UGC NET English Literature — 21st August 2024 (Morning Shift) PYQs
Q.1. Which among the following is not a state of human mental disposition as posited by Jacques Lacan?
💡 Explanation: Lacan’s theory of the psyche is structured around three registers: the Imaginary, the Symbolic, and the Real — none of which is called “the Historical Order.” The Imaginary Order relates to images and the ego’s identification with the mirror stage; the Symbolic Order pertains to language, law, and social structures; and the Real designates that which resists symbolisation. “The Historical Order” is a fabricated term with no basis in Lacanian psychoanalysis.
Q.2. The poetic line(s), “There is one great society alone on earth, the noble living and the noble dead” appear in ___.
💡 Explanation: These lines appear in William Wordsworth’s autobiographical epic poem The Prelude (1805/1850), which traces the growth of the poet’s mind and celebrates the community of great thinkers and poets across time. Biographia Literaria is Coleridge’s prose work, The Excursion is a separate philosophical poem by Wordsworth, and Lyrical Ballads is the collaborative 1798 volume that launched Romantic poetry.
Q.3. What does an eponymous character mean?
💡 Explanation: The term “eponymous” derives from the Greek epōnymos (giving one’s name to something), and in literary usage it refers to a character whose name forms the title of the work in which they appear. Classic examples include Jane Eyre, Hamlet, Robinson Crusoe, and Emma. The word has nothing to do with the character’s moral nature or their narrative function.
Q.4. Match the List-I with List-II.
List I (Term)
A. Epigram
B. Epigone
C. Diegesis
D. Elision
List II (Definition)
I. An inferior or derivative follower of a more distinguished writer
II. The slurring or suppression of a vowel sound or syllable
III. A short poem with a witty turn of thought or a wittily condensed expression in prose
IV. A term used in modern narratology to designate the narrated events as a level distinct from that of the narration
💡 Explanation: An epigram (A-III) is a brief, witty, and pointed saying in verse or prose, as perfected by writers like Martial and Pope. An epigone (B-I) denotes a lesser imitator of a great predecessor. Diegesis (C-IV) is a narratological term used by Gérard Genette to describe the story world as distinct from the discourse. Elision (D-II) refers to the omission or slurring of a vowel or syllable, common in both poetry and spoken language.
Q.5. Arrange the following Indian writers in the correct chronological order of their birth.
A) R.K. Narayan B) Raja Rao C) Sri Aurobindo D) K.S. Venkataramani E) Sarojini Naidu
A) R.K. Narayan B) Raja Rao C) Sri Aurobindo D) K.S. Venkataramani E) Sarojini Naidu
💡 Explanation: The correct chronological order by birth year is: Sri Aurobindo (1872), Sarojini Naidu (1879), K.S. Venkataramani (1891), R.K. Narayan (1906), and Raja Rao (1908). Sri Aurobindo is the eldest; Raja Rao, the youngest of the group, became a major force in Indian English fiction with Kanthapura (1938).
Q.6. Which of the following works are Graphic Narratives?
A) The Feast of Roses by Indu Sundaresan B) Bhimayana by Srividya Natarajan and S. Anand C) Munnu: A Boy from Kashmir by Malik Sajad D) A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry E) This Side, That Side: Restorying Partition by Vishwa Jyoti Ghosh
A) The Feast of Roses by Indu Sundaresan B) Bhimayana by Srividya Natarajan and S. Anand C) Munnu: A Boy from Kashmir by Malik Sajad D) A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry E) This Side, That Side: Restorying Partition by Vishwa Jyoti Ghosh
💡 Explanation: Bhimayana is a graphic biography of B.R. Ambedkar drawn in the Gond art style; Munnu: A Boy from Kashmir is a graphic memoir by Malik Sajad; and This Side, That Side is an anthology of graphic narratives about Partition. The Feast of Roses is a conventional historical novel, and A Fine Balance is a realist prose novel — neither is a graphic narrative.
Q.7. Which of the following statements are correct?
A) The term performativity was coined by Derrida B) The idea of meme was originally coined by Richard Dawkins C) The term the culture industry was coined by Adorno and Horkheimer D) The term womanism was coined by Alice Walker
A) The term performativity was coined by Derrida B) The idea of meme was originally coined by Richard Dawkins C) The term the culture industry was coined by Adorno and Horkheimer D) The term womanism was coined by Alice Walker
💡 Explanation: The term performativity was coined by J.L. Austin and later expanded by Judith Butler — not Derrida — making statement A incorrect. Richard Dawkins introduced the concept of the meme in The Selfish Gene (1976) (B is correct). Theodor Adorno and Max Horkheimer coined the culture industry in Dialectic of Enlightenment (1944) (C is correct). Alice Walker coined womanism to denote a feminism rooted in Black women’s experience (D is correct).
Q.8. Arrange the following children’s books in the correct chronological order of their publications.
A) J.K. Rowling – The Goblet of Fire B) Philip Pullman – Northern Lights C) C.S. Lewis – The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe D) J.R.R. Tolkien – The Hobbit E) William Golding – Lord of the Flies
A) J.K. Rowling – The Goblet of Fire B) Philip Pullman – Northern Lights C) C.S. Lewis – The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe D) J.R.R. Tolkien – The Hobbit E) William Golding – Lord of the Flies
💡 Explanation: The official answer key accepts option (1): D, E, C, B, A. The approximate dates are: The Hobbit (1937), Lord of the Flies (1954), The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe (1950), Northern Lights (1995), and The Goblet of Fire (2000). Note that strictly speaking, The Lion… (1950) precedes Lord of the Flies (1954), but the official key places them in this order.
Q.9. Which among the following statements are true about The Autobiography of an Unknown Indian?
A) It is an autobiographical text written by Nirad C. Chaudhuri B) It is a text of partition literature C) Unabashed Anglophilia of the author made this work controversial D) It was published in 1951 E) It primarily raises the questions of communal conflicts
A) It is an autobiographical text written by Nirad C. Chaudhuri B) It is a text of partition literature C) Unabashed Anglophilia of the author made this work controversial D) It was published in 1951 E) It primarily raises the questions of communal conflicts
💡 Explanation: The Autobiography of an Unknown Indian (1951) was written by Nirad C. Chaudhuri (A and D are correct). The work was controversial primarily because of Chaudhuri’s open admiration for British culture and his dedication of the book to the British Empire — his “Anglophilia” (C is correct). It is not primarily a text of partition literature (B incorrect), nor does it centrally address communal conflicts (E incorrect).
Q.10. Who among the following did not belong to the Angry Young Men generation of British playwrights/novelists?
💡 Explanation: The Angry Young Men was a literary movement of the 1950s associated with John Osborne (Look Back in Anger, 1956), Kingsley Amis (Lucky Jim, 1954), and Colin Wilson (The Outsider, 1956). J.B. Priestley belonged to an earlier generation, having established his reputation in the 1930s–1940s with plays like An Inspector Calls (1945), well before the Angry Young Men emerged.
Q.11. Which among the following are not the genuine sources of the sublime as cited by Longinus?
A) Creation of imaginative feelings B) The command of full-blooded or robust ideas C) Nobility of spontaneity D) The general effect of dignity and elevation
A) Creation of imaginative feelings B) The command of full-blooded or robust ideas C) Nobility of spontaneity D) The general effect of dignity and elevation
💡 Explanation: In On the Sublime (Peri Hypsous), Longinus identifies five sources of sublimity: the power of forming great thoughts, strong and inspired passion, the proper formation of figures of thought and speech, noble diction, and dignified and elevated composition. “Creation of imaginative feelings” (A) and “the general effect of dignity and elevation” (D) are not phrased as genuine Longinian categories — making them the non-genuine ones.
Q.12. Which text among the following is the sequel to Louisa May Alcott’s novel, Little Women?
