Paper I – Swami and Friends – R. K. Nayaran

  Q.1 Elements of Humour, Satire and Irony. Humour and laughter are the greatest virtues that God has bestowed on man. A sense of humour makes one see one‟s proper place in this world, and teaches him to see things in proportion. Both humour and laughter are universal, though there are national differences on certain...

Paper I – The Calcutta Chromosome – Amitav Ghosh

The Calcultta Chromosome as a science fiction. Introduction to The Calcutta Chromosome: This novel by Amitav Ghosh is based on the real historical figure of Ronald Ross and his discovery of the source of malaria as the anopheles (female mosquitoes), which took place in Calcutta in 1898, and won him the Nobel Prize in Medicine...

Paper I – Dance Like A Man – Mahesh Dattani

Introduction to the play: Dance Like A Man is a play by Mahesh Dattani, which deals with the dogma of being a man in the 1940s, of the Indian society. Although the story revolves around a dancer couple and their family, but the emotions of the play lies in the emotional and social dance. Jairaj...

Paper III – Preface to Shakespeare – Dr. Samuel Johnson

  General understanding of Preface to Shakespeare Dr. Samuel Johnson’s preface to The Plays of William Shakespeare has long been considered a classic document of English literary criticism. In it Johnson sets forth his editorial principles and gives an appreciative analysis of the “excellences” and “defects” of the works of Shakespeare. Many of his points...

Paper III – Paradise Lost – John Milton

Q. 1 Milton was of the devil’s party / Satan as a hero Probably the most famous quote about Paradise Lost is William Blake's statement that Milton was "of the Devil's party without knowing it." While Blake may have meant something other than what is generally understood from this quotation (see "Milton's Style" in the...

Paper III – King Richard II – Shakespeare

  Q. 1 King Richard as a tragic hero. At the start of the play Richard is presented as an inept king.  Shakespeare makes it clear that although Richard views himself positively, he is actually weak, foolish and arrogant, mismanaging the realm and abusing his position of power.  Richard, who should be the wise and...

Paper IV – Billy Budd – Herman Melville

  Q. 1 Major Themes in Billy Budd. Approximately forty years separate Typee, Melville's autobiographical tale of his first encounter with the ambiguities of life and the conflict of good and evil in the universe, from Billy Budd. The themes of the later novel, however, are not greatly changed from those of Typee. In both,...

Paper IV -The Sound And The Fury – William Faulkner

  Q. 1 As a record of disintegration of the Southern Value System. The first half of the nineteenth century saw the rise of a number of prominent Southern families such as the Compsons. These aristocratic families espoused traditional Southern values. Men were expected to act like gentlemen, displaying courage, moral strength, perseverance, and chivalry...

Paper IV – A Streetcar Named Desire – Tennessee Williams

  Q.1 Blanche DuBois as a tragic figure. When the play begins, Blanche is already a fallen woman in society’s eyes. Her family fortune and estate are gone, she lost her young husband to suicide years earlier, and she is a social pariah due to her indiscrete sexual behavior. She also has a bad drinking...

Paper IV – 19th & 20th Century American Literature Background

Q.1 Impact of Puritanism on American Literature American Puritanism is the dominant factor in American life and was the most enduring shaping influences in American thought and life. This paper this paper accounts for what Puritanism embraces and its influence to American literature in the sense of history, self and style, American Puritanism “The first...

Paper VI – David Copperfield – Charles Dickens

1. Industrial Revolution Introduction The middle third of the nineteenth century saw the peak of the English novel’s popularity, and the major figure in this popularity was Charles Dickens (1812-1870). Charles Dickens, the most popular writer of the Victorian age, was born near Portsmouth, England, in 1812 and he died in Kent in 1870. When...

Paper VI – The Importance of Being Earnest – Oscar Wilde

Satire on Victorian Society / High Morals Introduction A satire is a humorous or witty exposure of human failings; weaknesses, follies, absurdities, and pretensions. The Importance of Being Earnest written by Oscar Wilde is a social satire, using irony and paradoxes to insinuate the problems and faults found in the Victorian society with respect to...

Paper VIII – The Bhakti Movement

Introduction The Bhakti movement is considered to be a cultural revolution in the history of medieval India. It had a significant impact on the literary works that were developed during that period. The Bhakti literature reflects a new form of devotion to God i.e., a personal bond between the devotee and the deity. Bhakti literature...

Paper VIII – The Bijak of Kabir

Introduction Sant Kabir Das is considered as the most influential and most remarkable poet of the Bhakti and Sufi movement in Northern India. Amongst the several saints that have blessed our country, Kabir Das is a well-known mystic poet, and deserves a major credit for bringing about a social and religious revolution. He was a...

Paper VIII – The Legends of Khasak – O. V. Vijayan

The Legends of Khasak was written by O. V. Vijayan in Malayalam, and was titled ‘Khasakinte Ithihaasam”. It was translated into English by the author himself. Khasak is a story both about Ravi, an under-graduate who takes up a job to teach in a village, and about a new world he experiences in Khasak. It...

Paper VIII – Nagamandala – Girish Karnad

Introduction Nagamandala is an Indian play written by Girish Karnad, which was originally written in Kannada and later translated into English by the author himself. It is based on Kannada folk tales and combines folk elements with mythical and surreal to present a domestic drama. Karnad makes use of myths and folk forms in his...