BA Ist Sem English Exam common questions Answers

1. The figures in the margin indicate full marks for the questions

1. Choose the correct answer : 1×6=6

(a) In Dawn at Puri, the last wish of the poet’s ageing mother was to

(i) visit the great temple

(ii) visit the sea beach

(iii) be cremated there

(iv) donate to the poor widows

Ans: be cremated there

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(b) In the poem, This Is a Photograph of Me, the effect of water on light is a

(i) reflection

(ii) refraction

(iii) distraction

(iv) distortion

Ans: reflection

(c) Who is the poet of the poem, No Second Troy ?

(i) W. B. Yeats

(ii) William Wordsworth

(iii) P. B. Shelley

(iv) None of them

Ans: W. B. Yeats

(d) E. M. Forster writes in Notes on the English Character, Napoleon called England as a nation of

(i) middle class

(ii) shopkeepers

(iii) colonisers

(iv) hypocrites

Ans: shopkeepers

(e) In Ruskin Bond’s Coming Home to Dehra, bhisti was a

(i) domestic servant

(ii) office peon

(iii) driver

(iv) professional water carrier

Ans: professional water carrier

(f) In Our Behaviour, Nirad C. Chaudhuri says that Indian people have a keen competition in feeling

(i) unhappy

(ii) happy

(iii) gloomy

(iv) proud

Ans: proud

2. Answer the following questions : 2×5=10

(a) Rewrite the following sentences using the verbs in the brackets (any two) :

(i) She (visit) her grandmother for last one month.

(ii) He (hang) the map on the wall.

(iii) My friends (come) if they were informed.

Ans:

(i) She has been visiting her grandmother for last

one month.

(ii) He hanged the map on the wall.

(iii) My friends will have come if they were

informed.

(b) Make sentences using the following

phrases (any two) :

with open arms, hold water, pull together, at home

Ans:

With open arms: If you welcome some action or change with open arms, you are very pleased about it.

Hold water: The judge convicted her because her story just didn't hold water.

Pull together: If people pull together, they help each other or work together in order to deal with a difficult situation.

At home: He is at home in Maths.

(c) Punctuate the following sentence :

Early this morning when we had just

left the hotel we met the man we had

been looking for.

Or

The police is looking _____ the case_____ every angle.

( Use suitable prepositions )

Ans: The police is looking at the case from every angle.

(d) Change the voice of the following sentences (any two) :

(i) I was greatly annoyed by his words

and manners.

(ii) We must listen to her words.

(iii) Why did you insult that poor

woman ?

Ans: 

(i) His words and manners greatly annoyed me.

(ii) His words must be listened to by us.

(iii) Why was that poor woman insulted by you ?

(e) Change the narration of the following sentence :

The man has confessed, “I am the guilty one, and deserve the punishment.”

Ans: The man has confessed that he was the guilty one, and deserved the punishment.”

3. Answer any six of the following questions :5×6=30

(a) Describe the early morning scenario depicted in Dawn at Puri.

Ans: The first item in the picture is the endless cawing of the crows. The next item is a skull which the speaker in the poem notices on the holy sea-beach where dead bodies are cremated. To the speaker, the sight of this skull brings the idea of the extreme poverty and penury of the people of Orissa; The speaker then observes a large number of widows, wearing white garments, waiting to enter the Great Temple in order to offer their daily worship and to perform the holy rites. All these widows have passed their middle age and are therefore elderly women. There is an expression of solemnity in the eyes of these women. In fact, their eyes are full of despair like the eyes of creatures which have been caught in a net. The only thing that sustains these women is their religious faith and the hope which is born of it. They all stand in a group, looking timid and having no confidence in themselves.

(b) What is the significance of the title “No Second Troy”? Elaborate.
Ans:  The title gives a unity to the thought of the poem. The poem is a comment on the fallen values of the time. Even as Ireland desperately needs a cultural and political revolution against the colonial occupation of Britain, the middle class is too engrossed in its mechanical routine and mercantile ambitions to worry about the country. Comparing Maud Gonne with Helen, Yeats says though she is equally beautiful and noble, Ireland is not the place she deserved, as it would not be truly inspired as Troy was by Helen. There would be ‘no second Troy.’

(c) “We bear her along like a pearl on a string.” Explain.
Ans: We bear her along like a pearl on a string" The palanquin bearers carry the bride gaily, even when they glide high grounds. They are not burdened and so they proceed with their singing. They say that the bride is carried like a pearl on a string. She is as precious as a pearl.