💡 Explanation: Louisa May Alcott wrote a series continuing the March family saga. Good Wives (1869) is sometimes published as the second part of Little Women itself. Little Men (1871) follows the boys at Plumfield; and Jo’s Boys (1886) is the final sequel, bringing the story to a close. The official answer key identifies Jo’s Boys as the sequel in this context.
Q.13. What was the immediate motivation for Philip Sidney to write Apologie for Poetrie as a defence of poetry?
💡 Explanation: Stephen Gosson’s The School of Abuse (1579), a Puritan attack on poetry and plays, was the direct provocation for Sidney’s An Apologie for Poetrie (written c. 1580, published 1595). Gosson ironically dedicated his attack to Sidney himself, prompting Sidney to compose his famous defence in which he argues that poetry surpasses both history and philosophy in its ability to teach and delight.
Q.14. Arrange the following detective novels of Agatha Christie in the correct chronological order of their publication.
A) Death on the Nile B) Murder on the Orient Express C) Sparkling Cyanide D) The Mysterious Affair at Styles E) The Murder of Roger Ackroyd
A) Death on the Nile B) Murder on the Orient Express C) Sparkling Cyanide D) The Mysterious Affair at Styles E) The Murder of Roger Ackroyd
💡 Explanation: The correct order is: The Mysterious Affair at Styles (1920), The Murder of Roger Ackroyd (1926), Murder on the Orient Express (1934), Death on the Nile (1937), and Sparkling Cyanide (1945). The Mysterious Affair at Styles introduced Hercule Poirot to the world.
Q.15. Which of the following definitions/statements are correct?
A) The term nation language was coined by Derek Walcott B) Poetic justice is a term invented by Thomas Rymer C) The term neo-colonialism was coined by Ngugi wa Thiong’o D) Nihilism is a word invented by Turgenev in Fathers and Sons E) Caxton listed the nine heroes of late medieval literature
A) The term nation language was coined by Derek Walcott B) Poetic justice is a term invented by Thomas Rymer C) The term neo-colonialism was coined by Ngugi wa Thiong’o D) Nihilism is a word invented by Turgenev in Fathers and Sons E) Caxton listed the nine heroes of late medieval literature
💡 Explanation: Poetic justice was coined by Thomas Rymer in The Tragedies of the Last Age (1677) (B correct). The term nation language was coined by Edward Kamau Brathwaite, not Derek Walcott (A incorrect). Turgenev used the term nihilism in Fathers and Sons (1862), effectively popularising it (D correct). Neo-colonialism is associated with Ngugi in postcolonial discourse (C accepted). The official key accepts B, C, D.
Q.16. Arrange the following plays of G.B. Shaw in the correct chronological order of their publication.
A) Pygmalion B) Man and Superman C) Arms and the Man D) Too True to be Good E) Saint Joan
A) Pygmalion B) Man and Superman C) Arms and the Man D) Too True to be Good E) Saint Joan
💡 Explanation: The chronological order of Shaw’s plays is: Arms and the Man (1894), Man and Superman (1903), Pygmalion (1913), Saint Joan (1923), and Too True to be Good (1932). Shaw’s career spanned six decades, from the Ibsenite realism of his early work through the quasi-mystical later plays.
Q.17. Which statements are true about Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales?
A) The General Prologue describes the meeting of twenty-nine pilgrims in the Tabard Inn B) The Parson’s Tale is the introductory tale that deals with seven virtues C) The Canterbury Tales is written in prose and verse of various metres D) Only twenty-three pilgrims tell stories and there are only twenty-four stories told altogether E) The Prioress’s Tale tells about the murder of a mother by a child
A) The General Prologue describes the meeting of twenty-nine pilgrims in the Tabard Inn B) The Parson’s Tale is the introductory tale that deals with seven virtues C) The Canterbury Tales is written in prose and verse of various metres D) Only twenty-three pilgrims tell stories and there are only twenty-four stories told altogether E) The Prioress’s Tale tells about the murder of a mother by a child
💡 Explanation: Chaucer’s General Prologue introduces twenty-nine pilgrims at the Tabard Inn (A correct). The Tales are written in a mixture of verse forms and prose (C correct). The Parson’s Tale is the concluding, not introductory, tale, dealing with penitence and the seven deadly sins — not seven virtues (B incorrect). The Prioress’s Tale depicts the murder of a Christian child by Jews, not a mother’s murder (E incorrect).
Q.18. Which of the following statements are correct?
A) Diegesis is a term used by Plato to mean statement and by Aristotle to mean narration B) Foucault’s term biopolitics refers to the attempts of the government to rationalize the problems C) Hypertext is a term that refers to second-degree literature made up of works which allude to or derive from hypotext D) Desiring machines is a concept introduced by Antonio Gramsci E) Dream Work is a psychoanalytical term to describe the mechanism that transforms raw material of a dream to its manifest content
A) Diegesis is a term used by Plato to mean statement and by Aristotle to mean narration B) Foucault’s term biopolitics refers to the attempts of the government to rationalize the problems C) Hypertext is a term that refers to second-degree literature made up of works which allude to or derive from hypotext D) Desiring machines is a concept introduced by Antonio Gramsci E) Dream Work is a psychoanalytical term to describe the mechanism that transforms raw material of a dream to its manifest content
💡 Explanation: Foucault’s biopolitics refers to the way modern states regulate biological life and populations (B broadly correct). In Genette’s narratology, hypertext denotes a text derived from or transforming an earlier hypotext (C correct). Dream-work (Traumarbeit) is Freud’s term for the psychological processes that transform latent dream thoughts into manifest dream content (E correct). Desiring machines was introduced by Deleuze and Guattari, not Gramsci (D incorrect).
Q.19. Which among the following is not a novel written by Jean Rhys?
💡 Explanation: Jean Rhys, the Dominican-British novelist best known for Wide Sargasso Sea (1966), wrote Quartet (1928), Voyage in the Dark (1934), and Good Morning, Midnight (1939). Golden Child is not among her works. Rhys’s fiction is characterised by vulnerable female protagonists adrift in patriarchal societies.
Q.20. Alexander Pope’s famous quote, “A little learning is a dangerous thing,” appears in which one of the following works?
💡 Explanation: The line “A little learning is a dangerous thing; / Drink deep, or taste not the Pierian spring” appears in Alexander Pope’s An Essay on Criticism (1711), his verse treatise on the principles of literary taste. The Dunciad satirises literary dullness, Essay on Man addresses philosophy, and The Rape of the Lock is a mock-heroic poem about a social incident.
Q.21. Who among the following friends of Everyman, the main protagonist of the best-known morality play Everyman, stays with him when he leaves the world to face Death?
💡 Explanation: In the anonymous 15th-century morality play Everyman, when Death summons Everyman, all his companions — Fellowship, Kindred, Goods, Beauty, Strength, Discretion, and Five Wits — desert him one by one. Only Good Deeds accompanies Everyman into the grave, embodying the Christian moral that only virtuous acts endure beyond death.
Q.22. Who among the following was not associated with the Lake School of poetry?
💡 Explanation: The Lake School comprised William Wordsworth, S.T. Coleridge, and Robert Southey, who lived in or near the Lake District. William Blake, though a contemporary Romantic, lived in London and held a distinctly individual visionary and mystical poetic vision — he was never associated with the Lake School. Blake’s mythology and symbolism set him apart from the nature-centred poetry of the Lake poets.
Q.23. The first regular English tragedy Gorboduc contains 5 acts, while the first 3 acts were written by Thomas Norton; identify the author who wrote the remaining 2 acts.
💡 Explanation: Gorboduc (1561), considered the first regular English tragedy in blank verse, was co-authored by Thomas Norton (Acts I–III) and Thomas Sackville (Acts IV–V). Sackville, later Earl of Dorset, was also known for his contributions to A Mirror for Magistrates. The play follows Senecan conventions, including a chorus and a five-act structure.
Q.24. Which statement among the following rightly defines an invective?
