COLLECTED FROM MEMORY
1. Show how Sidney presents the problem of poetic creation in his sonnet Loving in Truth.
Answer: In his sonnet Loving in Truth Sidney presents the problem of poetic creation with the help of superb imagery. In order to express the pang of his love he is in search of the power of poetic creation. But his frantic search for inspiration in the creation of other poets proves to be in vain. The poet pictures his situation as a pregnant lady suffering from intense pain being at the final hour of the gestation period.
2. Comment on the last two lines of Shakespeare’s sonnet Shall I Compare Thee to a Summer’s Day.
Answer: In the last two lines of his sonnet Shall I Compare Thee to a Summer’s Day Shakespeare asserts that his love for his friend is permanent as he expresses his love through his verse which is immortal. In a challenging way he declares that the beauty of his friend will survive up to infinity along with the existence of his poetry.
3. Why does the poet compare “virtuous soul” to “season’d timber”?
Answer: In the poem Virtue Herbert asserts that only the virtuous soul is permanent in a transient world. The quality of virtue is imperishable, despite the inevitable mortality of all grand, glorious and gorgeous elements. Herbert compares the quality of virtue to a seasoned timber. Like a seasoned timber which never surrenders to corrosion, the quality of virtue yields to no destructive or corrosive force.
4. “Did he who made Lamb make thee?” – Explain the significance of this line in Blake’s The Tyger.
Answer: In his poem The Tyger Blake makes this question to the tiger. He is surprised whether it is possible for the same Creator to create two contrary products like the lamb and the tiger. God is the creator of both the tiger which is the symbol of fierceness and the lamb which is the symbol of innocence.
5. Give examples of two features that establish The Rape o the Lock as a mock-heroic poem.
Answer: Pope’s The Rape of the Lock is full of many such features that establish it as a mock-heroic poem. The poem opens with the proposition of the subject matter and Pope’s invocation to the Muses to help him compose the literary art. Such a grand treatment of a trivial subject matter like the clipping of the lock of Belinda provokes laughter. Secondly, Pope describes Belinda preparing herself with combs and pins – with “Puffs, Powders, Patches” – nothing that “Now awful Beauty puts on all its Arms.” This is nothing but funny.
6. Briefly discuss Tintern Abbey as a poet’s journey of mind.
Answer: Tintern Abbey is in fact the delineation of the poet’s journey of mind. His visit to the river Wye and the nature surround it influenced his mind in different way at different times. When he was a mere boy, he possessed a purely sensuous love of nature. Then he thought nature to be a spiritual power; and in his last stage he formed a never-failing bond between nature and him.
7. Explain any two personifications Keats employs to describe Autumn in his Ode to Autumn.
Answer: In his Ode to Autumn Keats has employed many personifications to describe the season. First he personifies the season as a harvester who sits carelessly in his granary and falls asleep there with the fragrance of poppy. Autumn is then personified as a gleaner who is crossing the rivulet with a load of corn on her head. He then personifies the season as a farmer who is attending the vat with a patient look till the last drop of juice oozing from it.
8. Write briefly in your own words the story narrated by Geraldine to Christabel in the poem Christabel.
In Coleridge’s poem Christabel Geraldine told Christabel her sad story in a very realistic manner. She said that she was of noble origin. She also said that on the previous morning five warriors kidnapped her and placed her underneath the oak tree and departed with a promise of returning soon. She informed Christabel that she was extremely weary and scarcely alive.
9. “To follow knowledge like a sinking star.” – What does this line signify in Tennyson’s poem?
In Tennyson’s poem Ulysses the hero Ulysses refers to himself as the grey spirit. With the help of a simile he draws a parallel with his pursuit for knowledge with man’s attempt to reach a falling star. He desires to follow the star of knowledge till the edge of the world and beyond, till the end of his life.
10. “My Last Duchess is a dramatic monologue.” – Discuss.
