MEG 5 LITERARY CRITICISM AND THEORY PREVIOUS YEAR'S QUESTION PAPERS
MEG 5 LITERARY CRITICISM AND THEORY PREVIOUS YEAR'S QUESTION PAPERS
June, 2021
MEG-05 : LITERARY CRITICISM AND THEORY
Note : Answer any five of the following questions in your own words as far as possible.
1.Comment on Plato’s views on poetry.
2. Attempt a critique of Romanticism.
3. ‘‘Honest criticism and sensitive appreciation are directed not upon the poet but upon the poetry.’’ Comment.
4. How do Marxists understand literature ? Support your points with suitable examples.
5. Assess the contribution of Mary Wollstonecraft to the emancipation of women.
6. Evaluate either Freud’s or Lacan’s contribution to the understanding of literature.
7. Write short notes on any two of the following :
(a) Rasa
(b) Aucitya
(c) Hamartia
(d) Death of the Author
(e) Matthew Arnold as a Critic
June, 2011
Question No. 1 is compulsory. Answer five questions in all. All questions carry equal marks.
1. Write short notes of about 250 words each on any four of the following :
(a) Concept of mimesis
(b) Sphot
(c) Objective correlative
(d) Postmodernism
(e) 'Feminist criticism in wilderness'
(f) Literature and ideology 5x4=20
2. Write a note on Catharsis in tragedy.
3. How does Coleridge deal with distinction between Fancy and Imagination ?
4. What are the common features of the critics associated with 'New criticism' ?
5. Evaluate gyno criticism against any one other critical mode.
6. Attempt a critical evaluation of the theory of structuralism.
7. Evaluate the salient features of post - colonialism. 20
8. Comment on the beginnings in new historicism in literary criticism.
December, 2011 Attempt question no. 1 and any four of the remaining questions.
1. Explain any two of the following passages with reference to their context supplying brief critical comments where necessary. 10+10
(a) Now, God has produced only that one real bed. The restriction to only one might have been his own choice, or it might just be impossible for him to make more than one. But God never has, and never could, create two or more such beds.
(b) Poets, according to the circumstances of the age and nation in which they appeared, were called, in the earlier epochs of the world, legislators or prophets : a poet essentially comprises and unites both these characters.
(c) If this figure seems somewhat high flown. Let us borrow an analogy from another art : the poem is like a little drama. The total effect proceeds from all the elements in the drama, and in a good poem, as in a good drama, there is, no waste emotion and there are no superfluous parts.
(d) The first of these modes, righteous angry, and admonitory, they compared to The Old Testament, 'looking for the sins and errors of the past'. The second mode, disinterested and seeking 'the grace of imagination', they compared to the New Testament. Both are necessary, they concluded, for only the jeremiahs of ideology can lead us out of the 'Egypt of female servitude' to the promised land of humanism.
2. Comment upon Aristotle's views on 'mythos' and 'ethos' in Greek tragedy.
3. 'To generalise is to be an idiot. To particularise is the lone distinction of merit'. In the light of William Blake's observation comment on the Romantic epistemology.
4. What does Ransom mean when he advocates Criticism
5. How do Marx and Engels interpret literature ?
6. Analyse the components of Beauvoir's thesis to indicate (a) its strengths (b) its limitations.
7. Discuss the strengths and limitations of 20 deconstruction as a method of critical inquiry.
June, 2012 Answer question no. 1 and any four of the remaining questions.
1. Explain any two of the following passages with reference to their context supplying brief critical comments where necessary :
(a) If, then, Tragedy is superior to Epic poetry in all these respects, and, moreover, fulfils its specific function better as an art - for each art ought to produce not any chance pleasure, but the pleasure proper to it, as already stated-it plainly follows that tragedy is the higher art, as attaining its end more perfectly.
(b) The IMAGINATION then I consider either as primary or secondary. The primary IMAGINATION I hold to be the living Power and prime Agent of all human perception and as a repetition in the finite mind of the eternal act of creation in the infinite I AM.
