B.A English DRAMA AND FICTION(Acharya Nagarjuna University (ANU), Guntur, Andhra Pradesh-2012)

B.A. DEGREE EXAMINATION, MAY 2012.
(Examination at the end of Third Year)
Part II — English
Paper I — DRAMA AND FICTION
Time : Three hours Maximum : 100 marks
1. (a) Answer any TWO of the following, each in 200 words : (20)
(i) Assess the importance of the influence of Latin on the growth of English
vocabulary.
(ii) Explain with illustrations any three modes of semantic change.
(iii) Describe the rise of standard English.
(iv) Write a paragraph each on TWO of the following :
(1) Family of languages
(2) Slang
(3) Word formation
(4) Prefixes.
Read the following passages (b) and (c) carefully and answer the questions that follow.
Your answer should be complete. They will be evaluated by the correctness of your
language and relevant matter. (10 + 10 = 20)
(b) I, who am blind can give one hint to those who see-one admonition to those who would make full use of the gift of sight. Use your eyes as if tomorrow you would be stricken blind. And the same method can be applied to the other senses. Hear the music of voices, the song of a bird, the mighty strains of an orchestra, as if you would be stricken deaf tomorrow. Touch each object you want to touch as if tomorrow your tactile sense would fail. Smell the perfume of flowers, taste with relish each morsel, as if tomorrow you could never smell and taste again. Make the most of every sense : glory in all the facets of pleasure and beauty which the world reveals to you through the several means of contact which Nature provides. But of all the senses, I am sure that sight must be the most delightful.
(i) What is the theme of the passage?
(ii) What is Keller’s advice to those who can see?
(iii) What suggestions does she offer to those who can hear?
(iv) What is Hellen Keller’s advice to people about the use of their senses?
(v) What does the author want to convey through the last sentence of the passage?
(c) Read the poem and answer the questions :
I hold no dream of fortune vast Nor seek undying fame I do not ask when life is past That may know my name I may not own the skill to rise To glory’s topmost height, Nor win a place among the wise, But I can keep the right And I can live my life on earth Contented to the end If but a few shall know my worth And proudly call me friend? (i) What is the theme of this poem?
(ii) What does the poet seek or dream of?
(iii) What is the poet’s attitude to glory and wisdom?
(iv) What kind of life does the poet want to lead?
(v) What philosophy of life does the poem present?2. (a) Answer any ONE of the following in 200 words : (10)
(i) How does Wordsworth show the importance and beauty that each sonnet
possesses in ‘‘Scorn not the Sonnet’’?
(ii) Would you regard Shelly as a poet of hope and aspiration. Answer with reference
to ‘‘Ode to the West Wind’’.
(iii) Write a critical appreciation of Browning’s ‘‘My Last Duchess’’.
(b) Answer any ONE of the following : (10)
(i) Gray’s elegy is one of the best known poems about death in all of European
literature. Do you agree?
(ii) ‘‘Nothing remains hidden from the eyes of the supremely kind and all powerful
creator’’. How does the ballad of Father Gilligan’’ bring out the truth of this
statement?
(iii) How does Burns show that his love is strong and passionate and like a battle in a
‘‘A Red, Red Rose’’?
3. Answer any TWO in about 200 words : (10 + 10 = 20)
(a) What are the basic features of drama?
(b) Is ‘‘The Marriage Proposal’’ a satire on the upper middle class and courtship? Explain.
(c) Narrate how Mrs. Pearson’s family learns to give het more respect.
(d) Give an analysis of the main characters in ‘‘The best Laid Plans’’.
4. Answer any TWO of the following in 200 words :
(a) Explain how the elements of fiction work together.
(b) Comment on the theme of unselfish love in ‘‘The gift of the Magi’’.
(c) Discuss the main theme in ‘‘The Interview’’.
(d) How does ‘‘The Tell-Tale Heart’’ reveal truth and evoke emotions in the reader?