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George Orwell - Quiz
Contributed by: Guy
  • 1. In which year was George Orwell born?
A) 1920
B) 1910
C) 1903
D) 1945
  • 2. What is George Orwell's real name?
A) Eric Arthur Blair
B) Alexander Pushkin
C) George Herman Ruth Jr.
D) Winston Churchill
  • 3. Where was George Orwell born?
A) France
B) USA
C) England
D) India
  • 4. Which war did George Orwell fight in?
A) Vietnam War
B) Gulf War
C) Spanish Civil War
D) World War I
  • 5. Which other famous author was a close friend of George Orwell?
A) J.K. Rowling
B) Aldous Huxley
C) Jane Austen
D) Stephen King
  • 6. What is the subtitle of George Orwell's novel 'Animal Farm'?
A) A Historical Biography
B) A Science Fiction Novel
C) A Fairy Story
D) A Thriller
  • 7. What is the first name of the protagonist in '1984'?
A) Rick
B) Winston
C) Sam
D) Tom
  • 8. What was George Orwell's job in Burma?
A) Pilot
B) Police Officer
C) Chef
D) Architect
  • 9. What is the name of the farm in the novel 'Animal Farm'?
A) Happy Farm
B) Manor Farm
C) Green Pastures Farm
D) Paradise Meadows Farm
  • 10. What is the fictional language created by George Orwell in '1984'?
A) Newspeak
B) Wordplay
C) Dreamwords
D) Cooltalk
  • 11. What is the name of the leader of Animal Farm?
A) Napoleon
B) Julius
C) Alexander
D) Abraham
  • 12. In which year did George Orwell pass away?
A) 1970
B) 1980
C) 1950
D) 1960
  • 13. What pen name did Eric Arthur Blair use for his writing?
A) George Orwell
B) Arthur Orwell
C) Eric Blair
D) E.A. Blair
  • 14. In which year was George Orwell's dystopian novel 'Nineteen Eighty-Four' published?
A) 1945
B) 1950
C) 1938
D) 1949
  • 15. What is the title of George Orwell's work that documents his experience in industrial Northern England?
A) The Road to Wigan Pier
B) Homage to Catalonia
C) Nineteen Eighty-Four
D) Animal Farm
  • 16. Which term, coined by George Orwell, describes totalitarian and authoritarian social practices?
A) Doublethink
B) Orwellian
C) Big Brother
D) Newspeak
  • 17. Who was George Orwell's principal tutor at Eton?
A) Aldous Huxley
B) Cyril Connolly
C) A. S. F. Gow
D) Steven Runciman
  • 18. What was George Orwell's father's occupation in the Indian Civil Service?
A) Doctor
B) Teacher
C) Lawyer
D) Sub-Deputy Opium Agent
  • 19. Where did Eric Blair first meet Cyril Connolly?
A) Eton College
B) Wellington College
C) Henley-on-Thames school
D) St Cyprian's School
  • 20. Which school did George Orwell attend as a day student at age five?
A) A Catholic convent in Henley-on-Thames
B) Eton College
C) St Cyprian's School
D) Wellington College
  • 21. What was the relationship between George Orwell and Jacintha Buddicom?
A) Cousins
B) Teacher-student
C) Classmates only
D) Adolescent sweethearts
  • 22. Which school did Eric Blair attend after St Cyprian's and before Eton?
A) Harrow School
B) Henley Grammar School
C) Wellington College
D) Shiplake College
  • 23. What was the name of George Orwell's essay based on his time at St Cyprian's?
A) Such, Such Were the Joys
B) Animal Farm
C) Homage to Catalonia
D) The Road to Wigan Pier
  • 24. Which of George Orwell's works is an account of his experiences in the Spanish Civil War?
A) Nineteen Eighty-Four
B) Homage to Catalonia
C) The Road to Wigan Pier
D) Animal Farm
  • 25. What was George Orwell's family background described as?
A) Lower-upper-middle class
B) Working-class
C) Upper-class
D) Middle-class
  • 26. What was the name of George Orwell's first published magazine at Eton?
A) College Days
B) Bubble and Squeak
C) The Election Times
D) Eton Wall Game
  • 27. Which university did George Orwell not attend due to financial constraints?
A) University of London
B) Cambridge University
C) None, he did not go to university
D) Oxford University
  • 28. What was the profession of George Orwell's grandfather, Thomas Richard Arthur Blair?
