VMOU
B.A. English -2020-21
EG -02
Prose and Fiction
Max
Marks: 30
Note: The Question paper is divided
into three sections A, B, and C. Write Answer as per the given instruction.
Section-A
(Very Short Answer Type Questions)
Note: Answer all questions. As per the
nature of the question you delimit your answer in one word, one sentence or
maximum up to 30 words. Each question carries 1 mark.
6x1=06
1
i.
Who
destroyed the tokens of Oliver’s parentage?
-
Monks
had destroyed the tokens of Oliver's parentage.
ii.
Who
is Kiran?
-
Kiran
is a character in the story 'The Castaway' having equal importance with the
protagonist Nilkanta. She is a favourite of not only her own family but also of
the whole village
iii.
How
many essays Addison wrote for ‘The Spectator’?
-
He
wrote 274 essays for 'The Spectator'.
iv.
Who
was Nathu?
-
Nathu
is a sweeper boy of the Piplanagar Bank, owned by Seth Govind Ram. He feels bad
that the bank manager has not paid his wages for the month, though twenty days
of the next month had passed by.
v.
Write
the meaning of ‘Histories make men wise’.
-
If we
know the mistakes people made in the past, we won’t make the same ones. History
is a very important thing to know a lot about.
vi.
Which
period does Charles Lamb belong?
-
Charles
Lamb belongs to the Romantic era.
Section-B
(Short Answer Questions)
Note: Answer any 4 questions. Each
answer should not exceed 100 words. Each question carries 3 marks.
4x3=12
2. Justify the title of the story ‘A
Cup of Tea’.
The title is appropriate because a cup
of tea symbolizes Rosemary's somewhat shallow concern for the welfare of the
poor young lady she meets in the street. Inviting Miss Smith back to her
sumptuous home for afternoon tea is a way for Rosemary to feel that she's
making a difference to the life of someone much less fortunate than herself.
But in reality, it's all about making herself feel virtuous. Offering Miss
Smith a cup of tea is ultimately a polite gesture, but nothing more. Rosemary
will gladly sit and chat with Miss Smith, but what she won't do is anything substantial
that might actually change the lives of people like her.
3.
What
are the good manners described in Joseph Addison’s “Rural Manners”?
The essay sheds light on the concept of
good manners of Addison's time. In the age of the essayist, good manners
included a display of overformal polity, which can only be called an excess of
good breeding. The country still conforms to the earlier notion of politeness.
In fact, cases of ceremonial precedence are taken to an extreme in rural areas,
where they become a positive nuisance; For example, guests take so long to sit
and wait until the dinner is cooled by that time. The country, says Addison,
has so far been safe from one perversion of polite conversation in the town.
4.
Discuss the impact of materialism on the
characters’ lives in “The Necklace”.
The Necklace is a short story based in
France in late 19th century and how people were judged on their appearance and
wealth rather than personality. Maupassant expresses the real mentality of
people at the time. At the time appearance and material wealth were the most
important aspects of the society. The story highlights society’s concern with
superficial materialism. It is ironic that the writer has portrayed Mathilde, a
middle-class woman. Maupassant further criticizes Mathilde’s, and society’s,
obsession with appearance. When offered her choice of all of Madam Forrester 's
jewels for the party nothing meets her high standards until she found a
magnificent diamond necklace. Mathilde 's excessive and extreme reaction is to
the “magnificent” appearance of the diamond necklace, which we learn later to
be a fake. Both examples above highlight the author’s harsh critique of
society’s fascination with materialism and appearance.
5.
Addison
believes ‘Death levels all’, elaborate this statement.
In the essay he says, that he passes
his time by digging the graves, when he is in serious mood. When the essayist
wonders in the Westminster Abbey, he finds, that how men and women, friends and
enemies and other people of opposite groups are lying together in the same
common mass. The essayist knows that wondering in the graveyard may raise dark
and dismal thoughts in timorous minds but he can improve himself, because while
reading the different epitaphs, emotions of envy and of inordinate desires goes
out from him and he considers the great day when all the people will be
contemporaries.
6.
What
did Brooker T. Washington do in Richmond? Discuss.
