English Language

Literary Analysis

4,216 Questions

Analyze classic and modernist novels, autobiographies, plays, and graphic novels across various genres. This topic tests your familiarity with prominent authors, literary movements, and thematic elements. Questions appear regularly in the English language sections of SSC, banking, and teaching competency exams.

Classic and modernist novelsAutobiographies and biographiesPoetic language and farcesThematic literary elements

Literary Analysis Questions

Multiple choice general knowledge

In my younger and more vulnerable years my father gave me some advice which I've been turning over in my mind ever since," is the start of which novel?

  1. The Great Gatsby

  2. Silence of Lambs

  3. The Shaft

  4. My Story
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation

This is the famous opening line of F. Scott Fitzgerald's 'The Great Gatsby' (1925). The narrator Nick Carraway is recalling advice from his father about not judging others, which sets up Nick's role as observer and moral center of the novel.

Multiple choice general knowledge

Between the years 1585 and 1592 there is little information about Shakespeare or what he was doing at this time. How is this period known?

  1. The Missing Years

  2. The Strange Years

  3. The Unknown Years

  4. The Lost Years
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
D Correct answer
Explanation

The period from 1585 to 1592 is known in Shakespearean scholarship as 'The Lost Years' because there is no historical record of Shakespeare's activities during this time. He left Stratford-upon-Avon around 1585 and re-emerged in London around 1592 as an established playwright. This period has spawned many theories but no definitive evidence.

Multiple choice general knowledge culture

Which was the first book of Mr. Coelho?

  1. The Pilgrimage

  2. The Alchemist

  3. The Witch of Portobello.

  4. Eleven Minutes
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation

Paulo Coelho's first book was 'The Pilgrimage' (O Diário de Um Mago, in Portuguese), published in 1987, which chronicles his journey on the Camino de Santiago. 'The Alchemist,' though his most famous work, was actually his second book, published in 1988. The other options are later works. This is a common misconception since 'The Alchemist' made him internationally famous.

Multiple choice general knowledge sports

This has been the largest selling of Paulo Coelho's books.

  1. The Fifth Mountain

  2. The Pilgrimage

  3. Eleven Minutes

  4. The Alchemist
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
D Correct answer
Explanation

'The Alchemist' is Paulo Coelho's best-selling and most translated work, with over 65 million copies sold worldwide. 'The Fifth Mountain' (A), 'The Pilgrimage' (B), and 'Eleven Minutes' (C) are popular but nowhere near as commercially successful as 'The Alchemist'.

Multiple choice general knowledge

Which was the first book written by Paulo Coelho?

  1. Hell Archives

  2. The Pilgrimage

  3. The Fifth Mountain

  4. The Alchemist
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation

'Hell Archives' was Paulo Coelho's first published book in 1982, though it's not as widely known as his later works. It was co-authored with another writer. 'The Pilgrimage' (1987) was his second book, while 'The Alchemist' (1988) brought him international fame. 'The Fifth Mountain' was published in 1996.

Multiple choice softskills communication

Though the story is set in a small village in a remote area of South America, the novel's themes are so ---- that its events could have occurred anywhere and involved any of us at any time.

  1. mythical

  2. universal

  3. anguished

  4. complex
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
B Correct answer
Explanation

The phrase 'could have occurred anywhere and involved any of us at any time' describes something that applies broadly to all people and places - this is the definition of 'universal'. 'Mythical' means fictional, 'anguished' means suffering, and 'complex' means complicated - none capture the broad applicability described.

Multiple choice

A slave's personal life's account formed the basis for the novel, River God, which is about the life that he had lived.

  1. personal life's account formed the basis for the novel, River God, which is about the life that he had lived

  2. account of his own personal life formed the basis for the novel, River God, which is about the life that he had lived

  3. account of his life formed the basis for the novel, River God, which is about the life that the slave had lived

  4. account of his personal life formed the basis for the novel, River God, which is about the life that the slave lived

  5. account of his personal life formed the basis for the novel, River God, which is about the life that the slave had lived
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
C Correct answer
Explanation

Correct. The sentence removes the error of redundancy by using just 'his life'. Also, the error of dangling modifier is removed by the use of 'the slave' instead of 'he'.

Multiple choice

The most interesting and the important 15 years in the records of English dramatic literature are undoubtedly those among 1588 and 1603, within which limit all of Shakespeare's poems and the majority of his plays were written.

  1. The most interesting and the important 15 years in the records of English dramatic literature are undoubtedly those among

  2. An interesting and the important 15 years in the records of English dramatic literature are undoubtedly those among

  3. The interesting and the important 15 years in the records of English dramatic literature is undoubtedly those between

  4. The most interesting and important 15 years in the records of English dramatic literature are undoubtedly those between
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
D Correct answer
Explanation

The original sentence bears the errors of article and preposition. Repetition of article implies two different things but in the sentence 'important' and 'interesting' both are used for single subject '15 years'. So use of article 'the' before important 15 years is incorrect. Also preposition 'among' is incorrect because the period is 'between' two limits: 1588 and 1603. This option corrects all the errors.

Multiple choice

Kalidasa Meghdoot is a classical

  1. Drama

  2. Lyric

  3. Novel

  4. Fiction

Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
B Correct answer
Explanation

Meghaduta (Meghdoot) is a lyric poem (kavya) by Kalidasa, not a drama or novel. It is a classical Sanskrit work where a Yaksha sends a message to his wife through a cloud. The genre is lyric poetry, making option B correct.

Multiple choice

Mr. Dario Fo is the author of which of the following books?

  1. News of Kidnapping

  2. Taming the Waters

  3. Beach Boy

  4. Accidental Death of an Anarchist

Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
D Correct answer
Explanation

Dario Fo, the Italian playwright and Nobel laureate in Literature (1997), wrote 'Accidental Death of an Anarchist' (Morte accidentale di un anarchico), his most famous play satirizing police corruption. It premiered in 1970 and remains one of the most performed plays globally. Fo's work blends political satire with popular theatrical traditions.

Multiple choice

Directions: Choose the appropriate answer from the options given below:

Name the book about the computers which won the “Pulitzer Prize”.

  1. Soul of a New Machine

  2. Computer Savvy

  3. The Life Through the Computer

  4. Computer and Machines

Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation

'The Soul of a New Machine' by Tracy Kidder won the Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction in 1982. The book chronicles the development of a new computer at Data General Corporation, providing an inside look at the engineering process and corporate culture. It remains a classic work of technological journalism. The other options are not actual Pulitzer Prize-winning books about computers.