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