💡 Explanation: An invective is a form of discourse characterised by harsh, abusive, or denunciatory language aimed at attacking a person or institution. Famous examples include Cicero’s Philippics against Mark Antony and Milton’s prose pamphlets. It is the opposite of a eulogy or encomium, which are celebratory forms.
Q.25. Which statement among the following rightly defines an epithet?
💡 Explanation: An epithet is a descriptive word or phrase expressing a quality attached to a name — for example, “swift-footed Achilles” or “rosy-fingered Dawn” in Homer. Option (3) describes an epitaph (inscription for a tomb). Option (4) describes epistrophe. The epithet is one of the fundamental tools of oral-formulaic composition.
Q.26. Which statements rightly define or describe utopia and dystopia?
A) Sir Thomas More’s Utopia (1516) is an essay in four books B) Sir Thomas More was the first to apply Utopia to literary genre when he named his imaginary republic Utopia C) Thomas More’s Utopia was originally written in English D) Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-four and Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World are dystopian/antiutopian texts E) More’s Utopia was translated into French, German and Spanish by Ralph Robinson
A) Sir Thomas More’s Utopia (1516) is an essay in four books B) Sir Thomas More was the first to apply Utopia to literary genre when he named his imaginary republic Utopia C) Thomas More’s Utopia was originally written in English D) Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-four and Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World are dystopian/antiutopian texts E) More’s Utopia was translated into French, German and Spanish by Ralph Robinson
💡 Explanation: Sir Thomas More coined the word “Utopia” and Utopia (1516) is the founding text of the literary genre (B correct). Nineteen Eighty-Four (1949) and Brave New World (1932) are canonical dystopian novels (D correct). Utopia has two books, not four (A incorrect). More’s Utopia was originally written in Latin, not English (C incorrect). Ralph Robinson translated it into English, not French/German/Spanish (E incorrect).
Q.27. In his work The Postmodern Condition, Jean-François Lyotard announced the eclipse of all grand narrative and sought to declare the death of ___.
💡 Explanation: In The Postmodern Condition: A Report on Knowledge (1979), Lyotard argued that postmodernity is characterised by an “incredulity toward metanarratives.” He specifically declared the end of the socialist master narrative as a credible framework for organising society and knowledge. The report was originally commissioned by the Quebec government.
Q.28. Who among the following called John Dryden “the father of English Criticism” and affirmed that modern English prose began with Dryden’s Essay of Dramatic Poesy?
💡 Explanation: Samuel Johnson, in his Lives of the English Poets (1779–81), praised John Dryden as “the father of English criticism” and credited him with establishing the standards of modern English prose through works like An Essay of Dramatic Poesy (1668). Dryden’s essay, written in dialogue form, addressed the relative merits of French and English dramatic traditions.
Q.29. Arrange the following philosophers/theorists in the correct chronological order of their birth.
A) Simone de Beauvoir B) Walter Benjamin C) Jean Baudrillard D) Mikhail Bakhtin E) Roland Barthes
A) Simone de Beauvoir B) Walter Benjamin C) Jean Baudrillard D) Mikhail Bakhtin E) Roland Barthes
💡 Explanation: The birth years are: Walter Benjamin (1892), Mikhail Bakhtin (1895), Simone de Beauvoir (1908), Roland Barthes (1915), and Jean Baudrillard (1929). This order places the Frankfurt School and Russian Formalist generation before the post-structuralist generation. Baudrillard, the youngest, is associated with postmodern theories of simulation and hyperreality.
Q.30. Arrange the following works in the correct chronological order of their publications.
A) Ahmed Ali’s Twilight in Delhi B) Chaman Nahal’s Azadi C) Manohar Malgaonkar’s Distant Drum D) Mulk Raj Anand’s Untouchable E) K.A. Abbas’ Tomorrow is Ours
A) Ahmed Ali’s Twilight in Delhi B) Chaman Nahal’s Azadi C) Manohar Malgaonkar’s Distant Drum D) Mulk Raj Anand’s Untouchable E) K.A. Abbas’ Tomorrow is Ours
💡 Explanation: The chronological order is: Untouchable by Mulk Raj Anand (1935), Twilight in Delhi by Ahmed Ali (1940), Tomorrow is Ours by K.A. Abbas (1943), Distant Drum by Manohar Malgaonkar (1960), and Azadi by Chaman Nahal (1975). Anand’s Untouchable is a pioneering social protest novel; Nahal’s Azadi remains one of the most important novels about the Partition of India.
Q.31. Match the List-I with List-II.
List I (Post Colonial Writer)
A. Ngugi Wa Thiong’O
B. Aime Cesaire
C. Frantz Fanon
D. Chinua Achebe
List II (Text)
I. Toward the African Revolution
II. There Was a Country
III. The Language of Languages
IV. Discourse on Colonialism
💡 Explanation: Ngugi Wa Thiong’O (A-III) wrote The Language of Languages; Aimé Césaire (B-IV) wrote Discourse on Colonialism (1950), a foundational anticolonial text; Frantz Fanon (C-I) wrote Toward the African Revolution; and Chinua Achebe (D-II) wrote There Was a Country (2012), a memoir about the Biafran War.
Q.32. While documenting, when is a block quotation used in prose?
💡 Explanation: According to MLA documentation style, a prose quotation that exceeds four lines in length should be set off as a block quotation — indented from the left margin, without quotation marks. Block quotations do not require quotation marks since the formatting itself signals the quoted status of the text.
Q.33. Who among the following was not associated with the Bloomsbury Group?
💡 Explanation: The Bloomsbury Group included Virginia Woolf, Leonard Woolf, John Maynard Keynes, Lytton Strachey, E.M. Forster, Roger Fry, Clive Bell, and others. Edmund Husserl was a German philosopher and the founder of phenomenology — he had no connection to the Bloomsbury Group and worked primarily in Germany at the University of Freiburg.
Q.34. According to Dhananjaya, there are five elements of the plot from which arise the five junctures (samdhi). What is the correct sequence of these junctures?
A) Avamarsa B) Mukha C) Pratimukha D) Upasamhriti E) Garbha
A) Avamarsa B) Mukha C) Pratimukha D) Upasamhriti E) Garbha
💡 Explanation: In Dhananjaya’s Dasarupa, the five junctures or sandhi follow the sequence: Mukha (opening), Pratimukha (progression), Garbha (development), Avamarsa (pause/deliberation), and Upasamhriti (conclusion). These junctures correspond to the five stages of dramatic action derived from Bharatamuni’s Natyashastra.
Q.35. Sir Thomas Browne’s longest work, Vulgar Errors, is about —
💡 Explanation: Sir Thomas Browne’s Pseudodoxia Epidemica, commonly known as Vulgar Errors (1646), is a systematic examination and refutation of commonly held but erroneous popular beliefs. The word “vulgar” here means “common people’s” rather than “obscene.” Browne approaches these errors with empirical skepticism, making the work an important early contribution to scientific reasoning in English prose.
Q.36. Which of the following works fall under the category of LGBTQ+?
A) Making is Connecting by David Gauntlett B) Detransition, Baby by Torrey Peters C) Red, White and Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston D) Safe Space by Alyssa Huynh
A) Making is Connecting by David Gauntlett B) Detransition, Baby by Torrey Peters C) Red, White and Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston D) Safe Space by Alyssa Huynh
💡 Explanation: Detransition, Baby (2021) by Torrey Peters is a celebrated LGBTQ+ novel exploring trans identity and parenthood; Red, White and Royal Blue (2019) by Casey McQuiston is a popular queer romance novel; and Safe Space by Alyssa Huynh deals with LGBTQ+ themes. Making is Connecting by David Gauntlett is a media studies text about creativity with no LGBTQ+ content.
Q.37. Who among the following are the recipients of the Nobel Prize in Literature?
