LOYOLA COLLEGE (AUTONOMOUS), CHENNAI – 600 034
M.A. DEGREE EXAMINATION – ENGLISH LITERATURE
THIRD SEMESTER – NOVEMBER 2012
EL 3804 – DRAMA (BRITISH & AMERICAN) FROM 1900
Date : 03/11/2012 Dept. No. Max. : 100 Marks
Time : 9:00 – 12:00
PART-A
Explain the following with reference to the context and answer the questions given below:
(10×2=20marks)
- “I have no ammunition…I always carry chocolate instead;”
Explain the context and the message in this statement.
- “Witty as well as pretty.”
What is the motive behind this compliment?
- “As for her, she’s a liar, and her fine airs are a cheat;”
Comment on this accusation.
- ”You know, there’s a lot in your eyes.”
Identify the language game used by the speaker.
- ”We are taking him to Monty.”
Can this statement be taken at its face value?
- “Oh, about twenty years ago… there was a man very much like Daddy, and a woman very much like Mommy, who were married to each other……”
Explain the irony in these lines.
- “Have you called the van people to come and take me away?”
Is the speaker aware of the ensuing eventuality?
- “I never wanted to be an actor. You forced me on the stage”.
Who is the speaker and why he/she makes this statement?
- “I forgot all about becoming a nun or concert pianist. All I wanted was to be his wife”.
What aspect of the character of the speaker is brought out here?
- “At least, I’ve loved you dearly, and done the best I could – under the circumstances”. What best thing has the speaker done under the given circumstances?
PART- B
Answer FIVE of the following questions choosing not less than two from each section: (5×8=40marks)
Section-1
- Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest is a socio-cultural documentary of its times. Discuss with textual evidence.
- Critically examine the theme and message of Sean O’Casey’s Juno and the Paycock?
- How does Stoppard’s Rosencrantz and Gildernstern are Dead qualify as a philosophical play.
- How effectively does Beckett dramatize silence in Waiting for Godot.
Section-2
- Explicate the theme of motherhood in Long Day’s Journey into Night.
- Comment on the theme of racial discrimination in A Raisin in the Sun?
- Discuss the significance of the title, Fences, as it relates to characters and themes of the play.
- Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman is an indictment on American Dream. Illustrate.
PART- C
Attempt answers for the following questions in about 300 words each: (2×20=40marks)
- a) Discuss the Shavian wit on a variety of topics in Arms and the Man with textual evidence.
Or
- b) Pinter’s The Birthday Party is a tragedy with comic elements. Discuss with textual support.
- a) What are the major conflicts in O’ Neil’s Long Day’s Journey into Night? How, if at all, are they resolved?
(or)
- b) For Edward Albee, the American dream seems to be hollow and artificial. Illustrate
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