A) Opium agent
B) Teacher
C) Anglican clergyman
D) Lawyer
  • 29. In which year did George Orwell join the Indian Imperial Police in Burma?
A) 1925
B) 1919
C) 1922
D) 1930
  • 30. What was the name of the ship on which George Orwell sailed to Burma?
A) SS Britannia
B) SS Empire
C) SS Herefordshire
D) SS India
  • 31. Where did George Orwell receive his police training in Burma?
A) Katha
B) Maymyo
C) Mandalay
D) Rangoon
  • 32. What was the monthly salary of George Orwell when he completed his training?
A) Rs. 740
B) Rs. 600
C) Rs. 525
D) Rs. 800
  • 33. Which town in Burma was known for having the refinery of the Burmah Oil Company?
A) Maymyo
B) Katha
C) Syriam
D) Moulmein
  • 34. What did George Orwell adopt in Burma that he kept for the rest of his life?
A) No facial hair
B) A pencil moustache
C) Sideburns
D) A beard
  • 35. What did George Orwell's tattoos look like?
A) Dragon designs on his arms
B) Crosses on his wrists
C) Stars on his shoulders
D) Small untidy blue circles on each knuckle
  • 36. In which month and year did George Orwell resign from the Indian Imperial Police?
A) December 1929
B) March 1928
C) September 1926
D) July 1927
  • 37. Which novel by George Orwell was based on his experiences in the Burma police?
A) Animal Farm
B) 1984
C) Homage to Catalonia
D) Burmese Days
  • 38. What did George Orwell write about his experience of executing a prisoner?
A) Burmese Days
B) "A Hanging"
C) Keep the Aspidistra Flying
D) "Shooting an Elephant"
  • 39. Which ethnic group's churches did George Orwell attend in Burma?
A) Indian
B) Karen
C) Chinese
D) Burmese
  • 40. What was the name of the town where George Orwell's maternal grandmother lived?
A) Katha
B) Rangoon
C) Maymyo
D) Moulmein
  • 41. Which author did Orwell consider to be about as good a novelist as one can be today, despite holding 'untenable opinions'?
A) Graham Greene
B) Herman Melville
C) Mark Twain
D) Evelyn Waugh
  • 42. Which city did Orwell visit quickly after his stay in Wigan?
A) Barnsley
B) Sheffield
C) Manchester
D) Liverpool
  • 43. Who described George Orwell and Richard Rees as 'moth-eaten and prematurely aged'?
A) Mabel Fierz
B) Elizaveta Fen
C) Rosalind Obermeyer
D) Cyril Connolly
  • 44. Which political leader's military uprising concerned Orwell in 1936?
A) Francisco Franco
B) John Strachey
C) Harry Pollitt
D) Oswald Mosley
  • 45. Who visited Orwell in March 1949 at the sanatorium?
A) Sonia Brownell
B) Eileen Blair
C) Celia Kirwan
D) Ann Popham
  • 46. Where did George Orwell return to England from in December 1929?
A) Paris
B) Bramley
C) London
D) Southwold
  • 47. Which journal published George Orwell's first article as a professional writer?
A) Le Progrès Civique
B) G. K.'s Weekly
C) New Adelphi
D) Monde
  • 48. Which government department did Celia Kirwan work for when she visited Orwell?
A) Foreign Office
B) Information Research Department (IRD)
C) Home Office
D) Ministry of Defence
  • 49. What was the title of George Orwell's first published essay in English?
A) "La Censure en Angleterre"
B) "How the Poor Die"
C) "A Farthing Newspaper"
D) "The Spike"
  • 50. Who helped Orwell secure accommodation on the island of Jura?
A) Isaac Deutscher
B) David Astor
C) E. H. Carr
D) Barbara Ward
  • 51. Who ran the second-hand bookshop where Orwell worked?
A) Jon Kimche
B) Richard Rees
C) Francis and Myfanwy Westrope
D) Nellie Limouzin
  • 52. In which year was Orwell listed at number 8 on the BBC's The Big Read poll?
A) 2003
B) 1984
C) 2021
D) 2011
  • 53. Who complimented George Orwell's 'clarity and good sense' in a review of 'Down and Out in Paris and London'?
