Current Affairs MCQs – Page 59 (Q581-590)

Arthur Conan Doyle, a Scottish writer and physician, created the fictional detective Sherlock Holmes, first introducing the character in his 1887 novel A Study in Scarlet, alongside his loyal companion Dr. John Watson. Holmes, known for his remarkable powers of observation and deduction, became one of the most famous and enduringly popular characters in all of literature. G.K. Chesterton, Wilkie Collins and Agatha Christie are tempting distractors, as each was another notable mystery or detective fiction writer, though none created Sherlock Holmes. Conan Doyle reportedly grew tired of the character and even killed him off in one story, only to later revive him due to enormous public demand.

Agatha Christie, an English writer, created the fictional Belgian detective Hercule Poirot, a meticulous and highly intelligent investigator known for relying on his little grey cells rather than physical action to solve crimes across dozens of her novels and short stories. Poirot first appeared in her 1920 novel The Mysterious Affair at Styles. Arthur Conan Doyle, Dorothy L. Sayers and P.D. James are tempting distractors, as each was another notable detective fiction author, though none created Poirot. Christie also created another famous detective, the elderly amateur sleuth Miss Marple, who appeared in a separate series of her novels.

Agatha Christie is best known worldwide as a leading author of detective and mystery fiction, having written dozens of best-selling novels featuring iconic detectives such as Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple. She is often referred to as the Queen of Crime and remains one of the best-selling novelists of all time, with her works translated into over 100 languages. Science fiction, epic poetry and historical romance are tempting distractors, as each is a different literary genre not associated with Christie's actual body of work. Her play The Mousetrap holds the record for the longest continuously running show in theatre history, having opened in London in 1952.

Charles Dickens wrote The Old Curiosity Shop, published in serialized form between 1840 and 1841, following the story of young Nell Trent and her grandfather as they flee London to escape a menacing debt collector, Quilp. The novel was immensely popular at the time of its original serialization, with reports of readers anxiously awaiting each new installment. Wilkie Collins, Thomas Hardy and Anthony Trollope are tempting distractors, as each was another prominent Victorian-era English novelist, though none wrote The Old Curiosity Shop. Dickens was known for weaving sharp social criticism of poverty and injustice throughout his popular, serialized Victorian novels.

Sophocles, an ancient Greek playwright, wrote the tragedy Oedipus Rex, believed to have been first performed around 429 BC, telling the story of a king who unknowingly fulfills a prophecy that he will kill his father and marry his mother. The play remains one of the most celebrated and analyzed works of ancient Greek drama, and its central psychological themes later inspired the term Oedipus complex, coined by Sigmund Freud. Euripides, Aristophanes and Aeschylus are tempting distractors, as each was another major ancient Greek playwright, though none wrote Oedipus Rex. Sophocles wrote over 120 plays during his lifetime, though only seven have survived in complete form to the present day.

Virgil, an ancient Roman poet, wrote the epic Aeneid, composed in the final years of his life around 29 to 19 BC, telling the legendary story of Aeneas, a Trojan hero who journeys to Italy and becomes an ancestor of the Roman people. The epic was commissioned to celebrate the glory of Rome and its first emperor, Augustus, drawing heavily on the earlier Greek epics of Homer for inspiration and structure. Ovid, Horace and Homer are tempting distractors, as each was another major classical poet, with Homer specifically being the earlier Greek poet whose work directly influenced Virgil's own epic. Virgil reportedly wished for the unfinished Aeneid to be burned upon his death, though his wishes were overridden by the emperor Augustus.

John Milton's epic poem Paradise Lost is primarily about the Fall of Man from Eden, recounting the biblical story of Satan's rebellion against God and his subsequent temptation of Adam and Eve, leading to their expulsion from the Garden of Eden. First published in 1667, the poem explores profound theological questions about free will, sin and redemption. The Exodus from Egypt, the Great Flood and the Nativity are tempting distractors, as each is another significant biblical narrative, but none is the central subject of Milton's epic. Milton composed much of the poem after going completely blind, dictating the verses to family members and assistants.

The Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences, unlike the other five prize categories, was not part of Alfred Nobel's original 1895 will, having instead been established much later, in 1968, by Sweden's central bank, Sveriges Riksbank, in memory of Nobel, with the first prize awarded in 1969. Because of this distinct origin, some purists argue it should not be considered a true Nobel Prize. Peace, Chemistry and Literature are tempting distractors, as each was genuinely included among the five original categories specified directly in Nobel's founding will. The economics prize is nonetheless awarded alongside the other Nobel Prizes each December in Stockholm, following the same general selection and ceremony process.

Malala Yousafzai won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2014, becoming the youngest-ever Nobel laureate at just 17 years old, sharing the award with Indian activist Kailash Satyarthi for their combined efforts advocating for children's rights and access to education. She had survived a targeted assassination attempt by the Pakistani Taliban in 2012 for speaking out in favor of girls' education in Pakistan's Swat Valley. 2012, 2016 and 2018 are tempting distractors, with 2012 specifically corresponding to the year of the assassination attempt rather than her Nobel win two years later. Malala continues her advocacy work today through the Malala Fund, which supports girls' education initiatives around the world.

Wole Soyinka, a Nigerian playwright, poet and essayist, became the first African Nobel laureate in Literature when he won the prize in 1986, honored for his work that in a wide cultural perspective and with poetic overtones fashions the drama of existence. His writing often engaged critically with political corruption and oppression in postcolonial Africa. South Africa, Ghana and Kenya are tempting distractors, as each is another prominent African country with its own celebrated literary tradition, but Soyinka himself hails specifically from Nigeria. Soyinka was also briefly imprisoned by the Nigerian government during the country's civil war for his outspoken political activism.