MCQs -Life and works of Margaret Atwood -- for JL/DL

1. Margaret Atwood was born in which year?

A) 1935
B) 1939
C) 1945
D) 1950
Answer: B) 1939

 

2. Which of the following is Margaret Atwood’s most famous dystopian novel?

A) The Blind Assassin
B) Alias Grace
C) The Handmaid’s Tale
D) Oryx and Crake
Answer: C) The Handmaid’s Tale

 

3. The Handmaid’s Tale won which prestigious literary award?

A) Pulitzer Prize
B) Man Booker Prize
C) Governor General’s Award
D) Arthur C. Clarke Award
Answer: D) Arthur C. Clarke Award (1987)

(Note: It was also shortlisted for the Booker Prize but did not win initially. It later won the Booker Prize in 2019 for The Testaments, its sequel.)

 

4. Which of these works by Atwood is a historical fiction novel based on a real-life murder case?

A) Cat’s Eye
B) Alias Grace
C) The Robber Bride
D) Surfacing
Answer: B) Alias Grace

 

5. Margaret Atwood is a citizen of which country?

A) United States
B) Canada
C) United Kingdom
D) Australia
Answer: B) Canada

 

6. Which poetry collection by Atwood won the Governor General’s Award in 1966?

A) The Circle Game
B) Power Politics
C) Morning in the Burned House
D) You Are Happy
Answer: A) The Circle Game

 

7. The Testaments (2019) is a sequel to which novel?

A) Oryx and Crake
B) The Handmaid’s Tale
C) The Blind Assassin
D) The Year of the Flood
Answer: B) The Handmaid’s Tale

 

8. Which of the following is NOT part of Atwood’s MaddAddam trilogy?

A) Oryx and Crake
B) The Year of the Flood
C) MaddAddam
D) The Heart Goes Last
Answer: D) The Heart Goes Last

 

9. Margaret Atwood co-wrote The Blind Assassin with another author. (True/False)

A) True
B) False
Answer: B) False (The Blind Assassin is solely written by Atwood and won the Booker Prize in 2000.)

 

10. Which theme is most commonly explored in Atwood’s works?

A) Space exploration
B) Feminist dystopias and environmental issues
C) Medieval history
D) Romantic comedy
Answer: B) Feminist dystopias and environmental issues

 

11. Margaret Atwood’s first published book of poetry was:

A) The Circle Game
B) Double Persephone
C) The Journals of Susanna Moodie
D) Power Politics
Answer: B) Double Persephone

 

12. Atwood won the E. J. Pratt Medal for her poetry collection in which year?

A) 1961
B) 1966
C) 1976
D) 1985
Answer: A) 1961

 

13. Which university did Margaret Atwood attend for her undergraduate studies?

A) Harvard University
B) University of Toronto (Victoria College)
C) Radcliffe College
D) University of British Columbia
Answer: B) University of Toronto (Victoria College)

 

14. Who was Atwood’s influential mentor during her undergraduate studies?

A) Frank Davey
B) Northrop Frye
C) Graeme Gibson
D) Edgar Allan Poe
Answer: B) Northrop Frye

 

15. Atwood’s first novel, The Edible Woman, was published in:

A) 1961
B) 1969
C) 1976
D) 1985
Answer: B) 1969

 

16. Which of these works by Atwood is inspired by a 19th-century Canadian pioneer?

A) The Edible Woman
B) The Journals of Susanna Moodie
C) Cat’s Eye
D) Lady Oracle
Answer: B) The Journals of Susanna Moodie

 

17. Atwood’s early childhood was spent in:

A) Toronto
B) A log cabin in Northern Quebec
C) Vancouver
D) Ottawa
Answer: B) A log cabin in Northern Quebec

 

18. Which of the following is NOT true about Atwood’s early life?

A) She attended full-time school from age 11.
B) She grew up with television and radio.
C) She read works by Edgar Allan Poe as a child.
D) She lived in isolation in the wilderness.
Answer: B) She grew up with television and radio. (Her cabin had no electricity or modern amenities.)

