Literature (BMM) Notes

Literature (BMM) notes for exams, assignments and project work.

Literature

The Novel
Animal Farm

1. What was the dream that Major talks about in the first chapter, and how do the other animals implement it?
2. Describe the battle of Animal Farm. What was Snowball’s role in this battle?
3. In what ways did Snowball and Napoleon differ in their leadership of the animal farm? What is your opinion on this difference?
4. What were the circumstances that led to the excommunication of Snowball? How did you react to this development in the novel?
5. Why did the original seven commandments lose their relevance? What were the changes made? Why were these changes made?
6. Why were the “spontaneous weekly demonstrations” held on Animal Farm? What was their significance?
7. Do you think that Orwell has given a pessimistic view of the world in Animal Farm? Give reasons for your answer.
8. In what way is the ending of the novel ironical? Support your answer with examples from the text.
9. How is Animal Farm a satire of Stalinism or generally of totalitarianism?
10. What is the role of religion in Animal Farm? Would you say that the farm animals have a kind of religion?
11. Compare the lives of the animals under Jones and, then, under Napoleon. In what ways has Napoleon proven himself a similar tyrant?
12. Discuss the major themes of the novel – Corruption, Exploitation, Deception, Idealism, Apathy
13. Discuss the symbols in the novel – Names, Milk and Apples, Windmill, Old Major’s Skull, Jones’s Rifle, the Windmill.
14. How does Orwell explore the problem of rhetoric in Animal Farm? Paying particular attention to the character of Squealer, how is language used as an instrument of social control? How do the pigs rewrite history?
15. What are the different roles that the animals play in the novel Animal Farm?
16. How does the novel Animal Farm reflect the concept of utopia and the changing ideas of the ideal?
17. Explain the use of motifs like Songs and Chants, Religion and Ritual
18. Explain how the human characters contribute to the novel’s themes and issues.
19. Examine Orwell’s tone when describing the way the animals think of themselves under Napoleon’s rule.
20. How does Orwell’s tone in Animal Farm add to the novel’s humor?
21. Animal Farm is the study of a dream betrayed. It begins with hope for the animals and ends with their miserable lives getting even worse. To what extent do you agree with these statements?
22. The corrupting effect of power is one of the central themes of Animal Farm. Support your answer with suitable examples from the text
23. How does ignorance add or lead to the social and political oppression in George Orwell’s novel Animal Farm?
24. Compare and contrast Napoleon and Snowball and the strategies they use in the power struggle.
25. What are the parallels between Animal Farm and the Russian Revolution?
26. How do the actions of the pigs in Animal Farm compare to the actions of Russia’s revolutionary leaders before, during, and after the Russian revolution of 1917?
Short notes (8 marks)
• The role of Squealer
• Molly’s escape
• The death of Boxer
• The Battle of the Cowshed
• The significance of the Windmill
• The new Anthem on the animal farm
Drama
Silence, The Court is in Session by Vijay Tendulkar
1. Critically evaluate the concept of patriarchal domination and unequal power structure in Silence! The Court is in Session.
2. Vijay Tendulkar, in his play Silence! The Court is in Session, has used this platform to expose gender discrimination in patriarchy. What are your views on this statement?
3. How is middle class hypocrisy exposed in the play Silence! The Court is in Session?
4. Ms Benare, who is bubbling with over-confidence in the beginning of the play, becomes a victim of social injustice by the end of the play Silence! The Court is in Session. What are your views on Tendulkar’s delineation of her character?
5. How does the opening scene in Act One, which introduces Benare and Samant, set the tone of the play Silence! The Court is in Session?
6. Compare and contrast the two women characters, Leela Benare and Mrs Kashikar, in Silence! The Court is in Session.
7. How does Tendulkar use the concept of a mock trial to expose the hypocrisy within contemporary Indian society in his play Silence! The Court is in Session?
8. Do you consider Leela Benare as a tragic figure? Give reasons for your response.
9. What are the social issues that Vijay Tendulkar has attempted to highlight in his play Silence! The Court is in Session. To what extent has he been successful in this?
10. How appropriate is the title of Vijay Tendulkar’s play Silence! The Court is in Session? Give reasons for your response.
Short notes (8 marks)
• The aptness of the title Silence! The Court is in Session
• Humour in the play Silence! The Court is in Session
• The significance of the poem at the end of the play.
• The role of Samant
• The portrayal of Mr Kashikar

