MCQs: Deconstruction

1. Who is the philosopher often credited with developing the concept of deconstruction?

a) Jean-Jacques Rousseau      

b) Sigmund Freud

c) Jacques Derrida                  

d) Friedrich Nietzsche

 

2. In deconstruction, what does the term "binary opposition" refer to?

a) The coexistence of multiple meanings in a text

b) The division of a text into distinct sections

c) The contrast between two opposing concepts

d) The process of simplifying a complex text

 

3. Who wrote the essay "Structure, Sign, and Play in the Discourse of the Human Sciences," which had a significant influence on deconstruction?

a) Michel Foucault      

b) Roland Barthes      

c) Jacques Lacan         

d) Jacques Derrida

 

4. Deconstruction is often associated with which broader philosophical movement?

a) Existentialism   

b) Postmodernism     

c) Rationalism             

d) Structuralism

 

5. What does the term "phallogocentrism" in deconstruction refer to?

a) The idea that language is inherently masculine

b) The privileging of male authors in literature

c) The dominance of male characters in texts

d) The rejection of male-authored texts

 

6. Which philosopher is often associated with the idea of "trace" in deconstruction?

a) Friedrich Nietzsche 

b)Jean-Jacques Rousseau      

c) Karl Marx                

d) Immanuel Kant

 

7. Which literary term is often associated with deconstruction, highlighting the inherent contradictions and instability within texts?

a) Foreshadowing       

b) Paradox     

c) Irony                       

d) Symbolism

 

8. Which famous deconstructive work by Jacques Derrida explores the concept of "hospitality" and its relationship to language and identity?

a) Of Grammatology   b) Speech and Phenomena

c) The Gift of Death    d) Structure, Sign, and Play

 

9.Which book by Jacques Derrida is often regarded as a foundational text of deconstruction, where he explores the relationship between language and writing?

a) Of Grammatology  

b) The Gift of Death

c) Being and Time       

d) The Order of Things

 

10. Who is known for the concept of Hyperrial?

a) Jacques Derrida      

b)Jean-François Lyotard

c) Roland Barthes       

d) Baudrialard

 

11. What does Derrida’s term différance signify?

A) A fixed meaning in language

B) The deferral and difference of meaning

C) The rejection of all linguistic structures

D) A type of binary opposition

 

12.In Of Grammatology, Derrida famously states:

A) "The author is dead"

B) "All texts are readerly"

C) "Language is a prison-house"

D) "There is no meaning outside the text”

 

13. Which term describes Barthes’ idea of texts that demand active reader participation?

A) Writerly                  

B) Readerly

C) Symbolic                 

D) Hermeneutic

 

14. Jean Baudrillard’s Simulacra and Simulation discusses:

A) The death of the author

B) Hyperreality

C) Binary oppositions in myths

D) The grammar of narratives

 

15.Which of the following statements aligns best with the principles of Deconstruction?

A) Language transparently conveys meaning

B) A text has a single, stable meaning

C) Meaning is fixed by authorial intent

D) Texts have multiple and deferred meanings

 

16. What does Derrida’s term différance signify?

A) The fixed meaning of a text

B) The deferral and difference of meaning in language

C) The author’s intended message

D) The literal interpretation of signs

 

17. Which concept refers to the "double bind" or irresolvable contradiction in a text?

A) Polysemy                

B) Aporia

C) Logocentrism          

D) Phonocentrism

 

18. Derrida critiques Western philosophy for being:

A) Phonocentric          

B) Logocentric

C) Both A and B          

D) Neither A nor B

 

19. Which of the following is NOT a key work by Jacques Derrida?

A) Of Grammatology 

B) Discipline and Punish

C) Writing and Difference

D) Specters of Marx

 

20. Who translated Derrida’s Of Grammatology into English?

A) Gayatri Spivak                    

B) Barbara Johnson

C) Paul De Man                       

D) J. Hillis Miller

 

21. Roland Barthes’ The Death of the Author argues that:

A) The author’s biography is essential for interpretation

B) Meaning is created by the reader, not the author

C) The text has a single fixed meaning

D) Writing is an extension of the author’s voice

 

22. Which term refers to the privileging of speech over writing?

A) Logocentrism         

B) Phonocentrism

C) Arche-writing         

D) Differance

 

23. Foucault’s Discipline and Punish introduces the concept of:

A) The Panopticon      

B) The Death of the Author

C) The Rhizome          

D) The Simulacrum

 

24. Who coined the term "desiring machines"?

A) Jacques Derrida      

B) Deleuze and Guattari

C) Jean Baudrillard     

D) Michel Foucault

 

25. Simulacra and Simulation is a key work by:

A) Roland Barthes                  

B) J. Hillis Miller

C) Paul De Man                       

D) Jean Baudrillard

 

26. Which Yale School critic wrote Blindness and Insight?

A) Paul De Man                       

B) Geoffrey Hartman

C) Harold Bloom                     

D) J. Hillis Miller

 

27. Barthes distinguishes between "readerly" and "writerly" texts in:

A) Mythologies                       

B) S/Z

C) The Pleasure of the Text    

D) Image, Music, Text

 

28. Who argued that Disneyland is an example of hyperreality?

A) Michel Foucault     

B) Jean Baudrillard

C) Gilles Deleuze         

D) Roland Barthes

 

29.Which theorist analyzed Balzac’s Sarrasine to demonstrate narrative codes?

A) Jacques Derrida      

B) Roland Barthes

C) Michel Foucault     

D) Jean Baudrillard

 

30.The "Yale School" of deconstruction included all EXCEPT:

A) Harold Bloom         

B) Paul De Man

C) Michel Foucault     

D) J. Hillis Miller

 

Answers:

1.C	2.C	3.D	4.B	5.A	6.A	7.B	8.C	9.A	10.D
11. B	12. D	13. A	14. B	15. D	16. B	17.B	18.C	19.B	20. A
21. B	22. B	23. A	24. B	25. D	26. A	27. B	28. B	29. B	30. C