West Bengal Civil Service
Examination-2006
(Optional Papers)
English Paper - I
Time Allowed : 3 Hours Full Marks : 100
Group A
(Answer five questions, taking at least one question from each of the three groups.)
1. What major changes took place in English literature after 1066? What are the factors behind these changes ?
2. Discuss the role of allegory in Middle English poetry with special reference to at least one poem.
3. Write a short essay on the decline of tragedy after Shakespeare.
4. Account for the growth of satire in the first-half of the eighteenth century and discuss some outstanding examples.
5. 'The Romantic movement was by no means exhausted by the year 1830'. Write a short essay on the continuation of Romanticism in Victorian literature.
6. Write short critical notes on any two of the following :
(a) Old English Christian poetry,
(b) The Elizabethan Sonnet-Sequences,
(c) Paradise Lost,
(d) Stream of consciousness novels,
(e) Murder in the Cathedral.
(f) The Modern Short Story.
Group - B
7. Indicate, with illustrative reference, the characteristic features of Shakespeare's use ol ihr English language.
8. Write a short essay on 'Loan-words as milestones of general history', with illustrative examples from the English language.
9. Write philosophical notes on any eight of the following :
By-law, gossip, weird, daisy, yankee, cheap, alms, darkling, kinder-garten, trusteeship, wine, pea, island, cab, international.
Group - C
10. What devices are used by Shakespeare to relive the tragic strain in his tragedies ? Are these devices effective ?
11. Wftat dramatic purpose is served by the introduction of sub-plots in Shakespeare's comedies ? Discuss with reference to any two major comedies of Shakespeare.
12. 'In Shakespeare's heroines, specially in the comedies, we see the perfect blending of the head and the heart' — Do you agree ? Discuss, with reference to any two heroines of Shakespeare's comedies.
13. Attempt a critical assessment of any one of the following :
(a) Shakespeare's handling of his source materials,
(b) Use of supematuralism in Shakespeare's plays,
(c) The theme of redemption and reconciliation as revealed in the conclusion of Shakespeare's tragedies,
(d) Comic and tragic admixture in Shakespeare's plays.
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