R. W. Emerson – Brahma – Exam Based MCQs
1. “Brahma” is written by: (UGC NET 2019; SET 2020; PGTRB 2021)
A) Walt Whitman
B) Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
C) R. W. Emerson
D) Robert Frost
Ans: C) R. W. Emerson
2. “Brahma” was first published in: (UGC NET 2018; SET 2019; PGTRB 2020)
A) 1857
B) 1845
C) 1865
D) 1836
Ans: A) 1857
3. The poem first appeared in: (SET 2020; PGTRB 2021; UGC NET 2022)
A) The Dial
B) Harper’s Magazine
C) The North American Review
D) The Atlantic Monthly
Ans: D) The Atlantic Monthly
4. Emerson originally composed the poem under the title: (UGC NET 2017; SET 2018; PGTRB 2019)
A) Song of the Soul
B) Hymn to Nature
C) Oversoul
D) Brahmin Song
Ans: A) Song of the Soul
5. “Brahma” is a poem of: (UGC NET 2019; SET 2020; PGTRB 2021)
A) 8 lines
B) 12 lines
C) 20 lines
D) 16 lines
Ans: D) 16 lines
6. The poem is divided into: (UGC NET 2018; SET 2019; PGTRB 2020)
A) 4 quatrains
B) 2 sestets
C) 8 couplets
D) 3 tercets
Ans: A) 4 quatrains
7. The poem is spoken in the voice of: (SET 2019; PGTRB 2020; UGC NET 2021)
A) Emerson himself
B) A Brahmin priest only
C) Brahma / the divine self
D) A dying soldier
Ans: C) Brahma / the divine self
8. The first line of the poem is: (UGC NET 2020; SET 2021; PGTRB 2022)
A) “Far or forgot to me is near,”
B) “If the red slayer think he slays,”
C) “They reckon ill who leave me out;”
D) “Find me, and turn thy back on heaven.”
Ans: B) “If the red slayer think he slays,”
9. The opening of the poem echoes which sacred text idea? (UGC NET 2018; SET 2019; PGTRB 2020)
A) The Bible’s Book of Psalms
B) The Bhagavad Gita / Hindu scripture idea of the soul not slain
C) The Iliad
D) The Quranic creation story only
Ans: B) The Bhagavad Gita / Hindu scripture idea of the soul not slain
10. In the poem, “slayer” and “slain” are presented as: (SET 2020; PGTRB 2021; UGC NET 2022)
A) Permanently opposed realities
B) Purely historical figures
C) Limited illusions in relation to the eternal self
D) Political enemies only
Ans: C) Limited illusions in relation to the eternal self
11. Emerson’s poem is deeply influenced by: (UGC NET 2019; SET 2020; PGTRB 2021)
A) Greek mythology only
B) Hindu / Upanishadic philosophy
C) Roman law
D) Medieval scholasticism only
Ans: B) Hindu / Upanishadic philosophy
12. The line “Shadow and sunlight are the same” suggests: (UGC NET 2018; SET 2019; PGTRB 2020)
A) Nature is boring
B) Day is better than night
C) The divine transcends worldly opposites
D) Only light exists
Ans: C) The divine transcends worldly opposites
13. “Far or forgot to me is near” expresses the idea that Brahma is: (SET 2019; PGTRB 2020; UGC NET 2021)
A) Bound by time and distance
B) Afraid of forgetfulness
C) Beyond ordinary human categories of time and space
D) Only near to priests
Ans: C) Beyond ordinary human categories of time and space
14. “The vanished gods to me appear” suggests: (UGC NET 2020; SET 2021; PGTRB 2022)
A) Polytheism has ended forever
B) Ancient gods are greater than Brahma
C) Brahma is limited by mythology
D) All deities and forms are subsumed in the universal divine
Ans: D) All deities and forms are subsumed in the universal divine
15. The line “And one to me are shame and fame” means: (UGC NET 2018; SET 2019; PGTRB 2020)
A) Fame is always superior
B) Shame should be feared
C) Social opposites lose meaning before the absolute
D) Human society is perfect
Ans: C) Social opposites lose meaning before the absolute
16. The statement “I am the doubter and the doubt” shows Brahma as: (SET 2020; PGTRB 2021; UGC NET 2022)
A) Confused and weak
B) Present in both subject and object
C) A skeptic only
D) An atheist speaker
Ans: B) Present in both subject and object
17. “And I the hymn the Brahmin sings” indicates: (UGC NET 2019; SET 2020; PGTRB 2021)
A) Ritual exists apart from the divine
B) The divine is immanent in worship itself
C) Only priests can know truth
D) Poetry is irrelevant to religion
