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Age of Transition and Pre-Romantic Writers

Samuel Johnson Practice Questions

20 free Samuel Johnson practice questions for the English Literature. Tap an option to answer — you get instant feedback, the correct answer, and a detailed explanation for every question.

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Question 1 of 20 Medium

Samuel Johnson is most commonly associated with which century of English literature?

  1. A Sixteenth century
  2. B Seventeenth century
  3. C Eighteenth century
  4. D Nineteenth century

Correct answer: Eighteenth century

Samuel Johnson was one of the central literary figures of the eighteenth century. His work belongs to the later Neo-Classical period and the Age of Transition.

Question 2 of 20 Medium

Which biography by James Boswell made Samuel Johnson's personality and conversation famous?

  1. A The Life of Samuel Johnson
  2. B The Lives of the Most Eminent English Poets
  3. C The History of Rasselas
  4. D The Rambler

Correct answer: The Life of Samuel Johnson

James Boswell wrote The Life of Samuel Johnson, one of the most famous biographies in English. It records Johnson's conversation, opinions, habits, and literary importance in vivid detail.

Question 3 of 20 Medium

Which city is strongly associated with Samuel Johnson's literary career?

  1. A London
  2. B Dublin
  3. C Edinburgh
  4. D Oxford

Correct answer: London

London was central to Johnson's literary life and career. He worked there as a writer, critic, lexicographer, journalist, and conversationalist.

Question 4 of 20 Medium

Which major reference work did Samuel Johnson publish in 1755?

  1. A A Dictionary of the English Language
  2. B The Oxford English Dictionary
  3. C The Encyclopaedia Britannica
  4. D Bailey's Universal Etymological English Dictionary

Correct answer: A Dictionary of the English Language

Johnson published A Dictionary of the English Language in 1755. It became one of the most influential dictionaries before the Oxford English Dictionary.

Question 5 of 20 Medium

Which periodical essay series was written by Samuel Johnson between 1750 and 1752?

  1. A The Rambler
  2. B The Spectator
  3. C The Tatler
  4. D The Guardian

Correct answer: The Rambler

The Rambler was Samuel Johnson's major periodical essay series. Its essays are serious, moral, reflective, and often more formal than those of Addison and Steele.

Question 6 of 20 Medium

Which later periodical by Samuel Johnson was generally lighter and shorter than The Rambler?

  1. A The Idler
  2. B The Examiner
  3. C The Craftsman
  4. D The Bee

Correct answer: The Idler

The Idler was another periodical series by Johnson. Compared with The Rambler, its essays are often shorter, more relaxed, and more varied in tone.

Question 7 of 20 Medium

Which philosophical tale by Samuel Johnson tells the story of an Abyssinian prince?

  1. A Rasselas
  2. B Gulliver's Travels
  3. C Candide
  4. D The Vicar of Wakefield

Correct answer: Rasselas

Rasselas is Johnson's philosophical tale about a prince of Abyssinia. The work explores human desire, happiness, choice, and the limitations of worldly hopes.

Question 8 of 20 Medium

Which poem by Samuel Johnson is an imitation of Juvenal's Tenth Satire?

  1. A The Vanity of Human Wishes
  2. B Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard
  3. C The Deserted Village
  4. D The Traveller

Correct answer: The Vanity of Human Wishes

The Vanity of Human Wishes is Johnson's imitation of Juvenal's Tenth Satire. It examines the failure of human ambition, power, learning, beauty, and fame to produce lasting happiness.

Question 9 of 20 Medium

Which early poem by Samuel Johnson is an imitation of Juvenal's Third Satire?

  1. A London
  2. B Lycidas
  3. C Trivia
  4. D The Dunciad

Correct answer: London

London is Johnson's imitation of Juvenal's Third Satire. It criticizes urban corruption, political decay, and social injustice in eighteenth-century England.

Question 10 of 20 Medium

Which work by Samuel Johnson contains biographical and critical studies of English poets?

  1. A Lives of the Most Eminent English Poets
  2. B The Advancement of Learning
  3. C An Apology for Poetry
  4. D The Lives of the Most Famous English Poets

Correct answer: Lives of the Most Eminent English Poets

Lives of the Most Eminent English Poets is Johnson's major work of literary biography and criticism. It combines accounts of poets' lives with judgments on their works.

Question 11 of 20 Medium

Which Shakespeare-related work did Samuel Johnson publish in 1765?

