No.

of Printed Pages : 2 I MEG-5 I

MASTER'S DEGREE PROGRAMME

IN ENGLISH

Term-End Examination

05951 December, 2017

MEG-5 : LITERARY CRITICISM AND THEORY

Time : 3 hours Maximum Marks : 100

Note : Answer any five questions. All questions carry

equal marks.

1. Why does Plato declare the role of the poet as

subversive ? 20

2. What does Wordsworth think of the distinction

between the language of prose and metrical
composition ? 20

MEG-5 1 P.T.O.: •
No. of Printed Pages : 2 MEG-5

MASTER'S DEGREE PROGRAMME

7q41 IN ENGLISH

Term-End Examination

December, 2019

MEG-5 : LITERARY CRITICISM AND THEORY

Time : 3 hours Maximum Marks : 100

Note : Answer any five of the following questions. Each

question carries 20 marks.

1. Explain how Plato views art as twice removed

from reality. 20

2. Attempt a critique of 'Rasa' as understood in

ancient Indian literature. 20

3. Critically examine S.T. Coleridge's views on the

esemplastic power of the poetic imagination. 20

.111 ■• AIM& IM rt r■
4. 'New criticism' emphasizes the text, not the
background. Comment. 20

5. What is superstructure in Marxist criticism ?

Provide examples of superstructures. How do
they function ? 20

6. Evaluate Elaine Showalter's contribution to

feminist criticism. 20

7. Analyse John Donne's The Canonization' with

the tools of 'Deconstruction'. 20

8. What does Spivak mean by `Subalternity' ?

Explain with examples. 20
 No. of Printed Pages : 2 I MEG-005 I
MASTER'S DEGREE PROGRAMME IN
ENGLISH
kr) Term-End Examination
rN,1
June, 2019
MEG-005 : LITERARY CRITICISM AND THEORY

Time : 3 hours Maximum Marks : 100

Note : Answer any five of the following questions. Each

question carries 20 marks.

1. Explain how Aristotle argues in favour of "drama 20

as a larger and higher form of art".

2. Give an account of Sphota theory as explained by 20

Sanskrit theoreticians.

3. Critically examine Wordsworth's view that "all 20

good poetry is the spontaneous overflow of
powerful feelings".

4. What according to John Crowe Ransom is the role 20

of the literary critic in the modern world ?
Explain.

5. Attempt a short essay on the relation between 20

literature and ideology.

MEG-005 1 P.T.O.
6. 'From the tyranny of man... the greater number 20
of female follies proceed.' In the light of this
statement evaluate Mary Wollstonecraft's
thoughts on women.

7. How does Roland Barthes differentiate a 'Work' 20

from a 'Text' ? Explain in your own words.

8. What are Foucault's views on discourse and 20

power ? Explain.

MEG-005 2
3. Write short notes on any two of the
following : 2x10=20
(a) Tragic Hero
(b) Hamartia
(c) Sphota
(d) Alamkara
(e) Sruti

(f) Objective Correlative

4. Discuss the ideas expressed by Cleanth Brooks in

his essay "Irony as a Principle of Structure". 20

5. Write a critical note on the essentials of Marxist

literary theory OR Freudian psychoanalysis. 20

6. Comment on the significance of the title The

Second Sex. 20

7. Why does Derrida resist definitions ? Give

reasons for your answer. 20

8. What is Raymond Williams' contribution to

Cultural Studies ? 20

MEG-5 2 14,000
 No. of Printed Pages : 3 I MEG-5 I

MASTER'S DEGREE PROGRAMME IN

ENGLISH
Term-End Examination
cV
O December, 2011

MEG-5 : LITERARY CRITICISM AND

THEORY

Time : 3 hours Maximum Marks : 100

Note : Attempt question no. 1 and any four of the remaining

questions.

