Maharashi Dayanand University (MDU) 2009 M.A English Modern Fiction and Dra of (Final) annual held in y, - Question Paper

Time allowed: three hours

Maximum marks: 80

Note: ques. No. one is compulsory. Attempt 4 other ques. choosing at lowest 1 from every of the 4 parts. All ques. carry equal marks.

1. ans any 4 of the subsequent ques. in about 200 words choosing at lowest 1 from every Section:

part one

a) Trace the circumstances leading to the reunion and the final parting of Fielding and Aziz in A Passage to India.

b) explain the ending of Lucky Jim.

part two

a) Comment on the subsequent lines:

"Be wanted in time, Louka, mend your manners. I know the mistress. She is so grand that she never dreams that any servant could dare be disrespectful to her, but if she once suspects that you are defying her, out you go".

b) Comment on the idea of boredome in Waiting for Godot.

part three

a) Comment on the role of Nick in The Great Gatsby.

b) Comment on Malamud's fusion of Yiddish dialect, American slang and Standard English in The Assistant.

part four

a) Comment on the Ben motif in Death of a Salesman.

b) Significance of the death of Martha's fictitious child in Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf.

part one

2. In E.M. Forster's A Passage to India "although the Indians are conceived in sympathy and affection, they are conceived with these affections alone, and although all of them have charm, none of them has dignity; they touch our hearts but they never impress us". Comment.

Or

Do you consider E.M. Forster's A Passage to India a historical document, a philosophical statement or a conscious work of art? provide reasons for your ans.

3. Lucky Jim remains the most vigorous and effective example of the protest that exposes the academic racket and the pseudo-culture. explain.

Or

Make an assessment of Jim Dixon as an archetypal figure.

part two

4. explain Arms and the Man as a comedy.

Or

Write a critical essay on Arms and the Man as a satire on love and war.

5. The character in Waiting for Godot remain static, fixed and incapable of swinging themselves into action. explain.

Or

The structure of Waiting for Godot has been carefully ordered and balanced. Do you agree with this view? provide reasons for your ans.

part three

6. The Great Gatsby is not concerned with how people acquire their money but how people use their wealth. explain.

Or

How does Tom Buchanan become wistful and pathetic at the end of The Great Gatsby?

7. Frank Alpine in The Assistant is "the ethical centre of the novel". explain.

Or

As an artistic device Malamud's employs irony in The Assistant to unfold the gulf ranging from expectations and fulfillment. explain.

part four

8. In an interview in 1951 Miller said, "From Orestes to Hamlet, Medea to Macbeth, the underlying struggle has been that of the individual attempting to gain his "rightful position in society". explain his Death of a Salesman in the light of this comment.

Or

Write an essay on the use of expressionistic technique in Death of a Salesman.

9. Fun and Games form the texture, tone and locus of meaning in Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? explain.

Or

Consider Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf, as a dream play.

Earning:   Approval pending.