LOYOLA COLLEGE (AUTONOMOUS), CHENNAI – 600 034
M.A. DEGREE EXAMINATION – ENGLISH LITERATURE
FOURTH SEMESTER – APRIL 2004
EL 4802/LE 1022 – BRITISH LITERATURE (VICTORIAN & 20TH CENTURY)
Date
: 06.04.04
Max : 100 marks
Duration : 1 – 4 pm
Hours : 3 hrs
I. Answer the following questions in not more than 50 words each.
(10 x 2 = 20 marks)
1. Like that strange song I heard Apollo sing
While Ilion like a mist rose into towers
* Explain the allusion in the passage.
2. She hope only
Of empty men
* Explain the context and comment on the ambiguity
3. And the fire that breaks from thee, then a billion
Times told lovelier, more dangerous, O my Chevalier’.
* Comment on the use of the pun and explain the meaning of the word ‘fire’.
4. Can’t afford them, governor. Neither Could you if you were as poor as me. Not that I mean any harm, you
know. But if Eliza is going to have a bit out of this, why not me too?
* How does this passage throw light on the character of the speaker?
5. You be careful: give him a flower for it. There is a block here behind taking down. Every blessed word you are
saying.
* Who is referred to as a ‘bloke’? What is his purpose in noting down the ‘blessed word’?
6. Comment on the metaphor of the motorcycle in the poem by Thorn Gunn
7. What does Becket imply through the endless waiting of his protagonists?
8. Men manufacture both machine and soul,
And use what they imperfectly control.
* Explain the irony implicit in these lines
9. It seemed that our two natures blent
Into a sphere from youthful sympathy,
Or else, to alter Plato’s parable,
Into the yolk and white of the one shell.
* What is the Platonic parable?
10. O chestnut-tree, great-rooted blossomer,
Are you the leaf, the blossom or the bole?
O body swayed to music, O brightening glance,
* How can we know the dancer from the dance? Explain the lines
II. Attempt any FIVE of the following questions in not more than 200 words each choosing atleast TWO from
each section:
SECTION – A
(5x8 = 40 marks)
11.
12.
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18.
Sketch the characters of Miss Havisham in Great Expectations
Comment briefly on the role played by ‘Chance’ in The Return of the Native.
In Murder in the Cathedral the Tempters are exteriorizations of Becket’s inner conflicts, present and past.
Discuss Gerard Manley Hopkins as a modern poet.
SECTION – B
Discuss aspects of a dramatic monologue in Browning’s My Last Duchess.
What is the thematic significance of Ursula’s friendship with Winfred Inger?
Justify the title Lord of the Files.
Discuss Waiting for Godot as an absurd play.
III. Answer any TWO in not more than 500 words each choosing one from each section. (2 x 20 = 40 marks)
SECTION - A
19. Comment on the tone, atmosphere and symbols of “The Hollowmen” and “Journey of the Magi”.
20. Is Pygmalion a problem play? If so, what problem does shaw wish to discuss? If not, substantiate your
answer.
SECTION – B
21. Discuss Look back in Anger as a protest play
22. How would you judge Jim? A hero or a coward?
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