1. Explain any two of the following passages with

reference to their context supplying brief critical
comments where necessary. 10+10
(a) Now, God has produced only that one real
Plato- The Republic bed. The restriction to only one might have
been his own choice, or it might just be
impossible for him to make more than one.
But God never has, and never could, create
two or more such beds.
(b) Poets, according to the circumstances of the
A Defence of Poetry age and nation in which they appeared,
P.B Shelly
were called, in the earlier epochs of the
world, legislators or prophets : a poet
essentially comprises and unites both these
characters.

MEG-5 1 P.T.O.
 (c) If this figure seems somewhat high flown.
Let us borrow an analogy from another
art : the poem is like a little drama. The
total effect proceeds from all the elements
in the drama, and in a good poem, as in a
good drama, there is, no waste emotion and
there are no superfluous parts.
(d) The first of these modes, righteous angry,
Feminist Criticism in and admonitory, they compared to The Old
the wilderness
Testament, 'looking for the sins and errors
of the past'. The second mode, disinterested
and seeking 'the grace of imagination', they
compared to the New Testament. Both are
necessary, they concluded, for only the
jeremiahs of ideology can lead us out of the
'Egypt of female servitude' to the promised
land of humanism.

2. Comment upon Aristotle's views on 'mythos' and 20

'ethos' in Greek tragedy.

3. 'To generalise is to be an idiot. To particularise is 20

the lone distinction of merit'. In the light of William
Blake's observation comment on the Romantic
epistemology.

4. What does Ransom mean when he advocates 20

'Criticism Inc ! ?

MEG-5 2
5. How do Marx and Engels interpret literature ? 20

6. Analyse the components of Beauvoir's thesis to 20

indicate (a) its strengths (b) its limitations.

7. Discuss the strengths and limitations of 20

deconstruction as a method of critical inquiry.

MEG-5 3
No. of Printed Pages : 2 MEG-5

MASTER'S DEGREE PROGRAMME IN

tr)
ENGLISH
tr)
CO Term-End Examination
O
December, 2012

MEG-5 : LITERARY CRITICISM AND

THEORY

Time : 3 hours Maximum Marks : 100

Note : Question No. 1 is compulsory. Answer Five questions
in all. All questions carry equal marks.

1. Write short notes of about 250 words each on any

four of the following. 5x4=20
(a) Catharsis
(b) Auchitya
(c) Superstructure
(d) 'Pleasure' and 'instruction' as ends of
literature
(e) Irony
(f) 'Second Sex'

2. What is the difference between Plato's approach 20

and Aristotle's approach to 'imitation'?

3. Consider Wordsworth's 'Preface to Lyrical 20

Ballads' as the manifesto of Romantic Literature.

MEG-5 1 P.T.O.
4. Assess two of the seminal critical concepts 20
formulated by T.S. Eliot.

5. Give reasons for Elaine Showalter's discontent 20

with existing feminist criticism.

6. What is the process of 'deconstructing' a text ? 20

Elaborate.

7. Show how literary criticism and theory have 20

developed a materialistic dimension based on
Marxism.

8. Analyze the historical importance of 20

Post-colonialism for the Third World.

MEG-5 2
 No. of Printed Pages : 2 MEG-5

MASTER'S DEGREE PROGRAMME IN

c\1 ENGLISH
00
Lc)
Go Term-End Examination
0 December, 2013

MEG-5 : LITERARY CRITICISM AND

THEORY

Time : 3 hours Maximum Marks :.100

Note : Question No. 1 is compulsory. Answer five questions
in all. All questions carry equal marks.

1. Write short notes (250 words each) on any four

of the following : 4x5=20
(a) theory
(b) immediagte context
(c) literature
(d) ideology
(e) poetic diction
(f) rasa

2. How does Aristotle meet plato's criticism of poets ? 20

3. Discuss the Romantic theory of art. 20

4. Evaluate Cleanth Brooks as a New Critic. 20

MEG-5 1 P.T.O.
5. How does literature represent the social conditions 20
and social structure ?

6. Explain the term gynocritic and give two 20

examples.

7. Discuss deconstruction as a method of critical 20

reading of a text.

8. In what ways does postmodernism differ from 20

modernism ?