Ans: B) The divine is immanent in worship itself
18. The poem is best understood as a statement of Emerson’s: (UGC NET 2018; SET 2019; PGTRB 2020)
A) Realism
B) Naturalism
C) Puritan orthodoxy only
D) Transcendentalism
Ans: D) Transcendentalism
19. Emerson’s Brahma most closely resembles the concept of: (SET 2019; PGTRB 2020; UGC NET 2021)
A) The Over-Soul / universal spirit
B) A national hero
C) A tragic protagonist
D) A comic narrator
Ans: A) The Over-Soul / universal spirit
20. The poem’s rhyme scheme in each quatrain is mainly: (UGC NET 2020; SET 2021; PGTRB 2022)
A) AABB
B) ABAB
C) ABBA
D) ABCB
Ans: B) ABAB
21. The poem’s central paradox is that: (UGC NET 2018; SET 2019; PGTRB 2020)
A) God is absent from the world
B) Death and separation are ultimately unreal from the divine perspective
C) Humans can defeat Brahma
D) Fame is more important than shame
Ans: B) Death and separation are ultimately unreal from the divine perspective
22. The poem’s diction is notable for being: (SET 2020; PGTRB 2021; UGC NET 2022)
A) Highly colloquial and comic
B) Legalistic and dry
C) Simple but philosophically dense
D) Purely narrative and descriptive
Ans: C) Simple but philosophically dense
23. The pronoun “I” in the poem refers to: (UGC NET 2019; SET 2020; PGTRB 2021)
A) Emerson as a lecturer
B) A human Brahmin only
C) The universal divine speaker
D) A dead warrior
Ans: C) The universal divine speaker
24. The poem challenges which Western habit of thought most directly? (UGC NET 2018; SET 2019; PGTRB 2020)
A) Monism
B) Non-dualism
C) Dualistic oppositions
D) Mysticism
Ans: C) Dualistic oppositions
25. “When me they fly, I am the wings” suggests Brahma’s: (SET 2019; PGTRB 2020; UGC NET 2021)
A) Weakness before fear
B) Immanence and inescapability
C) Desire for revenge
D) Physical movement only
Ans: B) Immanence and inescapability
26. Which pair is treated as equal in the poem? (UGC NET 2020; SET 2021; PGTRB 2022)
A) Rich and poor only
B) East and west only
C) Shadow and sunlight
D) Earth and Mars
Ans: C) Shadow and sunlight
27. The poem’s tone is best described as: (UGC NET 2018; SET 2019; PGTRB 2020)
A) Mystical and authoritative
B) Comic and mocking
C) Bitter and angry
D) Purely sentimental
Ans: A) Mystical and authoritative
28. Emerson’s use of Brahma indicates his interest in: (SET 2020; PGTRB 2021; UGC NET 2022)
A) Roman history
B) Eastern religious thought
C) Elizabethan drama
D) Political reform only
Ans: B) Eastern religious thought
29. The poem is not mainly about: (UGC NET 2019; SET 2020; PGTRB 2021)
A) The unity of existence
B) Spiritual identity
C) Transcendence of opposites
D) Romantic love story
Ans: D) Romantic love story
30. The phrase “They reckon ill who leave me out” means: (UGC NET 2018; SET 2019; PGTRB 2020)
A) People calculate badly when they ignore the divine reality
B) Mathematics is wrong
C) Priests are always mistaken
D) Doubt is impossible
Ans: A) People calculate badly when they ignore the divine reality
31. The poem may be read as a poetic version of Emerson’s essay concept of: (SET 2019; PGTRB 2020; UGC NET 2021)
A) Self-Reliance only
B) The Over-Soul
C) The American Scholar only
D) Compensation only
Ans: B) The Over-Soul
32. Emerson’s “Brahma” is best classified as: (UGC NET 2020; SET 2021; PGTRB 2022)
A) Dramatic monologue with mystical-philosophical content
B) Ballad of war
C) Pastoral elegy
D) Sonnet
Ans: A) Dramatic monologue with mystical-philosophical content
33. The poem’s emphasis on unity is closest to: (UGC NET 2018; SET 2019; PGTRB 2020)
A) Materialism
B) Monism / non-dual thought
C) Utilitarianism
D) Realpolitik
Ans: B) Monism / non-dual thought
34. Which statement is TRUE about “Brahma”? (SET 2020; PGTRB 2021; UGC NET 2022)
A) It is a dramatic satire on churches
B) It is a war poem about Indian history
C) It is a philosophical lyric influenced by Hindu thought
D) It is a narrative poem about a traveler
