GCSE Meera Syal | Themes Revision in Anita and Me

English Literature Quiz - Anita and Me - Themes (Questions)

This GCSE English Literature quiz asks questions on theme in Meera Syal's Anita and Me. Theme, in literature, is an idea conveyed by a text. Of course, every work of literature has more than one idea, so we usually think about themes, plural! The themes of an individual text will range from the most obvious of ideas to the most subtle. They also work in combination and you can often see an interplay of themes in a text as each theme develops alongside the others. Authors use the essential elements of fiction, including setting, character, plot and dialogue, in order to develop theme.

You will certainly have noticed the way that related ideas and concepts appear repeatedly throughout a text you’re reading. Such repeated ideas are the text’s themes. Think about the way these ideas are each introduced and developed over the course of the text.

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One good place to begin with a thematic analysis is by examining your own opinions, especially if you find that you have reconsidered - or even changed - any of your own ideas about the issues raised in the text. If a text makes you think hard about an issue or persuades you to change your mind, then the author has successfully encouraged you to engage with one or more of its themes. Perhaps you’ve found that you disagree strongly with other readers, your classmates, or your teacher. If you stop to think about it, such disagreement should be expected: it would be very odd to share identical views with everyone else. Readers’ individual responses depend on their having brought individual thoughts, beliefs and experiences into consideration of the text.

After you finish reading a book, spend a little time comparing the thoughts and views you hold at its end with those you held before you began. Have any of your views changed? Have any been confirmed, or even strengthened? Can you identify why/why not? See whether you can point out the specific places in the text which challenged or confirmed your personal views.

The themes of this novel include the experience of growing up, family, friendship, culture, belonging, racism, and the relationship between fiction, myths and lies, among others. Read the questions below and test your knowledge of the themes of Anita and Me.

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"I'm not really a liar, I just learned very early on that those of us deprived of history sometimes need to turn to mythology to feel complete, to belong." This final sentence of the Epigraph touches on which of the novel's themes?

[ ]	History, belonging, storytelling
[ ]	Belonging, change, racism
[ ]	Racism, change, family
[ ]	Growing up, change, racism

Which one of the following is NOT an instance when Meena unexpectedly finds herself confronting racism?

[ ]	When Mr Turvey tells her to look after Nanima
[ ]	When she learns the name of Tracey's new dog
[ ]	When Sam objects to sending charity money abroad at the Spring Fête
[ ]	When a child in her class gives a joke answer to a teacher's question

"Hiya Robert...how'm you feeling?" How does Meena speak when she is finally able to talk face to face with Robert?

[ ]	She is overly formal
[ ]	She is overly informal
[ ]	She speaks in Standard English
[ ]	She speaks in Black Country dialect

How do Meena's parents and their friends spend their time when they visit each other's houses?

[ ]	Cooking and eating
[ ]	Performing music
[ ]	Telling stories about the past
[ ]	All of the above

"I knew I was a freak of some kind, too mouthy, clumsy and scabby to be a real Indian girl, too Indian to be a real Tollington wench, but living in the grey area between all categories felt increasingly like home. And Anita never looked at me the way my adopted female cousins did; there was never fear or censure or recoil in those green, cool eyes, only the recognition of a kindred spirit, another mad bad girl trapped inside a superficially obedient body." Which of the following is correct?

[ ]	Meena feels that she has nothing in common with Anita
[ ]	Meena feels more at home with not fully belonging anywhere
[ ]	Meena identifies completely with her adopted cousins
[ ]	Meena receives identical messages from her parents, her friends, her neighbours and her Aunties and Uncles about who she is

Which of the following describes part of Meena's home?

[ ]	"Books, thousands of them lining the walls from top to bottom, an armoury of paperbacks, hard covers, some leather-bound with cracked spines, others cheap and cheerful off an airport stand"
[ ]	"The curtains both upstairs and downstairs were drawn and a half-eaten bowl of very old dog food sat on the steps"
[ ]	"A teenage den of old laddered tights, make-up, posters of pop stars, locked diaries"
[ ]	"A place to sleep, bereft of fripperies"

The majority of the novel takes place during which time period?

[ ]	Meena's seventh year
[ ]	The summer before Meena's ninth birthday
[ ]	Meena's last two years of primary school
[ ]	Meena's first year at Comp

Which of the following best describes Anita's attitude towards friendship?

[ ]	She is friends with people as long as she can gain something from the friendship
[ ]	She is a loyal friend, willing to sacrifice herself for the good of another
[ ]	She is brash and sometimes selfish, but will put her friends first when necessary
[ ]	She likes to gather around her people she really admires

Which of the following is NOT an example of change experienced by the village of Tollington?

[ ]	The primary industry employing the inhabitants of the village changes
[ ]	In the past it was mostly the Ballbearings women who were employed, but gradually it seems that only the men of the village have jobs
[ ]	The village school is demolished
[ ]	The nearby Bartlett estate steadily encroaches on the village

10.

