English Literature: 40 MCQs with Answers
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0%Q21. "Now I hold creation in my foot" Of which poem the above line is an excerpt of ?
Right Answer: Hawk Roosting
The line is from Ted Hughes’s dramatic monologue ‘Hawk Roosting’, in which the bird itself speaks from the top of a wood. Boasting of its hooked head and hooked feet, its perfect kills and its refusal to allow any change, the hawk declares that it holds Creation in its foot. Through this arrogant voice Hughes explores raw natural power and, by extension, the mind of any absolute tyrant who identifies his own will with the order of the universe. The poem is written in free verse arranged in six regular quatrains.
Q22. What does the word 'thoroughfare' mean in the chapter 'Madam Rides the bus' ?
Right Answer: A busy public road
In Vallikkannan’s story ‘Madam Rides the Bus’, eight-year-old Valli watches the bus that passes along the street outside her house and dreams of the six-mile journey to town. A thoroughfare is a public road or street that runs from one place to another and is open at both ends to through traffic, and it is generally busy. The word is used in the chapter for the main road along which the bus travels, the world outside the little village that fascinates the child and finally teaches her a sobering lesson about life and death.
Q23. What is the message conveyed in the poem 'Aunt Jennifer's Tigers' ?
Right Answer: Marginalization of women in male-chauvinist society
In Adrienne Rich’s poem, Aunt Jennifer embroiders tigers that prance across a screen, proud, fearless and unafraid of the men beneath the tree. Their freedom stands in deliberate contrast to their maker, whose fingers flutter through the wool and whose hand is weighed down by the massive band of her wedding ring, the emblem of a patriarchal marriage. Even when she is dead her terrified hands will still be ringed by the ordeals she was mastered by. The poem thus protests against the marginalisation of women in a male-dominated society, while art survives its maker.
Q24. In the poem 'Fire and Ice' by Robert Frost Fire and Ice are symbols of :
Right Answer: Desire and Hatred
Robert Frost’s nine-line poem asks whether the world will end in fire or in ice. Fire stands for desire, that is greed, lust and unbridled passion, which consume everything they touch; ice stands for hatred, indifference and coldness of heart, which are slower but, as the poet says, would suffice just as well for destruction. The poem is a compact allegory of human vices rather than a literal prophecy about the planet, and its terza rima and understated ending give the argument a chilling quiet force.
Q25. To which of the following literary genres does the play 'The Proposal' by Anton Chekhov belong ?
Right Answer: Farce
Anton Chekhov’s one-act play ‘The Proposal’ is a farce. Lomov comes to Chubukov’s house to ask for the hand of his daughter Natalya, but before the proposal can be made the two fall into a violent quarrel over the ownership of Oxen Meadows and then over the merits of their dogs, Guess and Squeezer. The exaggerated situations, the absurd trivial disputes, the hypochondria and shouting, and the abrupt reconciliation that ends in the betrothal are all typical of farce, which aims at laughter through improbable and ridiculous action rather than at pity or fear.
Q26. What is the author's overall tone in the passage towards different types of Bores ?
Read the following passage and answer the question:
Of all bores the most repellent specimen is the one who comes close up: the buttonholing bore. This is the kind described by a friend of mine with a vivid sense of phrase as ‘the man who spreads birdlime all over you’. A bore who keeps a reasonable way off can be dealt with; but when they lean on you, you are done. It is worst when they fix your eyes, only a foot away, and tell a funny story that isn’t funny. Nothing is so humiliating as to have to counterfeit laughter at the bidding of a bore; but we do it. The incurable weakness and benignancy of human nature once again! Then there is the bore who begins a funny story, and although you tell him you have heard it, doesn’t stop. What should be done with him? Another of the worst types of bore is the man who says ‘Where should we be without our sense of humour?’ He is even capable of saying ‘Nothing but my unfailing sense of humour saved me.’ There is also the man who says ‘“Live and let live,” as my poor dear father used to say.’
There was once an eccentric peer — I forget both his name and the place where I read about him — who had contracted, all unconsciously, the habit of thinking aloud; and in this world of artifice, where society is cemented and sustained very largely by a compromise between what we think and what we say, his thoughts were very often at variance with his words. One of the stories in the Memoirs in which I found him describes how he met an acquaintance in St James’s Street, and, after muttering quite audibly to himself for a few minutes as they walked side by side, ‘Confound it, what a nuisance meeting this fellow. I’ve always disliked him. But now that we have met I suppose I must ask him to dinner,’ he stopped and said with every appearance of cordiality, ‘You’ll dine with us this evening, won’t you?’
