LOYOLA COLLEGE (AUTONOMOUS), CHENNAI – 600 034
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M.A. DEGREE EXAMINATION – ENGLISH LITERATURE
THIRD SEMESTER – November 2008
EL 3804 – DRAMA (BRITISH & AMERICAN) FROM 1900
Date : 05-11-08 Dept. No. Max. : 100 Marks
Time : 9:00 – 12:00
- Explain with reference to the context the following and answer the questions given below. (10×2=20 marks)
- “Clean-cut, Midwest farm boy type, almost insultingly good looking in a typically American way. Good
profile, straight nose, honest eyes, wonderful smile….”
- a) Is he “the American Dream”?
- b) Is he the material boy?
- “Oh, I’am so fortunate to have such a husband. Just think: I could have a husband who was poor, or
argumentative, or a husband who sat in a wheelchair all day…”
- a) What kind of a husband is he really?
- b) What do “Mommy” and “Daddy “ stand for?
- “I know what doctors are. They’re all alike. Anything, they don’t care what, to keep you coming to
them.”
- a) Why is the speaker bitter towards doctors, in general?
- b) Is the speaker the sole sufferer at the hands of doctors?
- “None of us can help the things life has done to us. They’re done before you realize it, and once they ‘re
done they make you do other things until at last every thing, comes between you and what you’d like to
be, and you have lost your true self forever.”
- a) Does a shadow fall between perception and reality?
- b) What is the speaker’s take on life in totality?
- Then Nietzsche must be right. “God is dead: of His pity for man hath God died.”
- a) Is there God in heaven and all is right with the world?
- b) Comment on Nietzsche’s line from “ Thus Spake Zaruthustra”.
- ”We’re taking him to Monty,”
Is this a matter of fact statement or something more?
- “You’re a plague, Webber. You’re an overthrow.”
Identify the speaker and the reason behind such abusive words.
- ” Get out of it.You succulent old washing bag.”
Explain the context of these statements.
- “Yes: that’s the secret of success in service.”
Why does the speaker say so?
- “I’m a professional soldier: I fight when I have to and am very glad to get out of it when I
haven’t to.”
What light does this statement throw on the speaker’s character?
- Write paragraphs on any FIVE of the following in about 150 words each: (5×8=40 marks)
- “The characters of Blanche Du Bois and Stanley Kowalski are types of the tender, the sensitive, the
delicate and the savage and the brutal,” Explicate.
- In the words of drama critic Frederic I.Carpenter, “Long Day’s Journey Into Night” describes the mid-
world of middle-class family life and its greatness lies in its simple domestication both of tragic
emotion and of human insight.” Elucidate.
- August Wilson writes: “ I wanted to present the unique particulars of Black American culture as the
transformation of impulse and sensibility into codes of conduct and response…” How far is it true with
regard to his “Fences”?
- ‘A Raisin in the Sun” is less a work of protest than a celebration of the multigenerational Black
struggle for progress.’ Do you agree with the view?
- Critically examine the roles of Vladimir and Estragon in “Waiting for Godot”.
- How are the central characters portrayed in “Juno and the Paycock”?
- Discuss Stoppard’s “Rosencrantz and Gilderstern are Dead” as a philosophical play.
- Analyze “The Importance of Being Earnest” as a play that holds a mirror to Victorian society.
III. Attempt an answer for the following questions in about 300 words each: (2×20=40 marks)
- a) Oscar Wilde wrote thus: “ Formerly we used to canonize our heroes. The modern method is to
vulgarize them.” Do you think this statement aptly describes Arthur Miller’s play, “ Death of a
Salesman?”
Or
- b) “The American Dream” was Albees’ attack on what he saw as American complacency. For Albee,
the humorous anger was necessary. Discuss.
- a) Do you agree with the view that “Action was not important as the discussion of ideas” in Shaw’s
‘Arms and the Man.?”
Or
- b) Critically examine “Waiting for Godot” as a play about ‘waiting’ and the ‘flow of time’.
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