LOYOLA COLLEGE (AUTONOMOUS), CHENNAI – 600 034

B.A. DEGREE EXAMINATION – ENGLISH LITERATURE

FIRST SEMESTER – APRIL 2012

EL 1500 – INDIAN LITERATURE IN ENGLISH

 

 

 

Date : 28-04-2012              Dept. No.                                        Max. : 100 Marks

Time : 1:00 – 4:00

 

SECTION – A

 

Answer the following in about 50 words each:                                                      (10 x 2 = 20 marks)

 

1. “Ho! Let us dance, let us sing

And wear saffron garments to welcome the spring.

And pluck the new buds that are blowing.”

             In what way is the persona’s mood different from the speaker of these lines?

 

2. The trip had darkened our face,

Our deeds were neither great nor rare.

Home is where we gather grace.

            Why is home a better place to find grace than going on a pilgrimage?

 

3. No longstanding headstone

with his full name and two dates

              Explain these lines

 

4. I’m not asking you only for my sake but for all the Muslims who will die at the hands of Muslims if there is a war

            Is this the true intention of the speaker to stop the war? Give reasons.

 

5. A woman in a man’s world may be considered being progressive. But a man in a woman’s world

is – pathetic

What is the line of argument here?

 

6. “Flocks of birds have flown high and away,

A solitary drift of cloud, too, has gone wandering on,

And I sit alone with Ching – ting Peak, towering beyond.

We never grow tired of each other, the mountain and I,”

             Why does Nehru quote this poem?

 

7. I saw something between a lizard and a crocodile, about two feet long with claws   and a scaly covering.

            What was this animal locally called? What is it called in English? What              happened to the animal?

 

8. Girls today! How courageous you are?

            What made the speaker exclaim thus?

 

9. “Velan, it’s raining in the hills.  I can feel it coming up under my feet, up my legs-   -” and with that he sagged down.

            Explain the significance of this line.

 

10. Why did she call herself Rosie? She did not come from foreign land. She was just             an Indian,

            What other description does Raju give about Rosie?

 

SECTION – B

 

Answer any FIVE of the following in about 150 words each;

 choosing not more than three from either part:                                                                 (5×8=40)

 

Part – A

 

11. What does Ratna say about Mysore School of Dance practised by Chenniamma?
12. Pick out clues from the poem “My Grandmother’s House” that expresses a deep sense of sorrow.
13. What relevance does Thirukural bear for a modern man?
14. Muhammad bin Tughluq was relatively liberal and permitted Hindus and Jains to settle in Delhi.This is a historical fact about the real king. Can this be said of Karanard’sTughlaq?

 

Part B

 

15. Make a character analysis of Tyagu.
16. Why did Nehru enjoy the short walks that he was permitted during his

imprisonment?

17.         How does Dr.Radhakrishnan present his views about “the divine in the human self.”
18.    What is central theme of the poem Indian Weavers?

 

SECTION – C

 

Answer the following in about 300 words each:                                                      (2×20=40)

 

 

19. The Guide is delightfully funny and yet extraordinarily serious at the same time. Discuss

Or

1. S. Naipaul’s A House for Mr.Biswas examines one man’s search for his own      identity amidst

controversy. Argue.

 

20. What do you learn about Indianess from the prescribed poems of NissimEzekiel?

Or

Discuss the social issues dealt with by Dina Mehta in her play Brides Are Not for Burning.

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LOYOLA COLLEGE (AUTONOMOUS), CHENNAI – 600 034

B.A. DEGREE EXAMINATION – ENGLISH LITERATURE

FIRST SEMESTER – NOVEMBER 2012

EL 1500 – INDIAN LITERATURE IN ENGLISH

 

 

 

Date : 08/11/2012             Dept. No.                                        Max. : 100 Marks

Time : 1:00 – 4:00

 

SECTION – A

 

1. Answer the following in 50 words each:                                     (10×2=20)

 

1. Like the plumes of a peacock, purple and green, 
   We weave the marriage-veils of a queen.

Comment on the tone in these lines.

 

2. My father, sceptic, rationalist,

     trying every curse and blessing,

     powder, mixture, herb and hybrid.

Bring out the irony and sarcasm in these lines.

 

3. And he left us
   a changed mother
   and more than
   one annual ritual.

Comment on the speaker’s attitude to his father’s death.

 

4. Dance doesn’t make you a man!

Comment on the gender bias in this line.

 

5. Why does Tughlaq describe his kingdom as “a honeycomb of diseases”?

 

6. In prison I was grateful for their company

Bring out Nehru’s attitude in this line.

 

7. I don’t know on whose advice my father chose to send me here for my

       education, while the fashionable Albert Mission School was quite close by.

How does this observation bring out the clash between the ideologies of the

father and son?

 

8. You are becoming rather stuck- up nowadays, Raju. You are not the old

       friend you used to be.

What is the conflict in Raju’s mind?

 

9. Worship and kindliness do not always go together.

Why does Nehru make this observation?

 

10. The Indian thinkers do not oppose nature to spirit.

How does Radhakrishnan view the material and the spiritual realms?

(P.T.O)

 

SECTION – B

 

1. Answer any FIVE of the following in about 150 words each, choosing not more than

THREE from either part.                                                                              (5×8=40)

PART- A

 

1. Discuss the humour in Goodbye Party for Miss Pushpa T.S.
2. Bring out the contemporary relevance of the play Tughlaq.
3. Discuss the idea of nostalgia in My Grandmother’s House.
4. Comment on the role played by Jairaj in Dance like a Man.

 

PART- B

 

1. How does Nehru relate to the animals in the prison?
2. How, according to Radhakrishnan, is the Asian view of man unique?
3. Comment on the role played by Rosie in the novel The Guide.
4. Discuss Tyagu as a piece of social criticism.

 

SECTION – C

 

III. Write an essay on any TWO of the following in about 300 words, choosing one from

each  part.                                                                                                                           (2×20=40)

                                                            

1. Discuss the poems of Nissim Ezekiel as a criticism of the Indian ways of thinking.

 

(OR)

Make an assessment of Bharathi as a poet with reference to the poems prescribed.

 

2. Discuss the cultural conflicts in the novel A House for Mr. Biswas.

 

                                                           (OR)

       Is Raju a real spiritual guide in the novel? Give reasons.

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