Sir Walter Alexander Raleigh

Study question Walter Alexander Raleigh

Style

Style MCQs

Milton

Milton MCQs

Facts about Walter Alexander Raleigh

➾ Walter Alexander Raleigh died from typhoid, which he contracted during a visit to the Near East.

➾ He started his academic career teaching English Literature at Aligarh’s Anglo-Orìental College.

➾ Raleigh extensively wrote about prominent English authors until 1914, when his writing shifted focus to war.

➾ His first volume of “The War in the Air” (1922), a military history, may be deemed his finest book.

➾ His son, Hilary, published his father’s light prose, verse, and plays in “Laughter from a Cloud”.

➾ Raleigh held the respected Chair of English Literature at Oxford University for eighteen years.

➾ Raleigh taught literature at four distinct academic institutions: Aligarh, Liverpool, Glasgow, and Oxford.

➾ He authored “The War in the Air”, a story of the Royal Air Force, spanning six published volumes.

➾ His sketch of the English novel’s history intentionally concluded before the notable appearance of “Waverley”.

➾ Raleigh helped write “Shakespeare’s England”, a two-volume work describing the life, culture, and manners of the Elizabethan age.

➾ Lady Raleigh, his wife, Lucie Gertrude, edited his collected letters, spanning from 1879 until his death, published as The Letters (1928).

Walter Alexander Raleigh MCQs

1. When was Walter Alexander Raleigh born?

A. May 13, 1922
B. September 5, 1861
C. October 20, 1911
D. March 13, 1890

B. September 5, 1861.
Walter Alexander Raleigh was born on September 5, 1861, marking the beginning of his life in the late nineteenth century.

2. What was Walter Alexander Raleigh’s nationality?

A. Scottish
B. British
C. English
D. Indian

C. English.
The biographical source explicitly lists Walter Alexander Raleigh’s nationality as English, connecting him to the national literature he studied.

3. When did Walter Alexander Raleigh die?

A. September 5, 1861
B. May 13, 1922
C. December 12, 1916
D. October 20, 1911

B. May 13, 1922.
Raleigh died on May 13, 1922, concluding his academic tenure at Oxford University.

4. What caused Walter Alexander Raleigh’s death?

A. Near East injury
B. Consumption
C. Typhoid
D. Old age

C. Typhoid.
He contracted typhoid during a visit to the Near East, which resulted in his death in 1922.

5. Which London institution did Raleigh attend?

A. Glasgow University
B. City of London School
C. Edinburgh Academy
D. King’s College, Cambridge

B. City of London School.
Raleigh’s education included both the City of London School and the Edinburgh Academy.

6. Which university did Raleigh attend in London?

A. Oxford
B. University College, London
C. Cambridge
D. Glasgow

B. University College, London.
His higher education included studies at both University College, London, and King’s College, Cambridge.

7. Where was Raleigh’s first academic appointment (1885-87)?

A. Glasgow, Scotland
B. Oxford, England
C. Aligarh, India
D. Liverpool, England

C. Aligarh, India.
His initial role was Professor of English Literature at Aligarh, India, starting in 1885.

8. What was his role at Aligarh (1885-87)?

A. Professor of Style
B. Professor of English Literature
C. Chair of Modern Literature
D. Royal Colonial Institute

B. Professor of English Literature.
He served as the Professor of English Literature at the Mohammedan Anglo-Orìental College in Aligarh.

9. Where was he, Professor of Modern Literature (1890-1900)?

A. Glasgow, Scotland
B. Oxford, England
C. Liverpool, England
D. Cambridge, England

C. Liverpool, England.
For a decade (1890-1900), he held the Professor of Modern Literature position at University College Liverpool.

10. Which chair did he hold at Glasgow University (1900-1904)?

A. English Literature
B. English Language and Literature
C. Modern Literature
D. Royal Air Force

B. English Language and Literature.
At Glasgow, he was appointed to the Chair of English Language and Literature for the years 1900 to 1904.

