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Who was the first Kannada writer to win the Jnanpith Award?
- U.R. Ananthamurthy
- Kuvempu
- Shivaram Karanth
- Masti Venkatesha Iyengar
Answer: Kuvempu
Kuvempu (K.V. Puttappa) won the Jnanpith Award in 1967 for his epic 'Sri Ramayana Darshanam'.
The term 'Magical Realism' was first prominently applied to literature by Cuban author ________.
- Gabriel García Márquez
- Alejo Carpentier
- Jorge Luis Borges
- Mario Vargas Llosa
Answer: Alejo Carpentier
Carpentier coined the term 'lo real maravilloso' (the marvelous real) in the prologue to his 1949 novel 'The Kingdom of This World'.
George Eliot's 'Middlemarch' is subtitled 'A Study of Provincial Life'.
- True
- False
Answer: True
Published in 1871-72, 'Middlemarch' is widely considered one of the greatest novels in the English language.
In Charlotte Brontë's 'Jane Eyre', who is the master of Thornfield Hall?
- Mr. Darcy
- Edward Rochester
- Heathcliff
- Mr. Bingley
Answer: Edward Rochester
Edward Rochester hires Jane as a governess and becomes her complex and brooding love interest.
Emily Brontë's only novel, which features the characters Heathcliff and Catherine, is ________.
- Jane Eyre
- The Tenant of Wildfell Hall
- Wuthering Heights
- Agnes Grey
Answer: Wuthering Heights
'Wuthering Heights' (1847) is a dark, passionate tale of revenge and destructive love set on the Yorkshire moors.
Manik Bandyopadhyay's 'Padma Nadir Majhi' focuses on the lives of boatmen in rural Bengal.
- True
- False
Answer: True
Published in 1936, it is a classic of Bengali realism, depicting the struggles of fisherman Kubera.
Krishan Chander's famous Urdu short story 'Peshawar Express' is narrated from the perspective of:
- A refugee
- A train
- A soldier
- A politician
Answer: A train
The story uses the personified train to witness and narrate the horrors of the Partition violence.
The Hindi poetry collection 'Yama', which won the Jnanpith Award, was written by ________.
- Subhadra Kumari Chauhan
- Mahadevi Varma
- Suryakant Tripathi Nirala
- Harivansh Rai Bachchan
Answer: Mahadevi Varma
Mahadevi Varma, a prominent Chhayavad poet, won the Jnanpith Award in 1982, largely for 'Yama'.
Salman Rushdie's 'Midnight's Children' uses which literary device to blend historical events with fantasy?
- Allegory
- Magical Realism
- Epistolary
- Gothic Horror
Answer: Magical Realism
The novel uses magical realism to depict children born at the exact moment of India's independence possessing supernatural powers.
Frank Herbert's 'Dune' won both the Hugo Award and the inaugural Nebula Award for Best Novel.
- True
- False
Answer: True
Published in 1965, 'Dune' is a landmark in science fiction, sweeping the major awards of its time.
Virginia Woolf is a pioneer of the ________ narrative technique, prominently used in 'Mrs. Dalloway'.
- Epistolary
- Stream of Consciousness
- Magical Realism
- Omniscient Third-Person
Answer: Stream of Consciousness
Stream of consciousness attempts to replicate the continuous flow of thoughts and feelings in the human mind.
Robert Louis Stevenson's adventure novel 'Treasure Island' features which famous pirate?
- Captain Hook
- Long John Silver
- Blackbeard
- Jack Sparrow
Answer: Long John Silver
Long John Silver is the cunning and charismatic quartermaster and antagonist of 'Treasure Island'.
Oscar Wilde's only published novel is 'The Picture of Dorian Gray'.
- True
- False
Answer: True
Though famous for his plays and essays, Wilde only wrote one full-length novel, published in 1890.
In Bram Stoker's 'Dracula', which character leads the group trying to defeat the vampire?
- Jonathan Harker
- Abraham Van Helsing
- Quincey Morris
- Arthur Holmwood
Answer: Abraham Van Helsing
Professor Abraham Van Helsing is the Dutch doctor and vampire hunter who mentors the others.
Rabindranath Tagore's novel 'Gora' deals with themes of caste, religious orthodoxy, and Indian nationalism.
- True
- False
Answer: True
'Gora' (1910) is considered Tagore's masterpiece, exploring the complex identity of its protagonist in colonial India.
The famous Urdu poetry collection 'Naqsh-e-Faryadi' was authored by:
- Mirza Ghalib
- Faiz Ahmed Faiz
- Mir Taqi Mir
- Ahmad Faraz
Answer: Faiz Ahmed Faiz
Faiz Ahmed Faiz published 'Naqsh-e-Faryadi' in 1941. It blends romanticism with revolutionary and Marxist themes.
The Hindi historical play 'Skandagupta' was written by ________.
- Ramdhari Singh Dinkar
- Jaishankar Prasad
- Mohan Rakesh
- Dharamvir Bharati
Answer: Jaishankar Prasad
Jaishankar Prasad wrote 'Skandagupta' in 1928, focusing on the Gupta emperor's struggle against the Hunas.
Geetanjali Shree's 'Tomb of Sand' was the first Hindi novel to win the International Booker Prize.
- True
- False
Answer: True
In 2022, 'Tomb of Sand' (translated by Daisy Rockwell) became the first book in an Indian language to win the International Booker Prize.
A 'Petrarchan' sonnet is divided into an octave and a:
- Quatrain
- Sestet
- Couplet
- Tercet
Answer: Sestet
The Petrarchan sonnet consists of an eight-line octave (ABBAABBA) and a six-line sestet (CDCDCD or CDECDE).
The play 'Hedda Gabler', featuring a manipulative and tragic female protagonist, was written by ________.
- August Strindberg
- Henrik Ibsen
- Anton Chekhov
- George Bernard Shaw
Answer: Henrik Ibsen
Henrik Ibsen published 'Hedda Gabler' in 1890. It is a masterpiece of psychological realism.