PAST PAPER - AMERICAN LITERATURE 2003

1. YEAR 2003
Attempt any FOUR questions. All questions carry equal marks.
1. What is the symbolic significance of the title 'Jazz' by Toni Morrison?
2. Write a critical appreciation of Sylvia Plath's poem The Bee Meeting.
3. Discuss Hemingway's fictional technique with particular reference to 'For Whom the Bell Tolls'.
4. What has The Crucible to tell us about the relationship between the individual and society?
5. Write a detailed account of some of the themes that are dominant in Adrienne Rich's poetry.
6. What devices does O'Neill employ in The Mourning Become Electra (Homecoming) to express his sense of unreal behind what we call reality?
7. Critically analyze ONE of the following.
(i) Richard Wilbur's "Still, Citizen Sparrow"
(ii)  John Ashberry's "Melodic Trains"
Keeping in view the theme, language and imagery used by the poet. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

EXPLANATION WITH REFERENCE TO THE CONTEXT - GOOD-MORROW BY JOHN DONNE

Explain the following extracts with reference to the context. My face in thine eye, thine in mine appears, And true plain hearts do in the faces rest; Where can we finde two better hemispheares Without sharpe north, without declining west? REFERENCE (i) Poem:  The Good-Morrow (ii) Poet:  John Donne CONTEXT (i) Occurrence:  Stanza 3 (Lines 15-18 / 21) (ii) Content:  This poem is considered to be one of the best poems belonging to the metaphysical school of poetry. It describes the poet's profligate past and his present spiritual awakening. The subject is love, love seen as an intense, absolute experience, which isolates the lovers from reality and gives them a different kind of awareness; a simultaneous narrowing and widening of reality. This perfect love is immortal and it makes the lovers immortal too.  EXPLANATION      In these lines the poets talks about the unique beauty of the love which he and his beloved, Anne Moore, share. Face-to-face with his lover, the poet sees his own
Read more

Geoffrey Chaucer: A Representative of His Age

SHUAIB ASGHAR DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH GOVT. RAZVIA ISLAMIA COLLEGE HAROONABAD, PUNJAB PAKISTAN  Well does Compton Rickett observe: 'Chaucer symbolizes, as no other writer does, the Middle Ages. He stands in much the same relation to the life of his time as Pope does to the earlier phases to the Eighteenth century; and Tennyson to the Victorian era; and his place in English literature is even more important than theirs...' The social groups of thirty pilgrims cover the entire range of fourteenth century English society, leaving only royalty on one hand, and the lowest on the other. Medieval Chivalry Chaucer's knight is a true representative of the spirit of the medieval chivalry which was a blend of love, religion, and bravery. He has been a champion of not fewer than fifteen battles in the defense of Christianity. Being the embodiment of chivalric ideals, Chaucer's knight observes utmost courtesy. He was not only worthy in politeness but also wise in decisiveness. We must
Read more

EXPLANATION WITH RTC: THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST BY OSCAR WILDE

I do not approve of anything that tampers with natural ignorance. Ignorance is like a delicate exotic fruit; touch it and the bloom is gone. The whole theory of modern education is radically unsound. Fortunately in England, at any rate, education produces no effect whatsoever.  I do not approve .......... no effect whatsoever. REFERENCE (i) Drama:  The Importance of Being Earnest (ii) Dramatist:  Oscar Wilde CONTEXT (i) Occurrence:  Act 1 (ii) Content:   Jack and Algernon are wealthy gentlemen. Jack lives in the country and Algernon dwells in London. Algernon visits Jack's house and introduces to Jack's young ward Cecily as Ernest, the assumed named of Jack. Shortly after, Jack arrives home announcing Ernest's death. Cecily and Gwendolen have a genteel stand-off over which of that has a prior claim on "Ernest". Jack and Algernon vie to be christened Ernest. Eventually, Jack discovers that his parents were Lady Bracknell's sister and brother-in-law and that he
Read more