A) Orhan Pamuk B) Somerset Maugham C) Harold Pinter D) Margaret Atwood
A) Orhan Pamuk B) Somerset Maugham C) Harold Pinter D) Margaret Atwood
💡 Explanation: Orhan Pamuk (A) received the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2006; Harold Pinter (C) received it in 2005. Somerset Maugham (B) and Margaret Atwood (D) are notable writers who were never awarded the Nobel Prize. The official answer key lists option (4) as the correct choice, confirming Pamuk and Pinter as the Nobel laureates among the given options.
Q.38. Arrange the following works by South Asian writers in the correct chronological order of their publications.
A) Kartography by Kamila Shamsie B) The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri C) The Last Queen by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni D) Desirable Daughters by Bharati Mukherjee E) The Inheritance of Loss by Kiran Desai
A) Kartography by Kamila Shamsie B) The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri C) The Last Queen by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni D) Desirable Daughters by Bharati Mukherjee E) The Inheritance of Loss by Kiran Desai
💡 Explanation: The chronological order is: Kartography by Kamila Shamsie (2002), Desirable Daughters by Bharati Mukherjee (2002), The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri (2003), The Inheritance of Loss by Kiran Desai (2006), and The Last Queen by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni (2021).
Q.39. Arrange the following texts in the correct chronological order of their publication.
A) The Pilgrim’s Progress B) Beowulf C) Endymion D) The Faerie Queene E) Paradise Lost
A) The Pilgrim’s Progress B) Beowulf C) Endymion D) The Faerie Queene E) Paradise Lost
💡 Explanation: The chronological order: Beowulf (composed c. 8th century), The Faerie Queene (1590), Paradise Lost (1667), The Pilgrim’s Progress (1678), and Endymion (Keats, 1818). This sequence spans over a millennium of English literary history — from the Old English epic to the Romantic poem.
Q.40. A palindrome is —
💡 Explanation: A palindrome is a word, phrase, or sequence that reads the same forward and backward, such as “madam,” “racecar,” or “A man, a plan, a canal: Panama.” Option (1) describes a palinode; option (2) describes an anagram; option (4) describes chiasmus or parallelism.
Q.41. Arrange the following works of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar in the correct chronological order of their publication.
A) Mr. Gandhi and Emancipation of Untouchables B) The Annihilation of Caste C) The Problem of the Rupee: Its Origin and Its Solution D) Federation versus Freedom E) Buddha and His Dhamma
A) Mr. Gandhi and Emancipation of Untouchables B) The Annihilation of Caste C) The Problem of the Rupee: Its Origin and Its Solution D) Federation versus Freedom E) Buddha and His Dhamma
💡 Explanation: The chronological order of Ambedkar’s works: The Problem of the Rupee (1923), The Annihilation of Caste (1936), Federation versus Freedom (1939), Mr. Gandhi and the Emancipation of Untouchables (1943), and The Buddha and His Dhamma (1956, posthumous). The Annihilation of Caste remains his most celebrated work — a radical critique of the Hindu caste system.
Q.42. Match the List-I with List-II.
List I (Books/Collection of Poems)
A. The Idylls of the King
B. Dramatic Lyrics
C. Sonnets from the Portuguese
D. Poems and Ballads
List II (Poet)
I. Elizabeth Barrett Browning
II. A.C. Swinburne
III. Alfred Tennyson
IV. Robert Browning
💡 Explanation: The Idylls of the King (A-III) is Alfred Tennyson’s Arthurian epic poem cycle. Dramatic Lyrics (B-IV) is Robert Browning’s 1842 collection introducing dramatic monologues like “My Last Duchess.” Sonnets from the Portuguese (C-I) is Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s celebrated sonnet sequence. Poems and Ballads (D-II) is Swinburne’s 1866 collection, notorious for its sensuous and transgressive content.
Q.43. Match the List-I with List-II.
List I (Term)
A. Culture Industry
B. Anxiety of Influence
C. Cultural Materialism
D. Dialogism
List II (Critic/Theorist)
I. Raymond Williams
II. Adorno and Horkheimer
III. Mikhail Bakhtin
IV. Harold Bloom
💡 Explanation: The Culture Industry (A-II) was theorised by Adorno and Horkheimer in Dialectic of Enlightenment (1944). Anxiety of Influence (B-IV) is Harold Bloom’s 1973 theory of poetic influence. Cultural Materialism (C-I) is associated with Raymond Williams. Dialogism (D-III) is Mikhail Bakhtin’s concept of the multi-voiced nature of the novel.
Q.44. How are words from a language other than English written in a research paper?
💡 Explanation: According to MLA, APA, and Chicago style guidelines, foreign words and phrases that have not been fully assimilated into English should be italicised in academic writing. This convention signals to the reader that the word belongs to a different linguistic system. Common foreign terms fully absorbed into English (e.g., “et al.,” “café”) may not require italicisation, but unfamiliar terms always do.
Q.45. What was the name of the first ship to transport indentured labourers from India to Trinidad and Tobago in 1845?
💡 Explanation: The Fatel Rozack (also spelled Futtle Rozack) was the first ship to carry Indian indentured labourers to Trinidad and Tobago in May 1845, inaugurating the system of indentureship. This historical event is of major significance in postcolonial and diaspora studies, particularly in understanding the Indian Caribbean experience reflected in the works of writers like V.S. Naipaul and Samuel Selvon.
Q.46. Match the List-I with List-II.
List I (Quote)
A. “Happiness is but the occasional episode in a general drama of pain.”
B. “Be still when you have nothing to say; when genuine passion moves you, say what you’ve got to say, and say it hot.”
C. “Eternity is said not to be an extension of time but an absence of time.”
D. “Vices are sometimes only virtues carried to excess.”
List II (Novelist)
I. D.H. Lawrence
II. Charles Dickens
III. Thomas Hardy
IV. Graham Greene
💡 Explanation: “Happiness is but the occasional episode in a general drama of pain” (A-III) is Thomas Hardy’s pessimistic observation. The injunction to “say what you’ve got to say, and say it hot” (B-I) is D.H. Lawrence’s advocacy for passionate expression. The meditation on eternity as “an absence of time” (C-IV) is associated with Graham Greene’s Catholic fiction. “Vices are sometimes only virtues carried to excess” (D-II) reflects Dickens’s moralistic view of human nature.
Q.47. Who among the following is the author of I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings?
💡 Explanation: I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (1969) is the first of seven autobiographical volumes by Maya Angelou, recounting her childhood and adolescence in the American South. The title alludes to Paul Laurence Dunbar’s poem “Sympathy.” The book is considered a landmark in African American literature and is widely taught in schools and universities.
Q.48. Match the List-I with List-II.
List I (Comedy)
A. The Man of Mode
B. The Country Wife
C. The Old Bachelor
D. The Provoked Wife
List II (Playwright)
I. Sir John Vanbrugh
II. William Congreve
III. William Wycherley
IV. Sir George Etherege
💡 Explanation: The Man of Mode (A-IV, 1676) was written by Sir George Etherege, widely regarded as the finest Restoration comedy. The Country Wife (B-III, 1675) is William Wycherley’s satirical exposure of sexual hypocrisy. The Old Bachelor (C-II, 1693) was William Congreve’s debut comedy. The Provoked Wife (D-I, 1697) is Sir John Vanbrugh’s comedy of marital discord.
Q.49. Match the List-I with List-II.
List I (Prize/Recognition)
A. Booker Prize
B. Pulitzer Prize
C. Nobel Prize
D. Poet Laureate
List II (Officially started in the year)
I. 1917
II. 1901
III. 1668
IV. 1968
💡 Explanation: The Booker Prize (A-IV) was established in 1968. The Pulitzer Prize (B-I) has been awarded since 1917. The Nobel Prize in Literature (C-II) has been awarded since 1901. The English Poet Laureate (D-III) dates back to 1668 when John Dryden was appointed by Charles II.
Q.50. Which of the following parameters are emphasized in MLA Handbook’s (9th Edition) chapter titled Principles of Inclusive Language?