(d) Discuss the state of the mind with the poet in the poem, Stanzas Written in Dejection near Naples.
Ans: 'Stanzas Written in Dejection, Near Naples' is one of Shelley's finest poems, and, in many ways, one of his most emblematic Romantic poems, given its depiction of individual feeling against the backdrop of the natural world – here, the shores of the sea at the Bay of Naples. Stanzas Written in Dejection, near Naples' by Percy Bysshe Shelley describes the feelings of alienation a speaker suffers from and how he attempts to soothe his pain with nature. The poem begins with the speaker stating that he is observing a beautiful day.

(h) Briefly mention the role of Inspector Goole in the play, An Inspector Calls.
Ans: Inspector Goole is the most important character in the play 'An Inspector Calls' because he is the catalyst for the events that take place in the play. Priestley's intensions were to reveal to his audience the social state of England in 1945. He felt that little had changed since the turn of the century. Inspector Goole is the most important character in the play ‘An Inspector Calls’ because he is the catalyst for the events that take place in the play. Priestley’s intensions were to reveal to his audience the social state of England in 1945. He felt that little had changed since the turn of the century. Preistley was a socialist and he very strongly believed that everyone should be equal. In this play Preistley shows to the audience that at this time it was Socialist vs Capitalist, and that everyone was separated in to social classes.

4. Answer any two of the following questions :

10×2=20

(b) How does J. B. Priestley present the theme of class difference in An Inspector Calls ?

Ans: Priestley presents the importance of social class through the naivety of the upper class, by exploring the authority and rights one’s social class bestows.  This is conducted through the Inspector, who is a proxy for Priestley’s social and political views.

 

Initially, Priestley depicts the “comfortable” life of the upper class Birling family.  In the play’s opening stage directions, Sheila is described as being “very pleased with life”, which acts as a stark contrast to the “fire and blood and anguish” which the Inspector suggests society will become if people do not change their ways and take some “responsibility”.  The adjective “very” emphasises Sheila’s contentedness and implies a satisfied, safe and secure way of life.  Symbolically, however, it depicts a metaphorical bubble in which the upper classes live, unaware of the “anguish” just outside their door, completely alienating the lower classes and creating a callous, frugal and emotionally detached society.

 

Furthermore, the “fire and blood and anguish” that the Inspector mentions before he departs, could be indicative of the effort and pain that non-influential (poorer) families have to endure to exist.  On the other hand, the lexical choice suggests images of hell: implying that capitalism is home to sinners and villains – perhaps referring to the fraud and exploitation which the upper classes get away with, much like the Birlings.  Priestley is clearly appealing to an audience in 1945 who could bring about change.  Secondly, this could also be reference to the two World Wars experienced by the audience, acting in parallel to the two deaths of Eva Smith, where society hasn’t learned from its previous mistakes.

 

Another reference to the importance of social class, during the Edwardian era, is the hypocrisy and double standards of the leading powers, highlighted by the moral subconscious: the Inspector.  Sheila proclaims to her father that “it is better to ask for the earth that to take it”, following the revelation that he dismissed (“fired”) Eva Smith from his “works”, because she asked for “higher wages” to avoid poverty.  Here the imbalance between the upper and lower classes becomes evident; perhaps a conscious effort by Priestley to get rid of social segregation and instead embrace socialism – evidenced as his proxy proclaims that he “wouldn’t know where to draw the line” between the two social classes.  Furthermore, there is the villainising of Mr Birling, by his daughter, and the symbolic implication that capitalism is “taking” the beauty away from Britain and everyone in it.  In addition, despite Eva Smith being, as stated by Mr Birling, a “good worker”, his social class allowed him to fire her without repercussions, because he was threatened, highlighting the vulnerability and inferiority of people from lower social classes.

 

Moreover, Priestley highlights a deep-rooted corruption in society in the way he exposes influential characters.  Mr Birling habitually relies on his social class in order to get through life, which other social classes simply cannot do.  Early on in the play, Mr Birling emphasises the importance of social class and status to him, by stating he “was an alderman for years – and Lord Mayor two years ago”; he has an impending “knighthood”; and that he “play[s] golf” with “Chief Constable, Colonel Roberts”.  Each of these comments hints that there is some sort of immunity and entitlement that comes with being upper class, and that you do not need to operate within the constraints of the law.  This is further emphasised by Gerald’s remark that they are all “respectable citizens” and also Mr Birling’s exploitation of his employees.  This can be interpreted as Priestley’s effort to expose the sinful acts of the upper classes and regain justice for the poor.  This exposure is also evidenced in the stage directions, such as when the Inspector enters the lights become “brighter and harder”, metaphorically dispelling the shadows of the wealthy and revealing their failings.

 

In conclusion, Priestley presents the importance of social class by comparing the two contrasting worlds that the rich and poor exist in, encouraging an audience to embrace his socialist ideals, granting a voice to those who have been marginalised.