West Bengal Civil Service
Examination-2001
(Optional Papers)
English Paper -I
Time Allowed : 3 Hours Full Marks : 100
All questions carry equal marks.
Answer any five questions taking at least one from each group.
Group - A
1. Write short notes on the new spirit introduced by Chaucer into English poetry.
2. Who were the principal predecessors of Shakespeare in the history of English drama ? Choose any two of them and indicate how they contributed to the advance of the drama.
3. Trace in brief the development of prose in the age of Dryden and Pope and show how the social and political life of the period colors these prose' writings .
4. Discuss the view that the basic theme of English poetry of the early nineteenth century is " return to nature".
5. What is your assessment of the importance in the history of English literature of any one of the following ?
6. Write short critical notes on any two of the following :
(a) The Irish drama ;
(b) The Pre-Raphaelite movement in English poetry ;
(c) Novels of ideas and social purpose ;
(d) Man and Superman,
(e) The prelude ;
(f) Paradise Lost.
Group B
7. The English language "seems to me positively and expressly mas culture, it is the language of a grown-up man and has very little childish or feminine about it" - Discuss.
8. Discuss the social conditions which led to the introduction of the French element in England during the Middle English period and point out its nature and character with illustrations.
9. Write philological notes on any eight of the following :
alms, dream, earl, gift, handbook, its, pea, spinster, then, thence, vixen women, hodgepodge .
Group- C
10. "The Shakespearean drama gets the emotion of the multitude out of the sub-plot which copies the main plot, much as a shadow upon the wall copies one's body in the firelight" - Discuss with illustrative references.
11. 'Hanartia' & 'Hubris' are terms used by Aristotole in the Poetics. Can they be applied to the protagonist of a Shakespearean tragedy ?
12. "Love is "the absorbing interest of all the principal characters in Shakespeare's comedies. It is awakened at first sight" - Discuss * Shakespeare's treatment of the theme of LOVE with special reference to at least two comedies of Shakespeare.
13. Attempt a critical assessment on any one of the following :
(a) Shakespeare's use of his source materials.
(b) The role of the supernatural in Shakespeare's plays.
(c) The opening scene of Shakespeare's plays.
(d) The universality of the plays of Shakespeare.
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