Browning’s My Last Duchess is out and out a dramatic monologue. The poem highlights the inner world of the Duke and the Duchess of Ferrara. Browning perfectly presents the Duke in a monologue which brings out the character of the Duke. The poem is a superb study in self exploration or introspection.
11. What does the poet mean by “harmonious madness” in the poem To A Sklark?
With the help of an oxymoron Shelley has expressed the inner thought of his mind through this phrase “harmonious madness”. He asserts that the skylark does not know the pains, sorrows and disappointments of earthly life. The earthly troubles do not touch it. He appeals to the bird to teach him the secret of this unrestrained joy so that he may compose such brilliant verse for the coming generation.
12. What is the significance of the epigraph in Eliot’s The Hollow Men?
There are two epigraphs in the poem. The first epigraph “Mistah Kurtz – he dead”, taken from Conrad’s novel Heart of Darkness, signifies that it is better to be evil than be inactive and dead like the hollow men today. The second epigraph “A penny for the old Guy” is a line from a song sung by the children to raise money to buy fireworks on the occasion of Guy Fawkes Day. Eliot refers this to compare this notorious man to the modern hollow men and to feel that they are like the effigy of Guy Fawkes which is stuffed and burnt by children.
13. Who were the visitors in the imaginary Hell of the Porter Scene in Macbeth?
The visitors in the imaginary Hell of the Porter Scene in Macbeth are – a farmer who committed suicide in expectation of plenty, a Jesuit priest who equivocates and a tailor who stole from a French horse.
14. How does Goldsmith maintain the principle of three unities in his play She Stoops to Conquuer?
Goldsmith skillfully maintains the principle of three unities in his play She Stoops to Conquer. The time when the play opens is evening and the curtain falls by the time of supper. The setting or place of action is mostly the house of Mr. Hardcastle, but the scene sometime shifts to the ‘Three Pigeons Inn’. The action of the play revolves round Kate and how she wins her love.
15. Do you describe Arms and the Man as a pleasant play?
Shaw includes Arms and the Mani in his Plays Pleasant. It is indeed a pleasant play that contains much matter, within its form of a pleasant comedy. His treatment of the themes of love and war and his well conceived dramatic situations are truly delightful. The play is well-characterized as ‘thought-provoking’ and ‘entertaining’, and this may well be taken as a typical aspect of the pleasant character of the play.
16. How does Synge heighten the tragic atmosphere in “Riders to the Sea”?
The play opens in a mournful atmosphere and this atmosphere is gradually heightened by the dramatist through hints and forebodings of the impending tragedy. Synge makes the tragedy very lurid by making Maurya her own mouthpiece. Her description of the past deaths in the family makes the atmosphere very tragic. Her reference to ominous signs and spectres add a lurid touch to the play.
17. ‘In David Copperfield we find characters who act as foils to each others’. – Discuss.
In David Copperfield we find two characters – Dora and Agnes who are foil to each other. Both Dora and Agnes are two women with whom David fell in love. He also married them successively. Dora was very childish and silly, whereas Agnes was very good and sensible. Dora belonged to a higher society and was unable to do household work. But she loved David very dearly. Agnes gave David home and happiness when Dora died.
18. Describe the character of Lady Catherine de Bourgh.
Lady Catherine De Bourgh is a comic character like Mr. Collins in Pride and Prejudice. She is Collins’ patroness and Mr. Darcy’s aunt. She has a bossy nature by which she always tries to advise in others’ problems. She comes to Longbourn to make Elizabeth promise not to marry Mr. Darcy. But she does not become successful in this purpose. At last Darcy proposes Elizabeth for marrying her with the intervention of Lady Catherine.
19. “The Lagoon presents a moral dilemma.” – Comment.
In the story The Lagoon the central character Arsat experienced a tug-of-war between his love for sweetheart Diamele and his duty too his brother who risked his very life to ensure Arsat’s happiness. If he went back to his brother, it might have resulted death of all three. But it is also difficult to say that Arsat was right in doing his duty to his love at the cost of his brother’s life. It is a problem which is basically insoluble.