(c) Honest criticism and sensitive appreciation are directed not upon the poet but upon the poetry.
(d) The only teaching worthy of the name is scholarly, not personal, analogies between teaching and various aspects of show business or guidance counselling are more often than not excuses for having abdicated the task.
2. What are the reasons for the artist to be kept away from the ideal state of plato ?
3. What roles do spontaneity, emotion and personality have in Wordsworth's theory of poetry ?
4. What do you understand by 'The Affective Fallacy ' ?
5. Critically appraise the ideas of Karl Marx and Frederick Engels about class relations and class ideology.
6. Examine Virginia Woolf's attitude to the canon i,e., ancestors in women's writings.
7. Present a deconstructive analysis of John Donne's 20 'The Cannonization'.
December, 2012
1. Write short notes of about 250 words each on any four of the following. 5x4=20
(a) Catharsis
(b) Auchitya
(c) Superstructure
(d) 'Pleasure' and 'instruction' as ends of literature
(e) Irony
(f) 'Second Sex'
2. What is the difference between Plato's approach and Aristotle's approach to 'imitation'?
3. Consider Wordsworth's 'Preface to Lyrical Ballads' as the manifesto of Romantic Literature.
4. Assess two of the seminal critical concepts formulated by T.S. Eliot.
5. Give reasons for Elaine Showalter's discontent with existing feminist criticism.
6. What is the process of 'deconstructing' a text ? Elaborate.
7. Show how literary criticism and theory have developed a materialistic dimension based on Marxism.
8. Analyze the historical importance of Post-colonialism for the Third World.
June, 2013
1. Write short notes of about 250 words each on any four of the following :
(a) Plot
(b) Alamkara
(c) Base
(d) Poetic diction
(e) Intentional fallacy
(f) Patriarchy
2. Write a critical note or 'mimesis' as the theory of representation in Classical criticism.
3. Compare the theories of imagination as presented by Shelley and Coleridge.
4. How does the New Criticism make use of the model of 'practical criticism' initiated by I.A. Richards?
5. Draw out the ideologies set forth by Mary Wollstonecraft and Virginia Woolf as pioneer feminists.
6. Examine the approaches of Structuralism and Deconstruction to the theory of sign-system.
7. Assess the impact of Marxism on subsequent literary/critical theories in the 20th century.
8. Trace the emergence of cultural studies with 20 reference to the theories of Edwards Said, Spivak and Bhabha.
December, 2013
1. Write short notes (250 words each) on any four of the following :
(a) theory
(b) immediagte context
(c) literature
(d) ideology
(e) poetic diction
(f) rasa
2. How does Aristotle meet plato's criticism of poets ?
3. Discuss the Romantic theory of art.
4. Evaluate Cleanth Brooks as a New Critic.
5. How does literature represent the social conditions and social structure ?
6. Explain the term gynocritic and give two examples.
7. Discuss deconstruction as a method of critical reading of a text.
8. In what ways does postmodernism differ from modernism ?
June, 2014
(a) Linguistic sign
(b) Gyno texts
(c) The communication chain
(d) Purgation
(e) Free play of signs
(f) Dhwani
2. Discuss tragic failing and explain how it leads to tragedy.
3. Evaluate P. B. Shelley as a romantic critic
4. What is meant by 'intentional fallacy? How would you respond to this concept of the New Critics?
5. In what sense is literature a form of Propaganda?
6. Evaluate Virginia Woolf as a feminist critic.
7. How does Derrida analyse the concept of the sign to show that there can be no determinacy in meaning?
8. Discuss lacan's main contribution to critical theory.
December, 2014
(a) Catharsis
(b) Myth
(c) Poetic diction
(d) Superstructure
(e) Individual talent
(f) Gender
2. For Plato, the term 'imitation' (mimesis) carries a negative connotation : to imitate is to produce a copy, a version that is less than the original. Comment.
