MCQs on “Where the Mind is Without Fear”
Part A: Content & Line-by-Line Meaning (1–25)
Q1. The line “Where the mind is without fear” suggests:
A) A fearless society
B) A war-torn society
C) A society without education
D) A violent society
Q2. “Head is held high” symbolizes:
A) Pride in wealth
B) Self-respect and dignity
C) Arrogance
D) Political authority
Q3. “Knowledge is free” refers to:
A) No tuition fees
B) Equal right to education for all
C) Schools without rules
D) Education for the rich only
Q4. “The world has not been broken up into fragments” means:
A) No geographical divisions
B) No human-made boundaries like caste, religion, class
C) No oceans separating lands
D) No language differences
Q5. “Narrow domestic walls” symbolize:
A) House walls
B) Personal boundaries
C) Communal and social divisions
D) City borders
Q6. “Words come out from the depth of truth” emphasizes:
A) Poetry writing
B) Honest and sincere speech
C) Loud speech
D) Small talk
Q7. “Tireless striving stretches its arms” means:
A) People sleep less
B) Continuous hard work for perfection
C) People are lazy
D) Arms growing stronger
Q8. “Clear stream of reason” symbolizes:
A) Fresh water
B) Logical and rational thinking
C) River in Bengal
D) Religious chanting
Q9. “Dreary desert sand of dead habit” refers to:
A) Actual desert
B) Old, lifeless customs and traditions
C) Dry farmland
D) Deserted towns
Q10. “Mind is led forward by thee” indicates:
A) God guiding human thoughts
B) Teacher leading students
C) Parents guiding children
D) Leader guiding soldiers
Q11. “Ever-widening thought and action” means:
A) Expanding horizons of knowledge and deeds
B) Physical expansion of cities
C) Broadening farmland
D) Increasing family size
Q12. “Heaven of freedom” is a metaphor for:
A) Heaven after death
B) A perfect free nation
C) A rich land
D) A paradise with luxury
Q13. The word “Father” in the last line is an address to:
A) Poet’s father
B) God
C) British rulers
D) Teacher
Q14. The entire poem is written in the form of:
A) Dialogue
B) Prayer
C) Letter
D) Story
Q15. Which word is most repeated at the beginning of lines?
A) Freedom
B) Truth
C) Where
D) Knowledge
Q16. The poem expresses:
A) Humour
B) Anger
C) Vision of an ideal nation
D) Personal sadness
Q17. The phrase “mind without fear” connects with:
A) Political freedom
B) Freedom from mental slavery
C) Freedom from superstitions
D) All of the above
Q18. “Fragments” in the poem refers to:
A) Broken pieces of glass
B) Divided nations and societies
C) Parts of a book
D) Torn clothes
Q19. “Depth of truth” implies:
A) Shallow honesty
B) Superficial truth
C) Complete sincerity
D) Religious verses
Q20. The poet’s main prayer is for:
A) Wealth
B) Power
C) Freedom and enlightenment of his country
D) Friendship with Britain
Q21. The poem suggests that customs become dangerous when they are:
A) Scientific
B) Dead and lifeless
C) New
D) Practical
Q22. The “stream of reason” can lose its way if:
A) It dries
B) It enters old habits
C) It flows too fast
D) It rains heavily
Q23. “Ever-widening” thought refers to:
A) Stagnant thought
B) Expanding wisdom
C) Political propaganda
D) Narrow thinking
Q24. “Awake” in the last line means:
A) Literally waking up from sleep
B) Becoming aware, enlightened, and free
C) Morning time
D) Shouting loudly
Q25. The whole poem can be best described as:
A) Nationalist hymn
B) Personal diary
C) A comic verse
D) An elegy
Answer Key (1-25)
| Question | Answer | Question | Answer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | A | 14 | B |
| 2 | B | 15 | C |
| 3 | B | 16 | C |
| 4 | B | 17 | D |
| 5 | C | 18 | B |
| 6 | B | 19 | C |
| 7 | B | 20 | C |
| 8 | B | 21 | B |
| 9 | B | 22 | B |
| 10 | A | 23 | B |
| 11 | A | 24 | B |
| 12 | B | 25 | A |
| 13 | B |
Part B: Literary Devices (26–45)
Q26. The poem “Where the Mind is Without Fear” is mainly written in:
A) Sonnet form
B) Free verse
C) Rhymed couplets
D) Blank verse
Q27. The device used in “head is held high” is:
A) Metaphor
B) Simile
C) Personification
D) Hyperbole
Q28. The device in “dreary desert sand of dead habit” is:
A) Simile
B) Metaphor
C) Onomatopoeia
D) Oxymoron
Q29. The poem uses the repeated word “Where” at the beginning of lines. This is:
A) Epistrophe
B) Anaphora
C) Irony
D) Enjambment
Q30. “Stream of reason” is an example of:
A) Personification
B) Symbolism and metaphor
C) Pun
D) Paradox
Q31. “Tireless striving stretches its arms” is:
A) Simile
B) Personification
C) Apostrophe
D) Metonymy
Q32. The “walls” in the poem symbolize:
A) Houses
B) Social and communal barriers
C) Temples
D) Natural rocks
Q33. The poem contains which sound device?
