West Bengal State University

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1 West Bengal State University B. A. ENGLISH HONOURS Paper VIII MODEL QUESTION F.M. 100 TIME: 4 HOURS Candidates are advised to write answers in their own language as far as practicable. Precise answers will be given special credit. Spelling and grammatical errors will be penalised. Section I 1. Answer any four of the following each in about 200 words: 4 X 5 = 20 (a) Discuss Ferdinand de Saussure s concept of language as a sign system or structure. (b) Is Postmodernism a reaction against modernism? Discuss in brief. (c) What are the basic tenets of feminist criticism? (d) Explain themain tenet of Marxist criticism that the nature of literature is influenced by the social, economic and political factors. (e) Define the concept of Orientalism as applied in postcolonial criticism. (f) What is mimicry as defined by postcolonial criticism? Option I (Indian Writing in English) 1

2 Section II Group A 2. Answer any one of the following questions in about 500 words: 1x15 a. Bring out how Vivekananda s Kali, the Mother reflect the vedantic doctrine of the poet. b. Assess Another View of Grace as a typical poem by Ramanujan. c. Enumerate the feminist concerns in Kamala Das In Love. d. Critically comment on the title of Jayanta Mahapatra s Hunger. Group B 3. Answer any one of the following questions in about 500 words: 1x15 a. How does Raja Rao treat the interrelationship of the orient and the occident in The Serpent and the Rope? b. It has been said that The Serpent and the Rope is a novel that deals with the concepts of existence, reality, and fulfillment of one's capabilities. Discuss. c. Critically comment on the narrative technique of TheShadow Lines. d. Can TheShadow Lines be called a partition novel? Justify your answer with close references to the text. Group C 4. Answer any one of the following questions in about 500 words: 1x15 a. Assess The Lost Child as a typical Indian short story in English. b. Bring out the complexities in the character of Muni in A Horse and Two Goats. c. How does Anita Desai represent the Indian classical music tradition in The Accompanist? d. Salman Rushdie s Chekov and Zulu has often been read as a commentary on the postcolonial Indian situation. Discuss. Group D 5. Answer any one of the following questions in about 500 words: 1x15 a. How does Dattani deal with gender discrimination in Tara? b. Assess the significance of the character of Dr Thakkar in Mahesh Dattani s Tara. c. Writing about The Refugee, Currimbhoy had commented, a mistake committed at a particular point of time seems to have a cumulative effect, and one inevitably gets drawn into it all. Comment on the play in the light of this comment. d. Critically analyse the character of Sen Gupta in Currimbhoy s The Refugee. 2

3 e. Group E 6. Answer any one of the following questions, each in about 200 words: 1x5 a. And Flora gave the lotus, "rose-red" dyed, And "lily-white,"--the queenliest flower that blows. b. you know the earth contains, you murmur in my ear. This is pure transport. c. We noticed nothing as we went, A straggling crowd of little hope, Ignoring what the thunder meant. d. The mighty perish in their might; The slain survive the slayer. 7. Answer any one of the following questions, each in about 200 words: 1x5 a. Write a brief note on the character of the Little Mother in The Serpent and the Rope. b. Assess, very briefly, Rao s representation of Brahminism in The Serpent and the Rope. c. Explain with reference to the context: And yet, when I look at her (the grandmother), lying crumpled in front of me, her white thinning hair matted with her invalid's sweat, my heart fills with love for her. d. Briefly comment on the representation of love in The Shadow Lines. 8. Answer any one of the following questions, each in about 200 words: 1x5 a. Comment briefly on the ending of The Lost Child. b. Briefly bring out the character of the American Businessman in A Horse and Two Goats. c. Explain with reference to the context: Does a mortal refuse God? It made me smile to think anyone could be such a fool. d. What is the significance of the nicknames of Chekov and Zulu. 9. Answer any one of the following questions, each in about 200 words: 1x5 a. Explain with reference to the context: Two lives and one body, in one comfortable womb. Till we were forced out. b. Critically comment on the character of Bharati in Mahesh Dattani s Tara. c. Explain with reference to the context: You re welcome. As friends and neighbours, you re welcome. d.how does its one act structure influence the dramatic appeal of The Refugee. Option II (American Literature) 3

4 GROUP A 2. Attempt any one of the following in about 500 words: 1 X 15 = 15 (a) Discuss Walt Whitman s treatment of the theme of journey in Crossing Brooklyn Ferry. (b) Make a critical study of the symbolism in Robert Frost s Desert Places. (c) Comment on the theme, structure and language in e. e. cummings s poem somewhere I have never travelled or Langston Hughes s poem The Negro Speaks of Rivers. 3. Explain and annotate any one of the following with reference to the context: 1 5 = 5 a) I bathed in the Euphrates when dawns were young. I built my hut near the Congo and it lulled me to sleep. b) And lonely as it is that loneliness Will be more lonely ere it will be less A blanker whiteness of benighted snow With no expression, nothing to express. c) Yes, n how many times must the cannon balls fly Before they re forever banned? The answer my friend, is blowin in the wind d) In me she has drowned a young girl, and in me an old woman Rises toward her day after day, like a terrible fish. GROUP B 4. Attempt any one of the following: 1 X 15 = 15 (a) (b) Comment on the role of the narrator in The Great Gatsby. The Great Gatsby is a critique of the American Dream. Discuss. (c) Alice Walker s The Color Purple weaves an intricate mosaic of women joined by their love for each other, the men who abuse them, and the children they care for. Attempt a feminist reading of the novel. (d) How does the death of Celie s mother change Celie s relationship with her family, with herself, and with God in The Color Purple? 4

5 5. Answer briefly any one of the following: 1 X 5 = 5 (a) Involuntarily I glance seaward and distinguished nothing except a single green light Explain the significance of the green light that recurs as a motif and symbol in The Great Gatsby. (b) Although Gatsby professed love to Daisy, he was not in love with Daisy as much as he was in love with the idea of her. - Where can you find evidence of Gatsby s devotion to an ideal rather than an actual person? (c) How do the letters of Nettie differ from those of Celie? (d) Dear God. Dear stars, dear trees, dear sky, dear peoples. Dear Everything. Dear God. Locate the context and explain. GROUP C 6. Attempt any one of the following: 1 X 15 = 15 (a) Comment on the significance of the title The Ambitious Guest. b) Write a brief note on the character of Montressor in The Cask of Amontillado. c) Evaluate Trysdale in The Cactus as a specimen of O.Henry s deep understanding of the human psychology. d) Do you consider the title of Kate Chopin s story, Regret appropriate? Explain your view. 7. Answer any one of the following: 1 X 5 = 5 (a) Locate and explain: Yes. The natives imagine the leaves are reaching out and beckoning to you. They call it by this name Ventomarme. Name means in English, 'Come and take me. (b) She cried like a man, with sobs that seemed to tear her very soul. She did not notice Ponto licking her hand. Identify the person and the reason for such a response. Who is Ponto? GROUP D 8. Attempt any one of the following: 1 X 15 = 15 a) Assess Arthur Miller s play, The Death of a Salesman as an indictment of the American Dream. b) Attempt an estimate of Willy Loman as a modern tragic hero. 9. Answer any one of the following: 1 X 5 = 5 5

6 a) You can't eat the orange and throw the peel away -- a man is not a piece of fruit. Briefly analyse the significance of the remark. b) A salesman is got to dream, boy, it comes with the territory. Explain the significance of this observation. c) How does Willy s home function as a metaphor? 6