Right Answer: Sarcastic and Mildly exasperated
The writer describes the buttonholing bore as ‘the most repellent specimen’, complains that once such a person leans on you ‘you are done’, and confesses the humiliation of having to counterfeit laughter. He mocks the man who congratulates himself on his unfailing sense of humour and the man who quotes his ‘poor dear father’. The exclamation about the incurable weakness of human nature and the rhetorical question ‘What should be done with him?’ show amused irritation rather than anger. The prevailing tone is therefore sarcastic and mildly exasperated, not sympathetic, neutral or cruel.
Q27. What does the phrase "the man who spreads birdlime all over you" suggest about the buttonholing bore ?
Read the following passage and answer the question:
Of all bores the most repellent specimen is the one who comes close up: the buttonholing bore. This is the kind described by a friend of mine with a vivid sense of phrase as ‘the man who spreads birdlime all over you’. A bore who keeps a reasonable way off can be dealt with; but when they lean on you, you are done. It is worst when they fix your eyes, only a foot away, and tell a funny story that isn’t funny. Nothing is so humiliating as to have to counterfeit laughter at the bidding of a bore; but we do it. The incurable weakness and benignancy of human nature once again! Then there is the bore who begins a funny story, and although you tell him you have heard it, doesn’t stop. What should be done with him? Another of the worst types of bore is the man who says ‘Where should we be without our sense of humour?’ He is even capable of saying ‘Nothing but my unfailing sense of humour saved me.’ There is also the man who says ‘“Live and let live,” as my poor dear father used to say.’
There was once an eccentric peer — I forget both his name and the place where I read about him — who had contracted, all unconsciously, the habit of thinking aloud; and in this world of artifice, where society is cemented and sustained very largely by a compromise between what we think and what we say, his thoughts were very often at variance with his words. One of the stories in the Memoirs in which I found him describes how he met an acquaintance in St James’s Street, and, after muttering quite audibly to himself for a few minutes as they walked side by side, ‘Confound it, what a nuisance meeting this fellow. I’ve always disliked him. But now that we have met I suppose I must ask him to dinner,’ he stopped and said with every appearance of cordiality, ‘You’ll dine with us this evening, won’t you?’
Right Answer: The bore is hard to get away from as if stuck to you.
Birdlime is a sticky substance that was smeared on twigs to trap small birds, which became fixed to it and could not fly away. By borrowing the image, the writer’s friend suggests that the buttonholing bore attaches himself to his victim so closely that escape becomes impossible. The context supports this reading, since the passage has just said that a bore who keeps a reasonable distance can be dealt with, but that once he leans on you and fixes your eyes from a foot away you are finished. The phrase is about inescapability rather than about slipperiness or gossip.
Q28. Why does the bore insist on finishing a story even after being told that it has already been heard before ?
Read the following passage and answer the question:
Of all bores the most repellent specimen is the one who comes close up: the buttonholing bore. This is the kind described by a friend of mine with a vivid sense of phrase as ‘the man who spreads birdlime all over you’. A bore who keeps a reasonable way off can be dealt with; but when they lean on you, you are done. It is worst when they fix your eyes, only a foot away, and tell a funny story that isn’t funny. Nothing is so humiliating as to have to counterfeit laughter at the bidding of a bore; but we do it. The incurable weakness and benignancy of human nature once again! Then there is the bore who begins a funny story, and although you tell him you have heard it, doesn’t stop. What should be done with him? Another of the worst types of bore is the man who says ‘Where should we be without our sense of humour?’ He is even capable of saying ‘Nothing but my unfailing sense of humour saved me.’ There is also the man who says ‘“Live and let live,” as my poor dear father used to say.’
There was once an eccentric peer — I forget both his name and the place where I read about him — who had contracted, all unconsciously, the habit of thinking aloud; and in this world of artifice, where society is cemented and sustained very largely by a compromise between what we think and what we say, his thoughts were very often at variance with his words. One of the stories in the Memoirs in which I found him describes how he met an acquaintance in St James’s Street, and, after muttering quite audibly to himself for a few minutes as they walked side by side, ‘Confound it, what a nuisance meeting this fellow. I’ve always disliked him. But now that we have met I suppose I must ask him to dinner,’ he stopped and said with every appearance of cordiality, ‘You’ll dine with us this evening, won’t you?’
Right Answer: because he is self-absorbed and indifferent to the listener's response.