What are Nanima's final words to Meena as she leaves the hospital to return to India?

[ ]	"Thehro aider!"
[ ]	"Junglee!"
[ ]	"Meena...jewel...precious...light...bless you..."
[ ]	"Bloody women drivers!"

English Literature Quiz - Anita and Me - Themes (Answers)

[x]	History, belonging, storytelling
[ ]	Belonging, change, racism
[ ]	Racism, change, family
[ ]	Growing up, change, racism

Meena, as narrator, recognises that her early desire to embroider the truth, to invent fantastical stories, resulted from a loss of identity as someone "deprived of history"

Which one of the following is NOT an instance when Meena unexpectedly finds herself confronting racism?

[x]	When Mr Turvey tells her to look after Nanima
[ ]	When she learns the name of Tracey's new dog
[ ]	When Sam objects to sending charity money abroad at the Spring Fête
[ ]	When a child in her class gives a joke answer to a teacher's question

Meena confronts racism from her fellow pupils at school, from Anita and her family, from Sam and even from elderly drivers in Birmingham. These confrontations are crucial to her development as she grows up

"Hiya Robert...how'm you feeling?" How does Meena speak when she is finally able to talk face to face with Robert?

[ ]	She is overly formal
[ ]	She is overly informal
[ ]	She speaks in Standard English
[x]	She speaks in Black Country dialect

Meena adopts a solid regional accent when she wishes to show that her identity is unquestionably West Midlands. Robert responds: "Ey up, yow'm a real Midland wench, our Meena! I thought you'd sound a bit more exotic than this!"

How do Meena's parents and their friends spend their time when they visit each other's houses?

[ ]	Cooking and eating
[ ]	Performing music
[ ]	Telling stories about the past
[x]	All of the above

The Aunties cook Indian foods together and everyone enjoys Meena's papa's musical performances. Together the group of friends preserve and pass on their memories of home

[ ]	Meena feels that she has nothing in common with Anita
[x]	Meena feels more at home with not fully belonging anywhere
[ ]	Meena identifies completely with her adopted cousins
[ ]	Meena receives identical messages from her parents, her friends, her neighbours and her Aunties and Uncles about who she is

Belonging to the culture of her parents and their Indian friends, like belonging to the village, sometimes feels to Meena like an act, a part she can play through her speech and behaviour. Feeling at home by not fully belonging to any group is a paradox

Which of the following describes part of Meena's home?

[ ]	"Books, thousands of them lining the walls from top to bottom, an armoury of paperbacks, hard covers, some leather-bound with cracked spines, others cheap and cheerful off an airport stand"
[ ]	"The curtains both upstairs and downstairs were drawn and a half-eaten bowl of very old dog food sat on the steps"
[ ]	"A teenage den of old laddered tights, make-up, posters of pop stars, locked diaries"
[x]	"A place to sleep, bereft of fripperies"

Meena is embarrassed that her bedroom is not a "proper girly hang-out" like Anita's. Meena's kitchen and sitting room are, however, comforting and comfortable. Meena envies Anita's grown-up glamour, while not recognising the security offered by her own home

The majority of the novel takes place during which time period?

[ ]	Meena's seventh year
[ ]	The summer before Meena's ninth birthday
[x]	Meena's last two years of primary school
[ ]	Meena's first year at Comp

Many of the key events take place during the summer. Meena's riding accident means that she spends much of her final year of primary school in the hospital

Which of the following best describes Anita's attitude towards friendship?

[x]	She is friends with people as long as she can gain something from the friendship
[ ]	She is a loyal friend, willing to sacrifice herself for the good of another
[ ]	She is brash and sometimes selfish, but will put her friends first when necessary
[ ]	She likes to gather around her people she really admires

Anita wants always to be the admired one in her circle of friends. She therefore competes with the girls closest to her and requires Meena to follow her around without question. She mocks other people and wants what they have

Which of the following is NOT an example of change experienced by the village of Tollington?

[ ]	The primary industry employing the inhabitants of the village changes
[x]	In the past it was mostly the Ballbearings women who were employed, but gradually it seems that only the men of the village have jobs
[ ]	The village school is demolished
[ ]	The nearby Bartlett estate steadily encroaches on the village

In the past all of the village men were employed in the mine. When the village lost the mine, these industrial jobs were replaced by jobs for women. In the mornings the Ballbearings women take the bus to work while their husbands remain home

10.

What are Nanima's final words to Meena as she leaves the hospital to return to India?

[ ]	"Thehro aider!"
[ ]	"Junglee!"
[x]	"Meena...jewel...precious...light...bless you..."
[ ]	"Bloody women drivers!"

This line could be read in two ways. Either Nanima is making an effort to speak these parting words to her granddaughter in Meena's own language, or Meena has learned sufficient Punjabi to understand these words of blessing without translation. Not sharing a mutual language is a sorrowful barrier between Meena and Nanima