T. S.

ELIOT’S THE WASTE LAND (1922) 100 MCQ

SET 1
1 "I who have sat by ____ below the wall"
A. Delphi
B. Thebes
C. Athens
D. Rome

2. Who is "I"?
A. Oedipus
B. Sweeney
C. Antigone
D. Tiresias

3. When does Sweeney go to Mrs. Porter?

A. in the fall
B. in the spring
C. in the winter
D. in the summer

4. What brings him there?

A. birds and beasts
B. a supersonic jet
C. horns and motors
D. teleportation

5. "Sweet _____, run softly"

A. Seine
B. Tiber
C. Loire
D. Thames

6. Who sleeps with the typist?

A. Prufrock
B. the young man carbuncular
C. Mrs. Porter
D. Sweeney

7. Who is the "old man with wrinkled female breasts"?

A. Phlebas
B. Eugenides
C. Oedipus
D. Tiresias

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8. What city is Mr. Eugenides from?
A. Smyrna
B. Alexandria
C. Athens
D. Istanbul

9. What "half-formed thought" passes through the typist's brain?

A. "Well now that's done: and I'm glad it's over."
B. "Great is the rush of sensations I now feel."
C. "I am so tired..."
D. "O lover come back to me!"

10. "When lovely woman stoops to _______"

A. idiocy
B. lust
C. folly
D. greatness

11. "The pleasant whining of a _______"

A. horn
B. cornet
C. guitar
D. mandoline

12. Where do "fishmen" lounge at noon?

A. at home
B. at their offices
C. at a bar on Lower Thames Street
D. by the banks of the Hudson

13. Elizabeth and ______

A. Leicester
B. Antigone
C. Philip
D. Gloucester

14. What is the shortest section of "The Waste Land"?

A. The Fire Sermon
B. A Game of Chess
C. What the Thunder Said
D. Death by Water

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15. "O O O O that _______"
A. Shakespeherian Rag
B. Summertime Rag
C. Maple Leaf Rag
D. Dishtowel Rag

16. The ears that hear "Jug jug" are

A. blue
B. clean
C. dirty
D. oversized

17. "Musing upon the king my _______"

A. father's birth
B. brother's lust
C. brother's wreck
D. sister's ruin

18. "The Fire Sermon" refers to a sermon by

A. Confucius
B. Buddha
C. St. Paul
D. Christ

19. "My people humble people who expect / _______"

A. Everything
B. Nothing
C. Something
D. The world

20. How long has Phlebas been dead?

A. a fortnight
B. a century
C. a few seconds
D. five years

21. "London bridge is __________"

A. collapsing
B. rising up
C. moaning
D. falling down

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22. "Those are pearls that were his eyes" refers to what play?
A. Hamlet
B. The Tempest
C. Antigone
D. A Streetcar Named Desire

23. "The Chair she sat in, like a _______"

A. crumbling tower
B. burnished throne
C. stained trophy
D. massive edifice

24. Where does the Narrator say he goes in the winter, in the opening stanza of "The Burial
of the Dead"?
A. east
B. west
C. north
D. south

25. What does he do much of the night?

A. make love
B. ski
C. write poetry
D. read

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ANSWER KEY SET 1
1. (B) Thebes
2. (D) Tiresias
3. (B) in the spring
4. (C) horns and motors
5. (D) Thames
6. (B) the young man carbuncular
7. (D) Tiresias
8. (A) Smyrna
9. (A) "Well now that's done: and I'm glad it's over."
10. (C) folly
11. (D) mandoline
12. (C) at a bar on Lower Thames Street
13. (A) Leicester
14. (D) Death by Water
15. (A) Shakespeherian Rag
16. (C) dirty
17. (C) brother's wreck
18. (B) Buddha
19. (B) Nothing
20. (A) a fortnight
21. (D) falling down
22. (B) The Tempest
23. (B) burnished throne
24. (D) south
25. (D) read

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SET 2

1. Which month is the "cruellest"?

A. April
B. May
C. September
D. December

2. Where is the Starnbergersee?

A. in Paris
B. just outside London
C. in Michigan
D. near Munich

3. "The river sweats...