MEG-5 2
No. of Printed Pages : 2 MEG-5
MASTER'S DEGREE PROGRA1VIME
IN ENGLISH
Term-End Examination
December, 2014

MEG -5 : LITERARY CRITICISM AND THEORY

Time : 3 hours Maximum Marks : 100

Note : Attempt question no. 1 and any four from the

remaining questions.

1. Write short notes on any two of the following : 10+10

(a) Catharsis
(b) Myth
(c) Poetic diction
(d) Superstructure
(e) Individual talent
(f) Gender

2. For Plato, the term 'imitation' (mimesis) carries a

negative connotation : to imitate is to produce a
copy, a version that is less than the original.
Comment. 20
MEG-5 1 P.T.O.
3. Discuss Coleridge's theory of 'Imagination'. 20

4. "Writers are unable to see the truth about their

societies because they are caught up in the 'false
consciousness' of ideology." Examine the
statement in the context of the Marxist view of
literature. 20
5. Write a critical note on "The Death of the
Author". 20

6. In placing woman as the 'other' of man, Simone

de Beauvoir critically examines the issue of
`alterity' in the context of women's identity.
Substantiate your answer with reference to
Beauvoir's The Second Sex. 20

7. "The general characteristics of reading in

post-colonial criticism is that a text is 'read back'
from the perspective of the colonized." Comment
critically on the statement. 20

8. Explain the concept of a structure and discuss

the notion of a stable centre. 20

MEG-5 2 11,000
 No. of Printed Pages : 2 I MEG-5
MASTER'S DEGREE PROGRAMME
IN ENGLISH

Term-End Examination
r" December, 2015

MEG-5 : LITERARY CRITICISM AND THEORY

Time : 3 hours Maximum Marks : 100

Note : Answer any five questions. All questions carry equal

marks.

1. Explain briefly any three elements of Tragedy

according to Aristotle. 20

2. Elaborate the basic distinction between Fancy

and Imagination as brought out by Coleridge in
Biographia Literaria. 20

3. Comment briefly on any four obstacles to proper

response that I.A. Richards catalogues in
Practical Criticism. 20
MEG-5 1 P.T.O.
4. Write a short essay showing how Marxism has
influenced many critics in the 20 th century.
Illustrate your answer with suitable examples. 20

5. Feminist theories do not give sufficient attention

to class conflict in society. Discuss. 20

6. Drama as a form lends itself well to the

deconstruction approach. Discuss with reference
to a drama text in your course. 20

7. Critically interpret Edward Said's concept of

Orientalism. 20

8. What according to Matthew Arnold is the

function of criticism ? Elucidate. 20

MEG-5 2 13,000
 No. of Printed Pages : 2 MEG-5

MASTER'S DEGREE PROGRAMME IN

tr)
ENGLISH
Term-End Examination
O
June, 2012

MEG-5 : LITERARY CRITICISM AND

THEORY

Time : 3 hours Maximum Marks : 100

Note : Answer question no. 1 and any four of the remaining

questions.

1. Explain any two of the following passages with

reference to their context supplying brief critical
comments where necessary : 10+10
(a) If, then, Tragedy is superior to Epic poetry
Poetics- Aristotle
in all these respects, and, moreover, fulfils
its specific function better as an art - for each
art ought to produce not any chance
pleasure, but the pleasure proper to it, as
already stated-it plainly follows that tragedy
is the higher art, as attaining its end more
perfectly.
(b) The IMAGINATION then I consider either
Biographia literaria- as primary or secondary. The primary
S.T Colerdige
IMAGINATION I hold to be the living
Power and prime Agent of all human