11. Which institution hosted his final academic post (1904-1922)?

A. Glasgow University
B. Cambridge University
C. Oxford University
D. Liverpool College

C. Oxford University.
His final and most distinguished post was the Chair of English Literature at Oxford, which he held until his death.

12. What genre did Raleigh primarily focus on before 1914?

A. Military History
B. Literary Criticism
C. Fiction and Verse
D. Social Addresses

B. Literary Criticism.
Until 1914, Raleigh mainly published critical works focused on many major English authors.

13. What subject became Raleigh’s focus after 1914?

A. English Novel
B. The Near East
C. The War
D. Shakespeare

C. The War.
In 1914, Raleigh shifted his focus, turning to the Great War as his subject.

14. Which of his works is cited as possibly his “finest book”?

A. Style
B. Robert Louis Stevenson
C. The War in the Air (Volume 1)
D. Six essays on Johnson

C. The War in the Air (Volume 1).
The first volume of The War in the Air (1922) is specifically mentioned as potentially being his finest book.

15. How many volumes ultimately comprised The War in the Air?

A. Two volumes
B. Six volumes
C. Four volumes
D. One volume

B. Six volumes.
The War in the Air, the history of the Royal Air Force, was published across six volumes between 1922 and 1937.

16. The War in the Air details the part played by which force?

A. German Air Force
B. Royal Air Force
C. Allied Powers
D. Near East Forces

B. Royal Air Force.
The work is the story of the part played in the Great War by the Royal Air Force.

17. What was the title of Raleigh’s 1895 publication?

A. Style
B. Robert Louis Stevenson
C. The English novel
D. Milton

B. Robert Louis Stevenson.
Raleigh’s early critical work, published in 1895, was a monograph on Robert Louis Stevenson.

18. Raleigh published his famous essay on Style in which year?

A. 1900
B. 1890
C. 1898
D. 1919

C. 1898.
His significant essay Style reached its 3rd edition in 1898, demonstrating its importance.

19. Raleigh published a monograph on which Romantic poet in 1903?

A. Lord Byron
B. Samuel Johnson
C. Wordsworth
D. Milton

C. Wordsworth.
He published a dedicated critical study focusing on the poet Wordsworth in 1903.

20. Which playwright was the subject of Raleigh’s 1909 book?

A. Ben Jonson
B. Shakespeare
C. Christopher Marlowe
D. Dryden

B. Shakespeare.
Raleigh published a specific critical work titled Shakespeare in 1909, focused on the Elizabethan dramatist.

21. Raleigh published six essays on which 18th-century figure in 1910?

A. Wordsworth
B. Samuel Johnson
C. Milton
D. Shakespeare

B. Samuel Johnson.
The collection Six Essays on Johnson (1910) demonstrates his scholarly commitment to Samuel Johnson.

22. His sketch of the English novel runs until the appearance of what?

A. Restoration drama
B. Waverley
C. Victorian age
D. Modernism

B. Waverley.
The English novel covers history from the earliest times up to the publication of Waverley.

23. What kind of works are collected in On Writing and Writers (1926)?

A. War essays
B. Notebooks extracts
C. Early poems
D. Private letters

B. Notebook extracts.
This posthumous work comprises extracts from his notebooks, which cover his thoughts on literature and writing.

24. What was the title of his 1918 collection of addresses?

A. The war of ideas
B. Some gains of the war
C. England and the war
D. Romance

C. England and the war.
England and the war (1918) compiled various sundry addresses delivered during the war.

25. What was the topic of his 1911 address at Aberystwyth?

A. Poetry and fact
B. The war of ideas
C. The meaning of a University
D. Study of literature

C. The meaning of a University.
His inaugural address at Aberystwyth in 1911 discussed the meaning of a University.

26. What was the topic of his 1890 inaugural lecture at Liverpool?

A. Romance
B. Poetry and fact
C. English novel
D. Style

B. Poetry and fact.
Marking his 1890 arrival at Liverpool, his inaugural lecture was titled Poetry and Fact.

27. What literary concept did he lecture on at Princeton (1915)?

A. Realism
B. Romance
C. Classicism
D. Lyricism

B. Romance.
Raleigh delivered two lectures at Princeton University in 1915, specifically addressing the concept of Romance.

