Toru Dutt – Our Casuarina Tree – Exam Based MCQs
1. “Our Casuarina Tree” is a poem written by: (UGC NET 2017; SET 2019; PGTRB 2021)
A) Sarojini Naidu
B) Toru Dutt
C) Rabindranath Tagore
D) Kamala Das
Ans: B) Toru Dutt
2. Toru Dutt is best known as an early poet of: (UGC NET 2016; SET 2018)
A) American poetry
B) Indian English literature
C) African literature
D) Australian poetry
Ans: B) Indian English literature
3. “Our Casuarina Tree” is mainly a poem of: (PGTRB 2020; SET 2019)
A) Political satire
B) Nostalgia and memory
C) War propaganda
D) Industrial modernity
Ans: B) Nostalgia and memory
4. The Casuarina tree in the poem functions primarily as a: (UGC NET 2018; SET 2020; PGTRB 2022)
A) Symbol of childhood and lost home
B) Symbol of city life
C) Symbol of war
D) Symbol of industry
Ans: A) Symbol of childhood and lost home
5. The poem “Our Casuarina Tree” is often described as an: (SET 2017; UGC NET 2019)
A) Epic
B) Elegy
C) Mock-heroic
D) Ode to science
Ans: B) Elegy
6. The poem remembers the speaker’s: (UGC NET 2015; SET 2018)
A) Business success
B) Childhood scenes and family loss
C) City journeys
D) Political battles
Ans: B) Childhood scenes and family loss
7. The tree is personified and given a “voice” through the: (PGTRB 2019; SET 2021)
A) “murmuring” sound / music of its boughs
B) Sound of machines
C) City traffic
D) Silence of deserts
Ans: A) “murmuring” sound / music of its boughs
8. The poem contains strong elements of: (UGC NET 2017; SET 2019)
A) Romantic nature imagery
B) Futurism
C) Absurdism
D) Naturalism in fiction
Ans: A) Romantic nature imagery
9. The snake in the poem is described as: (SET 2016; UGC NET 2018; PGTRB 2020)
A) A symbol of factories
B) A “huge python” / an image of wild nature
C) A tame pet
D) A mythic dragon only
Ans: B) A “huge python” / an image of wild nature
10. The tree is associated with the poet’s: (UGC NET 2019; SET 2020)
A) School classrooms
B) Family and childhood home
C) Political office
D) Urban landscape
Ans: B) Family and childhood home
11. The poem is remembered for its blend of: (PGTRB 2021; SET 2018)
A) Nature description and personal grief
B) War and politics
C) Science and technology
D) Myth and epic battles
Ans: A) Nature description and personal grief
12. The Casuarina tree is described as growing: (SET 2017)
A) In the desert
B) Near the poet’s home in India
C) In London city
D) In a ship
Ans: B) Near the poet’s home in India
13. The poem begins with vivid description of: (UGC NET 2016; SET 2019)
A) A battlefield
B) The tree and its surroundings
C) A classroom
D) A railway station
Ans: B) The tree and its surroundings
14. The tone of the poem is best described as: (PGTRB 2019; SET 2020)
A) Comic
B) Nostalgic and mournful
C) Angry political
D) Ironic satire
Ans: B) Nostalgic and mournful
15. The poem’s central theme is the relationship between: (UGC NET 2018; SET 2021; PGTRB 2022)
A) Man and machine
B) Nature, memory, and loss
C) City and industry
D) Politics and power
Ans: B) Nature, memory, and loss
16. “Our Casuarina Tree” is commonly included in discussions of: (SET 2018; UGC NET 2017)
A) Early Indian English poetry
B) American modernism
C) Russian symbolism
D) African oral epics
Ans: A) Early Indian English poetry
17. The speaker wishes the tree to be: (PGTRB 2020; SET 2019)
A) Cut down
B) Immortalized in poetry
C) Sold for profit
D) Forgotten
Ans: B) Immortalized in poetry
18. The tree’s sound is compared to: (UGC NET 2015; SET 2017)
A) Musical harmony / sea-like murmur
B) Engine noise
C) Gunshots
D) City sirens
Ans: A) Musical harmony / sea-like murmur
19. The poem mixes personal emotion with: (SET 2018)
A) Scientific explanation
B) Detailed natural description
C) Political speech
D) Comic parody
Ans: B) Detailed natural description
20. The poem can best be classified as: (UGC NET 2019; SET 2020)
A) Nature lyric with elegiac strain
B) Drama
C) Satire
D) Epic romance
Ans: A) Nature lyric with elegiac strain
21. The “casuarina” is primarily valued in the poem for its: (SET 2019; PGTRB 2021)
A) Market price
B) Emotional associations
C) Political symbolism
D) Scientific rarity
Ans: B) Emotional associations
22. The poem connects memory to: (UGC NET 2018; SET 2020)
A) Machines
B) A physical landmark (the tree)
C) City streets
D) War trophies
Ans: B) A physical landmark (the tree)
23. The poet’s remembrance in “Our Casuarina Tree” is chiefly: (UGC NET 2017; PGTRB 2020)
A) Social reform
B) Personal and familial
C) Industrial and urban
D) Political and nationalistic
Ans: B) Personal and familial
24. The poem uses rich sensory imagery like: (SET 2018)
A) Smell, sound, and sight of nature
B) Only abstract concepts
C) Only industrial images
D) Only war images
Ans: A) Smell, sound, and sight of nature
25. The poem’s mood is strengthened by the idea of: (UGC NET 2019; SET 2021)
A) Celebration of victory
B) Loss and longing
C) Comic relief
D) Political campaign
Ans: B) Loss and longing
26. The poem reflects Toru Dutt’s: (PGTRB 2019; SET 2020)
A) Modernist experimentation
B) Romantic sensibility and attachment to nature
