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Night of the Scorpion — GK Questions with Answers

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12 questions
  1. Which of the following is true of "Night of the Scorpion"? The poem is essentially about —
    1. a mother’s love for her children
    2. the suffering of women
    3. the rationalism and scepticism of the mother
    4. the purification of sins of a previous birth
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    Answer: (A) a mother’s love for her children

    Everything in the poem prepares for the mother’s final words. The father, not the mother, is the sceptic.

  2. Who is said to have indigenised English to the rhythms and flavours of Bombay?
    1. Nissim Ezekiel
    2. Amitav Ghosh
    3. Arun Kolatkar
    4. Manju Kapur
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    Answer: (A) Nissim Ezekiel

    Ezekiel made English carry the speech and life of Bombay.

  3. Where had the scorpion taken shelter?
    1. In a shoe
    2. Beneath a sack of rice
    3. In the roof thatch
    4. Under the bed
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    Answer: (B) Beneath a sack of rice

    It crawled beneath a sack of rice to escape ten hours of rain.

  4. The neighbours are compared to —
    1. a flock of birds
    2. swarms of flies
    3. a herd of cattle
    4. rolling clouds
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    Answer: (B) swarms of flies

    They come like swarms of flies — many, quick and buzzing.

  5. Why did the villagers want the scorpion to sit still?
    1. So they could catch it
    2. Because its movement moves the poison in her blood
    3. To avoid frightening the children
    4. So the rain would wash it away
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    Answer: (B) Because its movement moves the poison in her blood

    They believed every movement of the scorpion stirred the poison in the mother’s blood.

  6. The father in the poem is described as —
    1. a devout believer
    2. a sceptic and rationalist
    3. a holy man
    4. a village doctor
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    Answer: (B) a sceptic and rationalist

    He is a sceptic and rationalist — which makes his trying every remedy so striking.

  7. What did the father finally do to the bitten toe?
    1. Bandaged it tightly
    2. Poured paraffin on it and lit a match
    3. Washed it with holy water
    4. Cut it with a knife
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    Answer: (B) Poured paraffin on it and lit a match

    The most desperate act in the poem is performed by its most rational character.

  8. How long did the poison take to lose its sting?
    1. Two hours
    2. Ten hours
    3. Twenty hours
    4. Three days
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    Answer: (C) Twenty hours

    After twenty hours the poison simply faded. The poem never says which remedy worked.

  9. The giant scorpion shadows on the walls were caused by —
    1. the storm
    2. the candles and lanterns
    3. the moonlight
    4. the fire
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    Answer: (B) the candles and lanterns

    The villagers’ moving lanterns magnified the creature on the mud-baked walls.

  10. What does the mother say at the end of the poem?
    1. She blames the villagers
    2. She thanks God the scorpion spared her children
    3. She asks for a doctor
    4. She says nothing at all
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    Answer: (B) She thanks God the scorpion spared her children

    Her only words in the whole poem are an expression of selfless relief.

  11. The poem is written in —
    1. rhymed quatrains
    2. free verse
    3. blank verse
    4. the ballad stanza
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    Answer: (B) free verse

    It has no rhyme and no regular metre — plain narrative free verse.

  12. The ending of the poem is effective chiefly because of its —
    1. elaborate imagery
    2. understatement
    3. rhyme
    4. use of dialogue
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    Answer: (B) understatement

    After a night of noise, three quiet lines say far less than the feeling deserves — understatement.

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