 

19. Atwood’s novel The Edible Woman gained attention due to:

A) Its Gothic horror themes
B) Its alignment with the feminist movement
C) Winning the Booker Prize
D) Being adapted into a film
Answer: B) Its alignment with the feminist movement

 

20. Which of these works is a collection of short stories?

A) Alias Grace
B) The Robber Bride
C) Wilderness Tips
D) Oryx and Crake
Answer: C) Wilderness Tips

 

21. Atwood’s novel Alias Grace was shortlisted for which award?

A) Pulitzer Prize
B) Governor General’s Award
C) Booker Prize
D) Arthur C. Clarke Award
Answer: C) Booker Prize

 

22. What unique perspective did Atwood develop from her childhood experiences?

A) A fascination with space exploration
B) A view of social groups as "equally bizarre"
C) A preference for writing only poetry
D) A dislike for Canadian literature
Answer: B) A view of social groups as "equally bizarre"

 

23. Which of these works was adapted into a film in 1990?

A) Cat’s Eye
B) The Handmaid’s Tale
C) Surfacing
D) Lady Oracle
Answer: B) The Handmaid’s Tale

 

24. Atwood’s husband, Graeme Gibson, was a:

A) Poet
B) Novelist
C) Literary critic
D) Market researcher
Answer: B) Novelist

 

25. Atwood’s The Circle Game won which major Canadian award?

A) E. J. Pratt Medal
B) Governor General’s Award
C) Booker Prize
D) Giller Prize
Answer: B) Governor General’s Award

26. In which Margaret Atwood novel is the main character a painter named Elaine Risley?

A. Surfacing

B. The Robber Bride

C. Cat’s Eye ✅

D. Life Before Man

 

27. In The Robber Bride, which character is the manipulative and enigmatic woman who impacts the lives of three other women?

A. Roz

B. Charis

C. Tony

D. Zenia ✅

 

28. What is the title of Margaret Atwood’s first work of science fiction set in a post-apocalyptic future?

A. The Handmaid’s Tale

B. The Blind Assassin

C. Oryx and Crake ✅

D. Hag-Seed

 

29. Which novel by Atwood is a retelling of Shakespeare’s The Tempest?

A. Lady Oracle

B. Bodily Harm

C. Hag-Seed ✅

D. Alias Grace

 

30. What theme is central to Atwood’s book Surfacing (1972)?

A. Colonialism in Africa

B. American consumerism

C. Spiritual and psychological rebirth ✅

D. Urban alienation

 

31. What genre does Atwood refer to instead of “science fiction” for many of her speculative novels?

A. Eco-fiction

B. Cyber-realism

C. Social realism

D. Speculative fiction ✅

 

32. In which year was The Testaments, the sequel to The Handmaid’s Tale, published?

A. 2017

B. 2019 ✅

C. 2021

D. 2015

 

33. What is the profession of the main character in Atwood’s novel Life Before Man?

A. Paleontologist✅

B. University professor

C. Political activist

D. Poet

 

34. Which novel by Atwood involves a fictional author and a novel-within-a-novel structure?

A. The Robber Bride

B. The Blind Assassin ✅

C. The Edible Woman

D. Surfacing

 

35. In Alias Grace, what narrative technique does Atwood use to blur the line between truth and fiction?

A. Stream of consciousness

B. Magic realism

C. Unreliable narrator ✅

D. Second-person narration

 

36. Atwood was the first author to contribute a book titled ‘Scribbler Moon' to which long-term art project that will remain unread until 2114?

A. Library of the Future

B. The 100-Year Book Vault

C. Future Library Project ✅

D. Deep Archive Project

 

37. Which early Atwood novel explores the psychological impact of consumerism and identity through the character Marian?

A. Bodily Harm

B. The Edible Woman ✅

C. Life Before Man

D. The Robber Bride

 

38. What is the central setting of The Heart Goes Last?

A. A refugee camp

B. A dystopian prison-town system ✅

C. A future underwater city

D. A floating eco-community

 

39. What is the name of the trilogy that includes Oryx and Crake, The Year of the Flood, and MaddAddam?

A. The Eden Cycle

B. The Crakers Trilogy

C. The MaddAddam Trilogy ✅

D. The Futurescape Series

 

40. What is the main form of resistance used by women in The Handmaid’s Tale?

A. Armed rebellion

B. Subversive speech and memory ✅

C. Public protest

D. Escape through legal channels

Question 1:

What is the name of the dystopian society in Margaret Atwood's novel "The Handmaid's Tale"?

• a) Gilead
• b) Oryx and Crake
• c) MaddAddam
• d) The Republic of Gilead

Answer: a) Gilead

Question 2:

Which of the following Margaret Atwood novels is a sequel to "The Handmaid's Tale"?

• a) "The Testaments"
• b) "Alias Grace"
• c) "The Blind Assassin"
• d) "Cat's Eye"

Answer: a) "The Testaments"

Question 3:

What is the name of the protagonist in Margaret Atwood's novel "Alias Grace"?

• a) Grace Marks
• b) Offred
• c) Agnes Magnúsdóttir
• d) Cordelia

Answer: a) Grace Marks

Question 4:

In what year was Margaret Atwood born?

• a) 1939
• b) 1949
• c) 1959
• d) 1969

Answer: a) 1939

Question 5:

What is the title of Margaret Atwood's collection of short stories that was published in 2019?

