Telephone Conversation – MCQs (25 Questions)
Choose the correct option for each question.
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What is the central theme of "Telephone Conversation"?
a) The difficulty of finding affordable housing in London
b) A landlady's professional inquiry about a prospective tenant
c) Satirical critique of racial prejudice and discrimination
d) The speaker's frustration with modern telephone technology -
Why does the speaker warn the landlady about "a wasted journey"?
a) He is concerned about wasting the landlady's time
b) He preemptively reveals his race to avoid wasted effort on both sides
c) He knows the location is inconvenient to reach
d) He doubts the apartment will meet his needs -
What does the landlady's immediate silence suggest?
a) She is thinking carefully about her response
b) The telephone connection has been interrupted
c) Her discomfort and prejudicial reaction to the speaker's revelation
d) She is consulting another person about the rental -
How does the speaker characterize the landlady based on her voice?
a) As a young, uneducated woman
b) Through stereotypical assumptions: "Lipstick coated," cigarette-holder smoking woman
c) As an older widow living alone
d) As a sympathetic and understanding person -
What is the landlady's primary concern regarding the speaker?
a) His employment and income level
b) His family background and references
c) The precise degree of darkness of his skin color
d) His previous rental history and reliability -
What does the speaker mean by "ARE YOU DARK? OR VERY LIGHT?" and "Button B. Button A"?
a) He is describing actual telephone buttons on the device
b) He is satirizing the landlady's reductive racial categorization as simplistic choices
c) He is suggesting automated telephone menu systems
d) He is offering the landlady different apartment options -
Why does the speaker describe himself as "West African sepia"?
a) To insult the landlady's intelligence
b) To provide a more nuanced response than simple "black" or "white" categories
c) To reference British colonial classification systems
d) To confuse the landlady into accepting him -
How does the speaker respond to the landlady's confusion about "sepia"?
a) He becomes angry and hangs up the telephone
b) He explains that it is a skin tone visible in his passport
c) He provides humorous clarifications comparing his skin to chocolate and describing color variations
d) He repeats the word until she understands -
What is the significance of the red imagery throughout the poem?
a) It represents the speaker's embarrassment and anger at the racial prejudice
b) It describes the actual color of buildings and transportation
c) It symbolizes warning signs of danger ahead
d) It indicates the speaker is blushing from shame -
What does the speaker imagine about his complexion to further confound the landlady?
a) That he is entirely one uniform color
b) That his palms and soles are lighter, while his bottom is "raven black"
c) That his entire body is uniformly dark
d) That he changes color seasonally -
How does the speaker's tone shift throughout the poem?
a) From hostile to submissive
b) From polite warning to sarcastic wit, then pleading
c) From angry to resigned
d) From submissive to aggressive -
What is the speaker's final appeal to the landlady?
a) To ignore his race and focus on his qualifications
b) To meet him in person before deciding based solely on skin color
c) To speak to him again the following day
d) To provide written confirmation of the rental terms -
What does the landlady's ending action reveal?
a) She agrees to rent the apartment to the speaker
b) Her prejudicial judgment supersedes any other considerations
c) She wants to speak to the speaker in person
d) She is willing to negotiate rental terms -
How does Soyinka use humor in the poem?
a) To entertain readers with lighthearted banter
b) As a coping mechanism and tool to expose racism's absurdity
c) To mock the speaker's intelligence
d) To ridicule the landlady without serious intent -
What literary device is employed when the speaker compares his skin to "plain or milk chocolate"?
a) Metaphor creating direct comparison
b) Irony and satire to expose the ridiculousness of racial categorization
c) Literal description of skin appearance
d) Personification giving human qualities to objects -
What is the effect of the poem's setting in a public telephone booth?
a) It establishes the speaker as poor and unable to afford a home phone
b) It creates a sense of exposure and public nature of racial discrimination
c) It suggests the speaker is calling from a neutral location
d) It demonstrates the speaker's unfamiliarity with British technology -
How does the poem suggest that racism operates in society?