28. What were Raleigh’s primary listed occupations?

A. Author, Soldier
B. Historian, Critic
C. Professor
D. Editor, Lecturer

C. Professor.
Raleigh’s extensive career involved multiple academic chairs, listed professionally as Professor.

29. What kind of work is Laughter from a Cloud (1923)?

A. Critical essays
B. Light prose, verse, and plays
C. Serious history
D. War addresses

B. Light prose, verse, and plays.
This 1923 posthumous work consists of Raleigh’s more informal light prose, verse, and plays.

30. Who edited the posthumous volume Laughter from a Cloud?

A. Lady Raleigh
B. Henry Jones
C. D. Nichol Smith
D. Hilary Raleigh

D. Hilary Raleigh.
The collection Laughter from a Cloud was edited with a preface by his son, Hilary Raleigh.

31. What date range do Raleigh’s collected Letters cover?

A. 1861-1922
B. 1879-1922
C. 1900-1918
D. 1914-1922

B. 1879-1922.
The collected correspondence, the letters, spans the period from 1879 to 1922, covering his adult life.

32. Who edited the second edition of Raleigh’s collected Letters (1928)?

A. Hilary Raleigh
B. Lady Raleigh
C. H. Young
D. Clarendon Press

B. Lady Raleigh.
The second edition of his letters was edited by his wife, listed in the source as Lady Raleigh.

33. Raleigh contributed to Shakespeare’s England about what?

A. Theatre history
B. Life and manners of his age
C. Play analyses
D. Critical essays

B. Life and manners of his age.
Shakespeare’s England provides an account of the life and manners of his age (Elizabethan) in two volumes.

34. Which address discussed “Some gains of the war” (1918)?

A. University College
B. Princeton University
C. Royal Colonial Institute
D. Clarendon Press

C. Royal Colonial Institute.
This address was delivered to the Royal Colonial Institute on February 13, 1918.

35. What topic was Raleigh’s address to the Royal Colonial Institute in 1916?

A. The war of ideas
B. War in the air
C. English voyages
D. Study of literature

A. The war of ideas.
In December 1916, he delivered an address on The War of Ideas to the Royal Colonial Institute.

36. What kind of writing is collected in Some authors (1923)?

A. Personal letters
B. Literary essays (1896-1916)
C. Light verse
D. Historical notes

B. Literary essays (1896-1916).
Some Authors is a collection of various literary essays written between 1896 and 1916.

37. In 1900, he published a work on the methodology of which academic field?

A. War history
B. English literature
C. Modern language
D. Literary essays

B. English literature.
He published a short work titled The Study of English Literature in 1900, outlining methods for the discipline.

38. Raleigh wrote a history concerning which 16th-century activity?

A. Elizabethan Theatre
B. English voyages
C. Tudor governance
D. Naval battles

B. English voyages.
He published The English Voyages of the Sixteenth Century, demonstrating his scope in historical subjects.

39. What is Raleigh’s specified literary period classification?

A. Victorian
B. Romantic
C. Georgian
D. Elizabethan

C. Georgian.
The source categorizes Walter Alexander Raleigh as belonging to the Georgian literary period.

40. What type of authors did Raleigh write about before 1914?

A. Unknown authors
B. Major English authors
C. War poets
D. Romantic writers

B. Major English authors.
Until 1914, his work focused on many major English authors across different literary eras.

41. What title, often used before his name, indicates he received an honour?

A. Professor
B. Sir
C. Lord
D. Colonel

B. Sir.
The Dictionary of National Biography entry refers to him as Sir Walter Alexander Raleigh, indicating a knighthood.