SHORT STORIES
A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

1. What does the man with enormous wings represent in “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings”?
2. In “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings,” how do the fantastic elements help provide insights into the way human beings think and behave?
3. How does Marquez’s use of magic realism in the story, “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings” contribute to its effectiveness?
4. Would you consider the story “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings” comic or tragic? Give reasons for your response
5. What are the varied responses of the townspeople to the old man? What do those responses tell us about human behaviour?
6. Elaborate on the theme of superstition/ exploitation/ fear of the other, in the story“A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings”
7. e) The symbolism of the old man with wings.

Short notes (8 marks)

• The spider girl
• Humour in the story
• The child’s relationship with the old man
• The portrayal of Pelayo/Elisenda
• The conclusion of the story

And Of Clay Are We Created by Isabel Allende

8. Comment on Allende’s presentation of Rolf Carle.
9. How significant is the role of Azucena in the story?
10. Rolf Carle and Azucena share a dynamic relationship in “And of Clay Are We Created” by Isabel Allende. What do they give to each other?
11. The story “And of Clay Are We Created” deals with the thematic concerns of how the media portrays human tragedies. How does Allende deal with those concerns?
12. What, in your view, is the theme of the story “And of Clay Are We Created”? How does Allende present this theme? What are the implications of her handling of this theme?
13. What is the significance of the title “And of Clay Are We Created”?.
14. Comment on Rolf’s encounter with Azucena and the relationship they forge..
15. What is the significance of making Azucena the face of the tragedy in “And of Clay Are We Created”?
16. How effective is Allende’s narrative technique in the story “And of Clay Are We Created”?
17. What is the connection between Rolf Carle’s backstory and Azucena’s current situation? How does this become central to the story “And of Clay Are We Created”?
18. As a media student, react to Isabel Allende’s portrayal of the media in “And of Clay Are We Created”.
19. Comment on Isabel Allende’s narrative technique in And of Clay Are We Created. How did this story impact you?

Short notes
• Rolf Carle as a heroic figure.
• The clay as metaphor
• Symbolism of Azucena’s name
• Significance of Rolf Carle’s past
• Rolf’s partner as narrator

A Clean Well-Lighted Place by Ernest Hemingway

1. What is the theme of “A Clean, Well-Lighted Place”? How does Ernest Hemingway develop this theme?
2. How do the characters in “A Clean Well-Lighted Place” shed light on Hemingway’s attitude concerning our ethical responsibility toward others?
3. What is the significance of “nothing” in “A Clean, Well-Lighted Place” by Ernest Hemingway?
4. In “A Clean, Well-Lighted Place” the three characters’ experience “nada” or nothingness. In what way are their experiences similar or different?
5. Compare and contrast the three characters in the short story “A Clean, Well-Lighted Place” by Ernest Hemingway.
6. In what way do the three characters in Ernest Hemingway’s story “A Clean, Well-Lighted Place” represent different views of life?
7. What is the significance of the title “A Clean, Well-Lighted Place”?
8. How effectively has Hemingway made use of contrasts in the story “A Clean, Well-Lighted Place”?
9. How effective is the cafe as the setting in the story “A Clean, Well-Lighted Place”. Give reasons for your response.
10. Critically examine Hemingway’s narrative technique in the story “A Clean, Well-Lighted Place”.
11. What is the theme of A Clean,Well-Lighted Place? How effectively has Hemingway developed this theme?

