET 2018; SET 2020)

A) Monotony

B) Ambiguity and complexity

C) Pure literalness

D) Scientific clarity

Ans: B) Ambiguity and complexity

18. Which best expresses Brooks’ principle about poetic structure? (PGTRB 2021; SET 2019; UGC NET 2017)

A) Structure is external decoration

B) Structure is the internal organization of meaning

C) Structure is the author’s personal history

D) Structure is only meter

Ans: B) Structure is the internal organization of meaning

19. Brooks’ use of “paradox” is closest to: (UGC NET 2016; SET 2018; PGTRB 2020)

A) A logical mistake

B) A productive tension that deepens meaning

C) A typographical error

D) A historical reference

Ans: B) A productive tension that deepens meaning

20. Brooks’ criticism is most opposed to: (PGTRB 2019; UGC NET 2018)

A) Close reading

B) Reducing a poem to its “message” alone

C) Analysing imagery

D) Studying irony and paradox

Ans: B) Reducing a poem to its “message” alone

21. Brooks’ idea that meaning emerges from the whole poem relates to the New Critical belief in: (SET 2018; UGC NET 2017; PGTRB 2021)

A) Organic unity

B) Authorial intention

C) Historical determinism

D) Reader supremacy

Ans: A) Organic unity

22. For Brooks, irony often results when a poem holds together: (UGC NET 2019; SET 2020)

A) Only simple statements

B) Contradictory attitudes or meanings

C) A single clear moral

D) Pure historical facts

Ans: B) Contradictory attitudes or meanings

23. In Brooks’ method, the critic should focus primarily on: (PGTRB 2020; UGC NET 2016)

A) The poet’s political party

B) The text itself and its internal relations

C) The publisher’s history

D) The reader’s biography

Ans: B) The text itself and its internal relations

24. Brooks’ emphasis on irony supports the view that poetic language is: (SET 2019; PGTRB 2021)

A) Transparent and single-layered

B) Dense, indirect, and context-dependent

C) Identical to scientific prose

D) Always autobiographical

Ans: B) Dense, indirect, and context-dependent

25. The New Critical “close reading” practice typically analyses: (UGC NET 2017; SET 2018; PGTRB 2019)

A) Only plot summaries

B) Imagery, paradox, irony, and structure

C) Only author interviews

D) Only social statistics

Ans: B) Imagery, paradox, irony, and structure

26. Brooks’ idea of “irony” is closest to which of the following? (PGTRB 2022; SET 2020)

A) Saying exactly what one means in a literal way

B) Meaning produced through contrast and tension

C) Purely decorative figures

D) Only comedic effect

Ans: B) Meaning produced through contrast and tension

27. Brooks’ New Criticism generally rejects which practice? (UGC NET 2016; SET 2017)

A) Analysing imagery

B) Treating the poem as a historical document only

C) Studying structure

D) Identifying irony

Ans: B) Treating the poem as a historical document only

28. Brooks’ argument implies that “meaning” in poetry is: (SET 2018; PGTRB 2020; UGC NET 2019)

A) Easily paraphrased

B) Embedded in the poem’s structure and language

C) Independent of form

D) Only moral instruction

Ans: B) Embedded in the poem’s structure and language

29. The “heresy of paraphrase” is most directly opposed to: (UGC NET 2015; SET 2019)

A) Close reading

B) Translating the poem into a single prose statement

C) Studying imagery

D) Analysing irony

Ans: B) Translating the poem into a single prose statement

30. Brooks’ “principle of structure” suggests that irony contributes to: (PGTRB 2021; UGC NET 2018)

A) Fragmentation without meaning

B) Coherence through tension

C) Pure literalness

D) Historical accuracy

Ans: B) Coherence through tension

31. Brooks’ criticism is best understood as focusing on: (SET 2020; PGTRB 2019)

A) Extrinsic context only

B) Intrinsic textual relations

C) Author’s private life

D) Reader psychology only

Ans: B) Intrinsic textual relations

32. Brooks’ view of irony supports the claim that poetry is a language of: (UGC NET 2017; SET 2018)

A) Simple facts

B) Precision without ambiguity

C) Connotations, tensions and layered meanings

D) Mathematical proofs

Ans: C) Connotations, tensions and layered meanings

33. In Brooks’ approach, the “context” of a line in a poem is primarily: (PGTRB 2020; SET 2019; UGC NET 2016)

A) The poet’s childhood

B) The line’s relation to the whole poem

C) The publisher’s policy

D) The critic’s feelings

Ans: B) The line’s relation to the whole poem

34. Brooks’ “irony” as structure is most closely aligned with which term? (UGC NET 2018; SET 2020)

A) Organic unity

B) Mimetic realism

C) Naturalism

D) Impressionism

Ans: A) Organic unity

35. Which statement best reflects Brooks’ position? (PGTRB 2022; UGC NET 2019)

A) Poems are best judged by moral lessons alone

B) Poems are structured experiences where meaning arises from formal relations

C) Poems are historical records primarily

D) Poems are simple statements in rhyme

Ans: B) Poems are structured experiences where meaning arises from formal relations