A) T. S. Eliot
B) Max Plowman
C) Cecil Day-Lewis
D) Richard Rees
  • 54. Which magazine accepted George Orwell's work "The Spike" for publication?
A) Le Progrès Civique
B) Monde
C) New Adelphi
D) G. K.'s Weekly
  • 55. Which hospital did George Orwell go to when he fell seriously ill in February 1929?
A) Hôpital Cochin
B) Rue du Pot de Fer Clinic
C) Portobello Road Hospital
D) Southwold General Hospital
  • 56. Who found George Orwell a flat in Parliament Hill?
A) Rosalind Obermeyer
B) Nellie Limouzin
C) Francis Westrope
D) Mabel Fierz
  • 57. Which novel did George Orwell's experiences at the bookshop contribute to?
A) 1984
B) Animal Farm
C) Burmese Days
D) Keep the Aspidistra Flying
  • 58. Where did Orwell move to live on 22 May 1946?
A) London
B) Barnhill, Jura
C) Manchester
D) Shanghai
  • 59. What was the title of George Orwell's first article to appear in England?
A) "The Spike"
B) "A Farthing Newspaper"
C) "La Censure en Angleterre"
D) "How the Poor Die"
  • 60. What illness did George Orwell contract after a motorcycle trip that developed into pneumonia?
A) Influenza
B) Bronchitis
C) Tuberculosis
D) A chill
  • 61. Where did George Orwell settle back into after returning to England?
A) A flat in London
B) The family home at Southwold
C) A cottage near Cambridge
D) An apartment in Paris
  • 62. Who was the clergyman's daughter that George Orwell became acquainted with in Southwold?
A) Eleanor Jacques
B) Mabel Fierz
C) Ruth Pitter
D) Brenda Salkeld
  • 63. What new medicine was used to treat Orwell's tuberculosis?
A) Streptomycin
B) Penicillin
C) Morphine
D) Aspirin
  • 64. What was the side effect Orwell experienced from streptomycin treatment?
A) Toxic epidermal necrolysis
B) Anemia
C) Hypertension
D) Diabetes
  • 65. Who did Orwell marry on 9 June 1936?
A) Sylvia Townsend Warner
B) Eileen O'Shaughnessy
C) Aunt Nellie
D) Joan Rees
  • 66. What type of man did Orwell associate the face he saw in Dickens's writing with?
A) A religious zealot
B) A nineteenth-century liberal, a free intelligence
C) An indifferent observer
D) A conservative traditionalist
  • 67. Where did George Orwell stay when he first arrived in Manchester?
A) Over a tripe shop
B) In Wigan
C) A common lodging-house
D) At Aunt Nellie's cottage
  • 68. What was the reason Victor Gollancz turned down 'Burmese Days'?
A) Poor writing quality
B) Lack of interest in the subject matter
C) Financial constraints
D) Potential suits for libel
  • 69. What activity did Orwell enjoy outside of writing, as revealed four years later?
A) Hunting
B) Fishing
C) Cooking
D) Gardening
  • 70. Which publishing house published 'Down and Out in Paris and London' on 9 January 1933?
A) Faber & Faber
B) Adelphi
C) Victor Gollancz Ltd
D) Harper & Brothers
  • 71. In which arrondissement of Paris did George Orwell live during early 1928?
A) 7th arrondissement
B) 9th arrondissement
C) 3rd arrondissement
D) 5th arrondissement
  • 72. Who were George Orwell's flatmates at 50 Lawford Road?
A) Jon Kimche and Richard Rees
B) Michael Sayers and Rayner Heppenstall
C) Rosalind Obermeyer and Elizaveta Fen
D) Francis Westrope and Myfanwy Westrope
  • 73. Which author did Orwell describe as a 'good bad poet'?
A) Henry Miller
B) Evelyn Waugh
C) G. K. Chesterton
D) Rudyard Kipling
  • 74. What did Gollancz add to 'The Road to Wigan Pier' while Orwell was in Spain?
A) A disculpatory preface
B) An introduction by John McNair
C) A chapter on the Spanish Civil War
D) A foreword by Richard Rees
  • 75. What was the subject that became George Orwell's obsessive focus in his writings?
A) Literature
B) Politics
C) Poverty
D) War
  • 76. What was Sonia Brownell's health condition when she settled out of court in 1980?