A. fumes and fire."
B. saffron and lilac."
C. oil and tar."
D. water."

4. Who is demobbed?
A. Prufrock
B. Madame Sosostris
C. Lil's husband
D. Sweeney

5. "Demobbed" means:
A. "awarded with a medal of honor"
B. "lynched"
C. "released from the army"
D. "killed"

6. What battle did Stetson supposedly participate in?

A. Waterloo
B. the Battle of the Bulge
C. Mylae
D. the Battle of Britain

7. "By the waters of ____ I sat down and wept..."

A. Leman
B. the Nile
C. the Thames
D. the Seine

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8. Which of the following cities is mentioned in "The Waste Land"?
A. Novgorod
B. Timbuktu
C. Vienna
D. Marseilles

9. Magnus Martyr is a:
A. church
B. epic poem
C. ocean
D. football stadium

10. The opening section of "The Waste Land" is entitled:

A. "The Fire Sermon"
B. "Shantih"
C. "The Burial of the Dead"
D. "Death by Water"

11. Who visits the typist?

A. Prufrock
B. the young man carbuncular
C. Mrs. Porter
D. a Bradford millionaire

12. Who witnesses the visit?

A. Ezra Pound
B. Madame Sosostris
C. Tiresias
D. Vivienne

13. The clairvoyant is named

A. Madame Sosostris
B. Mrs. Porter
C. Aldous Huxley
D. Vivienne

14. Mr. Eugenides is a:

A. merchant
B. poet
C. filmmaker
D. witch doctor

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15. Mr. Eugenides invites the Narrator to:
A. the Cannon Street Hotel
B. Venice
C. the Plaza
D. the Ritz Carlton

16. "the _____ hour"

A. indigo
B. aqua
C. violet
D. turquoise

17. Who is "throbbing between two lives"?

A. Mr. Eugenides
B. Phlebas
C. the typist
D. Tiresias

18. The narrator is told that he should fear death by:

A. fire
B. starvation
C. disease
D. water

19. When lovely woman stoops to folly" is an allusion to:

A. Ovid's Metamorphoses
B. Oliver Goldsmith's The Vicar of Wakefield
C. Hamlet
D. the Koran

20. Who rapes Philomela?

A. Tereus
B. Zeus
C. Odysseus
D. the typist

21. Translate "Oed' und leer das Meer"

A. "Desolate and empty is the sea"
B. "A kiss is just a kiss"
C. "The ship has arrived, appearing on the horizon"
D. "Isolde is lost forever"

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22. Which of the following works of literature does Eliot NOT cite?
A. On The Road
B. The Spanish Tragedie
C. The Inferno
D. Hamlet

23. In what city is Queen Victoria Street (in the poem)?

A. New York
B. London
C. Boston
D. Gloucester

24. What does the Narrator know when confronted with the hyacinth girl?
A. the way to restore fruitfulness to the wasteland
B. nothing
C. the reason he is in love
D. the meaning of life

25.Who is "known to be the wisest woman in Europe, / With a wicked pack of cards"?
A. Cleopatra
B. Madame Sosostris
C. Mrs. Porter
D. the typist

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ANSWER KEY SET 2
1. (A) April
2. (D) near Munich
3. (C) oil and tar."
4. (C) Lil's husband
5. (C) "released from the army"
6. (C) Mylae
7. (A) Leman
8. (C) Vienna
9. (A) church
10. (C) "The Burial of the Dead"
11. (B) the young man carbuncular
12. (C) Tiresias
13. (A) Madame Sosostris
14. (A) merchant
15. (A) the Cannon Street Hotel
16. (C) violet
17. (D) Tiresias
18. (D) water
19. (B) Oliver Goldsmith's The Vicar of Wakefield
20. (A) Tereus
21. (A) "Desolate and empty is the sea"
22. (A) On The Road
23. (B) London
24. (B) nothing
25. (B) Madame Sosostris