Once he reached Hampton,
the sight of the school building seemed to him a reward for the hardship he
faced. But here he could not make a favourable impression on his teacher. He
desperately wanted a chance to prove his worth and he got it when the teacher
finally asked him to clean the recitation room. He swept and dusted the room
several times as he knew that his future depended upon it. The teacher came and
inspected the room minutely and could not find a bit of dirt. She finally admitted
him to the school. He was extremely happy and all through his life considered
the cleaning of that room the best examination he ever passed.
Section ‘C’
(Long Answer Questions)
Note: Answer any two questions. You
have to delimit each answer maximum up to 400 words. Each question carries 06
marks.
7.
Critically
examine the essay ‘Modern Gallantry’ by Charles Lamb.
The word ‘gallantry’ means a special
respect or a show of chivalrous attention to women. Lamb builds the essay,
Modern Gallantry, on this theme and shows how the social attitude towards women
in the 19th century England falls short of a genuine sense of gallantry.
Lamb says, that in comparison to the
ancient times, the 19th century can pride itself upon a growing sense of
gallantry. Lamb points out in this essay, that even the 19th century is devoid
of a genuine sense of gallantry. He believes that in social life gallantry is
still missing.
Lamb is concerned with a false show of
gallantry in social life and his primary purpose is to expose the hollowness of
such an attitude. Some men show a deferential attitude to women in cultured and
upper-class society. They are courteous in circles where they are known, where
their objects of gallantry are either their own relations or women of status
and rank. But elsewhere these same men betray a completely different attitude
of neglect towards women of lower classes or of the poorer section of society.
Often Lamb has noticed that women in theatre halls are denied seats while men
occupy them without the Beast scruple. He says, that even well-dressed
gentlemen in decent society often use disreputable expressions about old women
a “antiquated virginity”. Such cases prove that in reality, a true sense of
gallantry could not be attained by men in Lamb’s contemporary times.
Lamb advocates the consistent gallantry
in social life. He says that he would only accept that Englishmen have realized
true gallantry in their characters only when he would find a gallant man of
fashion helping an apple woman to pick up her wondering fruit fallen on the
ground, or when he would help a fish wife in crossing a kennel. When a rich
tradesman would sacrifice his box coat in favour of a poor woman traveling on the
root of the same stage, coach, drenched in rain. When helping women in distress
without any interests would be a common sight in the streets of England, Lamb
would accept that ‘consistent gallantry’ has really enriched English life.
According to Lamb, gallantry means a
uniform show of courteous respect to all women, irrespective of age, beauty,
class and connections. Genuine gallantry consists in a show of respect and
solicitation for women as women, without any consideration whatsoever. Finally
it needs to be mentioned, that Lamb also presents his view, that it is also the
women’s responsibility to be conscious of her self-respect and to demand honour
primarily for her existence as a women by her.
8.
What
literary devices are employed by Ruskin Bond in the story ‘The Boy Who Broke
the Bank’. Discuss.
“The boy who broke the bank” is a very
interesting story written by Ruskin Bond. The story relates to the murmuring of
a sweeper boy Nathu about irregular payment of his salary. It takes the shape
of a rumour and results into the collapse of a bank. In the end of the story, Nathu, who is
responsible for the whole episode, wonders innocently about the incident.
Seth Govind Ram owns a bank at
Piplanagar town. The bank is financially very sound and has won the trust of
the depositors. Nathu is a sweeper in the bank. One day, while sweeping the
steps of the bank, he grumbles about the irregular payment of his salary by the
bank authorities. Sitaram, the washer man’s son learns about Nathu’s
complaints. In his loose talk with Mrs. Srivastava, Sitaram says that bank
could not pay its employees. Mrs. Srivastava misunderstands Sitaram’s
statement. She believes, that the Piplanagar bank is about to collapse. The
rumour spreads like a wild fire in the entire town.
The customers in shock demand their
money back. They start stoning the bank building and break the glasses. The
next day when Nathu goes to the bank for his duty, he finds a lot of broken
glasses and stones. He wonders how it happened. He murmurs angrily that the
bank authorities are not paying him regularly on one hand and are also
increasing his work. For him the event
is a mystery.
Suspense and humour are of the
prominent literary devices employed by Ruskin Bond in the story ‘The Boy Who
Broke The Bank’. Suspense is one of the distinctive features of detective
fiction. Suspense refers to a state of uncertainty anticipation and curiosity
as to the outcome of a story or play or any kind of narrative in verse or
prose.