20. Briefly describe the symbols used in Araby.
James Joyce’s short story Araby is full oof rich symbols. The name Araby itself stands for romance and beauty. Love stands for suupreme bliss and unening fund of joy. The boy’s journey to Araby represents man’s universally frustrated search for beauty and ideal.
21. How many times and how did the fly try to survive in The Fly?
The fly tried to survive for three times against the whimsicality of the boss.
When the boss drops the first drop of ink on the newly cleaned body of the fly, it struggled hard to escape and get rid of the sudden danger. Even it escaped for the second time. But when the third drop was given, it was beyond its capacity.
22. “We are not of Alice, nor of thee, nor are we the children at all.” – What does this sentence signify in Lamb’s essay Dream Children – A Reverie?
This sentence refers to some pathetic incidents of Charles Lamb’s personal life. John and Alice are here mere imaginary children. They might have been his children if Lamb married Alice W.N. or in reality Ann Simmons. For some unavoidable reason he had remained a bachelor. So these children are his unrealized hopes.
23. Write a short note on Shaw’s views on freedom as depicted in his essay.
According to Shaw, perfect freedom in this world is not possible for any person. None can do things of his own likes for nature compels him to do a number of things according to her will. He says that twelve hours a day is compulsory to the natural functions including sleep. If a person does not obey this, it may prove fatal to him. Society also restricts our freedom by introducing laws which have been framed to ensure common welfare.
24. “Abeunt studia mores” – What is the meaning of this line and how is it validated by Francis Bacon in his essay Of Studies?
Bacon has quoted this expression from one of the epistle of the Roman poet Ovid. The Latin poet expression means “Studies pass into character”. He means to say that studies play greater role in building our characters.
25. Give example of each of the following:
(a) Hyperbole: “To see her is to love her / And love her but for ever.
(b) Periphrasis: The million-coloured bow. (Rainbow)
(c) Alliteration: “Unswept, unhonoured and unsung...”
(d) Epigram: The child is the father of man.
26. Scan the following lines and identify the meter:
Wa ter / wa ter / eve ry / where
And all / the boards / did shrink
Wa ter / wa ter / eve ry / where
Not a / drop to / drink
This is written in troichaic tetrameter wiith an exception in the first and the last line.
This is written in troichaic tetrameter wiith an exception in the first and the last line.
27. Do as directed:
(a) Some birds live on insects. (Fill in the blanks with appropriate preposition)
(b) Standing at the gate,a scorion stung him. (Correct the sentence)
Ans: A scorpion stung him when he was standing at the gate.
28. Do as directed:
(a) The Headmaster gave away the prizes. (Change the voice)
Ans: The prizes were given away by the Headmaster.
(b) ‘No’, said the child, ‘I won’t kneel, for if I do, I shall spoil my new dress’. (Change the narration)
Ans: The child said in the negative that he would not keel for if he did, he would spoil his new dress.
29. Give one example of each of the following:
(a) Participle: Driven by hunger he stole a piece of bread. Here driven is the example of a participle.
(b) A connective: Since is an example of a connective.
(c) Gerund: Playing cards is not allowed here. Here playing is the example of a gerund.
(d) Impersonal pronoun: It is given to him by the government. Here it is the example of an impersonal pronoun.
30. Write a paragraph (within 50-60 words) on the Role of a Teacher.
1. Among the greatest of all services that can be rendered by men to Almighty God, is the education and training of children, so that they can foster by grace in the way of salvation, growing like pearls of divine bounty in the shell of education and will be one day the jewel in the crown of abiding glory. The teacher is the yardstick that measures the achievements and aspirations of the nation. The worth and potentialities of a country get evaluated in and through the work of the teacher. The people of a country are the enlarged replica of their teacher. They are the real nation builders.
2. The teacher is a dynamic force of the school. A school without teacher is just like a body without the soul, a skeleton without flesh and blood, a shadow without substance. There is no greater need for the cause of education today than the need for strong manly men and motherly women as teachers for the young. As social engineers, the teachers can socialize and humanize the young by their man-like qualities.
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