MEG-5 1 P.T.O.
 perception and as a repetition in the finite
mind of the eternal act of creation in the
infinite I AM.
(c) Honest criticism and sensitive appreciation
Tradition and Individual
Talent. T.S Eliot. are directed not upon the poet but upon
the poetry.
(d) The only teaching worthy of the name is
The Resistance to theory scholarly, not personal, analogies between
Paul de man.
teaching and various aspects of show
business or guidance counselling are more
often than not excuses for having abdicated
the task.
2. What are the reasons for the artist to be kept away 20
from the ideal state of plato ?
3. What roles do spontaneity, emotion and 20
personality have in Wordsworth's theory of
poetry ?
4. What do you understand by 'The Affective 20
Fallacy ' ?
5. Critically appraise the ideas of Karl Marx and 20
Frederick Engels about class relations and class
ideology.
6. Examine Virginia Woolf's attitude to the canon 20
i,e., ancestors in women's writings.
7. Present a deconstructive analysis of John Donne's 20
'The Cannonization'.

MEG-5 2
 No. of Printed Pages : 2 MEG-5

MASTER'S DEGREE PROGRAMME IN

ENGLISH
1-r)

O Term-End Examination
June, 2013

MEG-5 : LITERARY CRITICISM AND

THEORY

Time : 3 hours Maximum Marks : 100

Note : Question No. 1 is compulsory. Answer Five questions

in all. All questions carry equal marks.

1. Write short notes of about 250 words each on

any four of the following : 5x4=20
(a) Plot
(b) Alamkara
(c) Base
(d) Poetic diction
(e) Intentional fallacy
(f) Patriarchy

2. Write a critical note or 'mimesis' as the theory of 20

representation in Classical criticism.

3. Compare the theories of imagination as presented 20

by Shelley and Coleridge.

MEG-5 1 P.T.O.
4. How does the New Criticism make use of the 20
model of 'practical criticism' initiated by
I.A. Richards ?

5. Draw out the ideologies set forth by Mary 20

Wollstonecraft and Virginia Woolf as pioneer
feminists.

6. Examine the approaches of Structuralism and 20

Deconstruction to the theory of sign-system.

7. Assess the impact of Marxism on subsequent 20

literary/critical theories in the 20th century.

8. Trace the emergence of cultural studies with 20

reference to the theories of Edwards Said, Spivak
and Bhabha.

MEG-5 2
 No. of Printed Pages : 2 MEG-5

MASTER'S DEGREE PROGRAMME

IN ENGLISH
Term-End Examination
10120 June, 2015

MEG-5 : LITERARY CRITICISM AND THEORY

Time : 3 hours Maximum Marks : 100

Note : Question no. 1 is compulsory. Attempt any four

from the remaining questions. All questions carry
equal marks.

I. Write short notes on any two of the following : 10+10

(a) Ethos

(b) Hamartia

(c) Emotions recollected in tranquillity

(d) Objective correlative

(e) Mode of production

(f) Signifier

2. Discuss Aristotle's theory of tragedy and its

different elements. 20

MEG-5 1 P.T.O.
3. In higher poetry, we look for "the wisdom of the
heart and the grandeur of the imagination".
Examine the statement in the context of
Wordsworth's Preface to the Lyrical Ballads. 20

4. Critically examine the role of ideology in litefary

production following the Marxist critical theory. 20
5. Evaluate Elain Showalter's `gynocriticism' and
its value in the context of feminist criticism. 20

6. What is 'deconstruction' ? Is 'deconstruction' an

effective tool for analysing a literary text ? Give a
reasoned answer. 20

7. Discuss critically the seminal issues that

Post-Colonial theory addresses. 20

8. Critically examine Wimsatt's concept of

"The Intentional Fallacy". 20

MEG-5 2 10,000
 MASTER'S DEGREE PROGRAMME
IN ENGLISH
Term-End Examination
·-� . :,-
i --
1--.:J-. \_JLJ
-, J" •

June, 2018

MEG-5 : LITERARY CRITICISM AND THEORY

Time : 3 hours Maximttm·Marks: 100

Note: carry

� ((� - . :�

� / �" ,<� . r?-1�·�-)

((9' )
1. What is the reaso� fop Plato�v-tiostility towards
�
art? Exp 20
�� �
'

2. What rb e / do spontaneity, emotion and

personality· have in Wordsworth's theory of
poetry ? Elucidate. 20

3. What does Eliot mean by "dissociation of

sensibility" with respect to the 17th century
ethos? Elaborate. 20
MEG-5 1 P.T.O.
4. Write a short essay explaining how M�m is
opposed to both Idealism and Mech�cal
Materialism. 20

6. What are the implications of the distinction ·- ,

between sex and gender as set by · feminist · ·
theories ? Explain. 20

�
8. Explain Wimsatt's notion of"affective �cy". 20
.