C) Postmodern irony
D) Naturalist determinism
Ans: B) Romantic sensibility and attachment to nature
27. The tree becomes a “memorial” for: (UGC NET 2016; SET 2019; PGTRB 2022)
A) Lost family members / childhood companions
B) War heroes
C) Political leaders
D) City monuments
Ans: A) Lost family members / childhood companions
28. The “tree” functions as a symbol of: (SET 2017)
A) Industrial progress
B) Enduring memory
C) Political power
D) Scientific discovery
Ans: B) Enduring memory
29. The poem’s speaker wishes the tree to be “remembered” through: (UGC NET 2018; SET 2020)
A) Poetry
B) Trade
C) Politics
D) Science
Ans: A) Poetry
30. “Our Casuarina Tree” is admired for its: (PGTRB 2021)
A) Dramatic plot
B) Lyrical description and emotional depth
C) Comic dialogue
D) Scientific argument
Ans: B) Lyrical description and emotional depth
31. The poem’s setting is primarily: (UGC NET 2017; SET 2018)
A) Rural / home surroundings in India
B) London streets
C) A battlefield
D) A factory
Ans: A) Rural / home surroundings in India
32. The poem’s “murmur” is linked with: (SET 2019; PGTRB 2020)
A) Mechanical noise
B) Natural music of the tree
C) Political slogans
D) City sirens
Ans: B) Natural music of the tree
33. The poem is often cited as an early example of: (UGC NET 2016; SET 2020)
A) Indian English Romantic lyric
B) Postcolonial satire
C) Modernist fragmentation
D) Absurd drama
Ans: A) Indian English Romantic lyric
34. The poem combines the personal with the universal by: (SET 2018; PGTRB 2022)
A) Turning private memory into art
B) Avoiding nature images
C) Using only political language
D) Rejecting emotion
Ans: A) Turning private memory into art
35. The poem’s emotional centre is the: (UGC NET 2019)
A) City life
B) Tree as a keeper of memories
C) War victory
D) Industrial growth
Ans: B) Tree as a keeper of memories
36. The Casuarina tree stands for: (SET 2021)
A) Forgetfulness
B) Continuity and remembrance
C) Political revolution
D) Economic trade
Ans: B) Continuity and remembrance
37. The poem’s nature imagery is used to express: (PGTRB 2020; SET 2019)
A) Personal grief and longing
B) Industrial success
C) Political propaganda
D) Scientific discovery
Ans: A) Personal grief and longing
38. The poem is primarily written in: (UGC NET 2017; SET 2018)
A) Prose
B) Verse
C) Dramatic dialogue
D) Scientific report
Ans: B) Verse
39. “Our Casuarina Tree” is significant because it: (UGC NET 2018; PGTRB 2021)
A) Rejects emotion
B) Blends Indian setting with English lyric tradition
C) Is a political manifesto
D) Is a comic epic
Ans: B) Blends Indian setting with English lyric tradition
40. The speaker’s purpose is to: (SET 2020; UGC NET 2019)
A) Condemn the tree
B) Preserve the tree’s memory in verse
C) Describe city life
D) Promote industry
Ans: B) Preserve the tree’s memory in verse
41. The poem is often interpreted as: (UGC NET 2016; SET 2019)
A) A patriotic anthem
B) A personal elegy with nature imagery
C) A modernist experiment
D) A political satire
Ans: B) A personal elegy with nature imagery
42. Toru Dutt is considered a pioneer because she wrote: (PGTRB 2022; SET 2021)
A) Early Indian English poetry with Western forms
B) Only medieval epics
C) Only modernist plays
D) Only political speeches
Ans: A) Early Indian English poetry with Western forms
43. The poem’s power comes from its: (UGC NET 2018; SET 2020)
A) Technical scientific detail
B) Emotional sincerity and imagery
C) Political argument
D) Humorous tone
Ans: B) Emotional sincerity and imagery
44. The Casuarina tree is remembered as a: (SET 2018; PGTRB 2019)
A) Marketplace object
B) Symbolic monument of memory
C) Political flag
D) Urban building
Ans: B) Symbolic monument of memory
45. The poem’s imagery includes: (UGC NET 2017; SET 2021)
A) Only machines
B) Birds, creepers, and natural sounds
C) Only city lights
D) Only war weapons
Ans: B) Birds, creepers, and natural sounds
46. “Our Casuarina Tree” is mainly about: (UGC NET 2019; SET 2020; PGTRB 2022)
A) Trade
B) Memory, loss, and the permanence of nature
C) War strategy
D) Political revolution
Ans: B) Memory, loss, and the permanence of nature
47. The poet’s attitude to the tree is one of: (SET 2019)
A) Indifference
B) Reverence and affection
C) Hatred
D) Mockery
Ans: B) Reverence and affection
48. The poem is important for PG/NET because it represents: (PGTRB 2020; UGC NET 2018)
A) Early Indian English poetic tradition
B) Only American poetry
C) Only medieval drama
D) Only linguistics
Ans: A) Early Indian English poetic tradition
49. The poem’s closing wish is that the tree should: (SET 2021; PGTRB 2022)
A) Be forgotten
B) Live in the poet’s verse and memory
C) Be cut for timber
D) Be sold
Ans: B) Live in the poet’s verse and memory
50. Overall, “Our Casuarina Tree” shows Toru Dutt’s strength in: (UGC NET 2020; SET 2021; PGTRB 2022)
A) Humorous satire
B) Blending nature imagery with personal remembrance
C) Political debate
D) Scientific exposition
Ans: B) Blending nature imagery with personal remembrance
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