English Language

Literary Analysis

4,495 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
  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
  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
  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
  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
  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
  1. The poet himself

  2. You yourself

  3. The poet's beloved whom he lost for ever

  4. The poet's new love

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

 The first sentence of the second stanza mentions the stranger that was 'you yourself'.

Multiple choice
  1. You should not go away from your beloved who still loves you a lot.

  2. You are the one worthy of your love

  3. You should give your heart to your new love.

  4. You should go back to Almighty God who loves you a lot.

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

 Giving one's heart back to itself is reflexive in action. The reciever and giver is one and the same.

Multiple choice
  1. speaking to himself

  2. speaking to his reader

  3. speaking to his beloved

  4. speaking to Almighty God

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

 The poet uses 'you' to refer to the person he is addressing. You will be directed at the reader (the second person).

Multiple choice
  1. Love your loved ones more than you love yourself.

  2. Learn to love yourself.

  3. Love Almighty God who loves one and all.

  4. There is no love after your first love is lost.

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

 The entire poem revolves around the poet telling the reader to love himself/ herself. 

Multiple choice
  1. there was a lot of suspense and thrill in them

  2. they were given a lot of clues to find out the solution

  3. her novels contained great love stories

  4. her novels were easy to understand

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

 Readers loved the books, particularly because Christie always gave the readers all the information they needed to find the solution.

Multiple choice

What general feeling does the author discuss in the first paragraph?

Directions: Read the following passage to answer the given question.

It was a sunny day in the month of May. The sun took its rightful position very early; lending credence to the general feeling that Andrew's birthday ceremony was going to be greeted with the blessing of a pleasant climate. The sky looked so bright that Andrew insisted on having an open air party. The habitual doubting Thomases had no dis­senting opinions to express. Andrew had gone to a great length to ensure a hitch-free party; a party which would remain the talk of the town. Although it was not intended to be free for all, a lot had been done to stamp the occasion on the memories of many people long afterwards.
The bright sun continued to smile. Andrew's face beamed with pleasure with every passing moment. Very few of his contemporaries have so succeeded in reaching the top of the ladder. Andrew in particular had been an orphan of storm. His father's death during his third year in the secondary school and that of his mother two years later were the only two of this orphan's `storms'. He suffered a physical misfortune when a machine severed his left middle finger. But Andrew did not despair.

The courage to fail is very cheap. Every fool can afford to fail. But it raises one above the herd of cowards and never-do-wells to be up and struggling. The reward of forbearance in the end is resounding success. And so it was for Andrew. Ever since he finished his university education, it had been success galore. He had got a good job in one of the country's insurance companies. His pay was good, his promotion had been steady and his prospects seemed bright. At forty, he had a good car and had already bought a house of his own. The world was at his feet!

  1. Andrew's birthday always falls on a sunny day.

  2. Andrew's birthday function would have the blessings of a good weather.

  3. Andrew always prefers an open air party.

  4. The doubting Thomases raised objections to the idea of holding an open air party.

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

 The first three sentences of the first paragraph point towards the right answer.

Multiple choice
  1. There is a need to buy a new dress.

  2. She has to discard the old dress.

  3. The seam has to be opened to make the dress a bit longer.

  4. The dress should be given away to somebody.

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

Hem refers to the lower border of a dress. Letting out the hem would mean lengthening the dress.