A) Alliteration
B) Onomatopoeia
C) Rhyme scheme
D) Consonance only
Q34. Example of alliteration:
A) Heaven of freedom
B) Clear stream
C) Head is held high
D) Lost its way
Q35. The whole poem is a kind of:
A) Satire
B) Prayer/Invocation
C) Story
D) Dialogue
Q36. Imagery is found in:
A) Stream, desert, arms, heaven
B) Only desert
C) Only heaven
D) Only arms
Q37. “Father” at the end is an example of:
A) Apostrophe
B) Personification
C) Hyperbole
D) Euphemism
Q38. The poem is addressed to:
A) God
B) People
C) King
D) Teacher
Q39. The central contrast of the poem is between:
A) Old customs vs. new fashions
B) Reason vs. dead habit
C) Science vs. arts
D) Religion vs. politics
Q40. “Dreary desert” creates an effect of:
A) Emptiness and lifelessness
B) Joy
C) Abundance
D) Fertility
Q41. Which device gives the poem its rhythmic, prayer-like quality?
A) Rhyme scheme
B) Anaphora
C) Alliteration only
D) Couplet form
Q42. The metaphor “heaven of freedom” means:
A) Paradise after death
B) Ideal society of liberty and dignity
C) Heaven in religion
D) Sky
Q43. Personification in “striving stretches its arms” gives striving:
A) Animal qualities
B) Human qualities
C) Plant qualities
D) Machine qualities
Q44. The poem blends:
A) Politics and humour
B) Nationalism and spirituality
C) War and satire
D) Comedy and tragedy
Q45. The tone of the poem is:
A) Angry
B) Visionary and prayerful
C) Sarcastic
D) Humorous
Anwer Key (26-45)
| Question | Answer | Question | Answer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 26 | B | 36 | A |
| 27 | A | 37 | A |
| 28 | B | 38 | A |
| 29 | B | 39 | B |
| 30 | B | 40 | A |
| 31 | B | 41 | B |
| 32 | B | 42 | B |
| 33 | A | 43 | B |
| 34 | C | 44 | B |
| 35 | B | 45 | B |
Part C: Publication & Background (46–60)
Q46. The poem was first written in which language?
A) Hindi
B) Bengali
C) Sanskrit
D) English
Q47. Original Bengali title of the poem was:
A) Amar Shonar Bangla
B) Prarthana
C) Naibedya
D) Jana Gana Mana
Q48. The Bengali version was published in:
A) 1895
B) 1901
C) 1911
D) 1912
Q49. The collection where it first appeared in Bengali was:
A) Gitanjali
B) Naibedya
C) Balaka
D) Ghare-Baire
Q50. Tagore translated the poem into English in:
A) 1901
B) 1911
C) 1912
D) 1917
Q51. The English translation was published in:
A) Balaka
B) Gitanjali (1912 English edition)
C) Naibedya
D) Ghare-Baire
Q52. In the English Gitanjali, it is the:
A) 5th poem
B) 25th poem
C) 35th poem
D) 50th poem
Q53. Tagore recited the English version at:
A) UN General Assembly
B) Indian National Congress, Calcutta, 1917
C) Jallianwala Bagh
D) Visva-Bharati
Q54. At the 1917 reading, the poem was titled:
A) Gitanjali
B) Indian Prayer
C) Freedom Song
D) Universal Prayer
Q55. Which award did Tagore later receive for Gitanjali?
