Patrick White – Voss – Exam Based MCQs
1. Voss is written by: (UGC NET 2018; SET 2019; PGTRB 2020)
A) David Malouf
B) Christina Stead
C) Patrick White
D) Thomas Keneally
Ans: C) Patrick White
2. Voss was first published in: (UGC NET 2017; SET 2018; PGTRB 2019)
A) 1957
B) 1948
C) 1962
D) 1973
Ans: A) 1957
3. The novel is set mainly in: (SET 2019; PGTRB 2020; UGC NET 2021)
A) South Africa
B) Canada
C) Ireland
D) Australia
Ans: D) Australia
4. Voss in the novel is portrayed as a: (UGC NET 2019; SET 2020; PGTRB 2021)
A) Naval officer
B) Explorer
C) Factory owner
D) Detective
Ans: B) Explorer
5. The novel is loosely based on the life of: (SET 2018; PGTRB 2019; UGC NET 2020)
A) Ludwig Leichhardt
B) Captain Cook
C) Charles Dickens
D) Marco Polo
Ans: A) Ludwig Leichhardt
6. Laura Trevelyan is best described as: (UGC NET 2018; SET 2020; PGTRB 2021)
A) A ship captain
B) A political leader
C) An orphaned young woman living with relatives
D) A courtroom lawyer
Ans: C) An orphaned young woman living with relatives
7. A key feature of the Voss–Laura relationship is: (UGC NET 2020; SET 2021; PGTRB 2022)
A) Purely business partnership
B) A spiritual/psychological bond beyond conventional romance
C) Only comic rivalry
D) Legal contract marriage
Ans: B) A spiritual/psychological bond beyond conventional romance
8. The novel contrasts most strongly: (UGC NET 2017; SET 2019; PGTRB 2020)
A) Sea life and piracy
B) Europe and America
C) City/colonial society and the outback expedition
D) School life and sports
Ans: C) City/colonial society and the outback expedition
9. The expedition aims mainly to cross: (SET 2019; PGTRB 2020; UGC NET 2021)
A) The Australian interior (outback)
B) The Sahara
C) The Alps
D) The Arctic
Ans: A) The Australian interior (outback)
10. Voss is often read as a novel of: (UGC NET 2019; SET 2020; PGTRB 2021)
A) Campus comedy
B) Pure detective mystery
C) Scientific journalism
D) Spiritual quest and inner exploration
Ans: D) Spiritual quest and inner exploration
11. The opening sections depict colonial society largely in: (SET 2020; PGTRB 2021; UGC NET 2022)
A) New South Wales / Sydney setting
B) Ancient Rome
C) Victorian London streets
D) Modern New York
Ans: A) New South Wales / Sydney setting
12. The Australian landscape in the novel often functions as: (UGC NET 2018; SET 2019; PGTRB 2020)
A) A mere background only
B) A symbolic and testing force shaping the human spirit
C) A comic prop
D) A fashionable trend
Ans: B) A symbolic and testing force shaping the human spirit
13. A major theme of Voss is: (UGC NET 2020; SET 2021; PGTRB 2022)
A) Exploration, obsession, and the limits of human will
B) Medieval chivalry
C) Romantic comedy
D) Sports coaching
Ans: A) Exploration, obsession, and the limits of human will
14. Patrick White is chiefly associated with: (SET 2018; PGTRB 2019; UGC NET 2020)
A) Caribbean literature
B) Japanese haiku
C) Australian literature
D) Nigerian drama
Ans: C) Australian literature
15. The bond between Voss and Laura is developed largely through: (UGC NET 2018; SET 2020; PGTRB 2021)
A) Continuous travel together
B) Letters/inner communication and imagination
C) Court hearings
D) Newspaper interviews
Ans: B) Letters/inner communication and imagination
16. The novel’s technique is often described as: (UGC NET 2019; SET 2020; PGTRB 2021)
A) Symbolic and modernist, with interior consciousness
B) Only diary entries
C) Only stage directions
D) Only news reports
Ans: A) Symbolic and modernist, with interior consciousness
17. Voss’s dominating trait is frequently seen as: (SET 2019; PGTRB 2020; UGC NET 2021)
A) Laziness
B) Pure humour
C) Obsessive ambition / pride
D) Timidity
Ans: C) Obsessive ambition / pride
18. The expedition is enabled largely by: (UGC NET 2017; SET 2018; PGTRB 2019)
A) A royal order from England
B) Colonial patrons/investors (e.g., Bonner as a key patron)
C) A circus group
D) A school committee
