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

G. A. Henty’s novels were also wildly popular during the height of the British empire. What did he write about?

  1. Historical adventures for boys

  2. Colonisers who developed nations

  3. Love stories for adolescent girls

  4. The darker side of colonial occupation

  5. Rebellious heroines who overcame the odds
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation

This is correct. G. A. Henty’s historical adventure novels for boys were also wildly popular during the height of the British empire. They were about young boys who witness grand historical events.

Multiple choice

Which of the following statements is incorrect about the hero of the famous novel Robinson Crusoe?

  1. He was an adventurer and slave trader.

  2. He was shipwrecked on an island.

  3. He treated coloured people as inferior creatures.

  4. He got involved in military action and showed courage.

  5. He made a native his slave.
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
D Correct answer
Explanation

No, as Robinson Crusoe did not get involved in any military action. This answer is correct as this statement is incorrect.

Multiple choice

Which of the following books won the Pulitzer Prize?

  1. The Advanced Machines

  2. The Era of Computers and Accessories

  3. Soul of a New Machine

  4. The Hardware and Software; Today
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
C Correct answer
Explanation

'The Soul of a New Machine' (1981) by Tracy Kidder won the 1982 Pulitzer Prize for General Non-Fiction. It chronicles the development of a new computer at Data General.

Multiple choice

“The pleasure of vengeance calls to mind sermon’s riddle. It was sweet coming out of terrible, it is the honey dropping from the lion’s mouth.” It was so observed by

  1. Aschenffenburg

  2. Bentham

  3. Gillin

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

Bentham referring to the concept of vengeance wrote, "The pleasure of vengeance calls in my mind sermon’s riddle. It is sweet carrying out of terrible, it is the honey dropping from the lion's mouth."

Multiple choice

Which of the following is authored by Nevil Shute?

  1. A tale of Two Cities

  2. Alice in Wonderland

  3. A Town like Alice

  4. Twin Towns
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
C Correct answer
Explanation

Nevil Shute Norway wrote 'A Town like Alice' (1950). 'A Tale of Two Cities' is by Dickens, 'Alice in Wonderland' is by Lewis Carroll, and 'Twin Towns' is not a Nevil Shute novel.

Multiple choice

First Novel in the world.

  1. Cyropaedia, Historical Greek Novel

  2. William Godard

  3. The Power of Sympathy

  4. Technical Lexicon
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Multiple choice

First American Novel.

  1. The Power of Sympathy

  2. The Power of Journey

  3. The Power of Internet

  4. The Power of Maternity
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation

'The Power of Sympathy' (1789) by William Hill Brown is widely considered the first American novel. It's a seduction novel published in Boston. The other options are fictional titles made up to resemble the correct answer.

Multiple choice

Which is the book written by the V.V Giri?

  1. Job for the Millions

  2. Right Time

  3. Vast Ocean

  4. Semi Glimpse

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

V.V. Giri, the fourth President of India, wrote "Jobs for Millions" which focuses on labor and employment issues. He was a prominent trade union leader and labor activist before becoming President. The other options are not associated with V.V. Giri's writings.

Multiple choice

Which one of the following options won Pulitzer prize in Music category?

  1. The Little Match Girl Passion

  2. Time and Materials

  3. The Years of Extermination

  4. The Eden’s Outcasts
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation

The Little Match Girl Passion won the Pulitzer Prize in the Music category. This work by David Lang is a contemporary classical composition that reimagines Hans Christian Andersen's story. The Pulitzer Prize for Music recognizes distinguished musical compositions by American composers. The other options are books that won in different categories (Poetry, General Non-Fiction, Fiction respectively).

Multiple choice

Name the work which put to literary use of the word Assassination.

  1. Hamlet

  2. Crime and Punishment

  3. Joan of Arc

  4. Tragedy of Macbeth
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
D Correct answer
Explanation

William Shakespeare is credited with the first literary use of the word 'assassination' in his play 'The Tragedy of Macbeth' (Act 1, Scene 7). While the word 'assassin' existed earlier, Shakespeare transformed it into a noun describing the act itself.

Multiple choice

Directions: Choose a word from the given options that belongs to the same group.

Anthropology is related to Man in the same way as Anthology is related to

  1. Nature

  2. Trees

  3. Apes

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

Anthropology is the scientific study of humans (man) and their development. An anthology is a published collection of poems or other pieces of writing. The relationship in both pairs is the field of study or collection and its primary subject matter.