  1. A Preface to Shakespeare
  2. B An Essay of Dramatic Poesy
  3. C The Defence of Poesy
  4. D The Life of Shakespeare by Rowe

Correct answer: Preface to Shakespeare

Johnson published his edition of Shakespeare in 1765, including the famous Preface to Shakespeare. The preface is an important work of literary criticism.

Question 12 of 20 Medium

In his Preface to Shakespeare, Johnson praises Shakespeare mainly for his

  1. A faithful representation of general human nature
  2. B strict obedience to all classical dramatic unities
  3. C avoidance of comic scenes
  4. D exclusive use of heroic couplets

Correct answer: faithful representation of general human nature

Johnson praises Shakespeare as a poet of nature who represents general human life and character. He values Shakespeare's universal truth more than strict classical regularity.

Question 13 of 20 Medium

Which classical satirist strongly influenced Johnson's poems London and The Vanity of Human Wishes?

  1. A Juvenal
  2. B Homer
  3. C Virgil
  4. D Martial

Correct answer: Juvenal

Johnson's London and The Vanity of Human Wishes are imitations of Juvenal's satires. Juvenal's moral severity and satirical force suited Johnson's view of human folly and ambition.

Question 14 of 20 Medium

Which quality best describes Samuel Johnson's prose style?

  1. A Balanced, weighty, moral, and Latinate
  2. B Childlike, rustic, naive, and fragmentary
  3. C Purely lyrical and musical
  4. D Highly slangy and informal

Correct answer: Balanced, weighty, moral, and Latinate

Johnson's prose is known for balance, moral seriousness, and a Latinate vocabulary. His sentences often have a formal structure and strong rhetorical force.

Question 15 of 20 Medium

Samuel Johnson's criticism often emphasizes which value?

  1. A Moral truth and common sense
  2. B Private dream symbolism only
  3. C Complete rejection of judgment
  4. D Randomness and disorder

Correct answer: Moral truth and common sense

Johnson's criticism is grounded in morality, common sense, and human experience. He often asks whether literature presents truth about life and helps readers understand human conduct.

Question 16 of 20 Medium

Which group did Samuel Johnson help form as a centre of literary conversation in London?

  1. A The Literary Club
  2. B The Bloomsbury Group
  3. C The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood
  4. D The Lake School

Correct answer: The Literary Club

Johnson was closely connected with The Literary Club, founded in the 1760s. Its members included major figures such as Boswell, Reynolds, Burke, and Goldsmith.

Question 17 of 20 Medium

Which of the following writers was a close friend and biographer of Samuel Johnson?

  1. A James Boswell
  2. B Thomas Chatterton
  3. C Fanny Burney
  4. D Horace Walpole

Correct answer: James Boswell

James Boswell was Johnson's friend and biographer. His Life of Samuel Johnson is a landmark in English biography.

Question 18 of 20 Medium

Which statement best describes Johnson's place in the Age of Transition?

  1. A He preserved Neo-Classical values amid new Romantic interests
  2. B He completely rejected all eighteenth-century literary forms and conventions
  3. C He belonged entirely to the Elizabethan theatre
  4. D He was mainly a Modernist experimental novelist

Correct answer: He preserved Neo-Classical values amid new Romantic interests

Johnson represents the strength of Neo-Classical criticism, morality, and prose order. Yet he wrote during a changing age that was beginning to show new interests in feeling, imagination, and individual experience.

Question 19 of 20 Medium

Which of the following works is NOT by Samuel Johnson?

  1. A Lives of the Most Eminent English Poets
  2. B Rasselas
  3. C The Vanity of Human Wishes
  4. D Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard

Correct answer: Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard

Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard was written by Thomas Gray, not Samuel Johnson. Johnson's works include Lives of the Most Eminent English Poets, Rasselas, and The Vanity of Human Wishes.

Question 20 of 20 Medium

Which statement best summarizes Samuel Johnson's importance in English literature?

  1. A He was a major critic, essayist, poet, biographer, and lexicographer
  2. B He was a medieval romance writer known for chivalric tales and legends
  3. C He was a Romantic poet known mainly for nature lyrics
  4. D He was a Restoration comic dramatist known for stage farce

Correct answer: He was a major critic, essayist, poet, biographer, and lexicographer

Samuel Johnson was one of the most versatile and influential literary figures of the eighteenth century. His dictionary, essays, criticism, poetry, and biographical writing shaped English literary culture.

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