LOYOLA COLLEGE (AUTONOMOUS), CHENNAI – 600 034
B.A. DEGREE EXAMINATION – ENGLISH LITERATURE
THIRD SEMESTER – APRIL 2012
EL 3501 – GENDER STUDIES
Date : 26-04-2012 Dept. No. Max. : 100 Marks
Time : 9:00 – 12:00
PART – A
Answer any SIX of the following in about 250 words each: (6×10 =60 marks)
- Account for the achievements of the first and second wave feminism.
- Define feminism? Critically examine the challenges faced by feminist movements.
- How does stereotyping contribute to women’s oppression?
- Trace the major influences in Indian women’s movement.
- Compare and contrast liberal and radical feminism.
- Discuss the ideology of Marxist feminism.
- Cyber feminism has become a significant field in contemporary cultural practice.
- Write a short essay on the various aspects of Post – feminism
PART – B
Answer any TWO of the following in about 250 words each: (2×10 =20 marks)
- Comment on Kamala Das’s attitude towards patriarchal society in “Introduction”.
- Search for female identity is the central theme in Adrienne Rich’s poem. Substantiate.
- Giovanni’spoems record the life struggles of being a black woman. Do you agree?
PART – C
Answer any ONE of the following in about 400 – 500 words each: (1×20 =20 marks)
- Enumerate the key tenets of feminist theories.
- How do feminists redefine womanhood?
- Critically examine the woman’s experience in the following extract from Taslima Nasrin’s poem “Happy Marriage”
He wanted my heart under his control
so that I would love him:
in my lonely house at night,
sleepless, full of anxiety,
clutching at the window grille,
I would wait for him and sob,
My tears rolling down, I would bake homemade bread;
so that I would drink, as if they were ambrosia,
the filthy liquids of his polygynous body.
So that, loving him, I would melt like wax,
not turning my yees toward any other man,
I would give proof of my chastity all my life.
So that, loving him
on some moonlit night I would commit suicide
in a fit of ecstasy.