42. Who wrote a “personal recollection” about Raleigh and air history in 1922?

A. Hilary Raleigh
B. Lady Raleigh
C. Henry Albert Jones
D. D. Nichol Smith

C. Henry Albert Jones.
Henry Albert Jones published a 1922 personal recollection concerning Sir Walter Raleigh and air history.

43. Raleigh’s academic career spanned how many years (1885-1922)?

A. 25 years
B. 37 years
C. 30 years
D. 41 years

B. 37 years.
His career, spanning approximately 37 years from 1885 to 1922, began in 1885 and ended in 1922.

44. Which literary collection title gathers extracts from his notebooks?

A. Some authors
B. Poetry and fact
C. On writing and writers
D. The letters

C. On writing and writers.
The 1926 publication of On Writing and Writers consists solely of excerpts from his notebooks.

45. Which two literary figures did Raleigh publish monographs about in 1900 and 1903?

A. Shakespeare, Johnson
B. Stevenson, Johnson
C. Milton, Wordsworth
D. Romance, Novel

C. Milton, Wordsworth.
Raleigh published dedicated works on Milton (1900) and Wordsworth (1903).

46. What subject was his book published on in 1900?

A. Shakespeare
B. Milton
C. Romance
D. English novel

B. Milton.
Raleigh published a complete critical work focusing solely on the life and poetry of Milton in 1900.

47. What kind of works are primarily contained in Laughter from a Cloud?

A. Critical works
B. Light works (verse/prose)
C. Serious history
D. Academic addresses

B. Light works (verse/prose).
The material in Laughter from a cloud is specifically categorized as light prose, verse, and plays.

48. What is the reason for Raleigh’s fame/achievement after 1914?

A. His essay on Style
B. Official history of the RAF
C. His novel sketch
D. His collected letters

B. Official history of the RAF.
His fame after 1914 largely rests on his work on The War in the Air, the official history of the Royal Air Force.

49. His 1918 collection, England and the War, contained what type of writing?

A. Short fiction
B. Sundry addresses
C. Personal letters
D. Critical reviews

B. Sundry addresses.
The work England and the war gathered several addresses that Raleigh had delivered during the war period.

50. What was the general focus of the essays in “Some authors”?

A. Political theory
B. Literary criticism
C. Religious belief
D. Scientific progress

B. Literary criticism.
This collection primarily contains literary essays previously written, confirming his main genre focus.

Style MCQs

1. What is the Latin origin of the word “Style”?

A. Rigid pen
B. Flexible art
C. Subtle language
D. Fluid speech

A. Rigid pen.
“Style” is the Latin name for an iron pen, which designates the art of handling the elements of speech.

2. To which fields is the word “style” applied?

A. Only literature
B. Many human arts
C. Just painting, music
D. Speech elements

B. Many human arts.
The term “style” is applied to various human activities, including architecture, sculpture, and even cricket.

3. What does the scratching pen symbolise?

A. Bodily movement
B. Human expression
C. Orator’s voice
D. Transitory material

B. Human expression.
The pen symbolises all that is expressive and intimate in human nature, yielding to arts and man himself.

4. How are the orator and actor judged?

A. Enduring revelation
B. Ultimate personality
C. By style metaphor
D. Mobile feature play

C. By style metaphor.
The orator and actor borrow dignity from the style metaphor (the iron pen) to be judged by.

5. Which art accepts all states of the soul?

A. Sculpture
B. Architecture
C. Literature
D. Oratory

C. Literature.
Literature admits the entrance of morals, philosophy, conviction, passion, and guards them from sudden mortality.

6. What is the material of actors and orators?

A. Perishable ware
B. Recalcitrant stuff
C. Evanescent effects
D. Transitory material

D. Transitory material.
Actors and orators are condemned to work evanescent effects on transitory material, which quickly passes.