Ans: B) Colonial patrons/investors (e.g., Bonner as a key patron)
19. The novel suggests true “conquest” is often: (UGC NET 2020; SET 2021; PGTRB 2022)
A) Winning elections
B) Owning property
C) Self-knowledge and spiritual endurance
D) Only military victory
Ans: C) Self-knowledge and spiritual endurance
20. Patrick White received the Nobel Prize in Literature in: (UGC NET 2019; SET 2020; PGTRB 2021)
A) 1973
B) 1962
C) 1957
D) 1988
Ans: A) 1973
21. Voss is the ___ published novel of Patrick White: (SET 2018; PGTRB 2019; UGC NET 2020)
A) First
B) Fifth
C) Tenth
D) Second
Ans: B) Fifth
22. The genre/critical label often used for Voss is: (UGC NET 2018; SET 2019; PGTRB 2020)
A) Detective thriller
B) Pastoral comedy
C) Modernist symbolic novel / spiritual epic
D) Children’s fantasy
Ans: C) Modernist symbolic novel / spiritual epic
23. The “journey” motif in Voss most strongly symbolizes: (SET 2020; PGTRB 2021; UGC NET 2022)
A) Inner transformation and testing
B) Fashion trends
C) Sports training
D) Office routine
Ans: A) Inner transformation and testing
24. The outback is portrayed mainly as: (UGC NET 2017; SET 2018; PGTRB 2019)
A) A perfect utopia
B) A harsh, vast space of trial and revelation
C) A crowded industrial city
D) A seaside resort
Ans: B) A harsh, vast space of trial and revelation
25. The novel critiques, among other things: (UGC NET 2019; SET 2020; PGTRB 2021)
A) Space exploration
B) Classical Greek theatre
C) Human arrogance and colonial certainty
D) Only grammar rules
Ans: C) Human arrogance and colonial certainty
26. A common critical observation is that symbolism in Voss is often: (UGC NET 2019; SET 2021; PGTRB 2022)
A) Religious/spiritual in tone
B) Only mathematical
C) Only comic
D) Totally absent
Ans: A) Religious/spiritual in tone
27. Laura’s role is significant because she represents: (SET 2019; PGTRB 2020; UGC NET 2021)
A) Military command
B) Inner vision, empathy, and spiritual insight
C) Comic relief only
D) A mining entrepreneur
Ans: B) Inner vision, empathy, and spiritual insight
28. The story is set primarily in the: (UGC NET 2020; SET 2021; PGTRB 2022)
A) 20th century
B) 21st century
C) 19th century
D) 16th century
Ans: C) 19th century
29. The novel frequently blurs the boundary between: (UGC NET 2018; SET 2019; PGTRB 2020)
A) Cooking and gardening
B) Myth/outer journey and psychology/inner journey
C) Algebra and geometry
D) Sports and cinema
Ans: B) Myth/outer journey and psychology/inner journey
30. The tone of Voss is best described as: (SET 2020; PGTRB 2021; UGC NET 2022)
A) Light farce
B) Pure documentary realism
C) Serious, poetic, and symbolic
D) Only slapstick comedy
Ans: C) Serious, poetic, and symbolic
31. The expedition’s struggle most clearly suggests: (UGC NET 2017; SET 2018; PGTRB 2019)
A) Human desire to impose meaning on the unknown
B) Easy success without effort
C) A sports victory
D) Modern office routine
Ans: A) Human desire to impose meaning on the unknown
32. Laura and Voss meet initially at the house of Laura’s relative/patron: (UGC NET 2019; SET 2020; PGTRB 2021)
A) Harris
B) Mr Bonner
C) Mr Jarvis
D) Mr Kumalo
Ans: B) Mr Bonner
33. Voss is depicted as being originally from: (SET 2019; PGTRB 2020; UGC NET 2021)
A) Germany / Prussia (European origin)
B) India
C) Nigeria
D) Japan
Ans: A) Germany / Prussia (European origin)
34. A repeated conflict in the novel is between: (UGC NET 2020; SET 2021; PGTRB 2022)
A) Grammar and phonetics
B) Faith/intuition and rational control
C) Cinema and theatre
D) Banking and trade
Ans: B) Faith/intuition and rational control
35. The novel is best understood as combining physical exploration with: (SET 2018; PGTRB 2019; UGC NET 2020)
A) Only business strategy
B) Inner/metaphysical exploration
C) Only sports training
D) Only courtroom drama
Ans: B) Inner/metaphysical exploration
36. A probable outcome of pride in the novel’s moral vision is: (UGC NET 2018; SET 2020; PGTRB 2021)