A) Booker Prize
B) Nobel Prize in Literature, 1913
C) Bharat Ratna
D) Sahitya Akademi Award
Q56. Tagore’s nationality was:
A) Bangladeshi
B) British
C) Indian
D) Sri Lankan
Q57. The core inspiration for the poem was:
A) India’s struggle for freedom
B) Tagore’s childhood
C) Love story
D) European war
Q58. The poem’s message is still relevant today because it speaks against:
A) Scientific growth
B) Social divisions and blind traditions
C) Democracy
D) Poetry writing
Q59. Tagore’s vision in this poem is:
A) National only
B) Universal humanist
C) Political only
D) Materialistic
Q60. The structure of the poem in English is:
A) Several stanzas
B) A single long sentence
C) A sonnet of 14 lines
D) Rhymed quatrains
Anwer Key (45-60)
| Question | Answer | Question | Answer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 46 | B | 54 | B |
| 47 | B | 55 | B |
| 48 | B | 56 | C |
| 49 | B | 57 | A |
| 50 | B | 58 | B |
| 51 | B | 59 | B |
| 52 | C | 60 | B |
| 53 | B |
Part D: About the Poet (61–75)
Q61. Rabindranath Tagore was born in:
A) 1861
B) 1875
C) 1885
D) 1901
Q62. Tagore passed away in:
A) 1911
B) 1921
C) 1941
D) 1951
Q63. Tagore’s nickname was:
A) Gurudev
B) Netaji
C) Mahatma
D) Kabir
Q64. Tagore founded which university?
A) JNU
B) Nalanda
C) Visva-Bharati University
D) Presidency University
Q65. He renounced his knighthood after:
A) Partition of Bengal
B) Jallianwala Bagh massacre
C) Salt March
D) Quit India Movement
Q66. Tagore composed the national anthems of:
A) India and Pakistan
B) India and Bangladesh
C) India and Nepal
D) India and Sri Lanka
Q67. Tagore’s literary output included:
A) Poems, novels, songs, plays
B) Only poems
C) Only novels
D) Only essays
Q68. His most famous collection of poems is:
A) Gora
B) Gitanjali
C) Ghare-Baire
D) Naibedya
Q69. His worldview was closest to:
A) Militarism
B) Humanism and universalism
C) Materialism
D) Communalism
Q70. In this poem, Tagore combines:
A) Patriotism and spirituality
B) Humour and satire
C) War and politics
D) Drama and fiction
Q71. Which of the following best describes Tagore’s ideology?
A) Narrow nationalism
B) Universal brotherhood
C) Political aggression
D) Colonial loyalty
Q72. Tagore opposed:
A) Education for all
B) Social divisions and blind faith
C) Use of reason
D) Freedom of thought
Q73. The Nobel Prize was awarded to Tagore in:
A) 1905
B) 1913
C) 1925
D) 1930
Q74. The poem “Where the Mind is Without Fear” is considered:
A) A satire
B) A patriotic prayer-poem
C) A comic verse
D) An elegy
Q75. The lasting relevance of this poem lies in its call for:
A) Wealth and power
B) Truth, freedom, unity, and reason
C) Blind nationalism
D) Political aggression
Anwer Key (60-75)
| Question | Answer | Question | Answer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 61 | A | 69 | B |
| 62 | C | 70 | A |
| 63 | A | 71 | B |
| 64 | C | 72 | B |
| 65 | B | 73 | B |
| 66 | B | 74 | B |
| 67 | A | 75 | B |
| 68 | B |