7. What method do writers on style use often?

A. Juggling language
B. Analogy and parable
C. Building monuments
D. Simple definitions

B. Analogy and parable.
Writers often use analogies from other arts and frequently employ parables in their writing.

8. Besides the artist, what two things exist?

A. Medium and public
B. Instrument and soul
C. Audience and body
D. Freedom and power

A. Medium and public.
In every art form, besides the artist, the two key considerations are the medium (instrument) and the audience (public).

9. What is the actor’s instrument misfortune?

A. Lack of privacy
B. Their own body
C. Public scrutiny
D. Scant liberty

B. Their own body.
The misfortune of the actor is that their bodies are their sole instruments, compromising their soul’s privacy.

10. Why is serene detachment hard for actors?

A. Personal pride hurt
B. Not chosen instrument
C. Populace pleasure
D. Noble rank forbidden

A. Personal pride hurt.
Applause touches the actor’s personal pride too nearly, making serene detachment from their work difficult to achieve.

11. What reward does society offer artists?

A. Social consideration
B. Social elevation
C. Patronage only
D. Honourable estate

C. Patronage only.
Society, focused on the art of life, gives artists no warmer gift than patronage for the mimicry of life.

12. What clings to the actor persistently?

A. Their personal pride
B. An inner beggar
C. Phantasmal second self
D. Devotion to profession

C. Phantasmal second self.
A persistent evil for the actor is that they cannot wholly escape their phantasmal second self created by art.

13. Through what must art appeal to attention?

A. The heart
B. The senses
C. The instrument
D. The mind

B. The senses.
Whatever the chosen instrument, art’s appeal to those whose attention it seeks must be made through the senses.

14. What is described as the writer’s pianoforte?

A. Printed page
B. Dictionary
C. Spoken sound
D. Euphony

B. Dictionary.
The writer’s pianoforte is the dictionary, and words serve as the fundamental material in which they work.

15. Which senses does literature primarily employ?

A. Sight and touch
B. Ear and eye
C. Smell and taste
D. Ear and touch

B. Ear and eye.
Literature, due to its complexity, employs both the ear (sound) and the eye (reading) as channels.

16. What would happen to picture-writing without speech?

A. Achieve perfection
B. Kinship with melody
C. Forsake melody’s kinship
D. Symbolic intent thrives

C. Forsake melody’s kinship.
If picture-writing developed without spoken word aid, it would forsake the kinship of melody.

17. What are the senses described as for letters?

A. Busy workers
B. Door-keepers of mind
C. Underworld impressions
D. Spiritual body

B. Door-keepers of mind.
For the traffic of letters, the senses are merely the doorkeepers of the mind, not the exclusive access point.

18. Where does Poetry work its will primarily?

A. Live senses bustle
B. Sleeping company
C. Underworld impressions
D. Citadel of thought

C. Underworld impressions.
Poetry works its will in an underworld of dead impressions, not amid the live senses’ bustle.

19. What confuses memory in the writer’s art?

A. New metaphysical art
B. Converting time/space
C. Mixing sensory images
D. Adamantine rigidity

C. Mixing sensory images.
The writer plays upon memory by confusing what belongs to one sense with what belongs to another.

20. What does poetic instinct seek for impalpable subjects?

A. Abstract conception
B. Clear definition
C. Creative imagination
D. Structure and firmness

B. Clear definition.
The poetic instinct seeks to bring dim, impalpable subjects into clear definition and vivid, concrete imagery.

21. Why do abstractions become persons in poetry?

A. For brighter colour
B. To wear fine attire
C. For intimate knowledge
D. To acquire firmness

C. For intimate knowledge.
Abstractions become persons because persons are objects of most familiar sympathy and intimate knowledge.

22. The phrase “Fear is, to a great extent, the mother of Cruelty” shows what?

A. Cautious self-defence
B. Natural adjustment
C. Confused metaphor
D. Dogmatic truth

C. Confused metaphor.
The writer failed to set imagination to work, resulting in a confused metaphor that is not naturally true.

