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Name of the University : Vardhman Mahaveer Open University
Degree : MA
Department : English
Subject Code/Name : MAEG-10 – American Literatur
Year : II
Document Type : Question Bank
Website : vmou.ac.in

Download Model/Sample Question Paper : https://www.pdfquestion.in/uploads/vmou.ac.in/3578-MAEG-10_250.pdf

Vardhman American Literature Question Paper

Section A

1) Briefly analyze the influence of Lincoln on Whitman’s poetry.
2) Write a short note on Emily Dickinson’s thematic obsessions.

Related : VMOU MAEG09 Post Colonial Literature MA Question Bank : www.pdfquestion.in/3577.html

3) What is a picaresque novel-
4) What is meant by ‘the great American Dream’-
5) How does Huck manage to hoodwink his father-
6) Explain ‘Earth is the right place for love’.
7) Briefly state how Emerson conceives of ‘the poet-philosopher.
8) What image of women characters does emerge in the story Vitamins.
9) Why is The Glass Menagerie called a ‘memory play’-
10) What is it that keeps Willy from accepting that his sons are ‘utterly incompetent’-
11) How do you understand the varying length of poetic lines in Whitman’s oeuvre-
12) Point out any four symbols used by Robert Frost.
13) Briefly comment on Huck’s essential humanitarian concerns.
14) Write a short note on Puritanism.
15) In what ways, according to Emerson, does the over-soul make itself perceivable-

16) What phrase sums up the totality of the duties of the American scholar- Explain.
17) What is meant by Transcendentalism-
18) Shed light on the symbolic significance of glass menagerie in the play so titled.
19) What does Dickinson mean by ‘Liquor’ that is not brewed-
20) Briefly comment on the role of the ‘river’ in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.
21) Why is Leaves of Grass perceived as the national epic of America-
22) Comment on the imagery of the deceased’s soul gliding over in a chariot

Section B

1) How does Raymond Carver bring out the value of ‘small things’ in human life-
2) Attempt a character sketch of Hester Prynne.
3) Analyze A Farewell to Arms as an artistic rendering of the modern-day
4) Write a note on the role of the baker in the story ‘A Small Good Thing’.
5) Compare Ann and Howard in terms of character.
6) Attempt a pen-portrait of Emerson’s ideal ‘scholar’.
7) Critically examine the ‘light and shade’ effect of stagecraft first used
8) Write a note on the symbolic significance of ‘lilacs’ and the ‘thrush’.
9) Discuss Frost as a poet of ‘farmers and fields’.
10) Examine the issues of slavery and racial consciousness as pointed up
11) Discuss the authenticity of the narrator of the story Vitamins.
12) Attempt a brief sketch of ‘Pearl’ as the magnet that pulls Arthur back towards Hester-
13) Evaluate When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloomed as an elegy.
14) “Frost is deceptively simple.” Examine the statement with illustrations.
15) Critically examine the personal and the systemic causes of Willy Loman’s downfall.

Section C

Answer the following in detail (800 words) :
** How far is it justified to call Whitman ‘the representative voice of democracy’? Critically discuss.
** How do you rate Walt Whitman as an ‘innovator’ of metrical patterns?
** Discuss Pecola’s quest for ‘bluest eye’ as a typical craving of those who are ‘neither here nor there’.

** What are the parameters laid down by Emerson for the ‘scholar’ for study of nature?
** Bring out the peculiarity in use of dash by Emily Dickinson.
** Write an essay discussing Hemingway’s use of lowlands and mountains as symbols in A Farewell to Arms.
** Why is Laura obsessed with her ‘supposed inferiority’? How does it influence her ‘chances’ in life?

** How are death and a fly associated in Dickinson’s poetry?
** Draw a comparative picture of Biff and Happy as two sons of the same failed father.
** What is expressionism? Examine Emperor Jones as a play in the expressionistic mode.
** Discuss the complexities of Emerson’s idea about the second influence on Man Thinking?
** How far can Robert Frost be justified as a modern poet? Illustrate your answer.

** Critically discuss the three ‘pillory scenes’ in the novel The Scarlet Letter.
** Discuss Whitman’s use of ‘leaf’ as a symbol of a common man in democracy.
** Write a full-fledged note on the thematic strands woven in the novel The Bluest Eye.
** Write a full-length note on the importance of ‘self-trust’ as brought out in ‘The American Scholar’ by Emerson.