(/'� �
7. Lacan �as said _that ',uncdnsciohs is struct��
'
Di ((
lik.. e a 1anguage. \.:scuss. (\\�\ ¥
)
4 /,) 20
� ' (� �
8. . Write
(r:/ . ' �'� '> '
sllo.�nou,s' _ on �"�o of the
following
(a) Ras
0 ... , 0� �()�. 2x10=20

�� ((�,) •
. (b) · Jouiss
I)" ce · -�
I . "·r._;7
(c) Dliyani
(d) Sphota

MEG-5 2 11,000

•.
No. of Printed Pages : 2
2678 MEG-05

MASTER'S DEGREE PROGRAMME IN ENGLISH

Term-End Examination
June, 2014

MEG-05 : LITERARY CRITICISM AND THEORY

Time : 3 hours Maximum Marks : 100

Note : Question 1 is compulsory. Answer five questions in all.

All questions carry equal marks.

1. Write short notes (250 words each) on any 4x5=20

four of the following.
(a) Linguistic sign
(b) Gyno texts
(c) The communication chain
(d) Purgation
(e) Free play of signs
(f) Dhwani

2. Discuss tragic failing and explain how it 20

leads to tragedy.

3. Evaluate P. B. Shelley as a romantic critic 20

4. What is meant by 'intentional fallacy? How 20

would you respond to this concept of the
New Critics?

MEG-05 1 P.T.O.
 5. In what sense is literature a form of 20
Propaganda?

6. Evaluate Virginia Woolf as a feminist critic. 20

7. How does Derrida analyse the concept 20

of the sign to show that there can be no
determinacy in meaning?

8. Discuss lacan's main contribution to critical 20

theory.

***

MEG-05 2 P.T.O.
No. of Printed Pages : 2 I MEG-5

MASTER'S DEGREE PROGRAMME

IN ENGLISH

Term-End Examination
paE,c)
December, 2018

MEG-5 : LITERARY CRITICISM AND THEORY

Time : 3 hours Maximum Marks : 100

Note : Answer any five of the following questions. All

questions carry equal marks.

1. Write short notes on any two of the

following : 2x10=20

(a) Signifier and Signified

(b) Apology for Poetry

(c) Structuralism

(d) Russian Formalists

(e) Dhvani

MEG-5 1 P.T.O.
2. Discuss 'mimesis' in the light of Plato and
Aristotle's postulations. 20

3. Romantics assert that "imagination transcends

reason". Discuss. 20

4. Evaluate I.A. Richards's contribution to literary

criticism. 20

5. Discuss the major concerns of feminist theory. 20

6. Examine how Waiting for Godot problematizes

the meaninglessness of life. 20

7. Attempt a critique of Midnight's Children as a

postmodernist text. 20

MEG-5 2 14,000
 No. of Printed Pages : 2 MEG-5 I

c\I MASTER'S DEGREE PROGRAMME IN

ENGLISH
Term-End Examination
June, 2011

MEG-5 LITERARY CRITICISM AND

THEORY

Time : 3 hours Maximum Marks : 100

Note : Question No. 1 is compulsory. Answer five questions

in all. All questions carry equal marks.

1. Write short notes of about 250 words each on

any four of the following : 5x4=20
(a) Concept of mimesis
(b) Sphot
(c) Objective correlative
(d) Postmodernism
(e) 'Feminist criticism in wilderness'
(f) Literature and ideology

2. Write a note on Catharsis in tragedy. 20

3. How does Coleridge deal with distinction between 20:

Fancy and Imagination ?