3. Discuss Coleridge's theory of 'Imagination'.
4. "Writers are unable to see the truth about their societies because they are caught up in the 'false consciousness' of ideology." Examine the statement in the context of the Marxist view of literature.
5. Write a critical note on "The Death of the Author".
6. In placing woman as the 'other' of man, Simone de Beauvoir critically examines the issue of `alterity' in the context of women's identity. Substantiate your answer with reference to Beauvoir's The Second Sex.
7. "The general characteristics of reading in post-colonial criticism is that a text is 'read back' from the perspective of the colonized." Comment critically on the statement.
8. Explain the concept of a structure and discuss the notion of a stable centre.
June, 2015
(a) Ethos
(b) Hamartia
(c) Emotions recollected in tranquillity
(d) Objective correlative
(e) Mode of production
(f) Signifier
2. Discuss Aristotle's theory of tragedy and its different elements.
3. In higher poetry, we look for "the wisdom of the heart and the grandeur of the imagination". Examine the statement in the context of Wordsworth's Preface to the Lyrical Ballads.
4. Critically examine the role of ideology in litefary production following the Marxist critical theory.
5. Evaluate Elain Showalter's `gynocriticism' and its value in the context of feminist criticism.
6. What is 'deconstruction' ? Is 'deconstruction' an effective tool for analysing a literary text ? Give a reasoned answer.
7. Discuss critically the seminal issues that Post-Colonial theory addresses.
8. Critically examine Wimsatt's concept of "The Intentional Fallacy".
December, 2015
1. Explain briefly any three elements of Tragedy according to Aristotle.
2. Elaborate the basic distinction between Fancy and Imagination as brought out by Coleridge in Biographia Literaria.
3. Comment briefly on any four obstacles to proper response that I.A. Richards catalogues in Practical Criticism.
4. Write a short essay showing how Marxism has influenced many critics in the 20 the century. Illustrate your answer with suitable examples.
5. Feminist theories do not give sufficient attention to class conflict in society. Discuss.
6. Drama as a form lends itself well to the deconstruction approach. Discuss with reference to a drama text in your course.
7. Critically interpret Edward Said's concept of Orientalism.
8. What according to Matthew Arnold is the function of criticism ? Elucidate.
December, 2016
1. Write a critical note on Aristotle's concept of tragedy.
2. Evaluate Wordsworth's 'Preface' to the Lyrical Ballads (1800) as, an attack on the "inane phraseology" of many 18thcentury writers.
3. The 'truth which the poet utters' according to Cleanth Brooks, 'can be approached only in terms of paradox'. Do you agree ? Supply reasons for your answer.
4. Explain Marx's idea of dialectical materialism. How does it help us in understanding literature ?
5. Assess Mary Wollstonecraft's contribution to Women's rights and their education.
6. Comment on the implications of The Death of the Author' by Roland Barthes.
7. How are 'lack' and 'desire' closely connected in Lacan's theory ?
8. Write short notes on any two of the following :
(a) Sruti
(b) Dhvani
(c) Mimesis
(d) Paradox
June, 2017
1. Discuss Aristotle's view of the plot in tragedy.
2. What role does Shelley assign to poets in the nineteenth century ? Explain.
3. What according to John Crowe Ransom are the "duties" of a critic ? Explain.
4. Explain with the help of suitable examples, the Marxian concept of base and superstructure.
5. Evaluate Elaine Showalter's contribution to feminist criticism.
6. What according to Barthes is the difference between 'work' and 'text' ? Explain.
7. Briefly introduce two major post-colonial critics and their contribution to our understanding of literature.
8. Write short notes on any two of the following
(a) Signifier
(b) Irony
(c) Alamkara
(d) Rasa
December, 2017
1. Why does Plato declare the role of the poet as subversive ?
2. What does Wordsworth think of the distinction between the language of prose and metrical composition ?
3. Write short notes on any two of the following :
(a) Tragic Hero (b) Hamartia (c) Sphota (d) Alamkara (e) Sruti (f) Objective Correlative