A) Avoid negatively judging others’ experience B) Use a dictionary to check for offensive terms C) Extensive use of pronouns D) Any format for capitalization and styling E) Make reference to identify relevant sources
A) Avoid negatively judging others’ experience B) Use a dictionary to check for offensive terms C) Extensive use of pronouns D) Any format for capitalization and styling E) Make reference to identify relevant sources
💡 Explanation: The MLA Handbook (9th Edition) chapter on inclusive language emphasises: avoiding negative judgment of others’ experiences (A), consulting authoritative sources like dictionaries to identify potentially offensive terminology (B), and directing readers to relevant sources for further guidance (E). It does not advocate “extensive use of pronouns” as a standalone principle (C), nor does it permit “any format” for capitalisation (D).
Q.51. Who among the following stated that “True philosopher and the true poet are one, and a beauty which is truth, and a truth which is beauty, is the aim of both”?
💡 Explanation: This statement is from Ralph Waldo Emerson, the American Transcendentalist philosopher and essayist, reflecting his belief in the unity of beauty and truth. Emerson’s essays such as “The Poet” (1844) articulate this vision of the poet as a seer who perceives the underlying unity of all existence. The phrasing echoes Keats’s “Beauty is truth, truth beauty” from “Ode on a Grecian Urn,” but the formulation in the question is Emerson’s.
Q.52. Which among the following novelists remarked that “falsehood is so easy, truth so difficult”?
💡 Explanation: This famous statement is from George Eliot (Mary Ann Evans), one of the greatest realist novelists of the Victorian era. It appears in Adam Bede (1859), Chapter 17 — a celebrated metafictional passage in which Eliot defends her method of realistic portrayal. Her commitment to truth in fiction aligned with her philosophical background in Positivism.
Q.53. Which among the following critics stated that “The object of study in literary science is not literature but ‘literariness’, that is, what makes a given work a literary work”?
💡 Explanation: Roman Jakobson, a founding figure of Russian Formalism, made this foundational statement — that literary scholarship should focus on “literariness” (literaturnost), the specific qualities and devices that distinguish literary language from ordinary discourse. Jakobson’s later work on the “poetic function” of language further developed this insight, making him equally important to structuralism and semiotics.
Q.54. Match the List-I with List-II.
List I (Woman Novelist)
A. Fanny Burney
B. Anne Brontë
C. Pearl Buck
D. Nadine Gordimer
List II (Novel)
I. Agnes Grey
II. The Good Earth
III. My Son’s Story
IV. Evelina
💡 Explanation: Evelina (A-IV, 1778) is Fanny Burney’s landmark epistolary novel. Agnes Grey (B-I, 1847) is Anne Brontë’s autobiographical novel about a governess. The Good Earth (C-II, 1931) is Pearl Buck’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, contributing to her Nobel Prize in 1938. My Son’s Story (D-III, 1990) is by South African Nobel laureate Nadine Gordimer.
Q.55. Arrange the following novels in the correct chronological order of their publication.
A) So Many Hungers B) All About H. Hatterr C) Music for Mohini D) Waiting for the Mahatma E) Kanthapura
A) So Many Hungers B) All About H. Hatterr C) Music for Mohini D) Waiting for the Mahatma E) Kanthapura
💡 Explanation: The chronological order is: Kanthapura by Raja Rao (1938), So Many Hungers by Bhabani Bhattacharya (1947), All About H. Hatterr by G.V. Desani (1948), Music for Mohini by Bhabani Bhattacharya (1952), and Waiting for the Mahatma by R.K. Narayan (1955). These novels represent the golden era of Indian fiction in English.
Q.56. Which among the following statements are true about Panchtantra?
A) Panchtantra is a descendant of Hitopdesha B) It is a manual for the instruction of the sons of a king in the principles of good conduct C) The first book deals with the adventures of a tortoise, deer and a cow D) Tantrakhyayika is one of the oldest redactions of Panchtantra E) Panchtantra is divided into five parts
A) Panchtantra is a descendant of Hitopdesha B) It is a manual for the instruction of the sons of a king in the principles of good conduct C) The first book deals with the adventures of a tortoise, deer and a cow D) Tantrakhyayika is one of the oldest redactions of Panchtantra E) Panchtantra is divided into five parts
💡 Explanation: The Panchatantra, attributed to Vishnu Sharma, is a political-ethical manual composed for the education of princes (B correct). The Tantrakhyayika is one of the oldest surviving recensions (D correct). The Panchatantra is organised into five books (E correct). It is the Hitopadesha that is derived from the Panchatantra — not the other way around (A incorrect). The first book deals with estrangement of friends, not tortoise/deer/cow (C incorrect).
Q.57. Which of the following stories deal with the theme of partition?
A) Thanda Gosht B) Gharwali C) Jila-Watan D) Lajwanti E) Rudali
A) Thanda Gosht B) Gharwali C) Jila-Watan D) Lajwanti E) Rudali
💡 Explanation: Thanda Gosht (Cold Meat) by Saadat Hasan Manto is a stark story about Partition violence. Jila-Watan (Exile from the Homeland) deals explicitly with displacement during Partition. Lajwanti by Rajinder Singh Bedi is a poignant story about a woman who returns after abduction during Partition. Gharwali by Premchand deals with rural domestic life, not Partition; and Rudali by Mahasweta Devi is about professional mourners, unconnected to Partition.
Q.58. Who among the following writers were associated with the Harlem Renaissance?
A) Leslie Janison B) Stephan King C) Alain Locke D) Langston Hughes E) Zora Neale Hurston
A) Leslie Janison B) Stephan King C) Alain Locke D) Langston Hughes E) Zora Neale Hurston
💡 Explanation: The Harlem Renaissance (1920s–1930s) was a flourishing of African American intellectual and artistic culture. Alain Locke (C) was its chief theorist, editing The New Negro (1925); Langston Hughes (D) was its foremost poet; Zora Neale Hurston (E) was its pre-eminent fiction writer, celebrated for Their Eyes Were Watching God (1937). Leslie Jamison and Stephen King belong to entirely different literary contexts.
Q.59. Which among the following is not a play written by Eugene O’Neill?
💡 Explanation: The Plough and the Stars (1926) was written by Sean O’Casey, the Irish playwright, and is set against the 1916 Easter Rising in Dublin. Eugene O’Neill, the American Nobel laureate, wrote Anna Christie (1922), Strange Interlude (1928), and All God’s Chillun Got Wings (1924). The confusion between O’Neill and O’Casey is a common examination trap.
Q.60. Identify the historical plays not written by Shakespeare.
A) Henry the Third B) Richard the Third C) Richard the Second D) Henry the Fifth E) Richard the Fifth
A) Henry the Third B) Richard the Third C) Richard the Second D) Henry the Fifth E) Richard the Fifth
💡 Explanation: Shakespeare’s history plays include Richard II, Richard III, Henry IV (Parts 1 and 2), Henry V, Henry VI (Parts 1, 2, and 3), Henry VIII, and King John. He wrote no play called Henry III (A) or Richard V (E) — these monarchs simply do not feature in his canon. Richard III (B), Richard II (C), and Henry V (D) are genuine Shakespearean plays.
Q.61. Arrange the following works of Raymond Williams in the correct chronological order of their publication.
A) Keywords B) Culture and Society C) The Long Revolution D) The Country and the City E) Modern Tragedy
A) Keywords B) Culture and Society C) The Long Revolution D) The Country and the City E) Modern Tragedy
💡 Explanation: Raymond Williams’s major works in chronological order: Culture and Society (1958), The Long Revolution (1961), Modern Tragedy (1966), The Country and the City (1973), and Keywords (1976). Culture and Society established Williams as a major Marxist cultural critic; Keywords became an indispensable lexicon of cultural theory.
Q.62. Match the List-I with List-II.
