Elective Course in English (BEGE - 105){INDERSTANDING PROSE

Assignment June 2009-July 2010

Maximum Marks: 100Programme: BDP

Answer All Ouestions

l. Comment on the dominant variety of prose (narrative, expository or descriptive) presentin each of the following passages. Write a brief critical appreciation of each passage inabout 250 words each:

We took him home that night. We got him to go by telling him that his father hadbought a silver rifle and special Indian clothes for him, and we were going to huntbears the next day. It was just twelve o clock when we knocked at Ebenezer's frontdoor. Just at the moment I should have been taking the fifteen hundred dollars fromthe box under the tree, according to the original plan, Bill was counting out twohundred and fifty dollars into Dorset's hand.' When the kid found out we were goingto leave him at home he started a scream like a terrible wind and clung to Bill's leg.His father dragged him off gradually, like a plaster.

Around me on the grass are lumps of dry yak dung and clusters of yellow flowers. Inthe late afternoon hail falls out of a sunny sky. We are now near Naqu, and the viewis another one of those red and green contrasts that are so brilliant as to seemunnatural. Rainwater gathers in red puddles, the red drainage gullies parallel to theroad are full; the road itself, a strip of red, lies on abaize of completely flat greenery.On the horizon stands a complex yet symmetrical peak, covered with snow. A fewhorses are being driven towards Naqu, probably for the annual fair and horse-racesheld there at this time of the year.

William Golding, the British Nobel winner, is reported to have stated that it was timethat Asian writers were given their share of recognition by the Nobel Committee, as ifone were talking of an equitable distribution of cabbage soup in a relief camp.Geographical, topographical, hemispherical or ethnic considerations are irrelevant inliterature. One cannot, for instance, compel a selection committee to turn its attentionto Antarctica since the claims of that part of the world have been overlooked. On theother hand it must also be said that if the soil (or rather the snow) of Antarcticaproduces a literary masterpiece, it is bound to emerge like a shining star in thefirmament even if the Nobel, Committee remains ignorant of its existence. A classicdoes not have to wait for the Nobel stamp of approval.

(10x3:30)

2. The story "The Other Woman" is marked by humour and irony. Discuss, givingexamples from the text.

(10 )

a)

b)

c)

3. Discuss the theme of human relationships as it is seen in the novel The Binding Vine.(10)

4.

) .

How does Jamaica Kincaid experience the space between the idea of England and the realEngland in the essay "On Seeing England for the First Time"

(10)

How does Bill Aitken make fun of Indian politicians in his travelogue Trm,els by aLesser Line?

(10)

What inrprassion'do you get of Anne Frank and the times she lived in, from the entries inher diary?

(lo)

Write short notes onthe following:

i) Types of Novelsii) Biography and Autobiography

(10x2=20)

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