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SET 3

I. To whom does the Narrator call at the end of The Burial of the Dead"?
A. Prufrock
B. Sweeney
C. Stetson
D. the typist

2. Who helped Eliot revise "The Waste Land"?

A. Hart Crane
B. Ezra Pound
C. Eugene O'Neill
D. Henry James

3. Saint Mary Wolnooth is a:

A. church
B. lake Eliot visited as a child
C. park in Scotland
D. none of the above

4. "If you see dear_____, / Tell her I bring the horoscope myself"
A. Mrs. Dalloway
B. Mrs. Equitone
C. Mrs. Porter
D. Stetson

5. "Belladonna, the Lady of the __________”

A. Towers
B. Rocks
C. Roses
D. Flowers

6. What year did "The Waste Land" first appear in print?

A. 1912
B. 1919
C. 1922
D. 1939

7. "datta"
A. "to give"
B. "to kill"
C. "to chastise"
D. "to sympathize"

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8. "daznyata"
A. "to love"
B. "to loosen"
C. "to sympathize"
D. "to control"

9. "dayadhvam"
A. "to wonder"
B. "to sympathize"
C. "to die"
D. "to control"

10. Who is Coriolanus?

A. an Egyptian sailor
B. a Greek god
C. a Roman war hero
D. the drowned Phoenician

11. Name the source: "Good night, ladies, good night, sweet ladies, good night, good night."
A. The Divine Comedy
B. The Fire Sermon
C. Macbeth
D. Hamlet

12. Name the source: "To Carthage then I came"

A. Ovid's Metamorphoses
B. The Sun Also Rises
C. Augustine's Confessions
D. the Koran

13. "Inexplicable splendour of _______ white and gold.”

A. Iambic
B. Dorian
C. Ionian
D. Corinthian

14. "Carious" means:

A. "fruitful"
B. "humorous"
C. "decayed"
D. "curious"

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15. A carbuncle is a:
A. boil
B. building
C. bicycle
D. car

16. The typist turns on the:

A. gramophone
B. television
C. computer
D. CD player

17. "Combinations" refers to:

A. "dishes of food"
B. "decorations"
C. "undergarments"
D. "jigsaw puzzles"

18. "I_____, old man with wrinkled dugs"

A. Oedipus
B. Solomon
C. Tiresias
D. Samson

19. To whom does Sweeney go?

A. Ezra Pound
B. Mrs. Dalloway
C. Mrs. Porter
D. Stetson

20. What does "demotic" mean?

A. "clever"
B. "colloquial"
C. "demonic"
D. "haughty"

21. The Ganga is the:

A. Seine
B. Ganger
C. Ganges
D. Thames

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22. It is located in:
A. India
B. England
C. Japan
D. France

23. "Himavant" means:

A. "hot"
B. "rocky"
C. "dusty"
D. "snowy"

24. "My feet are at __________”

A. one end
B. Masterley
C. Margate Sands
D. Moorgate

25. "Sweet Thames, run softly, till I end my song" refers to which poem?
A. "Ode to a Nightingale"
B. "The Raven"
C. "Percival"
D. "Prothalamion"

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ANSWER KEY SET 3
1. (C) Stetson
2.(B) Ezra Pound
3. (A) church
4. (B) Mrs. Equitone
5. (B) Rocks
6. (C) 1922
7. (A) "to give"
8. (D) "to control"
9. (B) "to sympathize"
10. (C) a Roman war hero
I I. (D) Hamlet
12. (C) Augustine's Confessions
13. (C) Ionian
14. (C) "decayed"
15. (A) boil
16. (A) gramophone
17. (C) "undergarments"
18. (C) Tiresias
19. (C) Mrs. Porter
20. (B) "colloquial"
21. (C) Ganges
22. (A) India
23. (D) "snowy"
24. (D) Moorgate
25. (D) "Prothalamion"