List I (Linguistic/Grammatical term)
A. Portmanteau word
B. Philology
C. Phatic Language
D. Phantom word
List II (Meaning/Definition)
I. Study of the historical development of languages over time
II. Used for establishing an atmosphere and communication of feelings rather than ideas
III. A word formed by combining two or more words
IV. A word that exists through the error of a scribe, printer or lexicographer
💡 Explanation: A portmanteau word (A-III) blends two words into one — coined by Lewis Carroll (e.g., chortle = chuckle + snort). Philology (B-I) is the study of historical language development. Phatic language (C-II), a term from Bronisław Malinowski, refers to speech whose function is social — to establish rapport — rather than to convey information. A phantom word (D-IV) is a spurious dictionary entry created by scribal or editorial error.
Q.63. Who among the following coined the term ‘Stream of Consciousness’?
💡 Explanation: The term “stream of consciousness” was first applied to literature by the British novelist and critic May Sinclair in 1918, when she used it in a review of Dorothy Richardson’s Pilgrimage series in The Little Review. The phrase was borrowed from psychologist William James, who used it in Principles of Psychology (1890). Virginia Woolf and James Joyce are the foremost literary practitioners but neither coined the term.
Q.64. Which of the following statements are true about Bhavabhuti’s Uttararamacharita?
A) The time-space of the play is divided into two broad sections/acts B) The first act of the play deals only with the birth and childhood of Rama C) It is a play based on the Ramayana D) Its theme has been derived from the last canto of the Ramayana E) In the second act of the play, Sita takes refuge in the hermitage of the sage Visvamitra
A) The time-space of the play is divided into two broad sections/acts B) The first act of the play deals only with the birth and childhood of Rama C) It is a play based on the Ramayana D) Its theme has been derived from the last canto of the Ramayana E) In the second act of the play, Sita takes refuge in the hermitage of the sage Visvamitra
💡 Explanation: Bhavabhuti’s Uttararamacharita is a Sanskrit play in seven acts dramatising events following Rama’s return to Ayodhya, derived from the Uttarakanda (last canto) of Valmiki’s Ramayana (C and D correct). The time-space is divided into two broad sections (A correct). The first act does not deal only with Rama’s birth and childhood (B incorrect), and Sita takes refuge with sage Valmiki, not Visvamitra (E incorrect).
Q.65. Match the List-I with List-II.
List I (Retellings)
A. Shyam: An Illustrated Retelling of the Bhagavata
B. War of Lanka
C. Ahalya’s Awakening
D. Ajaya: Epic of the Kaurava Clan
List II (Author)
I. Anand Neelakantan
II. Kavita Kane
III. Devdutt Pattanaik
IV. Amish Tripathi
💡 Explanation: Shyam (A-III) is by Devdutt Pattanaik, known for illustrated mythological retellings. War of Lanka (B-IV) is by Amish Tripathi, part of his Ram Chandra series. Ahalya’s Awakening (C-II) is by Kavita Kane, who specialises in retellings centred on marginalised female figures. Ajaya: Epic of the Kaurava Clan (D-I) is by Anand Neelakantan, who retells the Mahabharata from Duryodhana’s perspective.
Q.66. Who among the following defined taste as “that faculty of the soul, which discerns the beauties of an author with pleasure, and the imperfections with dislike”?
💡 Explanation: Joseph Addison, the influential essayist and co-founder of The Spectator (1711–12), defined literary taste in these terms. In his Spectator essays “On the Pleasures of the Imagination,” Addison argued that taste — like moral sense — could be developed through education and exposure to great works, anticipating later 18th-century aesthetic theory.
Q.67. How many Knights feature in Edmund Spenser’s The Faerie Queene?
💡 Explanation: Edmund Spenser planned The Faerie Queene (1590–96) as a twelve-book epic, with each book devoted to one of twelve private moral virtues, each embodied by a different knight. However, Spenser completed only six books and a fragment of a seventh. The poem is an allegory of the Elizabethan court with Gloriana representing Queen Elizabeth I.
Q.68. Match the List-I with List-II.
List I (Author)
A. Sally Morgan
B. Monica Clare
C. Nugi Garimara (Doris Pilkington)
D. Alexis Wright
List II (Text)
I. Karobran
II. Caprice — A Stockman’s Daughter
III. My Place
IV. Plains of Promise
💡 Explanation: My Place (A-III, 1987) is Sally Morgan’s celebrated Aboriginal Australian autobiography. Karobran (B-I, 1978) by Monica Clare is a pioneering Aboriginal autobiographical novel. Caprice — A Stockman’s Daughter (C-II) is by Nugi Garimara (Doris Pilkington), best known for Follow the Rabbit-Proof Fence. Plains of Promise (D-IV, 1997) is a novel by Alexis Wright, who later won the Miles Franklin Award for Carpentaria.
Q.69. Match the List-I with List-II.
List I (Cultural Critic/Theorist)
A. Raymond Williams
B. Herbert Marcuse
C. Fredric Jameson
D. Richard Hoggart
List II (Work)
I. Postmodernism, or the Cultural Logic of Late Capitalism
II. Preface to Film
III. One Dimensional Man
IV. The Uses of Literacy
💡 Explanation: Preface to Film (A-II, 1954) is an early work co-authored by Raymond Williams. Herbert Marcuse (B-III) wrote One-Dimensional Man (1964), a critique of advanced industrial society. Fredric Jameson (C-I) wrote Postmodernism, or the Cultural Logic of Late Capitalism (1991). Richard Hoggart (D-IV) wrote The Uses of Literacy (1957), helping establish Cultural Studies as a discipline.
Q.70. According to MLA Handbook, the mechanics of prose refers to technical questions that writers must follow. These include —
💡 Explanation: According to the MLA Handbook, the “mechanics of prose” covers: spelling (including hyphenation), punctuation, capitalization, and the style of numbers and numerals. These are distinct from matters of grammar (a broader linguistic concern) and content. The MLA’s mechanical guidelines ensure uniformity across scholarly writing.
Q.71. Arrange the following campus novels in the correct chronological order of their publication.
A) J.M. Coetzee’s Disgrace B) Malcolm Bradbury’s The History Man C) Mary McCarthy’s The Groves of Academe D) Evelyn Waugh’s Brideshead Revisited E) Philip Roth’s The Human Stain
A) J.M. Coetzee’s Disgrace B) Malcolm Bradbury’s The History Man C) Mary McCarthy’s The Groves of Academe D) Evelyn Waugh’s Brideshead Revisited E) Philip Roth’s The Human Stain
💡 Explanation: The chronological order: Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh (1945), The Groves of Academe by Mary McCarthy (1952), The History Man by Malcolm Bradbury (1975), Disgrace by J.M. Coetzee (1999), and The Human Stain by Philip Roth (2000). Both Disgrace and The Human Stain explore professorial misconduct and identity in the late 20th-century university.
Q.72. The poem “France: An Ode” is written by —
💡 Explanation: “France: An Ode” (1798) was written by S.T. Coleridge as a response to France’s invasion of Switzerland, which shattered his earlier idealism about the French Revolution. In the poem, Coleridge charts his disillusionment with Revolutionary France and concludes that true liberty resides not in political systems but in nature and the soul.
Q.73. Arrange the following texts of critical theory in the correct chronological order of their publication.
A) Michel Foucault’s The Archaeology of Knowledge B) Roland Barthes’ Mythologies C) Jacques Derrida’s Of Grammatology D) Jacques Lacan’s Ecrits E) Jean-François Lyotard’s The Postmodern Condition
A) Michel Foucault’s The Archaeology of Knowledge B) Roland Barthes’ Mythologies C) Jacques Derrida’s Of Grammatology D) Jacques Lacan’s Ecrits E) Jean-François Lyotard’s The Postmodern Condition
💡 Explanation: The chronological order is: Mythologies by Barthes (1957), Écrits by Lacan (1966), Of Grammatology by Derrida (1967), The Archaeology of Knowledge by Foucault (1969), and The Postmodern Condition by Lyotard (1979). This sequence traces the development of post-structuralism from Barthes’s early semiotic analyses to Lyotard’s postmodern turn.
Q.74. Which of the following works are categorised under science fiction?
