CSS English Literature Past Paper 2014
Paper-I
PART-II (Subjective) 80 Marks
Attempt ONLY FOUR Questions from PART-II selecting TWO questions from EACH
SECTION. (20×4)
PART-II
SECTION-A
Q. No. 2 “Keats’ dictum ‘Beauty is truth, truth beauty – that is all’ is not a philosophy but a mystic experience through the senses. Discuss.”
Q. No. 3 “Shelley piles images on images in his poems, which appears to be a flaw rather than strength as it mars the thought and feelings Shelley intends to express. Do you agree? Substantiate your answer referring to the poems you have read.”
Q. No. 4 “Discuss the characteristics of the ‘Essay’ as a form of literature. Refer to some major English Essayists in support of your answer.”
Q. No. 5 “How does Coleridge exemplify ‘Willing Suspension of Disbelief’ in his poetry? Illustrate quoting from his poems.”
SECTION-B
Q. No. 6 “No writer better represents the new character of the Victorian age in its contrast with the Romantic period than Matthew Arnold. Illustrate from Arnold’s poetry.”
Q. No. 7 “Explain the terms Fatalism and Pessimism and decide whether Hardy is a fatalist or a pessimist. Substantiate your answer with reference to his novels.”
Q. No. 8 “Do you agree with Ruskin that a machine civilization degrades the nature of man? Support your view referring to his lectures.”
Paper-II
PART-II (Subjective) 80 Marks
Attempt ONLY FOUR Questions from PART-II selecting TWO questions from EACH
SECTION. (20×4)
PART-II
SECTION-A
Q. No. 2 “Critically analyse the use of comedy in Hamlet, with a particular focus on gravediggers, Osric, and Polonius. Does comedy serve only to relieve the tension of the tragedy, or do the comic scenes serve a more serious thematic purpose as well?”
Q. No. 3 “Discuss in detail the issues built up by Shaw in Pygmalion and show how these work in terms of theatrical technique in the play?”
Q. No. 4 “What is the significance, if any, of the order in which Gulliver’s journeys take place? How does each adventure build on the previous one?”
Q. No. 5 “The writer describes marriage as the ‘business’ of Mrs. Bennet’s life at the end of chapter one. What effect does the ‘business of marriage’ have on female relationships in Pride and Prejudice?”
SECTION-B
Q. No. 6 “Beckett called his play Waiting for Godot a ‘tragicomedy.’ Discuss.”
Q. No. 7 “‘The poem juxtaposes apparently unrelated speaking voices, symbolism, myth, and allusion to bewildering effect. As a result, its meanings are ambiguous and the fragments do not comprise an ordered whole. But precisely this, the poem illustrates, is the human condition.’ Consider The Waste Land in the light of this description.”
Q. No. 8 “Santiago is considered by many readers to be a tragic hero, in that his greatest strength – his pride – leads to his eventual downfall. Discuss the role of pride in Santiago’s plight in The Old Man and The Sea.”