a) Openly and violently through obvious hostile acts
b) Covertly through "pressurized good-breeding" and polite facade
c) Primarily through legal restrictions and institutional barriers
d) As individual prejudice unrelated to systemic patterns -
What does the speaker's preemptive confession of his race reveal about his experience?
a) He is ashamed of his African heritage
b) He has internalized the expectation of racial discrimination
c) He is testing the landlady's prejudices intentionally
d) He wants to appear honest and trustworthy -
How does Soyinka's use of free verse contribute to the poem's meaning?
a) It demonstrates the speaker's lack of formal education
b) The irregular form mirrors the awkwardness and discomfort of the conversation
c) It allows more complete description of physical details
d) It simplifies the language for easier understanding -
What does the poem suggest about human dignity and identity?
a) Skin color is the most important aspect of personal identity
b) Identity is far more complex than superficial physical characteristics
c) Identity is less important than economic status
d) Everyone should hide their true identity to succeed -
How is power dynamics represented in the poem?
a) The speaker holds all the power in the negotiation
b) The landlady controls whether the speaker receives housing
c) Power is equally balanced between speaker and landlady
d) Neither party has significant power over the other -
What historical context is important for understanding the poem?
a) It was written during the civil rights movement in America
b) It reflects 1960s British racial discrimination against African and Caribbean immigrants
c) It describes ancient Roman attitudes toward slavery
d) It portrays modern contemporary racism in the 21st century -
What does the speaker's detailed description of his skin color variations accomplish?
a) It proves he is not entirely black and therefore acceptable
b) It destabilizes the binary racial categories and exposes their falsehood
c) It confuses the landlady without making a serious argument
d) It suggests skin color is scientifically measurable and definable -
How does Soyinka address the dehumanizing effects of racism in the poem?
a) By ignoring the human dimensions of the experience
b) By reducing the speaker to merely skin color and destroying his individual identity
c) By celebrating racial differences as natural and positive
d) By suggesting that racism has no real impact on individuals -
What is the ultimate message of "Telephone Conversation"?
a) The speaker should accept racial discrimination as normal
b) Racism based on skin color is absurd, irrational, and morally wrong
c) The landlady's concerns are justified and reasonable
d) Skin color is an acceptable criterion for making social decisions
Answer Key
i) c – Satirical critique of racial prejudice and discrimination
ii) b – He preemptively reveals his race to avoid wasted effort on both sides
iii) c – Her discomfort and prejudicial reaction to the speaker's revelation
iv) b – Through stereotypical assumptions: "Lipstick coated," cigarette-holder smoking woman
v) c – The precise degree of darkness of his skin color
vi) b – He is satirizing the landlady's reductive racial categorization as simplistic choices
vii) b – To provide a more nuanced response than simple "black" or "white" categories
viii) c – He provides humorous clarifications comparing his skin to chocolate and describing color variations
ix) a – It represents the speaker's embarrassment and anger at the racial prejudice
x) b – His palms and soles are lighter, while his bottom is "raven black"
xi) b – From polite warning to sarcastic wit, then pleading
xii) b – To meet him in person before deciding based solely on skin color
xiii) b – Her prejudicial judgment supersedes any other considerations
xiv) b – As a coping mechanism and tool to expose racism's absurdity
xv) b – Irony and satire to expose the ridiculousness of racial categorization
xvi) b – It creates a sense of exposure and public nature of racial discrimination
xvii) b – Covertly through "pressurized good-breeding" and polite facade
xviii) b – He has internalized the expectation of racial discrimination
xix) b – The irregular form mirrors the awkwardness and discomfort of the conversation
xx) b – Identity is far more complex than superficial physical characteristics
xxi) b – The landlady controls whether the speaker receives housing
xxii) b – It reflects 1960s British racial discrimination against African and Caribbean immigrants
xxiii) b – It destabilizes the binary racial categories and exposes their falsehood
xxiv) b – By reducing the speaker to merely skin color and destroying his individual identity
xxv) b – Racism based on skin color is absurd, irrational, and morally wrong