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SET 4

I. Which of the following rivers features prominently in "The Waste Land"?

A. the Thames
B. the Hudson
C. the Seine
D. the Loire

2. In the line, "The change of Philomel, by the barbarous king", who is the king?
A. Tereus
B. Henry IV
C. Solomon
D. Edward

3. What is the Hofgarten?

A. a beach resort
B. a theater
C. a parade
D. a park

4. Where did the dead men lose "their bones"?

A. on a cloud
B. on the steppes of Mongolia
C. on Elizabeth's barge
D. in rats' alley

5. How many staves does the man have?

A. four
B. one
C. three
D. two

6. "the one_____ merchant"

A. eyed
B. eared
C. armed
D. legged

7. "That corpse you planted last year in your______”

A. park
B. menagerie
C. backyard
D. garden

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8. Which poet does Eliot quote at the end of "The Burial of the Dead"?
A. Rimbaud
B. Baudelaire
C. Cendrars
D. Hugo

9. "As a silk hat on a_______ millionaire"

A. New York
B. Paris
C. Bradford
D. London

10. "Consider ______, who was once handsome and tall as you."
A. Tereus
B. Prufrock
C. Phlebas
D. Sweeney

I I. In which section of the poem does that line appear?

A. The Fire Sermon
B. A Game of Chess
C. The Burial of the Dead
D. Death by Water

12. What is the title of the poem's fifth and final section?
A. A Game of Chess
B. The Burial of the Dead
C. What the Thunder Said
D. Death by Water

13. What drags "its slimy belly on the bank"?

A. a rat
B. an eel
C. a dog
D. a snake

14. Who has a bad cold?

A. Prufrock
B. Madame Sosostris
C. Sweeney
D. Hamlet

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15. What is the Unreal City?
A. Moscow
B. New York
C. Prague
D. London

16. Each man in the crowd fixes his eyes before his:
A. companion's face
B. walking stick
C. hands
D. feet

17. What does Madame Sostris not find in her pack of cards?
A. The Lady of the Rocks
B. The Hanged Man
C. The Wheel
D. The one-eyed merchant

18. What fills "all the desert with inviolable voice"?

A. the nightingale
B. the swallow
C. the sparrow
D. Diana

19. "To________ then I came"

A. Venezuela
B. Carthage
C. Madrid
D. Vienna

20. Mylae was a battle in what war?

A. World War I
B. the Crimean War
C. World War II
D. the First Punic War

21. Phlebas is:

A. Amazonian
B. French
C. Phoenician
D. Hebrew

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22. "beating obedient / To______ hands"
A. lax
B. controlling
C. sympathetic
D. obedient

23. "What are the roots that clutch, what branches grow / Out of this stony rubbish?" Name
the section in which these lines appear.
A. A Game of Chess
B. The Burial of the Dead
C. What the Thunder Said
D. Death by Water

24. "The river's tent is broken: the last rangers of leaf / Clutch and sink into the wet hank."
Name the section.
A. The Fire Sermon
B. A Game of Chess
C. The Burial of the Dead
D. Death by Water

25. From what is the name "A Game of Chess" a quote?

A. Thomas Middleton's A Game of Chess
B. The Spanish Tragedie
C. Hamlet
D. Watteau's A Game of Checkers

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ANSWER KEY SET 4
I. (A) the name,
2. (A) Tereus
3. (D) a park
4. (D) in rats' alley
5. (C) three
6. (A) eyed
7. (D) garden
8. (B) Baudelaire
9. (C) Bradford
10. (C) Phlebas
11. (D) Death by Water
12. (C) What the Thunder Said
13. (A) a rat
14. (B) Madame Sosostris
15. (D) London
16. (D) feet
17. (B) The Hanged Man
18. (A) the nightingale
19. (B) Carthage
20. (D) the First Punic War
21. (C) Phoenician
22. (B) controlling
23. (B) The Burial of the Dead
24. (A) The Fire Sermon
25. (A) Thomas Middleton's A Game of Chess

PRACTICE MCQ at MCQ.Literariness.org

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