Short Notes
a. The café as setting
b. The relevance of Insomnia
c. The older waiter
d. The young waiter

Girls by Mrinal Pande
1. How does Mrinal Pande in the story “Girls” bring to light the serious issue of gender bias in Indian society? Give suitable examples from the story.
2. How does Mrinal Pande in “Girls” highlight the fact that the girl child continues to be seen as a problem among middle class Indian society, even in this contemporary era?
3. Mrinal Pande in “Girls” highlights the hypocrisy of middle class society. Give suitable examples from the story to show how convincingly she deals with this issue.
4. Is the story “Girls” made more effective by using first person narration? In what way?
5. To what extent can you justify the behaviour of the mother in the story “Girls”?
6. How does Pande debunk / subvert/ present the notion of “motherhood”?
7. What is your opinion of the child narrator in the story “Girls”?
8. How effectively has Mrinal Pande dealt with the theme childhood / loneliness/ motherhood in the story “Girls”?

Short notes (8 marks)

• The element of irony in the story “Girls”.
• The women in naani’s hous
• Traditional practices in India
• The celebration of Ashtami in “Girls”

POETRY
The Lie by Maya Angelou

1. What is the significance of the title The Lie by Maya Angelou. What does it tell you about the poem’s subject and tone?
2. Critically analyse the poem The Lie by Maya Angelou.
3. Analyze the speaker’s emotions to the lover’s parting in the poem The Lie.
4. Analyze the poem The Lie as a dramatic monologue.
5. Comment on the ‘emotional mask’ that the speaker hides behind as she bids farewell to her friend.

Stopping By Woods On A Snowy Evening by Robert Frost
1. What is the theme of the poem?
2. What dilemma does the poet face when he reaches the woods?
3. What is the inner conflict in man that is expressed in the poem Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening?
4. Can Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening be considered a lyric poem? Give reasons for your response.
5. Write on the symbolic elements in Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening.
6. Comment on Frost’s use of nature as metaphor in Stopping by Woods on a Snowy
Evening.
7. Write on the use of imagery in Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening
8. Write on the themes of escape/commitment/distraction in Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening.
9. Analyze the structure of the poem Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening.

Strange Meeting by Wilfred Owen
1. How effectively does Wilfred Owen portray the enemy as a friend in the poem Strange Meeting?
2. How does Owen use the two soldiers to expose the reality of war in his poem Strange Meeting?
3. Critically analyse the poem Strange Meeting.

On Killing a Tree by Gieve Patel
4. What is the significance of the title On Killing a Tree?
5. Can the poem On Killing a Tree be interpreted as a protest? Give reasons for your response.
6. What is the central idea of the poem On Killing a Tree?
7. In what way is Gieve Patel castigating modern man in his poem On Killing a Tree? To what extent do you agree with Patel’s point of view?
8. Write on Gieve Patel’s poetic technique in the poem On Killing a Tree.
9. Can the poem On Killing a Tree be considered a protest against cutting trees? Give your views.
10. Identify the analogies used by Gieve Patel to highlight the brutality of cutting a tree in his poem On Killing a Tree.
11. What, in your view, is the theme of the poem On Killing a Tree.
12. Write on the use of irony in the poem On Killing a Tree.

Need Ka Nirman Phir Phir by Harivansh Rai Bachchan
1. Critically analyse the poem Need ka Nirman Phir-Phir
2. Why is the poem Need ka Nirman Phir-Phir believed to be a song of regeneration with a strong message for today’s generation? Give your views.
3. How appropriate is the title Need ka Nirman Phir-Phir?
4. Write on the theme of regeneration/hope/perseverance in the poem Need ka Nirman Phir-Phir.
5. How does Harivansh Rai Bacha use natural phenomena to describe human experience in Need ka Nirman Phir-Phir.
6. Write on the use of personification/metaphor to articulate human emotions in the poem Need ka Nirman Phir-Phir.

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