MEG-07 Indian English Literature Important Questions Based on Previous Year Question Papers
Link to notes
New paper pattern in 2024
Check dec 2024 paper
J24 – any 5/8, poem mandatory,
Block-1 Non-Fictional Prose
Unit-1 Non-Fictional Prose: A Survey
Unit-2 Swami Vivekananda, Sri Aurobindo, and Ananda Coomaraswamy
Discuss the salient features of Swami Vivekananda’s “Addresses at the Parliament of Religions”.
Unit-3 Gandhi VIMP
Discuss Gandhi’s “Hind Swaraj” as a post- colonial text. 3
Write a critical essay on your understanding of Hind Swaraj. What is the relevance of the Hind Swaraj in the modern day context ? 2
Discuss the autobiographical elements in Nehru’s ‘An Autobiography’.
Discuss the prose style of Jawaharlal Nehru with reference to his Autobiography 2
Comment on the prose style of Nirad C. Chaudhari‟s The Autobiography of an Unknown Indian. 2
Critically comment on Nirad C. Chaudhari's The Autobiography of an Unknown Indian
Unit-6 Vikram Seth and Amitav Ghosh
Discuss Amitav Ghosh as a short story writer with reference to his stories in your syllabus.
Block-2 Mulk Raj Anand: Untouchable j24 – 1 IMP with choice
Discuss the solutions, Mulk Raj Anand offers for the eradication of untouchability. Answer with reference to his novel. 2
Comment upon the role of Bakha in Mulk Raj Anand’s novel “Untouchable”. 2
Discuss in brief the influence of Gandhi on Mulk Raj Anand’s novel ‘Untouchable’. ?a Gandhian Novel - 3
Discuss the plot and structure of Mulk Raj Anand‟s novel “Untouchable.”
Discuss the narrative technique of Mulk Raj Anand’s Untouchable.2
Discuss Mulk Raj Anand's Untouchable as a social novel./social criticism 2
Discuss the Mulk Raj Anand's novel Untouchable as a modern novel.
Block-3 Raja Rao: Kanthapura j24 -0 IMP with choice
Discuss the narrative technique of Raja Rao’s “Kanthapura”.3
Discuss the significance of ‘Harikatha’ in Raja Rao’s ‘Kanthapura’. 2
Discuss the role of Moorthy in Raja Rao‟s novel “Kanthapura.” 2
Discuss Raja Rao’s Kanthapura as a Gandhian novel. 2
Discuss the use of various Myths and Symbolism in Raja Rao’s novel Kanthapura.
Raja Rao's Kanthapura captures the mood of India in the 1930s. Comment.
Discuss the issue of form in Raja Rao's Kanthapura.
Block-4 Anita Desai: Clear Light of Day j24 -2 Imp IMP with choice
Critically evaluate the structure of Clear Light of Day. 2
Enunciate Anita Desai’s great contribution to the Indian-English novel.
Comment upon Anita Desai’s use of ‘Imagery’ in ‘Clear Light of Day’.
Discuss the significance of the title of Anita Desai’s novel ‘Clear Light of Day’.
Discuss the importance of Bim and Tara relationship in Anita Desai‟s novel “Clear Light of Day.”2
Comment upon the importance of the character of Raja in Desai’s Clear Light of Day 2
Discuss the political dimensions in Anita Desai’s novel Clear Light of Day 2
Discuss the central theme in Anita Desai's novel Clear Light of Day
Discuss the theme of alienation in Anita Desai's novel Clear Light of Day.
Discuss Anita Desai's Clear Light of Day as a feminist novel.
Block-5 Midnight’s Children j24 -1 IMP with choice
Discuss Salmon Rushdie’s use of magic realism in his novel Midnight’s Children.
Discuss Rushdie’s novel “Midnight’s Children” as a post-colonial novel/text. 4
Comment upon the use of language and techniques used in Rushdie’s ‘Midnight’s Children’.
Discuss the role of Saleem as a narrator in Salman Rushdie‟s “Midnight‟s Children.”
Discuss the character of Saleem in Rushdie’s novel Midnight’s Children.
Discuss the narrative technique or Salman Rushdie’s novel Midnight’s Children. 3
Write an essay on the "family as character" in Salman Rushdie's novel Midnight's Children
Salman Rushdie's Midnight's Children is in the • biographical mode. Comment.