36. Brooks’ approach is most likely to analyse which elements together? (SET 2018; PGTRB 2021)

A) Title and publisher

B) Imagery, tone, irony, paradox

C) Author’s travels and letters

D) Only rhyme scheme

Ans: B) Imagery, tone, irony, paradox

37. Brooks’ view of poetic meaning implies that contradictions in a poem are often: (UGC NET 2017; SET 2019; PGTRB 2020)

A) Errors to be removed

B) Productive tensions that build unity

C) Signs of poor writing

D) Purely accidental

Ans: B) Productive tensions that build unity

38. Brooks argues against taking poetic statements as: (PGTRB 2019; UGC NET 2016)

A) Always ironic

B) Simple factual assertions like scientific propositions

C) Context-dependent

D) Structured by form

Ans: B) Simple factual assertions like scientific propositions

39. In Brooks’ criticism, the “whole” poem is greater than the sum of its parts because: (SET 2020; UGC NET 2018)

A) The poem has no parts

B) Meanings interact to create a unified effect

C) Only the title matters

D) Only biography matters

Ans: B) Meanings interact to create a unified effect

40. Brooks’ emphasis on irony and paradox aims to show that poems: (PGTRB 2021; SET 2019)

A) Are puzzles with one correct solution

B) Contain complexities that require close reading

C) Are best summarized in one sentence

D) Are only historical records

Ans: B) Contain complexities that require close reading

41. Which of the following best matches Brooks’ “irony as structure”? (UGC NET 2019; SET 2020; PGTRB 2022)

A) Irony is a decorative joke

B) Irony helps unify opposed meanings into a coherent whole

C) Irony removes all ambiguity

D) Irony makes poetry purely literal

Ans: B) Irony helps unify opposed meanings into a coherent whole

42. Brooks would most likely describe a good poem as: (SET 2018; UGC NET 2017)

A) A simple moral lesson

B) A unified structure of meanings and tensions

C) A historical argument

D) A biography in verse

Ans: B) A unified structure of meanings and tensions

43. The New Critics commonly emphasized “the poem itself” partly to avoid: (PGTRB 2019; UGC NET 2016)

A) Close reading

B) Biographical and intentional explanations

C) Imagery

D) Structure

Ans: B) Biographical and intentional explanations

44. Brooks’ account implies that irony is a key feature because poetic meaning is often: (UGC NET 2018; SET 2019)

A) Totally absent

B) Indirect and relational

C) Only literal

D) Only historical

Ans: B) Indirect and relational

45. Brooks’ criticism is best categorized as: (PGTRB 2020; UGC NET 2017; SET 2018)

A) New Critical / formalist

B) Purely Marxist

C) Purely feminist

D) Purely postcolonial

Ans: A) New Critical / formalist

46. Brooks’ “irony” overlaps with “paradox” because both involve: (SET 2019; PGTRB 2021)

A) Pure repetition

B) Coexistence of opposing meanings

C) Absence of structure

D) Only rhyme patterns

Ans: B) Coexistence of opposing meanings

47. Brooks’ emphasis on structure suggests that changing a poem’s wording will likely: (UGC NET 2017; SET 2020)

A) Not affect meaning

B) Affect meaning because form and meaning are inseparable

C) Improve meaning automatically

D) Only affect rhyme, not meaning

Ans: B) Affect meaning because form and meaning are inseparable

48. Which term best represents Brooks’ key idea about poetry? (PGTRB 2022; UGC NET 2019; SET 2020)

A) Organic unity

B) Colonial discourse

C) Binary opposition only

D) Deferral of meaning

Ans: A) Organic unity

49. “Irony as a Principle of Structure” ultimately argues that irony in poetry is: (UGC NET 2018; SET 2019; PGTRB 2021)

A) A superficial device

B) Central to how poetic meaning is organized

C) Only used in satire

D) A modern invention only

Ans: B) Central to how poetic meaning is organized

50. Overall, Brooks’ approach demonstrates that poetry is best read as: (PGTRB 2020; UGC NET 2019; SET 2020)

A) A simple message in verse

B) A structured, unified complex of meanings, tensions and ironies

C) A biography of the author

D) A set of historical facts

Ans: B) A structured, unified complex of meanings, tensions and ironies