2. Marxist ways of reading - quiz

According to Marxist critics, what is literature a product of?

• The writer's imagination

• The writer's own class and cultural values

• Universal truths

• Future events

What does Marxism question about the text?

• The text's entertainment value

• The text's historical accuracy

• Whether the text supports or undermines the prevailing social and economic system

• The text's grammatical correctness

When did Karl Marx begin to outline what is now called Marxist philosophy?

• 1780s and 1790s

• 1840s and 1850s

• 1920s and 1930s

• 1900s and 1910s

According to Marx, what determines the consciousness of men?

• Their education

• Their social existence

• Their personal beliefs

• Their genetic makeup

According to Marxist theory, what largely conditions the way we think and the way we experience the world around us?

• Our personal choices

• The economy

• Our education

• Our cultural background

What does Marxist theory suggest about the relationship between the 'base' and 'superstructure' of society?

• The superstructure determines the base

• The base and superstructure are independent

• The base determines the superstructure

• The superstructure has no influence on the base

What is the outlook of traditional Marxism regarding thought and material conditions?

• Thought is independent of material conditions

• Thought is subservient to material conditions

• Material conditions are subservient to thought

• Thought and material conditions are unrelated

What does Marxism claim about the freedom of minds under capitalism?

• Minds are completely free

• Minds are partially free

• Minds are not free at all, they only think they are

• Minds are free only in certain conditions

How does capitalism alienate laborers, according to Marxism?

• By providing them with too much freedom

• By treating them as human beings

• By seeing them in terms of production units

• By giving them fair wages

What does the term 'reifies' mean in the context of Marxist theory?

• To humanize laborers

• To treat laborers as objects

• To provide better wages

• To give laborers more freedom