English Elective Past Papers Exam Questions

Guess Paper 1: English Compulsory Fall – 2020 Past Papers

Time Allowed: 3 hours

Total Marks:    70, Passing Marks (35)

Q1. Explain with reference to the context any Three of the following passages.
(a) A voice so thrilling ne’er was heard ,
In spring time from the cuckoo-bird ,
Breaking the silence of the seas ,
Among the farthest Hebrides .
(b)For oft , when on my couch I lie
In vacant or in pensive mood
They flash upon that inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude .

(c ) His friends thought him most unwise to mix himself up with English ladies , and warned him to take every precaution against unpunctuality. Consequently he spent the previous night at the station. The servants were huddled on the platform, enjoined not to stray .

(d)A friendliness as of dwarfs shaking hands ,was in the air .Both man and woman were at the height of their powers—-sensible , honest, even subtle .They spoke the same language , and held the same opinions, and the variety of age and sex did not divide them. Yet they were dissatisfied .

(e)Jack signalled the rest of the hunt to be quiet and went forward by himself. He was happy and wore the damp darkness of the forest like his old clothes. He crept down a slope to rocks and scattered trees by the sea.

(f)The first rhythm that they became used to was the slow swing from dawn to quick dusk. They accepted the pleasures of morning , the bright sun, the whelming sea and sweet air, as a time when play was good and life so full that hope not necessary and therefore forgotten.

Section—A

Q2. Discuss William Blake as a visionary poet with particular reference to his poems prescribed in your syllabus .

Q3. Critically analyze and explain the sense of loss and despair at the hollowness of post-war generation as depicted by Eliot in The Hollow Men .

Q4. Discuss the supernatural and romantic elements in Kubla Khan. What theme is suggested in the poem?

Q5. Discuss the chief features of Wordsword’s poetry especially romanticism as given in your course. Provide examples from his poems.

Section—B

Q6. Discuss E.M Forster’s art of characterization in A Passage to India .

Q7. Discuss the symbolic significance of the three divisions of A Passage to India .

Q8. Describe the six hunts and their significance in the development of Golding’s theme in Lord of the Flies.

Q9. In what manner did Ralph become disillusioned with his companions and what were the causes of growing rift between him and Jack?

Guess Paper 2: English Compulsory Spring – 2020 Past Papers

Time Allowed: 3 hours

Total Marks:    70, Passing Marks (35)

Q1. Explain with reference to the context any Three of the following passages.
(a) A voice so thrilling ne’er was heard ,
In spring time from the cuckoo-bird ,
Breaking the silence of the seas ,
Among the farthest Hebrides .
(b)For oft , when on my couch I lie
In vacant or in pensive mood
They flash upon that inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude .

(c ) His friends thought him most unwise to mix himself up with English ladies , and warned him to take every precaution against unpunctuality. Consequently he spent the previous night at the station. The servants were huddled on the platform, enjoined not to stray .

(d)A friendliness as of dwarfs shaking hands ,was in the air .Both man and woman were at the height of their powers—-sensible , honest, even subtle .They spoke the same language , and held the same opinions, and the variety of age and sex did not divide them. Yet they were dissatisfied .

(e)Jack signalled the rest of the hunt to be quiet and went forward by himself. He was happy and wore the damp darkness of the forest like his old clothes. He crept down a slope to rocks and scattered trees by the sea.

(f)The first rhythm that they became used to was the slow swing from dawn to quick dusk. They accepted the pleasures of morning , the bright sun, the whelming sea and sweet air, as a time when play was good and life so full that hope not necessary and therefore forgotten.

Section—A

Q2. Discuss William Blake as a visionary poet with particular reference to his poems prescribed in your syllabus .

Q3. Critically analyze and explain the sense of loss and despair at the hollowness of post-war generation as depicted by Eliot in The Hollow Men .

Q4. Discuss the supernatural and romantic elements in Kubla Khan. What theme is suggested in the poem?

Q5. Discuss the chief features of Wordsword’s poetry especially romanticism as given in your course. Provide examples from his poems.

Section—B

Q6. Discuss E.M Forster’s art of characterization in A Passage to India .

Q7. Discuss the symbolic significance of the three divisions of A Passage to India .

Q8. Describe the six hunts and their significance in the development of Golding’s theme in Lord of the Flies.

Q9. In what manner did Ralph become disillusioned with his companions and what were the causes of growing rift between him and Jack?

