LOYOLA COLLEGE (AUTONOMOUS), CHENNAI – 600 034
M.A DEGREE EXAMINATION – ENGLISH LITERATURE
III SEMESTER – NOV. 2004
EL 3802–AMERICAN LITERATURE-II
Date
: 30.10.04
Duration : 1 – 4 pm
I. Answer the following in about 50 words each.
Max : 100 marks
Hours : 3 hrs
(10 x 2 = 20 marks)
1. I had a son once but we buried him
Explain the irony in the statement.
2. They almost cover the stench of sin in this house.
Comment on the figure of speech used in this line.
3. I have gotta carry on the line. I’ve gotta
see to it that things keep rolling.
Explain the multiple meaning of the word ‘line’ in this passage.
4. I myself am hell;
nobody’s here
Comment on the literary echo in this passage.
5. you are my brother, black or white.
you my sister-now-today!
What, according to the speaker, is the solution to peace?
6. That money belongs to mama, Walter, and its for her to decide how
she wants to use it.
Comment on mama’s decision.
7. I open and close car doors all day long. I drive a man in his limousine
and I say, “yes, sir; no, sir; very good, sir; shall I take the drive sir?”
Identify the speaker’s emotion. What does it say of his situation?
8. Let be be finale of seem
The only emperor is the emperor of ice cream
Explain the lines.
9. The Cambridge ladies live in furnished souls
How does the imagery enhance the theme of the poem?
10. What is the significance of the plant struggling for life in A Raisin In The Sun?
II. Answer any FOUR of the following in about 200 words each:
(4x10 = 40 marks)
11. Consider Robert Lowell as an imagist poet
12. Consider A Farewell to Arms as an anti-war novel.
13. Comment on the technique used by Arthur Miller to bring out the
autobiographical element.
14. Show how Boo Radley is a victim of societal prejudices
15. Comment on the relationship between mother and daughter in ‘Night Mother’.
16. Discuss some of the major thematic concerns in beat poetry
III. Answer the following in about 400 words each.
(2 x 20 = 40 marks)
17. Compare and contrast the techniques used by Sam Shepard and Edward Albee
to deal with the theme of disintegration of the American family.
[OR]
Discuss the Black experiences as portrayed in the poetry of Langston Hughes
and in Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man
18. Write an essay on black feminism in either A Raisin In The Sun or Beloved
******************************