The passage says plainly that there is the bore who begins a funny story and, although you tell him you have already heard it, does not stop. The listener’s protest is registered and simply disregarded, which shows that the bore is absorbed in his own performance and unconcerned with the response of the person in front of him. Forgetfulness would not explain the behaviour, since the objection is made to his face; nor is he shown wondering whether any option is left, or trying to explain the joke better. Self-absorption is the point of the example.
Q29. What does the author imply by the statement, "society is cemented and sustained very largely by a compromise between what we think and what we say" ?
Read the following passage and answer the question:
Of all bores the most repellent specimen is the one who comes close up: the buttonholing bore. This is the kind described by a friend of mine with a vivid sense of phrase as ‘the man who spreads birdlime all over you’. A bore who keeps a reasonable way off can be dealt with; but when they lean on you, you are done. It is worst when they fix your eyes, only a foot away, and tell a funny story that isn’t funny. Nothing is so humiliating as to have to counterfeit laughter at the bidding of a bore; but we do it. The incurable weakness and benignancy of human nature once again! Then there is the bore who begins a funny story, and although you tell him you have heard it, doesn’t stop. What should be done with him? Another of the worst types of bore is the man who says ‘Where should we be without our sense of humour?’ He is even capable of saying ‘Nothing but my unfailing sense of humour saved me.’ There is also the man who says ‘“Live and let live,” as my poor dear father used to say.’
There was once an eccentric peer — I forget both his name and the place where I read about him — who had contracted, all unconsciously, the habit of thinking aloud; and in this world of artifice, where society is cemented and sustained very largely by a compromise between what we think and what we say, his thoughts were very often at variance with his words. One of the stories in the Memoirs in which I found him describes how he met an acquaintance in St James’s Street, and, after muttering quite audibly to himself for a few minutes as they walked side by side, ‘Confound it, what a nuisance meeting this fellow. I’ve always disliked him. But now that we have met I suppose I must ask him to dinner,’ he stopped and said with every appearance of cordiality, ‘You’ll dine with us this evening, won’t you?’
Right Answer: Social harmony depends on people concealing their true thoughts at times.
The remark occurs while the writer is introducing the eccentric peer who had unconsciously acquired the habit of thinking aloud. In ordinary life, the writer suggests, we constantly hold back what we really think and utter something more agreeable, and it is precisely this gap between thought and speech that keeps society together. The peer is comic because his private thoughts escaped into speech and stood exposed beside his courteous invitation. The statement therefore means that social harmony depends on people concealing their true thoughts at times, not that complete honesty is what makes society thrive.
Q30. 'There is also the man who says "Live and Let Live", as my poor dear father used to say'. Which of the following figures of speech is used by the author to describe about this kind of bore ?
Read the following passage and answer the question:
Of all bores the most repellent specimen is the one who comes close up: the buttonholing bore. This is the kind described by a friend of mine with a vivid sense of phrase as ‘the man who spreads birdlime all over you’. A bore who keeps a reasonable way off can be dealt with; but when they lean on you, you are done. It is worst when they fix your eyes, only a foot away, and tell a funny story that isn’t funny. Nothing is so humiliating as to have to counterfeit laughter at the bidding of a bore; but we do it. The incurable weakness and benignancy of human nature once again! Then there is the bore who begins a funny story, and although you tell him you have heard it, doesn’t stop. What should be done with him? Another of the worst types of bore is the man who says ‘Where should we be without our sense of humour?’ He is even capable of saying ‘Nothing but my unfailing sense of humour saved me.’ There is also the man who says ‘“Live and let live,” as my poor dear father used to say.’
There was once an eccentric peer — I forget both his name and the place where I read about him — who had contracted, all unconsciously, the habit of thinking aloud; and in this world of artifice, where society is cemented and sustained very largely by a compromise between what we think and what we say, his thoughts were very often at variance with his words. One of the stories in the Memoirs in which I found him describes how he met an acquaintance in St James’s Street, and, after muttering quite audibly to himself for a few minutes as they walked side by side, ‘Confound it, what a nuisance meeting this fellow. I’ve always disliked him. But now that we have met I suppose I must ask him to dinner,’ he stopped and said with every appearance of cordiality, ‘You’ll dine with us this evening, won’t you?’
Right Answer: Irony
The bore quotes the tolerant maxim ‘Live and let live’ and attributes it solemnly to his poor dear father, yet the very act of repeating a worn platitude and forcing it on a captive listener is the opposite of letting others live in peace. The gap between what the words profess and what the speaker actually does is irony. There is no contradiction inside a single phrase, so it is not an oxymoron; the word order is normal, so it is not inversion; and no word is used in two senses at once, so it is not a pun.
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