• a) "Stone Mattress"
• b) "The Tent"
• c) "Moral Disorder"
• d) "Bluebeard's Egg"

Answer: a) "Stone Mattress"

Question 6:

Which of the following Margaret Atwood novels won the Booker Prize?

• a) "The Handmaid's Tale"
• b) "Alias Grace"
• c) "The Blind Assassin"
• d) "Cat's Eye"

Answer: c) "The Blind Assassin"

Question 7:

Which Margaret Atwood novel was adapted into a television series by Hulu?

• a) "The Handmaid's Tale"
• b) "Alias Grace"
• c) "The Blind Assassin"
• d) "Cat's Eye"

Answer: a) "The Handmaid's Tale"

Question 8:

Which of the following Margaret Atwood novels is a work of speculative fiction that explores genetic engineering and environmental collapse?

• a) "The Handmaid's Tale"
• b) "Oryx and Crake"
• c) "The Blind Assassin"
• d) "Cat's Eye"

Answer: b) "Oryx and Crake"

Question 9:

Which of the following awards has Margaret Atwood NOT won?

• a) The Booker Prize
• b) The Pulitzer Prize
• c) The Nobel Prize in Literature
• d) The National Book Award

Answer: c) The Nobel Prize in Literature

Question 10:

In addition to her career as a writer, Margaret Atwood is also a:

• a) Musician
• b) Environmental activist
• c) Painter
• d) All of the above

Answer: d) All of the above

Question 11:

Which of the following Margaret Atwood novels is set in 19th century Canada and tells the story of a young woman convicted of murder?

• a) "The Handmaid's Tale"
• b) "Alias Grace"
• c) "The Blind Assassin"
• d) "Cat's Eye"

Answer: b) "Alias Grace"

Question 12:

What is the name of Margaret Atwood's first novel, published in 1969?

• a) "The Edible Woman"
• b) "Surfacing"
• c) "Cat's Eye"
• d) "Life Before Man"

Answer: a) "The Edible Woman"

Question 13:

Which of the following Margaret Atwood novels is a work of historical fiction that tells the story of a young woman who works as a seamstress and servant in 19th century Ontario?

• a) "The Handmaid's Tale"
• b) "Alias Grace"
• c) "The Blind Assassin"
• d) "Cat's Eye"

Answer: c) "The Blind Assassin"

Question 14:

What is the name of the dystopian trilogy by Margaret Atwood that includes the novels "Oryx and Crake", "The Year of the Flood", and "MaddAddam"?

• a) The Gilead Trilogy
• b) The Handmaid Trilogy
• c) The MaddAddam Trilogy
• d) The Oryx and Crake Trilogy

Answer: c) The MaddAddam Trilogy

Question 15:

Which of the following Margaret Atwood novels is a coming-of-age story about a young girl growing up in Toronto during the 1940s and 1950s?

• a) "The Handmaid's Tale"
• b) "Alias Grace"
• c) "The Blind Assassin"
• d) "Cat's Eye"

Answer: d) "Cat's Eye"

Question 16:

What is the name of Margaret Atwood's memoir, published in 2019?

• a) "Negotiating with the Dead"
• b) "The Tent"
• c) "Stone Mattress"
• d) "Days of Terror and Wonder"

Answer: a) "Negotiating with the Dead"

Question 17:

Which of the following Margaret Atwood novels is a work of speculative fiction that explores the relationships between men and women in a world where the population is divided into two groups: the "Primitives" and the "Civilized"?

• a) "The Handmaid's Tale"
• b) "Surfacing"
• c) "The Edible Woman"
• d) "The Labrador Fiasco"

Answer: c) "The Edible Woman"

Question 18:

Which Margaret Atwood novel is a work of speculative fiction that imagines a world where women can no longer have children, and the few remaining fertile women are forced to become "Handmaids" and bear children for wealthy families?

• a) "The Handmaid's Tale"
• b) "Alias Grace"
• c) "The Blind Assassin"
• d) "Cat's Eye"

Answer: a) "The Handmaid's Tale"

Question 19:

What is the name of the protagonist in Margaret Atwood's novel "The Blind Assassin"?

• a) Iris Chase Griffen
• b) Grace Marks
• c) Laura Chase
• d) Elaine Risley

Answer: a) Iris Chase Griffen

Question 20:

Which of the following Margaret Atwood novels is a work of historical fiction that tells the story of a group of women accused of witchcraft in 17th century New England?

• a) "The Handmaid's Tale"
• b) "Alias Grace"
• c) "The Blind Assassin"
• d) "The Penelopiad"

Answer: d) "The Penelopiad"