National University
English
Honours First Year
Session: 2024-25
Subject Code: 211107
Introduction to Prose: Fiction and Non-Fiction
📌Marks: 80 📌Time: 04 Hours
Answer any 08 questions out of 12)
1.
a) How does Bacon reconcile power with moral responsibility in 'Of Great Places? 4
b) Why does Bacon consider "retirement" as important as "advancement" for a person in great place? 2
c) Bacon exposes corrupting influence of ambition on high places. Explain 4
2.
a) In what way does Lincoln connect the Civil War to the founding ideals of democracy? 4
b) Why does Lincoln emphasize "the unfinished work" rather than the victory of the war? 3
c) How does Lincoln transform a memorial speech into a political and moral appeal? 3
3.
a) How does Tagore use moral authority rather than anger to protest colonial injustice in the letter? 4
b) In what way does the rejection of knighthood become a symbolic act of resistance? 4
c) How does Tagore redefine the concept of "honour" in the context of colonial oppression? 2
4.
a) How does Achebe redefine the social responsibility of the novelist in post-colonial context? 4
b) In what ways does Achebe challenge the Western idea of "art for art's sake"? 4
c) Why does Achebe consider storytelling essential to the recovery of African identity and history? 3
5.
a) "I was a very young man and I had not yet learned to control my appetite." Explain. 3
b) How does Maugham use irony to expose the speaker's hypocrisy and self-deception? 4
c) What does the narrator's relationship with the woman reveal about social class and gender in the story? 3
6. a) "The magi, as you know, were wise men" - how does it relate to the ending of the story? 4
b) What does the story suggest about the relationship between poverty and generosity? 3
c) How does the story challenge the reader's expectations about "happiness"? 3
7.
a) How does Hemingway use the cat as a symbol of the woman's desires? 3
b) How does Hemingway's minimalist style contribute to the story's emotional impact? 4
c) What is the significance of the sentence: "He did not say anything at all" in revealing the husband's attitude towards his wife? 3
8.
a) "She stopped eating, and her body began to harden like wood." How does this image contribute to the characterisation of the woman? 5
b) In what ways does the husband's perspective shape the reader's understanding of the woman's transformation? 5
9.
a) Discuss the prose style of Francis Bacon with reference to the essay "Of Great Places". 4
b) 'Great places are not to be entered upon lightly.' Do you agree? 3
c) High places tend to unmask man's real faces. Explain it. 3
10.
a) What is Indo-Anglican writing? Discuss in the light of R. K. Narayan's The Guide. 5
b) How does R. K. Narayan portray Raju as a morally flawed yet sympathetic character in The Guide? 5
11.
a) What is a picaresque novel? Discuss in the light of RK Narayan's The Guide. 5
b) In what ways does Marco function as a foil to Raju in the novel? 5
12.
a) Discuss the salient features of Achebe's literary ingenuity in the light of 'The Novelist as Teacher'. 5
b) In what way does Achebe's idea of the novelist as a teacher address the psychological damage colonialism inflicted on African identity. 5
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