A) Haruki Murakami’s The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle B) Wendy Mass’s A Mango-Shaped Space C) Umberto Eco’s Travels in Hyperreality D) Frank Schätzing’s The Swarm E) Kazuo Ishiguro’s Never Let Me Go
A) Haruki Murakami’s The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle B) Wendy Mass’s A Mango-Shaped Space C) Umberto Eco’s Travels in Hyperreality D) Frank Schätzing’s The Swarm E) Kazuo Ishiguro’s Never Let Me Go
💡 Explanation: Never Let Me Go (E, 2005) by Kazuo Ishiguro is a science fiction novel set in a dystopian England where clones are raised for organ donation. A Mango-Shaped Space (B) has a speculative sensory dimension; Travels in Hyperreality (C) by Eco is speculative non-fiction/essay. The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle (A) is magical realism; The Swarm (D) is an eco-thriller. The official key accepts B, C, E.
Q.75. Who among the following published a series of essays titled The New Criticism?
💡 Explanation: John Crowe Ransom published The New Criticism in 1941, which gave the movement its name and codified its principles — close reading, the autonomy of the literary text, and the rejection of biographical and historical approaches. W.K. Wimsatt and Monroe Beardsley contributed key essays such as “The Intentional Fallacy” (1946) and “The Affective Fallacy” (1949) but did not name the movement.
Q.76. Which of the following citations of an article published in a journal is in the correct format according to MLA Handbook (9th Edition)?
💡 Explanation: In MLA 9th Edition format for a journal article, the citation begins with the author’s last name, followed by first name, then the article title, then the journal name, volume and number, year, and page range with “pp.” Option (4) correctly follows this structure. Options 1, 2, and 3 have errors in ordering, punctuation, or missing elements.
Q.77. Who among the following is the author of The Implied Reader and The Act of Reading?
💡 Explanation: Wolfgang Iser, the German literary theorist associated with the Constance School of Reception Theory, wrote The Implied Reader (1974) and The Act of Reading (1978). Iser developed a phenomenological theory of reading, arguing that meaning is produced in the dynamic interaction between text and reader. Hans Robert Jauss developed the concept of the “horizon of expectations”; Stanley Fish coined “interpretive communities.”
Q.78. Match the List-I with List-II.
List I (Theatre)
A. Abbey Theatre
B. Theatre of the Absurd
C. Hope Theatre
D. Theatre of Silence
List II (Leading figure/Founder)
I. Martin Esslin
II. W.B. Yeats
III. Jean Jacques Barnard
IV. Philip Henslowe
💡 Explanation: The Abbey Theatre (A-II) was founded in Dublin in 1904 with W.B. Yeats as a central figure. Theatre of the Absurd (B-I) was named and theorised by Martin Esslin in his 1961 study. The Hope Theatre (C-IV) was an Elizabethan playhouse associated with Philip Henslowe. Theatre of Silence (D-III) is associated with the French playwright Jean-Jacques Bernard, who advocated for unexpressed emotion and silence as dramatic tools.
Q.79. Who among the following invented ‘inscape’ and ‘instress’?
💡 Explanation: Gerard Manley Hopkins coined the terms inscape and instress to describe his distinctive theory of aesthetic perception. Inscape refers to the unique, essential quality of a thing — its “thisness,” influenced by Duns Scotus. Instress refers to the force that holds the inscape together and communicates itself to the observer. These concepts underpin the compression and intensity of his sprung-rhythm poetry.
Q.80. Match the List-I with List-II.
List I (Diaspora Writer)
A. Vikram Seth
B. V.S. Naipaul
C. Salman Rushdie
D. Jhumpa Lahiri
List II (Work)
I. Knife
II. The Lowland
III. The Mosque of Africa
IV. From Heaven Lake
💡 Explanation: From Heaven Lake (A-IV, 1983) is Vikram Seth’s travel memoir about his journey from China to India. V.S. Naipaul (B-III) is associated with The Mosque of Africa in his travel writings. Salman Rushdie (C-I) wrote Knife (2024), his memoir about the stabbing attack on him in 2022. Jhumpa Lahiri (D-II) wrote The Lowland (2013).
Q.81. What is the title of Mary Wollstonecraft’s autobiographical novel?
💡 Explanation: Mary Wollstonecraft’s autobiographical novel is Mary: A Fiction (1788), which drew heavily on her own emotional experiences. Her later novel Maria; or, the Wrongs of Woman (1798, posthumous) is also semi-autobiographical but more explicitly a feminist polemic. Wives and Daughters is by Elizabeth Gaskell, and The Well of Loneliness is by Radclyffe Hall — a landmark lesbian novel of 1928.
Q.82. Who among the following English translators of the Bible was burnt to death for his beliefs, and is remembered for his careful and important work on translation?
💡 Explanation: William Tyndale (c. 1494–1536) produced the first printed English New Testament (1526) and portions of the Old Testament, basing his work on Greek and Hebrew originals. He was betrayed, strangled, and burned at the stake in 1536. His translation work profoundly influenced the King James Bible (1611). John Wycliffe died of natural causes; Miles Coverdale produced the first complete printed English Bible but was not executed.
Q.83. Which periodical was started by Joseph Addison and Richard Steele after the closing of The Spectator?
💡 Explanation: After The Spectator ceased publication in 1712, Addison and Steele launched The Guardian in 1713. The Tatler (1709–11) was actually the first of Steele’s periodicals, preceding The Spectator. The Gentleman’s Magazine was founded by Edward Cave in 1731. The Guardian continued the moral and literary mission of The Spectator but ran for only 175 issues.
Q.84. Who among the following was known as ‘The Lady of Christ’s’ during his college days at Cambridge?
💡 Explanation: John Milton, during his time at Christ’s College, Cambridge (1625–1629), was reportedly given the nickname “The Lady of Christ’s” — likely a reference to his delicate features and refined manner. Milton was temporarily rusticated after a dispute with his tutor but returned and completed his studies. This biographical detail is frequently cited in literary histories and examination questions about Milton’s life.
Q.85. Arrange the following works of ‘Black British’ writers in the correct chronological order of their publication.
A) Yasmin Alibhai-Brown’s No Place Like Home B) Mike Phillips’s London Crossings: A Biography of Black Britain C) Ekow Eshun’s Black Gold of the Sun D) George Lamming’s The Pleasures of Exile E) Caryl Phillips’s The European Tribe
A) Yasmin Alibhai-Brown’s No Place Like Home B) Mike Phillips’s London Crossings: A Biography of Black Britain C) Ekow Eshun’s Black Gold of the Sun D) George Lamming’s The Pleasures of Exile E) Caryl Phillips’s The European Tribe
💡 Explanation: The chronological order is: The Pleasures of Exile by George Lamming (1960), The European Tribe by Caryl Phillips (1987), No Place Like Home by Yasmin Alibhai-Brown (1995), London Crossings by Mike Phillips (2001), and Black Gold of the Sun by Ekow Eshun (2005). Lamming’s text is the foundational document of Black British writing.
Q.86. Identify the plays that John Fletcher wrote in collaboration with Francis Beaumont.
A) The Faithful Shepherdess B) The Loyal Subject C) Cupid’s Revenge D) The Pilgrim E) The Maid’s Tragedy
A) The Faithful Shepherdess B) The Loyal Subject C) Cupid’s Revenge D) The Pilgrim E) The Maid’s Tragedy
💡 Explanation: Cupid’s Revenge (c. 1607–12) and The Maid’s Tragedy (c. 1610–11) are among the plays written collaboratively by John Fletcher and Francis Beaumont. The Faithful Shepherdess was written by Fletcher alone. The Loyal Subject and The Pilgrim are also Fletcher’s individual works. The Beaumont and Fletcher collaboration produced about fifteen plays, enormously popular on the Jacobean stage.
Q.87. Who among the following writers have played a significant role in the Australian Aboriginal Movements?
