Apni apni hai zindagi tanha

IMPORTANT QUESTIONS FOR M.A. ENGLISH PART II EXAMINATION

                                      by Prof Munawar Ali Malik

PAPER 1 (POETRY)

1. S.T Coleridge

1.    Coleridge as a poet of supernatural

2.    Coleridge as a narrator/story teller

3.    Critical appreciation of the Rime of ANCIENT MARINER

2. John Keats 

1.    Keats as a poet of beauty

2.    Keats: the pure poet

3.    Sensuousness of Keats

4.    Negative capability of Keats

5.    Critical appreciation of the ODE ON GRECIAN URN

6.    Critical appreciation of ODE TO THE NIGHTINGALE

3. William Blake

1.    Blake as a romantic poet

2.    Blake’s mysticism

3.    Blake’s depiction of childhood

4.                Seamus Heaney

1.    Seamus Heaney as a modern poet

2.    Symbolism in Heaney’s poetry

   PAPER 2 (Drama)

1. The Cherry Orchard  (Chekhov)

1.    As a Comedy

2.    As a Naturalist play

3.    Irony in the Cherry Orchard

4.    A play about the fall of feudalism

2. Waiting for Godot  ( Beckett)

1.    As an absurd play or play without action

2.    Theme of Waiting for Godot

3.    Who is Godot?

4.    Importance of Pozzo—Lucky in the play

5.                                            

3. The Sea  (Edward Bond)

1.    As a social Comedy

2.    As an absurd play

3.    Character of Willy

4.    Characterization

4.   Heda Gabbler  (Ibsen)

1.    As a Feminist play

2.    As a modern tragedy

3.    Character of Hedda

                         PAPER III NOVEL

1.      Heart of Darkness  ( Joseph Conrad)

1.    Aptness of the title

2.    Theme of evil

3.    Criticism of Imperialism

4.    Character of Kurtz

5.    Role of Marlow

6.    Symbolism in Heart of Darkness

2.      Twilight in Delhi  (Ahmad Ali)

1.    Fall of Muslim culture in India

2.    Criticism of Imperialism

3.    Picture of Muslim Culture under British rule

4.    Female Characters in the novel

5.    Mir Nehal as a symbol of Muslim Culture

3.      Things Fall Apart  ( Achebe)

1.    Story of the fall of Igbo Culture.

2.    Criticism of Imperialism

3.    Character of Okonkwo

4.    Aptness of the title

   

4.      To The Light House  (Virginia Woolf)

1.    Stream of consciousness story

2.    End of the Novel

3.    Character of Mrs. Ramsay

4.    Symbolism in the Novel

          

                        PAPER  IV (Criticism)

1.      Aristotle  (The Poetics)

1.    Aristotle’s Concept of Imitation

2.    Importance of Plot in Tragedy

3.    Qualities of Tragic Hero

4.    What is Hammartia?

5.    What is Catharsis

6.    Discuss Aristotle’s Definition of Tragedy

2.      Philip Sydney (An Apology for Poetry)

1.    The puritan attack on poetry

2.    Sydney’s Defense of Poetry

3.    Contribution of Sydney as a Critic

4.    Sydney and Aristotle

3.      T.S. Eliot  ( Tradition and the Individual Talent)

1.    T.S Eliot’s concept of Tradition

2.    T.S Eliot’s Defense of Classical Literature

3.    T.S Eliot’s Theory of Criticism

4.    T.S Eliot’s Concept of an Ideal Critic

(Note: For Practical Criticism see NKM’s Book PRACTICAL CRITICISM)

4.      Essay (Important Topics)

1.    Victorian Novel

2.    Romantic Poetry

3.    Elizabethan Drama

4.    Shakespeare’s Tragedy

5.    Milton as a Poet

6.    The Metaphysical Poets

7.    The Absurd Drama

8.    Symbolism in Literature

9.    Hardy as a Novelist

            10. The Modern Novel

 (Note: See the book LITERARY ESSAYS by Saif-ul-Haq)

FORMATION AND TRANSFORMATION OF WORDS

   by PROF MUNAWAR ALI MALIK

            English language is immensely rich in vocabulary. And it is growing richer everyday by absorbing words from other languages and coinage ( formation of new words) by speakers and writers of English all over the world.

            Formation and Transformation of words lends beauty, variety and effectiveness to expression. We can say the same thing in many different ways by using a word as a Verb, Noun and Adjective.