Ans: C) It is a philosophical lyric influenced by Hindu thought
35. The poem’s brevity combined with density makes it: (UGC NET 2019; SET 2020; PGTRB 2021)
A) Easy satire only
B) A compressed mystical statement
C) A long narrative epic
D) A plain devotional hymn only
Ans: B) A compressed mystical statement
36. Emerson’s interest in Brahma reflects his broader engagement with: (UGC NET 2018; SET 2019; PGTRB 2020)
A) Scientific laboratories
B) Ancient Roman law
C) Oriental/Eastern scriptures and philosophy
D) Industrial engineering
Ans: C) Oriental/Eastern scriptures and philosophy
37. The poem was composed in: (SET 2020; PGTRB 2021; UGC NET 2022)
A) 1856
B) 1841
C) 1861
D) 1820
Ans: A) 1856
38. The poem’s speaker may best be seen as transcending: (UGC NET 2019; SET 2020; PGTRB 2021)
A) Human language only
B) Historical time only
C) Death only
D) All binary oppositions
Ans: D) All binary oppositions
39. The poem’s philosophical core is that reality is: (UGC NET 2018; SET 2019; PGTRB 2020)
A) Fragmented and hopeless
B) A unified spiritual whole
C) Purely mechanical
D) Entirely material
Ans: B) A unified spiritual whole
40. “Brahma” is frequently studied as an example of: (SET 2020; PGTRB 2021; UGC NET 2022)
A) American Transcendentalist poetry
B) Elizabethan satire
C) Puritan jeremiad
D) Victorian dramatic monologue
Ans: A) American Transcendentalist poetry
41. The poem’s final line “Find me, and turn thy back on heaven” means: (UGC NET 2019; SET 2020; PGTRB 2021)
A) Heaven is denied
B) The seeker should reject religion
C) The true divine reality is beyond conventional notions of heaven
D) The poem ends in despair
Ans: C) The true divine reality is beyond conventional notions of heaven
42. The poem’s perspective is most nearly: (UGC NET 2018; SET 2019; PGTRB 2020)
A) Human and limited
B) Comic and social
C) Absolute and cosmic
D) Historical and political
Ans: C) Absolute and cosmic
43. The poem’s use of paradox mainly serves to: (SET 2020; PGTRB 2021; UGC NET 2022)
A) Confuse the reader without purpose
B) Express the ineffable nature of ultimate truth
C) Mock religion only
D) Tell a simple story
Ans: B) Express the ineffable nature of ultimate truth
44. Emerson’s “Brahma” especially rejects the distinction between: (UGC NET 2019; SET 2020; PGTRB 2021)
A) Science and art only
B) Rural and urban life only
C) Life and death as absolute opposites
D) Poetry and prose only
Ans: C) Life and death as absolute opposites
45. The poem’s religious-philosophical background makes it especially relevant to: (UGC NET 2018; SET 2019; PGTRB 2020)
A) Comparative religion and philosophy
B) Sports studies
C) Criminal law
D) Linguistics only
Ans: A) Comparative religion and philosophy
46. “Brahma” is NOT mainly a poem about: (SET 2020; PGTRB 2021; UGC NET 2022)
A) Divine immanence
B) Unity of being
C) Spiritual transcendence
D) Romantic courtship
Ans: D) Romantic courtship
47. The best short label for the poem is: (UGC NET 2019; SET 2020; PGTRB 2021)
A) Mystical-philosophical lyric
B) Comic ballad
C) Mock epic
D) Pastoral idyll
Ans: A) Mystical-philosophical lyric
48. The poem most strongly asserts that the divine is: (UGC NET 2018; SET 2019; PGTRB 2020)
A) Distant and unreachable only
B) Limited to temples
C) Present everywhere and in all states
D) Hostile to doubt
Ans: C) Present everywhere and in all states
49. Which is TRUE about “Brahma”? (SET 2020; PGTRB 2021; UGC NET 2022)
A) It is a 16-line Emerson poem influenced by Hindu thought
B) It is a Shakespearean sonnet
C) It is a novel chapter
D) It is a medieval hymn
Ans: A) It is a 16-line Emerson poem influenced by Hindu thought
50. The poem’s overall message is that: (UGC NET 2019; SET 2020; PGTRB 2021)
A) Human categories are final
B) Fame alone matters
C) Ritual is empty
D) Ultimate reality is one, all-pervading, and beyond opposites
Ans: D) Ultimate reality is one, all-pervading, and beyond opposites
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