Gauhati University 2007 M.A English Previous , : -I - Question Paper

2007
ENGLISH
FIRST PAPER
Full Marks : 80
Time : three hours
The figures in the margin indicate full marks for the ques.
New Syllabus
(Literature and Social History)
SECTION-A
1. Critically assess the relationship ranging from medieval life and religion,
and evaluate the role of faith in determining human conduct.
Or
Trace the history of printing and comment on its contribution in democratizing
Renaissance thought and culture.
2. Write a note on the impact of the Scientific Revolution in shaping
Enlightenment thought. 12
Or
Comment on the contribution of the French philosophical tradition in
developing the discourse of the Enlightenment. How did the . British respond
to the intellectual ferment in the continent?
3. What is Darwinism? Write a note on the influence of Darwinian thought on
English literature. 12
4. How did the 'crisis' of Empire speed up the process of decolonization? provide a
reasoned ans. 12
Or
Comment on the rise of English studies in the 20th century and assess the
factors responsible for its development.
5. How has the advent of contemporary Feminist thought affected the contours of
intellectual discourse in the twentieth century? 12
Or
Write a note on the intricate relationships among the media, popular culture
and globalization.
SECTION-B
6. Write short notes on any 5 of the following: 4×5=20
(a) The English Manor
(b) The Peasant's Revolt
(c) The University Wits
(d) Deism
(e) The Glorious Revolution
(f) Laissez- faire
(g) Cubism
(h) Scrutiny and F. R. Leavis
(i) McLuhan and Media Studies
(j) Orientalism
(Old Syllabus)
Write the answers to the 2 Halves in separate books
FIRST HALF
(Forms of Literature)
(Marks: 40)
7. ans any 2 of the subsequent (in about 500 words each): 14×2=28
(a) What is an allegory? Trace the course of the allegory in English literature
from Langland to Bunyan.
(b) explain the origin and development of the English drama in the Middle Ages
with special reference to the Mysteries and the Miracles. How were the
Mysteries and the Miracles staged?
(c) describe Essay as a form of literature and indicate its growth and development
from Bacon to Dr. Johnson.
(d) What is a lyric? Trace the course of the lyric in the Medieval and the
Elizabethan periods.
(e) explain the essential features of Shakespearean tragedy.
(f) What is an epic? How does the 'epic of art' differ from the 'epic of growth?
explain with reference to Beowulf (epic of growth) and Milton (epic of art).
(g) ans briefly any 2 of the subsequent questions: 7×2=14
i) provide a brief account of the achievement of the poets of the 1st World
War (1914-18).
ii) Write a note on Scott's handling of the Historical Novel.
iii) Evaluate the contribution of the Pre-Raphaelites to Victorian poetry.
iv) What is Poetic Drama? How does it differ from Shavian Drama?
8. Write short notes on any 2 of the subsequent (in about 100 words each):6×2=12
(a) Heroic Drama
(b) The English Ballad
(c) Sentimental Comedy (of the Eighteenth Century)
(d) The Ode as a Form of Literature
(e) Drama of Ideas
(f) The One-Act Play of the 20th Century.
(g) Stream of Consciousness Novel
(h) The New Biography
SECOND HALF
(History of English Literature and Society)
(Marks: 40)
9. ans any 2 of the subsequent (in about 500 words each): 10×2=20
(a) Write an essay on the literature of the Anglo-Saxon period. From what
indicators in the texts can you understand that they are expressions of a
predominantly oral form?
(b) Enumerate a few of the characteristic features of Renaissance literature and
account for their emergence in this period.
(c) How has England's history as a seafaring nation obtained place in literature?
Use relevant examples from writers and texts you are acquainted with, to
support your argument.
(d) explain how England's topography is reflected in the writings of the
romantics.
(e) How has the emergence of Freudian psychoanalysis influenced the understanding
and interpretation of modernist literature? Use any texts you are
familiar with to illustrate your argument.
10. Write notes on any 4 of the subsequent (approximately 100 words each) :
5×4=20
(a) The Peasant's Revolt.
(b) Beowulf
(c) The Elizabethan Sonnet Sequence
(d) Robinson Crusoe (Defoe)
(e) Children in Romantic Poetry
(f) The City in Modernism

Earning:   Approval pending.