Test Papers / Previous Question Papers of IGNOU MEG7 Indian English Literature

MASTER'S DEGREE PROGRAMME IN ENGLISH
Term-End Examination

June, 2005

MEG-7 : INDIAN ENGLISH LITERATURE

Time: 3 hours
Maximum Marks: 100

1. Explain with reference to context any four of the following in about 150 words each : 4x5=20

(i) The eagle pinion is chained down at last,

And grovelling in the lowly dust art thou;

Thy minstrel hath no wreath to weave for thee

Save the sad story of thy misery !

(ii) This is the soul of man. Body and brain

Hungry for earth our heavenly flight detain.

(iii) Who never spoke before his spirit moved.

The slow movement seems, somehow, to say much more.

To watch the rarer birds, you have to go

Along deserted lanes and where the rivers flow

In silence near a source, or by a shore

(iv) Endless crow noises

A skull on the holy sands

tilts its empty country towards hunger.

(v) He had spent his youth whoring

after English gods.

There is something to be said for exile :

(vi) he popped a stone

in his mouth

and spat out gods

(vii) ... and reduce the entire career

of my recent unique self

to the compulsion of some high

sentence in His Smilesian diary.

2. What according to you is the significance of Hind Swaroj ? Do you think it is relevant today ? (Answer in 450 - 500 words) 20

OR

How far are Nirad C. Chaudhuri's autobiographical works a contribution to contemporary history ?(Answer in 450 - 500 words)

3. Comment on Mulk Raj Anand's criticism of Hindu society with regard to the practice of untouchability. (Answer in 450 - 500 words) 20

OR

Write an essay on the role of women characters in Raja Rao's Kanthapura. (Answer in 450 - 500 words)

4. Discuss the role that music plays in Anita Desai's Clear Light of Doy. (Answer in 450 - 500 words) 20

OR

Which of the two stories by R.K. Narayan, "An Astrologer's Day" and "Engine Trouble", do you prefer and why ? (Answer in 450 - 500 words)

5. Examine the role of Sinai as autobiographer in Rushdie's Midnight's Children. (Answer in 450 - 500 words) 20

OR

What are the major themes of Tara ? Which is the most important of them and why ? (Answer in 450 - 500 words)

Note: The above courses are picked automatically by the website for indicative purpose only. However, students are requested to check with the University for the similarity of the course or for any other information in regard to the course.