All Free English Literature MCQs with Answers
Every English Literature question in the bank, across all chapters, each with the correct answer and a written explanation. Free and unlimited, with no account needed.
3,192 questions · page 131 of 160
2601. Which British dominion achieved independence in 1921-22, following the Easter Rising of 1916 ?
- A. the southern counties of Ireland
- B. Canada
- C. Ulster
- D. India
Explanation: The southern counties of Ireland became the Irish Free State after the Anglo-Irish Treaty of 1921, which took effect in 1922.
Correct answer: the southern counties of Ireland- A. Salman Rushdie
- B. Joseph Conrad
- C. Rabindranath Tagore
- D. John Ruskin
Explanation: Salman Rushdie is a major postcolonial novelist whose fiction examines migration, empire, national identity and the legacy of British…
Correct answer: Salman Rushdie- A. Ravinder Reddy
- B. Rummana Hussain
- C. Dadabhai Naoroji
- D. A and B only
Explanation: Ravinder Reddy and Rummana Hussain are contemporary Indian artists whose work engages critically with post-colonial India.
Correct answer: A and B only- A. Edward Said
- B. Arundhati Roy
- C. Salman Rushdie
- D. Homi Bhaba
Explanation: Edward Said gives the most sustained analysis of Orientalism, showing how Western representations of the East were linked to systems of…
Correct answer: Edward Said- A. Argentina
- B. Brazil
- C. Mexico
- D. Britain
Explanation: Jorge Luis Borges was born in Buenos Aires and is one of Argentina’s major literary figures.
Correct answer: Argentina- A. Mimicry
- B. Ambivalence
- C. Hybridity
- D. Serendipity
Explanation: Mimicry, ambivalence, and hybridity are central concepts in postcolonial theory, especially in the work of Homi Bhabha.
Correct answer: Serendipity- A. It is an excellent example of "Magical Realism."
- B. It is concerned with the post-colonial situation of India before and after its partitioning into India and Pakistan.
- C. It is a book that tells the story of the Sinai family.
- D. All of the aboveDownload Interactive Maps
Explanation: Midnight's Children combines historical events with fantastic elements, making it a major example of magical realism.
Correct answer: All of the aboveDownload Interactive Maps- A. Chinua Achebe
- B. Edward Said
- C. Arundhati Roy
- D. Salman Rushdie
Explanation: Chinua Achebe criticised Conrad’s portrayal of Africa in his essay “An Image of Africa,” arguing that it dehumanises Africans and…
Correct answer: Chinua Achebe- A. The British East India Company was originally a group of London businessmen engaged in importing spices from South Asia.
- B. The British East India Company first entered South Asia as importers of British Tea.
- C. The British East India Company was essentially a covert British army.
- D. Both A and B
Explanation: The East India Company began as a chartered association of London merchants seeking Asian trade, especially spices, before developing…
Correct answer: The British East India Company was originally a group of London businessmen engaged in importing spices from South Asia.- A. The Anglo-Irish war began with the resistance of the Irish Republican Army.
- B. The Anglo-Irish war never involved a guerrilla campaign.
- C. In the course of the Anglo-Irish War, only a few hundred members of the Irish Republican Army were actively resisting British rule.
- D. All of the above
Explanation: The Anglo-Irish War began with the Irish Republican Army's resistance to British rule.
Correct answer: The Anglo-Irish war began with the resistance of the Irish Republican Army.- A. Marxism
- B. Post-Colonial Theory
- C. Deconstruction
- D. Feminism
Explanation: Rushdie's fiction is frequently studied through postcolonial theory because it examines empire, migration, hybridity, nationalism, and…
Correct answer: Post-Colonial Theory- A. It is a lyrical novel that explores cultural identity and decline of an Indian family.
- B. It is a Romantic novel that explores the decline of a Russian family.
- C. It is a stream-of-consciousness narrative that explores cultural identity in nineteenth-century Ireland.
- D. It is a lyrical novel that explores the decline of a Caribbean family.
Explanation: Arundhati Roy’s lyrical novel follows the decline and fractured identity of an Indian family while examining caste, history, and social…
Correct answer: It is a lyrical novel that explores cultural identity and decline of an Indian family.- A. Ibo
- B. Russian
- C. Irish
- D. Indian
Explanation: Chinua Achebe’s novel explores Igbo society, also spelled Ibo, before and during its encounter with British colonialism.
Correct answer: Ibo- A. Linda Hutcheon
- B. Homi Bhabha
- C. Jacques Derrida
- D. Fredric Jameson
Explanation: Homi Bhabha examines colonial ambivalence, hybridity, and the unstable relationship between colonizer and colonized.
Correct answer: Homi Bhabha- A. The pressure of conforming to preexisting social conventions
- B. The burden of white colonizers who are forced to learn to live in new lands
- C. The Eurocentric idea that the colonizer has a social responsibility to civilize other nations
- D. The concept that all white men do not share the same imperial duties
Explanation: Kipling's phrase presents imperialism as a supposed duty of white nations to civilize and govern colonized peoples.
Correct answer: The Eurocentric idea that the colonizer has a social responsibility to civilize other nations- A. It has little relationship to the colonization of Asian countries by the West.
- B. It illustrates the fundamental political equality of all nations.
- C. It was produced by Western scholarship.
- D. Its literature is less proud that that of the West.
Explanation: In Orientalism, Edward Said argues that the Orient was constructed through Western scholarship, representation, and colonial power rather…
Correct answer: It was produced by Western scholarship.- A. TheWest spends too much time trying to consider an Asian perspective.
- B. The West tends to look at Asian countries as individual units rather than lump them together.
- C. The West views matters through its own limited historical position.
- D. The West refuses to apply economic and political coercion to Asian writers.
Explanation: Postcolonial theory challenges Eurocentrism, arguing that Western perspectives are shaped by a limited historical and cultural position…
Correct answer: The West views matters through its own limited historical position.- A. Harold Bloom's "An Elegy for the Canon"
- B. Jacques Lacan's "The Mirror Stage ... "
- C. Cleanth Brooks's "Keats's Sylvan Historian"
- D. Edward Said's Orientalism
Explanation: Edward Said’s Orientalism is widely treated as a foundational text of postcolonial criticism because it exposes how Western discourse…
Correct answer: Edward Said's Orientalism- A. Julia Kristeva
- B. Fredric Jameson
- C. Terry Eagleton
- D. Edward Said
Explanation: Edward Said uses “imaginative geography” to describe how cultures construct symbolic divisions between “us” and “them,” especially between…
Correct answer: Edward Said- A. To represent the relationship between colonizers and the colonized
- B. To draw attention to the positive effects of colonization on literature
- C. To explain why there are few examples of successful non-Western literature
- D. To show the ways in which mostWestern literature is superior
Explanation: Postcolonial criticism examines how colonial power shaped the relationship between colonizers and colonized, including representation…
Correct answer: To represent the relationship between colonizers and the colonized