In this story, suspense is not created
for the readers because the readers know an unintentional murmuring of Nathu, a
bank sweeper. It is created for the characters belonging to the story. The
characters in the story do not know the real cause of non-payment of Nathu’s
salary. This leads them to think otherwise. All are misled and a sound bank
collapsed. Ruskin Bond also employs humour, which emerges out of
misunderstanding.
9.
‘Humans
are the victims of Fatalism’ as shown in the story ‘The Necklace’ by G. D. Maupassant,
Explain it.
The reality of Mathilde’s situation is
that she is neither wealthy nor part of the social class of which she feels she
is a deserving member, but Mathilde does everything in her power to make her
life appear different from how it is. She lives in an illusory world where her
actual life does not match the ideal life she has in her head—she believes,
that her beauty and charm make her worthy of greater things. The party is a
triumph because for the first time, her appearance matches the reality of her
life. She is prettier than the other women, sought after by the men, and
generally admired and flattered by all. Her life, in the few short hours of the
party, is as she feels it should be. However, beneath this rightness and
seeming match of appearances and reality is the truth, that her appearance took
a great deal of scheming and work. The bliss of her evening was not achieved
without angst, and the reality of her appearance is much different than it
seems. Her wealth and class are simply illusions, and other people are easily
deceived.
The deceptiveness of appearances is
highlighted by Madame Forestier’s necklace, which appears to be made of
diamonds but is actually nothing more than costume jewelry. The fact that it
comes from Madame Forestier’s jewelry box gives it the illusion of richness and
value; had Monsieur Loisel suggested that Mathilde wear fake jewels, she surely
would have scoffed at the idea, just as she scoffed at his suggestion to wear
flowers. Furthermore, the fact that Madame Forestier—in Mathilde’s view, the
epitome of class and wealth—has a necklace made of fake jewels suggests that
even the wealthiest members of society pretend to have more wealth than they
actually have. Both women are ultimately deceived by appearances: Madame
Forestier does not tell Mathilde that the diamonds are fake, and Mathilde does
not tell Madame Forestier that she has replaced the necklace. The fact that the
necklace changes—unnoticed—from worthless to precious suggests that true value
is ultimately dependent on perception and that appearances can easily deceive.
10.
“The
Castaway” is a story about problems of social and economic mobility. Discuss.
In ‘The Castaway’ by Rabindranath
Tagore we have the theme of mercy, kindness, jealousy, control, abandonment,
honesty, shame and loyalty. After reading the story, the reader realizes, that
Tagore may be exploring the theme of mercy. Kiran throughout the story shows
mercy and kindness to Nilkanta. It is as though Nilkanta is only in the house
because of Kiran’s wishes. The bond that Nilkanta and Kiran form may also have
some significant as they become very close and it is only when Satish arrives
that the reader fully understands how important this bond is to Nilkanta.
Nilkanta does act on the jealously he
feels, when Satish arrives. Which should be considered as normal. Nilkanta is
jealous of the time Satish spends with Kiran. It is as though jealousy over
consumes Nilkanta and he longs for Kiran to see that he is upset so that she
can spend more time with him. It is possible that Kiran is the first person who
has ever shown an interest in Nilkanta’s life and this is something that he is
not prepared to let go of.
The act of revenge of robbing Satish’s
inkstand might also be important as it shows that Nilkanta wants to hurt Satish
just as much as he feels Satish is hurting him. He blames Satish for taking
Kiran’s affections away from him and for the hurt he feels inside. If anyone is
to be blamed it is Kiran. She is the one who is limiting her time with
Nilkanta. Sharat looks upon Nilkanta as being no more than a leech.
The end of the story is also
interesting as Tagore appears to be exploring a little further the depths of
Nilkanta and Kiran’s relationship. When Kiran finds the inkstand in the box,
she knows that Nilkanta has robbed it. However, she says and does nothing and
even goes as far as putting the new clothes and money in Nilkanta’s box. This
may be important as at no stage does Kiran judge Nilkanta even though he is
guilty of robbing the inkstand. It is also interesting that Nilkanta
underestimates his relationship with Karin and during the night flees the home
never to be seen again. It is as though shame has driven Nilkanta away. In an
unusual act the next day Kiran throws the inkstand into the river in order that
Nilkanta cannot be blamed. Right till the end of the story Kiran has been
supportive of Nilkanta even though he may not have always thought this was the
case.
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