SSC CGL 2025 Tier-I · 22 September 2025, Shift 1 · General Awareness · Question 14 of 98

We transcribed this text from the pictures on a candidate's response sheet for this shift; the answer is the key SSC colour-marked on that sheet. Solution last reviewed 13 September 2026.

Where this paper and its answers come from

SSC does not publish CGL question papers or a public answer key. From 2025 the candidate response sheet prints every question and option as a picture, so the text here is transcribed from those pictures for this shift and checked against them independently; where the layout carries meaning, the picture is shown as well. Each answer is the key SSC colour-marked on that sheet. SSC released a tentative key for challenge and later its final one, both only to candidates behind a login, and the sheet does not say which of the two it carries. The solutions are written by UnlockIAS.

Consider the following statements about the book 'The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian': 1) It received the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction due to its unique narrative style and significant influence on American historical literature. 2) The novel won the National Book Award for its deep portrayal of Native American identity and youth struggles. Which of the above statements is/are correct?

(a)Only statement 1 is correct
(b)Only statement 2 is correct
(c)Both statements 1 and 2 are correct
(d)Neither statement 1 nor 2 is correct

Answer

Why

Correct — B. Sherman Alexie's novel 'The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian' (2007) won the 2007 National Book Award for Young People's Literature. Statement 2 holds.

Statement 1 fails: the book won no Pulitzer. The 2008 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction went to Junot Díaz's The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao.

Only statement 2 → option (b).

Why the others are wrong

(a)
Only statement 1 is correct — Statement 1 is false. The novel's prizes are youth-literature awards, led by the National Book Award, and the 2008 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction went to Junot Díaz's The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao.
(c)
Both statements 1 and 2 are correct — Statement 1 is false, so 'both' cannot stand. A National Book Award for Young People's Literature is not a Pulitzer, and this book won no Pulitzer.
(d)
Neither statement 1 nor 2 is correct — Statement 2 is true. The 2007 National Book Award for Young People's Literature went to this novel, so 'neither' throws away a correct statement.

Concept

Sherman Alexie's 2007 novel, illustrated by Ellen Forney, follows Arnold Spirit Jr. ('Junior'), a 14-year-old Spokane Indian who leaves his reservation school for a school off the reservation.

The National Book Award runs a separate Young People's Literature category, and that is the prize this book won. The Pulitzer Prize for Fiction is a different award from a different body.

Statement 1's reasons, 'unique narrative style' and influence on American historical literature, are praise, not evidence. Check the prize first, then the reason attached to it.

Key facts

Written by Sherman Alexie, illustrated by Ellen Forney, published in 2007.
It won the 2007 National Book Award for Young People's Literature.
The 2008 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction went to Junot Díaz's The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao.
It was the most frequently challenged book in US libraries from 2010 to 2019.

Study next

National Book Award categories: Fiction, Nonfiction, Poetry, Translated Literature, Young People's LiteraturePulitzer Prize for Fiction winners, such as Toni Morrison for Beloved

Common traps

Accepting a statement because its reason sounds right: 'unique narrative style' is praise, not proof of a Pulitzer.
Assuming a book that won one major US prize also won the Pulitzer.

24 Sep 2025, 16:00, GA Q.5 asks who won the Pulitzer for Beloved, keyed Toni Morrison. This item pairs a real prize with a planted one in a two-statement check.

Related PYQs

No directly related past PYQ was found.

Topic: Culture — all 246 SSC CGL questions on it, every solved shift.