A) Judith Wright B) Oodgeroo Noonuccal C) Jack Davis D) David Malouf E) Kevin Gilbert
A) Judith Wright B) Oodgeroo Noonuccal C) Jack Davis D) David Malouf E) Kevin Gilbert
💡 Explanation: Oodgeroo Noonuccal, Jack Davis, and Kevin Gilbert were all Aboriginal Australian writers who were also political activists central to the Aboriginal land rights and cultural sovereignty movements. Oodgeroo was the first Aboriginal person to publish a book of verse (We Are Going, 1964); Kevin Gilbert was a poet, playwright, and political organiser. Judith Wright, though a passionate advocate, was non-Indigenous; David Malouf had no particular involvement in Aboriginal movements.
Q.88. Who among the following observed that ‘The artistic critic, like the mystic, is an antinomian always’?
💡 Explanation: This statement is from Oscar Wilde’s essay “The Critic as Artist” (1890), included in Intentions (1891). Wilde argued that the critic, like the mystic, stands above conventional moral law. Wilde’s aesthetic criticism positions the critic not as a servant of the work but as a creative artist in their own right, transforming the object of criticism through individual temperament and sensibility.
Q.89. Which of the nineteenth-century novels portray disabled characters in them?
A) Fyodor Dostoevsky’s Crime and Punishment B) Flaubert’s Madame Bovary C) Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice D) Charles Dickens’s A Christmas Carol E) Melville’s Moby-Dick
A) Fyodor Dostoevsky’s Crime and Punishment B) Flaubert’s Madame Bovary C) Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice D) Charles Dickens’s A Christmas Carol E) Melville’s Moby-Dick
💡 Explanation: Madame Bovary (B) features the lame stableboy Hippolyte. A Christmas Carol (D) prominently features Tiny Tim, whose disability is central to the moral economy of the story. Moby-Dick (E) features Captain Ahab, whose missing leg and ivory prosthetic are central to the novel’s themes of obsession. Disability is not a significant element in Crime and Punishment or Pride and Prejudice.
Q.90. Match the List-I with List-II.
List I (Dalit Writer)
A. Lal Singh Dil
B. Urmila Pawar
C. Tulsi Ram
D. Devanur Mahadeva
List II (Language)
I. Hindi
II. Kannada
III. Punjabi
IV. Marathi
💡 Explanation: Lal Singh Dil (A-III) was a celebrated Punjabi Dalit poet. Urmila Pawar (B-IV) is a major Marathi Dalit writer known for her autobiography Aaydan. Tulsi Ram (C-I) was a Hindi autobiographer whose Murdahiya and Manikarnika are landmark Dalit life-writing works. Devanur Mahadeva (D-II) is a prominent Kannada Dalit writer.
📖 Reading Comprehension I (Q.91–Q.95)
All round me are words, and words and words, they grow on me like leaves, they never
Seem to stop their slow growing from within, But I tell myself, words
Are a nuisance, beware of them, they
Can be so many things, a
Chasm where running feet must pause, to
Look, a sea with paralyzing waves,
A blast of burning air or,
A knife most willing to cut your best
Friend’s throat… words are a nuisance, but.
They grow on me like leaves on a tree, they never run to stop their coming,
From a silence, somewhere deep within…
Seem to stop their slow growing from within, But I tell myself, words
Are a nuisance, beware of them, they
Can be so many things, a
Chasm where running feet must pause, to
Look, a sea with paralyzing waves,
A blast of burning air or,
A knife most willing to cut your best
Friend’s throat… words are a nuisance, but.
They grow on me like leaves on a tree, they never run to stop their coming,
From a silence, somewhere deep within…
Q.91. Which one of the following is not a metaphor employed in the poem?
💡 Explanation: In the poem, words are compared metaphorically to a chasm, a sea, a blast of burning air, a knife, and leaves on a tree. “A throat,” however, is not used as a metaphor for words — it is the object being acted upon in the image of a knife cutting a throat. It functions as part of the destructive imagery, not as an independent metaphor for words.
Q.92. A major theme of the poem can best be summarised as —
💡 Explanation: The central preoccupation of the poem is the speaker’s helplessness before the relentless, organic proliferation of words — they “never seem to stop their slow growing from within” and emerge from “a silence, somewhere deep within.” Despite the speaker’s warning to beware of words, they continue to come. The poem dramatises the paradox of a poet who simultaneously fears and is compelled by language.
Q.93. Which one of the following lines indicates the destructive character of words?
💡 Explanation: “A blast of burning air” is the most explicitly destructive image in the poem, evoking scorching, consuming, violent force — a natural phenomenon associated with fire, desert heat, or explosion. Lines (1), (3), and (4) suggest organic growth and depth but not destruction. This line follows other dangerous metaphors (a chasm, a paralyzing sea) and precedes the image of a knife cutting a throat.
Q.94. Which one of the following poetic devices is used in the opening line of the poem?
💡 Explanation: The opening line — “All round me are words, and words and words” — employs anaphora through the emphatic repetition of “words” in a series, creating a sense of accumulation and inescapability. The MCQ identifies this as anaphora. The repetition mimics the very excess and proliferation of words that the poem describes, enacting its meaning through form.
Q.95. The poem is most similar in style and form to —
💡 Explanation: The poem is written in open (or free) verse — it has no regular rhyme scheme, no fixed metrical pattern, and irregular line lengths. It does not conform to the closed form of a sonnet (fourteen lines, structured rhyme), the ceremonial conventions of an ode, or occasional verse’s function of commemorating a specific event. The fluid, unpredictable structure enacts its theme: just as words cannot be contained, the poem itself refuses metrical containment.
📖 Reading Comprehension II (Q.96–Q.100)
I believe implicitly that the child is not born mischievous in the bad sense of the term… we shall go from love to love and peace to peace, until at last all the corners of the world are covered with that peace and love for which, consciously or unconsciously, the whole world is hungering.
Q.96. Which phrase rightly encapsulates the central message of the passage?
💡 Explanation: The central argument of the passage is that children, in their natural innocence, possess a wisdom that adults often lack. The author argues that approaching children “in humility and innocence” enables one to learn wisdom from them, and that world peace depends on allowing children to grow naturally. Option (2) most precisely captures this reversal of the conventional adult-as-teacher paradigm.
Q.97. What does “a real war” signify in the phrase “a real war against war”?
💡 Explanation: The author distinguishes between external, violent warfare and the inner moral struggle necessary to achieve peace. A “real war against war” is not a political or military campaign but a personal, spiritual, and ethical effort — a battle against adult prejudice, arrogance, and conditioned thinking that perpetuates conflict. Gandhi’s philosophy of ahimsa (non-violence) consistently located the root of war in inner corruption.
Q.98. What, according to the passage, is needed to spread peace and love in the world?
💡 Explanation: Gandhi’s passage argues that if children “grow up in their natural innocence,” humanity will naturally progress “from love to love and peace to peace.” The preservation of children’s innate goodness and purity — uncorrupted by adult vice and prejudice — is presented as the fundamental condition for global peace. No institutional mechanism can substitute for this natural moral foundation.
Q.99. What kind of a passage is this?
💡 Explanation: The passage is primarily persuasive — it seeks to convince the reader of a particular moral and philosophical position: that children embody wisdom, that adults should learn from them in humility, and that world peace depends on preserving childhood innocence. The author uses personal experience, religious allusion, and appeals to emotion and moral authority to persuade the audience. It is not merely descriptive or analytical but overtly rhetorical in intent.
Q.100. Which will of God is the author referring to in the line, “I believe and pass my time and endeavour to obey His will”?
💡 Explanation: Throughout the passage, Gandhi constructs a vision of God’s will as aligned with innocence, humility, and the natural goodness embodied by children. When he says he endeavours to obey “His will,” the preceding argument makes clear that this consists of approaching children — and life itself — with humility and openness, learning wisdom from those society considers ignorant. This is not about following scriptural commandments or rituals but about the lived practice of humility as a divine imperative.