A) She was hospitalized
B) She was in perfect health
C) She had fully recovered
D) She was becoming increasingly ill
  • 77. Which writer did Orwell criticize for devoting himself to 'Roman Catholic propaganda'?
A) Ralph Waldo Emerson
B) G. K. Chesterton
C) Arthur Koestler
D) George Gissing
  • 78. Which writer did George Orwell mention as the modern writer who influenced him most?
A) W. Somerset Maugham
B) D. H. Lawrence
C) T. S. Eliot
D) James Joyce
  • 79. Which organization was Orwell mistakenly thought to need papers from for crossing into Spain?
A) The Communist Party of Great Britain
B) The Special Branch
C) The Independent Labour Party
D) Some left-wing organisation
  • 80. In what year was Orwell's essay 'British Cookery' discovered in the British Council's archives?
A) 2000
B) 2019
C) 1946
D) 1984
  • 81. Which author did George Orwell admire and imitate when exploring poorer parts of London?
A) Jack London
B) Max Plowman
C) Ruth Pitter
D) Henri Barbusse
  • 82. What was the name of the tea-house run by George Orwell's sister Avril in Southwold?
A) A tea-house
B) A café
C) A bookstore
D) A bakery
  • 83. What did Orwell's list, given to Celia Kirwan, consist mainly of?
A) Anti-war activists
B) Communist leaders
C) Writers with pro-communist leanings
D) British politicians
  • 84. Where did George Orwell live while working at the bookshop?
A) Lawford Road, Kentish Town
B) Warwick Mansions, Pond Street
C) University College London
D) Parliament Hill
  • 85. What was the name of the group Orwell was a leading figure in?
A) Leftist Journalists Union
B) British Authors Society
C) London Writers' Guild
D) Shanghai Club
  • 86. When did George Orwell stop working at Booklovers' Corner?
A) End of January 1936
B) June 1935
C) Beginning of February 1935
D) August 1935
  • 87. Who shared the job with George Orwell at Booklovers' Corner?
A) Mabel Fierz
B) Richard Rees
C) Jon Kimche
D) Cyril Connolly
  • 88. What type of writing did George Orwell continually support himself through?
A) Novel-writing
B) Book-reviewing
C) Playwriting
D) Poetry
  • 89. Which illness did Orwell suffer from in February 1946?
A) Influenza
B) Tubercular haemorrhage
C) Bronchitis
D) Pneumonia
  • 90. What was the name of the cartoonist who drew strips for Animal Farm?
A) Gary Larson
B) Norman Pett
C) Charles Schulz
D) Jim Davis
  • 91. Where was the Adelphi Summer School held in 1936?
A) Langham
B) Manchester
C) Sheffield
D) Wigan
  • 92. Who gave George Orwell social and financial support while he lived in Paris?
A) Henri Barbusse
B) Ruth Pitter
C) Max Plowman
D) His aunt Ellen (Nellie) Kate Limouzin
  • 93. Where did Orwell go for a sanatorium treatment in January 1949?
A) Cranham, Gloucestershire
B) Shanghai
C) London
D) Manchester
  • 94. Who helped George Orwell find lodgings when he moved to London?
A) Henri Barbusse
B) Ellen Limouzin
C) John Middleton Murry
D) Ruth Pitter
  • 95. Who diagnosed Orwell with tuberculosis in December 1947?
A) Dr. John Smith
B) A chest specialist from Glasgow
C) An unnamed local doctor
D) David Astor
  • 96. Who did Orwell apply to unsuccessfully for papers to go to Spain?
A) Frank Meade
B) Harry Pollitt
C) Victor Gollancz
D) John McNair
  • 97. Which author did Orwell NOT mention in his essay on Charles Dickens?
A) Hemingway
B) Fielding
C) Defoe
D) Swift
  • 98. What was the name of Orwell's cottage in Wallington, Hertfordshire?
A) Headingley House
B) The Stores
C) Bryn Hall
D) Langham Cottage
  • 99. Which coal mine did Orwell visit in Wigan?
A) Grimethorpe
B) Langham
C) Bryn Hall
D) Headingley
  • 100. What was the title of George Orwell's essay based on his experiences at Hôpital Cochin?
A) "The Spike"
B) "A Farthing Newspaper"
C) "How the Poor Die"
D) "La Censure en Angleterre"
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