Important Questions for the Students of English Literature

IMPORTANT QUESTIONS

#Paper_1 - #Classical_Poetry

⭐1. Chaucer - “The Prologue to the Canterbury Tales”

i. Chaucer’s Humour / Satire / Irony

ii. Chaucer’s art of Characterization

iii. Chaucer as a modern poet (humour, secularism etc.)

iv. Chaucer’s ecclesiastical characters (Church’s hypocrisy, Comparison & contrast between the characters)

v. Chaucer’s female characters

⭐2. Alexander Pope – “Rape of the Lock”

i. “Rape of the Lock” as social satire

ii. “Rape of the Lock” as comic epic / mock epic

iii. Use of machinery (Supernatural elements etc.)

iv. Pope’s attitude towards women (Belinda’s character, Social satire)

v. Moral of the “Rape of the Lock”

⭐3. Milton – “Paradise Lost”

i. Milton’s grand style

ii. Portrayal of Satan in “Paradise Lost”

iii. Who is the hero of Paradise Lost?

iv. Character sketch of Adam

v. Character sketch of Eve

⭐4. Surrey & Wyatt

i. Surrey & Wyatt’s contribution of English Poetry

ii. Surrey & Wyatt as Sonnet writers (Comparison and Contrast)

iii. Critical appreciation of their Sonnets

#Paper_2 – #Drama

⭐1. Sophocles – “Oedipus Rex”

i. Concept of Fate & Free will / Fate & Character

ii. Oedipus as a tragic Hero / Oedipus’ Hamartia

iii. Irony in Oedipus

iv. Role of Chorus

⭐2. Marlow – “Dr. Faustus”

i. “Dr. Faustus” as a renaissance play

ii. “Dr. Faustus” as morality play

iii. “Dr. Faustus” as a modern tragedy / Spiritual Conflicts in the mind of Dr. Faustus

iv. Marlow’s contribution to English Drama

v. “Dr. Faustus” Character sketch (as a typical Marlow’s hero, qualities of Marlow’s hero)

⭐3. Shakespeare – “Othello”

i. Othello’s character sketch

ii. Iago’s character sketch

iii. “Othello” as a social Tragedy (race & colour an important factor in Othello’s tragedy)

iv. Role of Chance & Misunderstanding (Chance Happening)

⭐4. Oscar Wilde – “Importance of Being Earnest”

i. “Importance of Being Earnest” as a comedy (satire, style etc.)

ii. “Importance of Being Earnest” as a social satire

iii. Use of wit & paradoxical statements (Irony)

iv. Algernon’s Character sketch

v. Jack’s Character sketch

#Paper_3 - #Novel

⭐1. Jane Austin - "Pride and Prejudice"

i. Jane Austin as a novelist (it will be a general question on Jane Austin encompassing all her writing techniques e.g. Limited Range, Irony etc).

ii. Jane Austin's Limited Range

iii. Jane Austin's Irony

iv. Themes of Marriage, Money and Manners.

v. Character sketch of Elizabeth

vi. Lack of Passion in Jane Austin's novels

vii. Jane Austen’s art of Characterization

⭐2. George Eliot - "Adam Bede"

i. George Eliot as a psychological / modern novelist

ii. Character sketch of Adam Bede

iii. Character sketch of Hetty Sorrel

iv. Character sketch of Dinnah Morris

v. Relationship between Adam and Dinnah

vi. Theme of Hardness (Adam doesn’t show politeness. He judges everyone according to morality so he can’t develop relationships)

⭐3. Charles Dickens - "A Tale of Two Cities"

i. "A Tale of Two Cities" as an historical novel

ii. Dickens’ attitude towards French Revolution

iii. Symbolism in the novel

iv. Theme of resurrection & renunciation

v. How public events and private lives are interlinked in the novel?

⭐4. Thomas Hardy - "Return of the Native"

i. Character sketch of Clym

ii. Character sketch of Eustacia

iii. Role of Egdon Heath / nature

iv. Role of chance and coincidence / Role of fate

v. Hardy as a pessimist

vi. Hardy as an ameliorist 

#Paper_4 – #Prose

⭐1. Francis Bacon - “Essays”

i. Bacon’s Style (proverbial style, aphorisms, pithy style etc.)

ii. Bacon’s Worldly Wisdom

iii. Renaissance element in Bacon

⭐2. Jonathan Swift – “Gulliver’s Travels”

i. Swift as a satirist

ii. Swift as a misanthrope

iii. Element of Utopia in “Gulliver’s Travels”

iv. Irony in “Gulliver’s Travels”

⭐3. Bertrand Russell – “Unpopular Essays”

i. Bertrand Russell as prose writer / Bertrand Russell’s style

ii. A general note on his essays can be asked.

⭐4. Seamus Heaney – “Redress of Poetry”

i. Heaney as a Prose Writer / Heaney’s Style

ii. Heaney’s arguments in favour of poetry

#Paper_5 – #American_Literature

A. Poetry

⭐1. Sylvia Plath

i. Critical appreciation of poems

ii. Psychological problems of Sylvia Plath

iii. Ambivalence in Sylvia Plath

iv. General Question on American Psyche

⭐2. John Ashbery

i. Critical appreciation of poems

3. Adrienne Rich

i. Critical appreciation of poems

⭐4. Richard Wilbur

i. Critical appreciation of poems

B. Drama

⭐1. Arthur Miller – “The Crucible”

i. Theme of individual & society

ii. Character sketch of Proctor

iii. Character sketch of Abigale

iv. Puritanism in the play

⭐2. Eugene O’Neil – “Mourning Becomes Electra”

i. O’Neil’s Tragic Vision

ii. Character sketch of Electra

C. Novel

⭐1. Ernest Hemingway – “For Whom the Bell Tolls”

i. Robert Jordan as a Tragic Hero

ii. Is “For Whom the Bell Tolls” a political novel?