23. What saves words from sterility?

A. Simple words
B. Poet’s glowing picture
C. Imagination spark
D. Vivid sentiment

C. Imagination spark.
A poor spark of imagination might save words from becoming sterile and losing their glowing picture.

24. Where did some critics seek style principles?

A. Musical allegiance
B. Audible cadence laws
C. Tuneful expression
D. Fashion matters

B. Audible cadence laws.
Some critics sought the first principles of style in the laws governing the audible cadence of words.

25. What describes melody’s control over verse/prose?

A. Absolute dominion
B. Prescribes rather
C. Prohibits rather
D. Canonical allegiance

C. Prohibits rather.
Melody holds no absolute dominion; its laws, though vital, prohibit rather than prescribe usage in literature.

26. Why does grammar bar pure euphony?

A. For prosody interests
B. Clumsy polysyllables
C. Simple ordinances
D. Necessary license

B. Clumsy polysyllables.
Grammar bars euphony with its clumsy, inalterable polysyllables, since it was shaped for thought’s service, not prosody.

27. What is the word’s “last and greatest possession”?

A. Chime in ear
B. Mental image
C. A meaning
D. Suggestion

C. A meaning.
The last and greatest possession of words is a meaning, for which musical tune is often scorned.

28. The power of St. Paul’s saying relies on what?

A. Vowel arrangement
B. Translation skill
C. Meaning/message
D. Visual embodiment

C. Meaning/message.
The saying’s intensity remains even when translated, showing its power lies in its meaning/purpose.

29. What can literature do that other arts cannot?

A. Affirm detail
B. Honour reserve
C. Deny
D. Treasure universe

C. Deny.
Literature alone possesses the power to deny (or use negative capability) and honour that denial powerfully.

30. What literary effect did Burke celebrate?

A. Positive rivalry
B. Pictorial art
C. Negative capability
D. Angel of Lord

C. Negative capability.
Burke celebrated language’s negative capability (privative force) in impressing minds with senses of vacuity.

31. What gives strong epithets their force?

A. Logic’s magnificence
B. Vastness of denial
C. Dim emotional framework
D. Atmospheric feeling

B. Vastness of denial.
Strong epithets like “lonely” borrow their force from the vastness of what they deny or negate.

32. Which type of words often fails poetry’s loftiest purpose?

A. Vague words
B. Explicit hard words
C. Strong words
D. Tainted words

B. Explicit hard words.
Loftiest poetry purposes are seldom served by explicit hard words which, like pedants, say all they mean.

33. What is words’ third and greatest virtue?

A. Analogy discovery
B. Weapons of thought
C. Keen insight
D. Energy of thinking

B. Weapons of thought.
The third and greatest virtue of words is that they function as weapons of thought, leading to unity of essence.

34. What material does Stevenson say literature works with?

A. Plastic material
B. Ductile clay
C. Finite rigid words
D. Logical progression

C. Finite rigid words.
Stevenson compared literature to working in a mosaic with finite and quite rigid words, unlike plastic arts.

35. What necessity burdens the literary architect?

A. Conveying import
B. Logical progression
C. Must mean something
D. Varying patterns

C. Must mean something.
The chief burden imposed upon the writer is the necessity, at all costs, to mean something.

36. Unlike blocks, what do words constantly do?

A. Keep their size
B. Move and change
C. Stay at once
D. Keep single import

B. Move and change.
Words are not rigid; they constantly move and change, wax and wane, wither and burgeon.

37. Choosing words chooses what?

A. A single sense
B. New metaphors
C. An audience
D. Genteel parlance

C. An audience.
When choosing a sense for words, the writer simultaneously chooses an audience for those words.

38. What kind of slang is commended for its worth?

A. Lazy stamp
B. Sordid metaphor
C. Technical diction
D. Common talkers

C. Technical diction.
The useful slang is technical diction, which accurately names operations of a specific way of life.

39. What does the average talker crave?

A. Accuracy
B. Self-expression
C. Immediacy
D. Analysis

C. Immediacy.
The average talker craves immediacy of expression, rather than accuracy, so the talk flow doesn’t pass them.