Guess Paper 3: English Compulsory Spring – 2019 Past Papers

Time Allowed: 3 hours

Total Marks:    70, Passing Marks (35)

NOTE: Attempt Five questions in all, in which Question NO 1 is compulsory. Attempt Two Questions from each of the Sections. Mobile phones and other electronic gadgets are not allowed in the examination hall.

Q.1. Explain with reference to the context any THREE of the following passages.

(a) Yes, the King himself will be her pilot. He will have assistance of course but he himself will be her pilot . He will have a pilot’s whistle upon which he will blow , and he will wear in every respect a common’s pilot’s uniform .Except for the material which will be cloth of gold .

( b)Well……….. I believe when statesmen fosake their own private conscience for the sake of their public duties …… they lead their country by a short course to chaos .

(c )To what purpose? I am a dead man . You have your desire of me . What you have hunted me for is not my actions , but the thoughts of my heart. It is a long road you have opened.

(d)’ Tis but fortune; all is fortune . {she } once told me she did affect me : and I have heard herself come thus near, that, should she fancy , it should be one of my complexion.

(e)Run after that same peevish messenger , the country’s man : he left this ring behind him, would I or not : tell him I’ll none of it.

(f )But nature to her biase drew in that. You would have been contracted to a maid ; Now are you therein, by my life, deceived—–You are bethrothed both to a maid and man.

Section—A

Q2. Explore the philosophy of Thomas More in A MAN For All SEASONS. Does passion dominate this philosophy and to what extent the author has justly portrayed the theme. Quote examples .

Q3. In A Man for All Seasons , why does More refuse to agree to the oath? What is the difference between More’s understanding of what he’s doing and typical expectations of morality and martyrdom?

Q4. Discuss the view that Twelfth Night depicts the contradictory nature of love. Justify or deny .

Q5 ”.In Shakespearean comedy , the sub-plot usually is the main plot working itself out in more ordinary men and women “ . Discuss the purpose and function of the sub-plot in Twelfth Night .

Section—B

Q6. Napoleon” succeeded so long as he won battles………… He failed when he began to lose battles “. Discuss.

Q7. ” Infinitely keener than Lady Macbeth’s is his suffering; “. Trace the reaction of Macbeth to the stimulus of suffering.

Q8. The World of Dickens “ lies in the combination of the strictest realism of detail with a fairy-tale unrealism of general atmosphere”. Discuss.

Q9. “Shakespeare speaks for the English race “. Discus with Raleigh’s “The Gentle Shakespeare”.

Guess Paper 4: English Compulsory Spring – 2019 Past Papers

Time Allowed: 3 hours

Total Marks:    70, Passing Marks (35)

Q1. Explain with reference to the context any THREE of the following.

(a) But Richard, in office they offer you all sorts of things. I was once offered a whole village , with a mill, and a manor house, and heaven knows what else – a coat of arms I should not be surprised.

(b)……..When Wolsey and Warham began the proceedings that led to the Vatican, the Vatican itself was already in view of the most terrific gang of bloodcurdling adventures………………

(c )Let him die without an heir and we’ll have them back again. Let him die without an heir and this ‘peace’ you think so much of will go out like that……………

(d)I drew the soul of the cow, which I saw their plainly walking before me in the sunlight; and the soul was all purple and silver, and had seven horns and the mystery that belongs to all the beasts.

(e)From this tropical plateau of tea and cakes he descended into the street, where the harsh night air suddenly smote him.

(f)Will it ever go on like this? Graceless fellow! You are fit to live only in the mountains and barbarous caves, where good manners were never taught. Get out of my sight.

SECTION – A
Q2. Comment on the mingling of realism and romance in Twelfth Night.

Q3. Taking in view the plots of Twelfth Night, to what extent this play is a ‘comedy of errors?’

Q4. ” The Common Man is ‘ that which is common to us all’ for he is both within the play and outside it’’ . Discuss the role and function of the Common Man in A Man for All Seasons.

Q5. In A Man for all Seasons, Trial Scene is the most important scene. Do you agree?

SECTION-B
Q6. Give a synopsis of the main characteristics of Lord Oxford s discussed by MacCarthy in his essay “ Lord Oxford and Asquith “.

Q7. How does Sir William Beveridge propose to transform the world in just seven days into a place where we could feel at home? Discuss in detail.

Q8. What according to Arthur Clutton-Brock is the purpose of education?

Q9. Discuss the role of symbolism in G K Chesterton’s A piece of Chalk.