General Open Ended Questions on Literature Class Discussion 2001 -2006 1. Examine how and to what end your writers have explored the concept of either misunderstanding. or deception in the works you have studied. 2. Consider the creation of humour and the role it plays in works you have studied. 3. “Animals and animal imagery are a rich hunting ground and sourve for writers.” Explore the ways writers in your study have used such materials and to what effect. 4, Joumeys, both literal and metaphorical, often play a central role in literature. Discuss with reference to works you have studied. 5. “There is no literature without conflict.” How and to what effect is conflict used in two or three works you have studied? 6. In what ways and to what effect have your writers focused on cither the darker or lighter side of life in two or three works you have studied? 7, There are many ways of achieving a memorable ending to a work of literature. In two or three of the works you have studied, how have your chosen authors made endings memorable? 8. “A literary work is not a mere play of the imagination, but a reflection of contemporary manners and customs.” Discuss the validity of this statement in relation to two or three works you have studied. 9. In what ways do writers use “non-conformist” views or people as material for their writing? You ‘must base you answer on two or three works you have studied. 10, “Chronological order is the most convincing way to convey a story or an idea.” Comparing two or three of the works you have studied, agree or disagree with this statement. 11, Much literature has been written about death and dying. How and to what effect has this subject, been explored in two or three of the works you have studied? 12, “Although humans claim to desire freedom above all else, many prefer security.” In the light of this statement discuss two or three works you have studied, showing the ways in which they have presented attitudes to freedom and/or security, 13. “It’s love that makes the world go round.” To what extent and in what ways does love, or its absence, dominate two or three of the works you have studied? 14, “Look to the future and beware.” How and to what effect have writers depicted the future? Discuss with reference to two or three works you have studied. 15. Health and sickness may appear in the works of writers either in plots, characters, imagery or themes. In what ways and to what effect have writers used health and sickness in two or three works you have studied? nishanth nagavar Page Lof4General Open Ended Questions on Literature Class Discussion 2001 -2006 16, What can a writer accomplish through the use of repetition? Respond with reference to two or ‘three works you have studied. 17. “The voice of children or their portrayal as characters in literature is only successful when it captures both their innocence and their sadness.” Tn what ways have works in your study captured aspects of childhood, such as those mentioned above or others? 18. “Some works challenge us more than others.” Discuss elements contributing to challenges for the reader in works you have studied, considering why the writers may have included such difficulties. 19, “Tension is a necessity in all works of art.” Saying what you mean by “tension” in literature, discuss how far you agree with this view. 20. “We have to like what we read; otherwise the work can have no impact on us of any real value to us.” Considering your experience with works in your study, to what extent do you find such a statement to be valid? 21. Explore the ways in which “chance” or “coincidence” is used in any two or three works of literature you have studied. 22. In what ways have writers shown that things are not always what they seem? Illustrate your answers with reference to any two or three works of literature you have studied. 23. Compare and contrast the treatment of different, new or alien cultures in any two or three works of literature you have studied. 24, How successfully have writers been able to portray the opposite sex? Refer in detail to any two or three works of literature you have studied. 25, How important has the contrast or similarity between appearance and reality been to the interest of works you have studied? 26. What significant value or values have been selected and developed in writers you have studied; by what means and with what success have they been presented? 27. Evil not only fascinates people in general, but writers as well. In what ways and with what effect has “evil” been treated by writers you have studied? 28, “It is possible for a good writer to write about commonplace things with immense, even startling power.” How far and in what ways have writers in your study persuaded you to agree with this view? 29. In what ways does the concept “freedom of choice” inform your reading in any two or three works you have studied? nishanth.nagavar Page 2 of 4General Open Ended Questions on Literature Class Discussion 2001 -2006 30. To what extent have you found it possible, in your consideration of literary works, to separate the \dividual from his or her public role? In your answer you should refer to any two or three works you have studied. 31. “Fact versus fantasy; this is a clash that can have comic or tragic results.” Bearing this statement nd explore the results of using realism and fantasy in any two or three works you have studied, 32, Compare how writers in your study have explored the themes of judgment and punishment, or disguise and deceit, or love and friendship, and with what effect. 33. “To analyse with any discrimination, you have to have enjoyed the work.” How far is such a view relevant to your experience of studying literature? 34. “I disavow any essential connection between my life and what I write.” Is this a credible view for writers of literature you have studied? 35. Compare your responses to the literature you have studied when it includes views or behaviour contrary to your own system of values, 36. Compare the importance of dreams or aspirations or ambitions to the impact of works you have studied. 37. “The past is another country: they do things differently there.” Discuss the problems and benefits of reading works from another age. 38, What questions about power has your study of literature raised? 39. A novelist wrote: “As regards plots I find real life no help at all. Real life seems to have no plots.” From your reading, draw some of your own conclusions about the relationships between writing and ‘real life’ 40, In reading a work of literature, how useful or misleading is information about the author’s life? 41. “Social and political life are both necessary and corrupting.” ‘Through what literary techniques, and with what effect on the reader, has this view been considered in the works you have studied? 42. Examine the use made by writers of innocence and/or ignorance, comparing the presentation of such elements and their effects on the individual works you have studied 43. “Some writers reflect the culture they live in, others challenge it.” nishenth.nagavar Page 3 of 4General Open Ended Questions on Literature Class Discussion 2001 -2006 In what ways and with what effects have works in your study either conveyed to you an appreciation of the culture of the works or offered a critique of it? 44, “Man's love is a thing apart; ‘tis women’s whole existenc Evaluate the validity of this view in literature, showing how strategies in works you have studied ‘work to confirm or deny it. 48, Either (a) How illuminating do you think it would be to place two or three works you have studied in the context of an opposition between ‘tradition’ and ‘the new”? You should illustrate your discussion with specific reference to the texts you choose. 46. ‘Man's a strange animal and makes strange use Of his own nature. Discuss some of the attitudes to human nature, its tensions and satisfactions, which you have identified in works you have studied. Compare the ways in which they have been presented, 47. Compare how two or three writers from different cultures approach the art of story-telling 48, ‘If human nature does alter, it will be because we begin to look at ourselves in a new way.’ In what ways, and by what means, do the works of writers you have studied make us ‘look at ourselves in a new way’? nishanth.nagavar Page 4 of 4