                        I was able to pass the test by hard work

                                    ( able = Adjective)

                        Hard work gave me the ability to pass the test.
                                    ( ability = Noun)

                        Hard work enabled me to pass the test.

                                    ( enabled = Verb)

            Transformation of words means converting a word into various Parts of Speech like changing a Noun into Verb, Adjective or Adverb etc. e.g

Noun                               Verb                              Adjective                            Adverb

beauty                         beautify                           beautiful                              beautifully

Sometimes a word is transformed into an Antonym ( word of opposite meaning) e.g

                                                understand-----misunderstand

                                                possible--------impossible

            In most  cases of Transformation, a Prefix or Suffix is added to the original word to make a new word.

            A Prefix means a letter or a group of letters added at the start of a word, e.g

                                                like----------alike

                                                able----------unable

                                                possible------impossible

                                                lead----------mislead

            A Suffix means a letter or a group of letters added at the end of a word e.g.

                                                kind---------kindness

                                                state---------statement

                                                real---------reality

                                                man---------manhood/mankind

            Sometimes the e at the end of a word is dropped before adding a Suffix. e.g

                                                write-------writing

                                                take--------taking

                                                approve----approval

            When a Verb ends in a Consonant, and there is a single Vowel before the Consonant, the Consonant is doubled before adding the Suffix ed or ing e.g

                        stop                             stopping                      stopped

                        run                               running

                        sit                                sitting

            This rule does not apply to some Verbs that end in en

open                            opening                       opened

                        happen                        happening                   happened       

When full is used as a Suffix, the last l  is dropped, e.g

                        help                             helpful

                        respect                        respectful

When a word ends in y , the y  is replaced with i before adding ful e.g

                        beauty                         beautiful

                        plenty                          plentiful

Use of Important Prefixes and Suffixes

A)                Prefixes               

1. a ------------alike, alive, abate
2. ab-----------abnormal, aboriginal
3. ac-----------acclaim, acquit
4. ad-----------adjoin, adjudge
5. anti---------antisocial, anticlimax
6. be-----------belittle, befriend
7. bi------------bicycle, biannual
8. by-----------bypass, by-product
9. counter----counterpart, counter-attack
10. de-----------decode, defrost, defend
11. dis----------disbelieve, discharge, displease
12. en-----------enlarge, endanger, enlist
13. em----------empower, employ
14. ex-----------ex-principal, ex-president
15. extra-------extraordinary, extra-careful
16. im---------- impossible, immovable, impassable
17. in----------- inactive, insecure
18. inter------- internet, intercom
19. ir----------- irresponsible, irrelevant
20. non---------nonsense, non-existent
21. post---------post-paid, post-colonial, post-graduate
22. pre----------pre-budget, pre-paid, pre-natal
23. pro----------pro-people, pro-Islam
24. sub----------substandard, submerge
25. un-----------unpleasant, unfavourable, unconscious 

B)                Suffixes

1. ----able                        respectable, comfortable, serviceable
2. ----age                         postage, mileage, breakage
3. ----al                            verbal, survival, postal
4. ----ence                       confidence, absence, presence
5. ----ance                       compliance, assistance
6. ----ary              budgetary, supplementary
7. ----ate                          doctorate, electorate
8. ----ative                       creative, initiative
9. ----ator                        creator, dictator, calculator
10. ----ee                           employee, selectee, refugee
11. ----en                           golden, wooden
12. ----er                            teacher, leader, reader
13. ----ful                           respectful, beautiful, awful
14. ----hood                       boyhood, childhood, manhood
15. ----ing                          reading, playing, walking
16. ----ion                          confession, discussion, suppression
17. ----ish                          childish, girlish, boyish
18. ----ism                         criticism, socialism, feminism
19. ----ist                           socialist, imperialist
20. ----ty/ity                       cruelty, reality, security
21. ----less                         careless, shameless, hopeless
22. ----ment                       settlement, statement,
23. ----ship                        dictatorship, scholarship
24. ----some                      quarrelsome, awesome
25. ----wise                        clockwise, otherwise, lengthwise

Prefixes and Suffixes play a very important role in word formation. They are used in interchange of Parts of Speech like changing Nouns into Verbs, Adjectives or Adverbs and vice versa. They are also used in making Antonyms e.g

                        able                             unable

                        careful                         careless

                        correct                        incorrect

Suffixes are also used to change the Nouns of male gender into female e.g

                        lion                              lioness

                        hero                             heroine

Suffixes are added to make Plural Nouns from Singular e.g

                        book                            books

                        box                              boxes

                        leaf                              leaves

                        story                            stories

Compound Nouns are often used in modern English. They are formed by combining two Nouns to give a single meaning e.g

                        teacup

                        schoolmaster

                        headmaster

                        bank manager

                        civil judge

                        water cooler

     

       Besides the use of the methods of word formation given above, new words are always pouring in through adoption of words from other languages and coinage by writers. 

