For Recruitment to the Posts of Provincial Management Service (PMS)
SUBJECT: English Literature (Paper-I)
Time Allowed: 3 Hours
Maximum Marks: 100
Attempt any FIVE Questions in All, Including Question No. I Which is Compulsory.
Q.1 Explain with reference to the context ONE of the following: (10 Marks)
(i) “I celebrate myself, and sing myself, And what I assume you shall assume, For every atom belonging to me as good belongs to you.”
(ii) “April is the cruellest month, breeding Lilacs out of the dead land, mixing Memory and desire, stirring Dull roots with spring rain.”
Q.2 Fill in the blanks (All parts are compulsory): (10 Marks)
i. Mending Wall by Robert Frost is a ________ eclogue.
ii. My Fair Lady is a film based on G.B. Shaw’s ________.
iii. The Hairy Ape is a ________ play by Eugene O’Neill.
iv. Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare is set in ________.
v. Jimmy Porter is a character in ________.
vi. Holy Sonnet 10 is another title for John Donne’s ________.
vii. Sophocles’ play Oedipus the King is set in the city of ________.
viii. ________ was the blind prophet in Oedipus the King.
ix. The name of Willy Loman’s best friend and neighbor is ________.
x. Marilyn Monroe, the famous American actress, was married to ________.
Q.3 “To American dramatists like Eugene O’Neill and Arthur Miller, the crux of the problem was psychological rather than social. Their primary focus was on what happens to the individual soul when it is lost somewhere between realms of reality and illusion.” Discuss. (20 Marks)
Q.4 Discuss different themes in Walt Whitman’s poetry. Your analysis should be based on the reading you have made. (20 Marks)
Q.5 Answer the following parts within 150 words each: (10 + 10 = 20 Marks)
a) Creon: “I see you sulk in yielding and you’re dangerous when you are out of temper; natures like yours are justly heaviest for themselves to bear.” In the light of Creon’s above remark about Oedipus, comment on Oedipus’s personality.
b) What are your impressions of Oedipus as a person and ruler?
Q.6 Explain the following within 150 words each: (10 + 10 = 20 Marks)
a) What are the characteristics of an ode?
b) What is negative capability in literature? Explain with reference to John Keats.
Q.7 In Ode to a Nightingale, the bird serves as the objective correlative for the emotional state of the poet’s mind. What is it that the bird offers the poet which is denied to him in real life? Discuss. (20 Marks)
Q.8 In Shakespeare’s The Tempest, forgiveness and regeneration replace the darker vision of tragedy. Discuss. (20 Marks)
Q.9 In Death of a Salesman, modern man finds himself caught in a situation where death seems to be the only solution for achieving societal objectives. Discuss Willy Loman’s decision to commit suicide in the light of this statement. (20 Marks)
SUBJECT: English Literature (Paper-II)
Time Allowed: 3 Hours
Maximum Marks: 100
Attempt any FIVE questions in All.
Q.1 a) How does Edward Said show culture as an instrument of imperialism? b) What is the impact of imperialism on literature? (10 + 10 = 20 Marks)
Q.2 How does Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o establish the importance of local language over English in his essay On the Abolition of the English Department? (20 Marks)
Q.3 Discuss the theme of partition in Bapsi Sidhwa’s Ice-Candy-Man. (20 Marks)
Q.4 What are some important symbols in Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart? How do they relate to plot and characters? (20 Marks)
Q.5 Through The Mummy Awakens, Naguib Mahfouz uses Egypt’s often glamorized past to comment on its problematic present. Substantiate. (20 Marks)
Q.6 Ernest Hemingway’s A Farewell to Arms is more than just a war novel; it is also a powerful love story, comparable in intensity and tragedy to Romeo and Juliet. Discuss. (20 Marks)
Q.7To Kill a Mockingbird is one of the most widely read novels dealing with race in America, and Atticus Finch is considered a lasting symbol of racial justice. Discuss. (20 Marks)
Q.8Ice-Candy-Man (or Cracking India) is a novel written in the background of the partition of India, dealing with human emotions such as love and jealousy. Comment. (20 Marks)