Block-6 The Short Story j24 -1 VVIMP
Discuss the theme of R. K. Narayan‟s “An Astrologer‟s Day.”
Discuss R.K. Narayan as a short story writer
Discuss the prose style of R.K. Narayan, with reference to his short stories prescribed in your syllabus
Unit-3 Arun Joshi and Manoj Das
Write a critical appreciation of “A trip into the Jungle”.
Comment upon the prose style used by Arun Joshi in ‘The only American from our Village’.
Comment upon the diasporic elements in Arun Joshi’s “The Only American from Our Village”.
Discuss the theme of Arun Joshi's "The Only American From Our Village".
Unit-4 Subhadra Sen Gupta and Raji Narasimhan
Discuss Subhadra Sengupta’s ‘The Fourth Daughter’ as a Feminist Story.
Write an essay on the issues dealt within Subhadra Sen Gupta's "The Fourth Daughter."
Comment upon the theme of ‘A Toast to Herself’.
Unit-5 Shashi Deshpande and Githa Hariharan
Discuss Shashi Deshpande as a short story writer with reference to "The Miracle" 2
Comment upon Gita Hariharan’s “Gajar Halwa”.
Discuss Githa Hariharan as a short story writer with reference to her stories in your syllabus.
Discuss the narrative technique used by Githa Hariharan in her story "Gajar Halwa".
Write a critical appreciation of Githa Hariharan's "Gajar Halwa"
Discuss Ruskin Bond’s techniques of characterisation in the stories you have
Discuss Ruskin Bond as a short story writer.
Discuss Ruskin Bond as a short story writer with special reference to ‘‘No Room for a Leopard’’ ?
Write an essay on Ruskin Bond's treatment of nature in the short stories in your course.
Discuss the prose style of Ruskin Bond with reference to No Room for a Leopard.
Block-7 Poetry VVIMP no choice
Henry Derozio - Harp of India, To India- My Native Land
Toru Dutt – Sita, The Lotus, Our Casuarina Tree
Sri Aurobindo - A Tree, LIFE AND DEATH, BRIDE OF FIRE, THE GOLDEN LIGHT
Sarojini Naidu - INDIAN DANCERS, LOVE AND DEATH, THE OLD WOMAN
Nissim Ezekiel - ENTERPRISE, Poet, Lover, Birdwatcher , Background, Casually
Kamala Das - An Introduction , My Grandmother's House , The Sunshine Cat
A.K. Ramanujan - Looking for a Cousin on a Swing, Self:.Portrait, A River, Love Poem for a Wife--]
Arun Kolatkar - The Bus, The Low Temple, Chaitanya
Jayanta Mahapatra - Dawn at Puri, Indian Summer Poem, Hunger, Evening Landscape by the River
R.Parthasarathy – Exile:2, Trail: 1, Homecoming: 1
Keki N. Daruwalla – Rumination, Routine, Crossing of Rivers
______________________________
Unit-1 Background to Indian English Poetry
Unit-2 Henry Derozio and Toru Dutt
Henry Derozio - Harp of India,
· Silence hath bound thee with her fatal chain; Neglected, mute, and desolate art thou, Like ruined monument on desert plain.
· These hands are cold&but if thy notes divine May be by mortal wakened once again, Harp of my country, let me strike the strain !
· Neglected, mute, and desolate art thou, Like ruined monument on desert plain.
· Those hands are cold-but if thy notes divine May be by mortal wakened once again, Harp of my country, let me strike the strain ! 2
To India- My Native Land
· A few small fragments of those wrecks sublime Which human eye may never more behold; And let the guerdon of my labor be My fallen country ! One kind wish from thee !
· My country! In thy day of glory past A beauteous halo circled round thy brow, And worshipped as a deity thou wast. 4
· Where is that glory, where that reverence now ? Thy eagle pinion is chained down at last, And grovelling in the lowly dust art thou, Thy minstrel hath no wreath to weave for thee Save the sad story of thy misery
Toru Dutt – Sita,
Three happy children in a darkened room ! What do you they gaze on with wide-open eyes ? 2
The Lotus,
Love came to Flora asking for a flower That would of flowers be undisputed queen, The lily and the rose, long, long had been Rivals for that high honour.3
Our Casuarina Tree
· That would thy beauty fain, oh fain rehearse, May Love defend thee from Oblivion’s curse.
