Here are 20 MCQs on Indian Writing in English for UGC NET English, with short explanations.
1. Who is considered the father of Indian English novel?
a) R.K. Narayan
b) Mulk Raj Anand
c) Raja Rao
d) Bankim Chandra Chatterjee
Answer: d) Bankim Chandra Chatterjee
Explanation: His novel Rajmohan's Wife (1864) is considered the first Indian novel in English.
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2. Which novel by R.K. Narayan features the character Swami?
a) The Guide
b) Swami and Friends
c) The Bachelor of Arts
d) The English Teacher
Answer: b) Swami and Friends
Explanation: It is a semi-autobiographical novel set in the fictional town of Malgudi.
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3. Who wrote the novel Kanthapura, based on Gandhian ideals?
a) Mulk Raj Anand
b) Raja Rao
c) R.K. Narayan
d) Anita Desai
Answer: b) Raja Rao
Explanation: Kanthapura narrates the story of a South Indian village's involvement in the freedom struggle.
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4. Mulk Raj Anand’s Untouchable is primarily concerned with:
a) Love and romance
b) Caste discrimination
c) Political freedom
d) Mythological tales
Answer: b) Caste discrimination
Explanation: It presents a day in the life of Bakha, an oppressed caste sweeper.
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5. Who is the author of The Shadow Lines?
a) Salman Rushdie
b) Vikram Seth
c) Amitav Ghosh
d) Arundhati Roy
Answer: c) Amitav Ghosh
Explanation: It explores national identity, memory, and personal histories.
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6. Which poet is associated with the collection Jejuri?
a) Dom Moraes
b) Jayanta Mahapatra
c) A.K. Ramanujan
d) Arun Kolatkar
Answer: d) Arun Kolatkar
Explanation: Jejuri is a modernist poetic work based on a pilgrimage town in Maharashtra.
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7. Salman Rushdie’s Midnight’s Children is set against the backdrop of:
a) Indian Emergency
b) Partition of India
c) Post-liberalization era
d) Mughal India
Answer: b) Partition of India
Explanation: It deals with India's transition from British colonialism to independence.
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8. Who wrote The God of Small Things?
a) Jhumpa Lahiri
b) Arundhati Roy
c) Kiran Desai
d) Anita Desai
Answer: b) Arundhati Roy
Explanation: The novel won the Booker Prize in 1997.
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9. Which Indian English poet wrote the poem A River?
a) Kamala Das
b) A.K. Ramanujan
c) Nissim Ezekiel
d) R. Parthasarathy
Answer: b) A.K. Ramanujan
Explanation: A River critiques poets for romanticizing natural disasters.
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10. Anita Desai's Cry, the Peacock deals primarily with:
a) Political unrest
b) Feminine psychosis
c) Historical fiction
d) Religious conflict
Answer: b) Feminine psychosis
Explanation: It explores Maya’s mental breakdown in a patriarchal society.
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11. Which novel by Vikram Seth is famously known for its length and detailed narrative?
a) An Equal Music
b) A Suitable Boy
c) Two Lives
d) The Golden Gate
Answer: b) A Suitable Boy
Explanation: It is one of the longest novels published in a single volume.
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12. Kamala Das is also known by her pen name:
a) Madhavi Kutty
b) Shanta Devi
c) Sarojini Varma
d) Leela Krishnan
Answer: a) Madhavi Kutty
Explanation: She wrote prolifically in both English and Malayalam.
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13. Which book by Amitav Ghosh is part of the Ibis Trilogy?
a) The Circle of Reason
b) The Calcutta Chromosome
c) Sea of Poppies
d) The Glass Palace
Answer: c) Sea of Poppies
Explanation: It focuses on the opium trade and migration in the 19th century.
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14. Nissim Ezekiel’s poetry is often characterized by:
a) Political satire
b) Romantic idealism
c) Urban realism and irony
d) Rural mysticism
Answer: c) Urban realism and irony
Explanation: He is regarded as the father of modern Indian English poetry.
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15. Jhumpa Lahiri's Interpreter of Maladies won which prize?
a) Booker Prize
b) Pulitzer Prize
c) Sahitya Akademi Award
d) Neustadt Prize
Answer: b) Pulitzer Prize
Explanation: It won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 2000.
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16. Who among the following is a diasporic Indian English writer?
a) Chetan Bhagat
b) Jhumpa Lahiri
c) R.K. Narayan
d) Raja Rao
Answer: b) Jhumpa Lahiri
Explanation: She writes about the immigrant experience, especially Indian-Americans.
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17. The English Teacher by R.K. Narayan is a tribute to:
a) Gandhiji
b) Narayan’s wife
c) His mentor
d) Indian education system
Answer: b) Narayan’s wife
Explanation: It is a poignant semi-autobiographical novel.
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18. Kiran Desai’s novel The Inheritance of Loss deals with:
a) Globalization and migration
b) Mythological retellings
c) Romantic idealism
d) Rural poverty in ancient India
Answer: a) Globalization and migration
Explanation: It highlights themes of identity and displacement.
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19. Who authored the poetry collection Summer in Calcutta?
a) Toru Dutt
b) Sarojini Naidu
c) Kamala Das
d) Eunice de Souza
Answer: c) Kamala Das
Explanation: It marked a new phase in Indian English poetry with its confessional tone.
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20. R. Parthasarathy’s Rough Passage primarily explores:
a) Religious devotion
b) Nostalgia for the past
c) Alienation and exile
d) Celebration of nature
Answer: c) Alienation and exile
Explanation: It reflects the poet’s personal and cultural dislocation.
Indian Writing in English
UGC NET English MCQs
Postcolonial Indian Literature
Contemporary Indian Authors
Poets and Novelists in English
Indian Diaspora Literature
Booker and Pulitzer Winners India
Malgudi Days and Beyond
Indian English Poetry
Themes in Indian English Fiction
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Would you also like a 20-question set next on Postcolonial Indian Fiction or on Indian English Poets? I can make it quickly!
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