A) Isolation and suffering
B) Instant wealth
C) Easy popularity
D) Only comedy
Ans: A) Isolation and suffering
37. White’s prose in Voss is frequently noted for: (UGC NET 2019; SET 2021; PGTRB 2022)
A) Being purely report-like
B) Psychological depth and poetic intensity
C) Only slang humour
D) Only scientific formulas
Ans: B) Psychological depth and poetic intensity
38. Voss is often studied as a key work of: (UGC NET 2020; SET 2021; PGTRB 2022)
A) Australian modern fiction
B) Medieval romance
C) Restoration comedy
D) Victorian detective fiction
Ans: A) Australian modern fiction
39. The psychological/spiritual link between Laura and Voss suggests: (UGC NET 2017; SET 2019; PGTRB 2020)
A) A transcendent bond beyond physical presence
B) No connection at all
C) Only financial partnership
D) Only comic misunderstanding
Ans: A) A transcendent bond beyond physical presence
40. The novel’s central movement is from: (SET 2020; PGTRB 2021; UGC NET 2022)
A) Prison to palace
B) Farm to factory
C) Colonial society to the wilderness expedition
D) School to university
Ans: C) Colonial society to the wilderness expedition
41. The “unknown” in Voss is best read as: (UGC NET 2018; SET 2019; PGTRB 2020)
A) Only a map problem
B) Both geographical and spiritual/metaphysical challenge
C) Only a city traffic issue
D) Only a love-letter puzzle
Ans: B) Both geographical and spiritual/metaphysical challenge
42. The novel is famous for heavy use of: (SET 2020; PGTRB 2021; UGC NET 2022)
A) Pure satire
B) Symbolism
C) Only dialogue
D) Only footnotes
Ans: B) Symbolism
43. The title Voss refers to: (UGC NET 2019; SET 2021; PGTRB 2022)
A) A city in Europe
B) A ship name
C) The explorer-figure at the center of the novel
D) A school principal
Ans: C) The explorer-figure at the center of the novel
44. A key idea throughout the novel is that the land can: (UGC NET 2020; SET 2021; PGTRB 2022)
A) Be conquered easily
B) Transform those who enter it
C) Offer only comfort
D) Be ignored completely
Ans: B) Transform those who enter it
45. The novel’s historical background is tied to: (SET 2019; PGTRB 2020; UGC NET 2021)
A) 19th-century Australian exploration culture
B) World War II Europe only
C) Renaissance Italy
D) Ancient Egypt
Ans: A) 19th-century Australian exploration culture
46. The novel’s “dual structure” largely follows: (UGC NET 2018; SET 2020; PGTRB 2021)
A) Only Voss’s diary
B) Voss’s expedition narrative and Laura’s inner life in society
C) Only courtroom scenes
D) Only comedy sketches
Ans: B) Voss’s expedition narrative and Laura’s inner life in society
47. Voss is widely considered one of White’s most: (UGC NET 2019; SET 2021; PGTRB 2022)
A) Lighthearted comic works
B) Symbolically rich and challenging novels
C) Children’s adventure tales
D) Simple romantic novellas
Ans: B) Symbolically rich and challenging novels
48. The novel can be viewed as subverting the “bush novel” tradition by: (SET 2018; PGTRB 2019; UGC NET 2020)
A) Making it purely a sports story
B) Turning exploration into a spiritual/metaphysical quest
C) Removing all symbolism
D) Setting it in a school campus
Ans: B) Turning exploration into a spiritual/metaphysical quest
49. Which is TRUE about Voss? (UGC NET 2019; SET 2020; PGTRB 2021)
A) It is a Gothic horror set in England
B) It is a social protest novel set in South Africa
C) It is an Australian novel of exploration and inner journey
D) It is a Restoration comedy
Ans: C) It is an Australian novel of exploration and inner journey
50. The overall meaning of Voss supports the idea that: (UGC NET 2020; SET 2021; PGTRB 2022)
A) Only maps matter in life
B) The human spirit is tested by the unknown, leading to inner revelation
C) Love is always easy and practical
D) Society has no role in shaping identity
Ans: B) The human spirit is tested by the unknown, leading to inner revelation
Let me know your doubts