4. Discuss the ideas expressed by Cleanth Brooks in his essay "Irony as a Principle of Structure".
5. Write a critical note on the essentials of Marxist literary theory OR Freudian psychoanalysis.
6. Comment on the significance of the title The Second Sex.
7. Why does Derrida resist definitions ? Give reasons for your answer.
8. What is Raymond Williams' contribution to Cultural Studies ?
June, 2018
(a) On the Sublime (b) Mikhail Bakhtin (c) Deconstruction (d) Resistance to Theory (e) Rasa
2. Enumerate the six elements of tragedy according to Aristotle and explain any two of them with suitable examples.
3. Briefly outline Wordsworth's theory of poetic diction with special reference to the 'Preface' to the Lyrical Ballads.
4. Bring out the features of New Criticism.
5. Explain in your own words Marx's views of the base — superstructure relationship. How does an artist become conscious of it in his/her creations ?
6. State Roland Barthes' ideas on 'work' and 'text' in his essay 'From Work to Text'.
7. What are the major concerns of postcolonial theorists ?
December, 2018
(a) Signifier and Signified (b) Apology for Poetry (c) Structuralism (d) Russian Formalists (e) Dhvani
2. Discuss 'mimesis' in the light of Plato and Aristotle's postulations.
3. Romantics assert that "imagination transcends reason". Discuss.
4. Evaluate I.A. Richards's contribution to literary criticism.
5. Discuss the major concerns of feminist theory.
6. Examine how Waiting for Godot problematizes the meaninglessness of life.
7. Attempt a critique of Midnight's Children as a postmodernist text.
June, 2019
1. Explain how Aristotle argues in favour of "drama as a larger and higher form of art".
2. Give an account of Sphota theory as explained by Sanskrit theoreticians.
3. Critically examine Wordsworth's view that "all good poetry is the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings".
4. What according to John Crowe Ransom is the role of the literary critic in the modern world ? Explain.
5. Attempt a short essay on the relation between literature and ideology.
6. 'From the tyranny of man... the greater number of female follies proceed.' In the light of this statement evaluate Mary Wollstonecraft's thoughts on women.
7. How does Roland Barthes differentiate a 'Work' from a 'Text' ? Explain in your own words.
8. What are Foucault's views on discourse and power ?
December, 2019
Explain how Plato views art as twice removed from reality.
2. Attempt a critique of 'Rasa' as understood in ancient Indian literature.
3. Critically examine S.T. Coleridge's views on the esemplastic power of the poetic imagination.
4. 'New criticism' emphasizes the text, not the background. Comment.
5. What is superstructure in Marxist criticism ? Provide examples of superstructures. How do they function ?
6. Evaluate Elaine Showalter's contribution to feminist criticism.
7. Analyse John Donne's The Canonization' with the tools of 'Deconstruction'.
8. What does Spivak mean by `Subalternity' ? Explain with examples.
June, 2020
(a) Structuralism (b) Poetry as inspiration (c) Fancy and Imagination (d) Simone De Beauvoir
2. Literary criticism has a social function. Discuss.
3. Explain in your own words Aristotle's theory of mimesis.
4. Briefly explain 'The intentional fallacy' and `The affective fallacy'.
5. What is meant by 'superstructure' in Marxist Theory ? How would you interpret it ?
6. What is meant by the death of the author in critical theory ?
7. Attempt a critique of post-colonial theory with special reference to Said, Spivak and Bhabha.
December, 2020
(a) Hamartia (b) Poetic diction (c) Objective correlative (d) Orientalism
2. Compare and contrast in your own words Plato and Aristotle as literary theorists.
3. Present in your own words the Romantic theory of knowledge.
4. What does T. S. Eliot mean by ‘The dissociation of sensibility’ ?
5. Discuss Elaine Showalter’s feminist concerns in literature.
6. How is deconstructive reading of a poem different from a structuralist reading of it ?
7. What is meant by postmodernism ? Discuss with reference to Lyotard.
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