           

COLONIAL BIAS OF HEART OF DARKNESS AND RACIST STREAK IN CONRAD

by Prof Munawar Ali Malik

            The almost universal recognition of Joseph Conrad’s novel Heart of Darkness as a masterpiece in modern fiction suffered a stunning blow in the form of a scathing review by Chinua Achebe, the Nobel Laureate West African novelist, published in 1975 under the title “ An Image of Africa : Racism in Conrad’s Heart of Darkness”

            Dubbing it “an offensive and deplorable book”, Achebe bursts out into loud protest saying.

“Why is it today the most commonly prescribed

 novel in 20^th century literature courses in   English Departments of American universities?”

            He launches his attack on Heart of Darkness ( rather Conrad) with the broad-based argument that it displays the Western desire to set the African backwardness up as a foil to  Europe’s boasted about spiritual grace.

            Achebe holds that Heart of Darkness projects Africa as the antithesis of Europe and therefore of civilization. He even finds this sinister purpose at work in Conrad’s description of  the two rivers, the Thames of Europe and the river Congo of Africa.

            He challenges every adjective used by Conrad to describe Africa and the Africans, citing FR Leavis’s remark on Conrad’s “adjectival insistence upon inexpressible and incomprehensible mystery.”

            He calls this insistence “under-hand activity” that “raises serious questions of artistic good faith”

            Chinua Achebe quotes and analyses the passages about people in Heart of Darkness. He says these are the most interesting and revealing passages in the novel.

            Speaking of Conrad’s attitude to the natives of Congo, he remarks with bitter sarcasm on Conrad’s love to see the Africans in their place. He quotes Marlow’s remark

“Fine fellows----------cannibals------------in their

  place”

            The word place, he thinks, is used in a derogatory sense on more than one occasions in Heart of Darkness.

       Then Achebe lashes out at Marlow’s remark about the humanity of the black natives :

“What thrilled you, was just the thought of their

 humanity — the thought of your remote kinship

                          with this wild and passionate uproar. Ugly.”

            Achebe insinuates that Conrad was actually concerned about the black man laying the claim on that remote kinship which, to him, was intolerable.

            In this way, reading more between  the lines than in the lines, Achebe goes on piling up incriminating evidence against Conrad to establish that Conrad was “ a thorough- going racist” and the story is purely a product of colonial bias.

            But his own adjectives, ironically, betray an equal, if not more violent, parallel racism. Look at the following judgemental remarks, for instance:

* “even those not blinkered like Conrad with       xenophobia--.”

                        *  “Conrad is a dream for psychoanalytic critics.”

            While reading this review we repeatedly hold our breath in amazement, if not horror, as Achebe pronounces scathing judgements about the book and the author in every other line of the article. Look at  one, for instance:

“the question is whether a novel which celebrates this dehumanization, which depersonalizes a portion of human race, can be called a great work of art. My answer is : No, it cannot.”

            Achebe’s chagrin against the West is not without reason, it is true. But it goes a bit too far when he refuses to concede due recognition to the literary merit of a work of fiction universally acclaimed a masterpiece. He brushes aside every explanation and excuse offered by other critics. For instance he refuses to believe that the implicit colonial bias comes from Marlow, not Conrad. He also spurns the “layers of insulation” placed by Conrad “between himself and the moral universe of his story.”

            Similarly he rejects the argument that it is no concern of fiction to please the people about whom it is written, saying that Heart of Darkness is a story in which the very humanity of black people is called in question.

            As already admitted, Achebe has very good reasons to find fault with Heart of Darkness. Being himself an African, he has a right to condemn every attempt to vilify his people. But isn’t it a bit too hard on Conrad to say that he wrote this novel solely to revile the Africans?

            Coming from Achebe ( himself a novelist as great as Conrad ) this review has certainly caused some serious damage to Conrad’s reputation. Achebe ignored the fact that most of the critics as well as readers have always admired Heart of Darkness as an indictment of imperialism. The most prominent among them is the renowned critic and teacher (also a Nobel Laureate), Edward Said recognized as the most powerful voice of this age against imperialism.