Lesson 4.2.1.9

4.2.1.9 A Long, Long Way by Sebastian Barry Quiz: AQA English Literature A, Unit 2

20 questions

Written by Revision Ninja · Last reviewed 11 October 2026

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Lesson 4.2.1.9, A Long, Long Way by Sebastian Barry: 20 multiple choice questions for the AQA English Literature A (7712), Unit 2: Texts in shared contexts, written with Revision Ninja.

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The 20 questions

  1. Which popular soldiers' song supplies the title of Sebastian Barry's novel A Long, Long Way?

    • Roses of Picardy
    • Pack Up Your Troubles
    • It's a Long Way to Tipperary
    • Keep the Home Fires Burning

  2. In which country is the protagonist Willie Dunne from?

    • England
    • Scotland
    • Wales
    • Ireland

  3. Which 1916 event in Dublin forms important historical background to the novel?

    • The Easter Rising
    • The Great Famine
    • The Battle of the Boyne
    • The Anglo-Irish Treaty

  4. On what date did the Battle of the Somme begin?

    • 1 July 1916
    • 28 June 1919
    • 11 November 1918
    • 4 August 1914

  5. Which period of conflict does the First World War in the novel belong to?

    • 1939 to 1945
    • 1914 to 1918
    • 1899 to 1902
    • 1870 to 1871

  6. A soldier from a nationalist family serves in an army of the empire his family resents. Which theme does this most directly raise?

    • Strict rules governing Victorian railway timetables and the working hours of station staff
    • The founding of the National Health Service and its effect on hospital wards in Ireland
    • Commercial rivalry between two shipping firms competing for trade on the Atlantic routes
    • Divided loyalty between national identity and military service

  7. Why is the song title ironic in the context of the war the novel depicts?

    • It refers to a rural Irish harvest festival in which farmers celebrate the autumn gathering
    • It describes a railway timetable that runs between Dublin and a northern coastal town in 1916
    • It promises a cheerful journey while the soldiers face a long, bloody struggle
    • It names a battle that the British army won decisively in the summer of 1918 on the Western Front

  8. Which writer, born in Ireland, wrote A Long, Long Way?

    • Anna Hope, the novelist whose 2018 book Wake follows women after the war
    • Ben Elton, the comic writer who co-wrote the Blackadder television series
    • Owen Sheers, the Welsh poet and novelist known for his collection Skirrid Hill
    • Sebastian Barry

  9. Which Irish political situation before 1914 increased tension over whether Irishmen should serve in the British Army?

    • The Reform Act of 1832
    • The General Strike
    • The Home Rule crisis
    • The Chartist movement

  10. Which feature most characterises the trench warfare of the Western Front?

    • Open cavalry charges across desert plains
    • Naval blockades of enemy harbours
    • Mud, barbed wire and dugouts
    • Aerial combat above city centres

  11. A character far from home is described as on a long, long way. What effect does this distance most likely create?

    • It shows the war has already ended
    • It signals the soldier has been promoted to command
    • It proves the soldier can easily return at will
    • It intensifies longing for home and the cost of separation

  12. Which WW1 term describes the order to leave a trench and advance into enemy fire?

    • Night-time parachuting
    • Flanking by cavalry
    • Going over the top
    • Shelling by naval guns

  13. Evaluate: why is Irish identity a valuable lens for studying WW1 literature?

    • It shows Ireland took no part in the war at all and played no role in its outcome
    • It proves all soldiers shared a single and uniform view of the war across every class
    • It shows the war's meaning varied by nation, class and political loyalty
    • It shows propaganda was absent from Irish life and that newspapers reported only facts

  14. Which critical term describes how overlapping social identities such as class, religion and nation shape a character?

    • Dramatic irony
    • Enjambment
    • Pathetic fallacy
    • Intersectionality

  15. The novel is written after 2000 about a war that ended in 1918. What is the main value of such a later perspective?

    • It proves that writers in 1918 misunderstood the war and failed to see its real causes
    • It revisits the war with contemporary concerns about identity and memory
    • It records the war as it happened, day by day, from the perspective of ordinary soldiers
    • It turns the war into a light comedy with farcical scenes and lighthearted dialogue

  16. In which battle did British forces first use tanks in 1916?

    • Jutland, the naval battle fought off the Danish coast between the British and German fleets
    • Flers-Courcelette
    • Gallipoli, the Allied landing on the Turkish peninsula in 1915 that ended in withdrawal
    • Tannenberg, the Eastern Front battle in which the Russian army suffered a heavy defeat

  17. Assess: a novel uses a cheerful song title ironically. What is the most likely effect?

    • It replaces characterisation with a simple list of popular songs from the period
    • It shows the author had no interest in music and chose the title almost at random
    • It signals that the plot will be a light comedy with a predictable, cheerful ending
    • It exposes the gap between official optimism and wartime experience

  18. What is no man's land on the Western Front?

    • A neutral country's border area
    • The ground between opposing trench lines
    • A rest camp far behind the lines
    • A field hospital ship

  19. Which WW1 psychological condition, later called shell shock, is commonly explored in war literature?

    • Seasickness on troop ships
    • Frostbite in winter trenches
    • Trauma from prolonged bombardment
    • Scurvy from poor rations

  20. Which factor most shapes how a reader should judge the Irish soldier's view of the war?

    • His view is shaped by personal identity, family and national feeling
    • His view is neutral and drawn from official army records
    • His view is written entirely in the voice of a German officer
    • His view is that the war was a holiday

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