· Like a huge Python, winding round and round The rugged trunk, indented deep with scars Up to its very summit near the stars, A creeper climbs, in whose embraces bound No other tree could live.2
· For your sakes shall the tree be ever dear ! Blent with your images, it shall arise In memory, till the hot tears blind mine eyes
Unit-3 Sri Aurobindo and Sarojini Naidu
Sri Aurobindo - A Tree,
This is the soul of man. Body and brain Hungry for earth our heavenly flight detain.
LIFE AND DEATH,
Life only is, or death is life disguised, Life a short death until by life we are surprised. 2
BRIDE OF FIRE,
· Beauty of the light, surround my life,µ Beauty of the light ! I have sacrificed longing and parted from grief, I can bear thy delight. 3
· Voice of infinity, sound in my heart, – Call of the One ! Stamp there thy radiance, never to part, O living Sun.
· Image of ecstasy, thrill and enlace,– Image of bliss ! I would see only thy marvellous face, Feel only thy kiss. 2
THE GOLDEN LIGHT
The golden Light came down into my feet; My earth is now thy playfield and thy seat. 5
Sarojini Naidu - INDIAN DANCERS,
· Eyes ravished with rapture, celestially panting, What passionate bosoms aflaming with fire Drink deep of the hush of the hyacinth heavens that glimmer around them in fountains of light.
· The scents of red roses and sandalwood flutter and die in the maze of their gemtangled hair.
LOVE AND DEATH,
· Love, alas, that love could not assuage The burden of thy human heritage, Or save thee from the swift decrees of Death.
· O Love, I dreamed my soul had ransomed thee, In thy lone, dread, incalculable hour From those pale hands at which all mortals cower, And conquered Death by Love, like Savitri. 3
THE OLD WOMAN
In hope of your succour, how often in vain, So patient she sits at my gates, In the face of the sun and the wind and the rain. Holding converse with poverty, hunger and pain, And the ultimate sleep that awaits ... .+
Unit-4 Nissim Ezekiel and Kamala Das
Nissim Ezekiel - ENTERPRISE,
· Eyes ravished with rapture, celestially panting, What passionate bosoms aflaming with fire DriWe stood it very well, I thought, Observed and put down copious notes On things the peasants sold and bought The way of serpents and of goats, Three cities where a sage had taught.nk deep of the hush of the hyacinth heavens that glimmer around them in fountains of light.
· It started as a pilgrimage, Exalting minds and making all The burdens light. The second stage Explored but did not test the call. 2
· The trip had darkened every face, Our deeds were neither great nor rare Home is where we have to earn our grace..
Poet, Lover, Birdwatcher
A poet-rascal-clown was born, The frightened child who would not eat Or sleep, a boy of meagre bone. 3
Background, Casually
· I have made my commitments now. This is one : to stay where I am, And others choose to give themselves In some remote and backward place My backward place is where I am. 2
· The London seasons passed me by I lay in bed two years alone. And then a woman came to tell My willing ears I was the son Of man. I knew that I had failed
· The Indian landscape sears my eyes. I have become a part of it. To be observed by foreigners. They say that I am singular, Their letters overstate the case. 2
Kamala Das - An Introduction
· It is I who laugh, It is I who make love And then, feel shame, It is I who lie dying With a rattle in my throat.
· I am Indian, very brown, born in Malabar, I speak three languages, Write in two, dream in one. 3
· I don’t know politics but I know the names Of those in power, and can repeat them like Days of week, or names of months, beginning with Nehru.
· I am sinner, I am saint. I am the beloved and the Betrayed. I have no joys which are not yours, no Aches which are not yours. 2
· Dress in sarees, be girl Be wife, they said. Be embroiderer, be cook, Be a quarreller with servants.
· Why not Leave Me alone, Critics, friends, visiting cousins, Every one of you ? Why not let me Speak in Any language I like ?
My Grandmother's House
· I who have lost My way and beg now at stranger’s door to Receive love, at least in small change ? 2
· You cannot believe, darling Can you, that I lived in such a house and Was proud, and loved .........
· There is a house now far away where once I received love. That woman died, The house withdrew into silence, Snakes moved among books.