40. What does good breeding seek in language?

A. Self-expression
B. Fashion leadership
C. Unanimity
D. Vocabulary richness

C. Unanimity.
Common talkers pursue unanimity and self-obliteration in language, which are the marks of good breeding.

41. What marks authors ambitious for many ages?

A. Revival of meanings
B. Archaic turn
C. A and B
D. Profusion of words

C. A and B.
Authors seeking a hearing across ages use revival of bygone meanings and an archaic turn to language.

42. What was the original meaning of “silly”?

A. Ignorant
B. Noted
C. Blessed
D. Daintiness

C. Blessed.
“Silly” originally bore the older sense of “blessed,” influenced by Christianity’s faith and cult of childhood.

43. Who protects language, our common inheritance, most?

A. Great authors
B. Prose writers
C. Grammarians
D. Poets

D. Poets.
Poets must be accounted the chief protectors of language, as the higher standard they impose raises speech.

44. How are writers dubbed Classic or Romantic?

A. Their audience size
B. Adherence to rules
C. Attitude to change
D. Use of analogy

C. Attitude to change.
Writers are dubbed Classic or Romantic based on whether they seek fixity (Classic) or embrace change (Romantic).

45. What is the primary goal of the Romantics?

A. Unquestioned code
B. Self-expression
C. Universal agreement
D. Order and reason

B. Self-expression.
Romantics are individualists and anarchists, torturing their lives to attain self-expression in their work.

46. What is the error of the classical creed?

A. Serenity of paralysis
B. Lacking analogy
C. Imagining language fixity
D. Tautology avoided

C. Imagining language fixity.
The classical error is imagining language should be fixed and final in a world of constant flux and change.

47. How are words in the vocabulary of sciences described?

A. Abiding-place
B. Fixed and dead
C. Colourful weeds
D. Unimpassioned vocables

B. Fixed and dead.
In the Sciences, words are fixed and dead, forming a botanical collection of colourless, scentless, dried weeds.

48. What are the two main processes of word change?

A. Bifurcation, dwindling
B. Distinction, assimilation
C. Growth, divergence
D. Naming, defining

B. Distinction, assimilation.
The two main processes of change in words are Distinction (refining meaning) and Assimilation (blunting meaning).

49. What statement is made about synonyms?

A. Help lazy thought
B. Are many in language
C. Do not exist
D. Are useful to the dictionary

C. Do not exist.
The author states outright that there are no synonyms, meaning the same statement cannot be identically repeated.

50. What causes writers to avoid word repetition?

A. Poverty of thought
B. Clumsy fragments
C. Kind of interdict
D. Self-immolation

C. Kind of interdict.
A kind of interdict or ban lies upon a once-used word until the memory of its first use fades.

Brief Overview

First published in 1897, Style is a classic literary essay by Walter Raleigh, Professor of English Literature at the University of Oxford. The work is a classic of literary criticism that focuses on the art of written expression, the relationship between language and thought, and how a writer’s personality influences their work.

The concept of Style originally came from the Latin name for an iron pen, but now it means the art of handling speech with life and skill.

This concept of style applies to various human endeavours, including architecture, music, and painting. The essay asserts that style is the ultimate means by which a person reveals their unique personality.

Literature is a complex art form that encompasses a wide range of subjects, including morals, philosophy, aesthetic moods, and passion. The writer’s material is words, which act like their piano. Words have three central powers: they create visual images, provide melody, and carry meaning.

Meaning is the most incredible power of all. Words constantly change their value and shape based on their neighbourhood and context.

A significant challenge for the writer is the audience. Insincerity is a common vice of style, often evident when authors seek widespread acclaim. A writer must maintain a “serene detachment” from the public to avoid this degradation.

Ultimately, style cannot be formally taught. Although grammar is functional, good style lays bare the soul, revealing every unconscious vice or shy virtue in the author’s character.