MEG-5 n P.T.O.
4. What are the common features of the critics 20
associated with 'New criticism' ?

5. Evaluate gyno criticism against any one other 20

critical mode.

6. Attempt a critical evaluation of the theory of 20

structuralism.

7. Evaluate the salient features of post - colonialism. 20

8. Comment on the beginnings in new historicism 20

in literary criticism.

MEG-5 2
No. of Printed Pages : 2 MEG-5

MASTER'S DEGREE PROGRAMME

IN ENGLISH
Term-End Examination
CP:9 C3.4 June, 2018

MEG-5 : LITERARY CRITICISM AND THEORY

Time : 3 hours Maximum Marks : 100

Note : Answer any five of the following questions. All

questions carry equal marks.

1. Write short notes on any two of the

following : 2x10=20

(a) On the Sublime

(b) Mikhail Bakhtin

(c) Deconstruction

(d) Resistance to Theory

(e) Rasa

MEG-5 1 P.T.O.
2. Enumerate the six elements of tragedy according
to Aristotle and explain any two of them with
suitable examples. 20

3. Briefly outline Wordsworth's theory of poetic

diction with special reference to the 'Preface' to
the Lyrical Ballads. 20

4. Bring out the features of New Criticism. 20

5. Explain in your own words Marx's views of the

base — superstructure relationship. How does an
artist become conscious of it in his/her creations ? 20

. State Roland Barthes' ideas on 'work' and 'text'

in his essay 'From Work to Text'. 20

7. What are the major concerns of postcolonial

theorists ? 20

MEG-5 2 16,000
 No. of Printed Pages : 2 I MEG-5 I

MASTER'S DEGREE PROGRAMME

IN ENGLISH

Term-End Examination

December, 2016
0849-4

MEG-5 : LITERARY CRITICISM AND THEORY

Time : 3 hours Maximum Marks : 100

Note : Answer any five of the following questions. All

questions carry equal marks.

1. Write a critical note on Aristotle's concept of

tragedy. 20

2. Evaluate Wordsworth's 'Preface' to the Lyrical

Ballads (1800) as, an attack on the "inane
phraseology" of many 18th century writers. 20

3. The 'truth which the poet utters' according to

Cleanth Brooks, 'can be approached only in terms
of paradox'. Do you agree ? Supply reasons for
your answer. 20
MEG-5 1 P.T.O.
4. Explain Marx's idea of dialectical materialism.
How does it help us in understanding literature ? 20

5. Assess Mary Wollstonecraft's contribution to

Women's rights and their education. 20

6. Comment on the implications of The Death of

the Author' by Roland Barthes. 20

7. How are 'lack' and 'desire' closely connected in

Lacan's theory ? 20

8. Write short notes on any two of the

following : 2x10=20
(a) Sruti
(b) Dhvani
(c) Mimesis
(d) Paradox

MEG-5 2 14,000
No. of Printed Pages : 2 MEG-5

MASTER'S DEGREE PROGRAMME

IN ENGLISH

Term-End Examination
----!
____ FIFI F; June, 2017

MEG-5 : LITERARY CRITICISM AND THEORY

Time : 3 hours Maximum Marks : 100

Note : Answer any five of the following questions.

1. Discuss Aristotle's view of the plot in tragedy. 20

2. What role does Shelley assign to poets in the

nineteenth century ? Explain. 20

3. What according to John Crowe Ransom are the

"duties" of a critic ? Explain. 20

4. Explain with the help of suitable examples, the

Marxian concept of base and superstructure. 20

5. Evaluate Elaine Showalter's contribution to

feminist criticism. 20
MEG-5 1 P.T.O.
6. What according to Barthes is the difference
between 'work' and 'text' ? Explain. 20

7. Briefly introduce two major post-colonial critics

and their contribution to our understanding of
literature. 20

8. Write short notes on any two of the

following : 2 x10=20

(a) Signifier

(b) Irony

(c) Alamkara

(d) Rasa

MEG-5 2 14,500