The Sunshine Cat
Unit-5 A.K. Ramanujan, Arun Kolatkar, and Jayanta Mahapatra
.K. Ramanujan - Looking for a Cousin on a Swing,
· Really what keeps us apart at the end of year is unshared Childhood. You cannot, for instance, meet my father.
· Now she looks for the swing in cities with fifteen suburbs and tries to be innocent about it. 3
Self:.Portrait,
I resemble everyone but myself, and sometimes see in shop-windows,despite the well known laws, of optics the portrait of a stranger.
A River,
· The new poets still quoted the old poets, but no one spoke in verse of the pregnant woman drowned, with perhaps twins in her kicking at blank walls even before birth.
· In Madurai City of temples and poets, Who sang of cities and temples; every summer a river dries to a trickle in the sand.
Love Poem for a Wife-
Arun Kolatkar - The Bus,
· Your own divided face in a Pair of glasses On an old man‟s nose is all the countryside you get to see.
· You look down to the roaring road, You search for signs of daybreak in What little light spills out of bus.
The Low Temple,
Fishermen’s broken shacks by the river Let even starlight slip out From their weak roofs. A temple stands frail and still In the distance, as though lost in reverie.
Chaitanya
Jayanta Mahapatra - Dawn at Puri,
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· Endless crow noises. A skull on the holy sands tilts its empty country towards hunger.2
· Her last wish to be cremated here twisting uncertainly like light on the shifting sands. 2
Indian Summer Poem,
The good wife lies in my bed through the long afternoon; dreaming still, unexhausted by the deep roar of funeral pyres. 2
Hunger
Evening Landscape by the River
Unit-6 R.Parthasarathy and Keki N. Daruwalla
R.Parthasarathy – Exile:2,
· He had spent his youth whoring after English gods. There is something to be said for exile : You learn roots are deep
· My tongue in English Chains, I return, after a generation, to you. I am at the end Of my Dravidie tether, hunger for you unassuaged.
Trail: 1,
Mortal as I am, I face the end with unspeakable relief, Knowing how I should feel if I were stopped and cut off 2
Homecoming: 1
Keki N. Daruwalla – Rumination,
· I can smell violence in the air like the lash of coming rain– mass hatreds drifting grey across the moon. 3
· Somewhere along that stretch of silt a cry goes up as someone spots you, your head bobing along the waters like a coconut.
Routine,
Block-8 Mahesh Dattani: Tara j24 -1 VIMP & easy to attempt
What are the major themes of Dattani’s Tara ? Discuss what you think is most important of them. 2
Comment upon the plot of Mahesh Dattani’s play “Tara”. 3
Discuss the relationship between Tara and Chandan in Dattani’s play ‘Tara’. 2
Discuss the language and techniques/ use of language in Mahesh Dattani‟s play „Tara‟.
Discuss Mahesh Dattan’s Tara as a feminist play. 2
Discuss Mahesh Dattani's Tara as a problem play.
Discuss Mahesh Dattani's Tara as a play with social purpose
General: j24 -1
Do you prefer stories that are open-ended or those stories which offer clear resolutions ? Answer with reference to the stories you have read in this course.
______________________________
o Henry Derozio - Harp of India,
o To India- My Native Land
o Toru Dutt – Sita,
o The Lotus,
o Our Casuarina Tree
o Sri Aurobindo - A Tree,
o LIFE AND DEATH,
o BRIDE OF FIRE,
o THE GOLDEN LIGHT
o Sarojini Naidu - INDIAN DANCERS,
o LOVE AND DEATH,
o THE OLD WOMAN
o Nissim Ezekiel - ENTERPRISE,
o Poet, Lover, Birdwatcher
o Background, Casually
o Kamala Das - An Introduction
o My Grandmother's House
o The Sunshine Cat
o A.K. Ramanujan - Looking for a Cousin on a Swing,
o Self:.Portrait,
o A River,
o Love Poem for a Wife-
o Arun Kolatkar - The Bus,
o The Low Temple,
o Chaitanya
o Jayanta Mahapatra - Dawn at Puri,
o Indian Summer Poem,
o Hunger
o Evening Landscape by the River
o R.Parthasarathy – Exile:2,
o Trail: 1,
o Homecoming: 1
o Keki N. Daruwalla – Rumination,
o Routine,
o Crossing of Rivers
· ______________________________
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