Eng.

4102 + 4110

Section (A)

Short Stories

1. In “A Problem,” compare and contrast the characters of Ivan Markovitch and the Colonel using details
from the story.

In this classic short story, family members have convinced to talk about the fate of Sash Uskov, who
has forged a promissory note at the bank. The family needs to decide whether to bail him out or not. Ivan
Markovitch, the maternal uncle takes the side of Sasha.

He spoke smoothly, softly, and with a tremor in his voice. He said that Sasha is young and he had no
education; he had been expelled from the school in the fifth class; he had lost his parents in early childhood,
and so had been left at the tenderest age without guidance and good, benevolent influences.

Ivan Markovitch is characterized as a very understanding, kind and gentle man who wants the family
to help Sasha and save the family honor.

On the other hand, the Colonel, argues that saving Sasha would be an “unpardonable mistake.” He
does not believe in covering up another person’s wrong doing. He is characterized as unsympathetic and a
disciplinarian who believes that rules should be followed rigidly with no mercy shown.

2. In “How Much Land Does a Man Need?” write the character sketch or analysis of Pahom (Theme)

Pahom is a peasant farmer in the village. He desires land of his own. In fact, he boasts that if he had
enough land, he would not fear the devil himself. Pahom manages to borrow enough money to buy land of
his own. At first, he is content. Then he begins to desires better land. He sets out on a journey trying to buy
more and more land.

Ultimately, Pahom finds himself at the land of Bashkirs”. He can buy all the land he can walk around
in one day. At sum up, Pahom sets out. He walks around lash, green land. Unfortunately, he tries to cover
too much land. The deal is that Pahom gets to have all the land they can walk around from sun up to sun
down.

Pahom has become greedy. He tries to cover more land than he can comfortably cover in one day.
At sun down, as Pahom nears the starting point, he falls down dead. He now only needs enough land to be
buried in. Because of his greed, Pahom dies trying to gain too much land.

Theme

One must learn to be content with what one has without getting too greedy and grasping. Pahom is
a man who has a loving family and enough to provide for them. He and his wife are content to live outside
the city and away from any of the Devil’s temptations: yet, he wishes he had more land. Pahom acts on this
wish more than once, and he eventually gets so greedy (with the Devil’s help, it’s true) that he dies with
nothing. -- nothing but the six feet of land needed to bury him.
Style and Technique ***

Tolstoy regarded the telling force of a moral and the power to reach a wide audience as the key
elements in a story. These two elements are bountifully present in “How Much Land Does A Man Need?” In
referring to the tale as a parable, critics draw attention to its didactic function. In a parable, the focus is
entirely on one or, at most, two characters and a specific circumstance that provides the conflict or challenge
that the protagonists must face.

The only fully developed character in Tolstoy’s tale is Pahom; neither his wife nor her elder sister nor
any of his fellow peasants is given a distinct identity. Tolstoy intends his reader to focus entirely on the plight
of Pahom as he seeks his fortune. This is meant to transmit feelings of God’s love and the importance of love
of one’s neighbor.

The parable form is meant to convey a deliberate sense of “artlessness” – that is, a simplicity of
narrative style and content in which a story seems inevitable, of self-telling. In fact, the parable form requires
careful attention to achieve this “artless” effect, and Tolstoy has no equal among such storyteller.

3. The Masque of the Red Death: Allegory

The Masque of the Red Death is an allegory. It features a set of recognizable symbols whose
meanings combine to convey a message. An allegory always operates on two levels of meaning:
the literal elements of the plot and their symbolic counterparts, which often involve large
philosophical concepts. We can read this story as an allegory about life and death and the
powerlessness of humans to evade the grip of death. The Red Death thus represents, both literally
and allegorically, death. No matter how beautiful the castle, how luxuriant the clothing, or how rich
the food, no mortal, not even a prince, can escape death. In another sense, though, the story also
means to punish Prospero’s arrogant belief that he uses his wealth to fend off the natural, tragic
process of life. Prospero’s arrogance combines with a grievous insensitivity to the plight of his less
fortunate countrymen. Although he possesses the wealth to assist those in need, he turns his wealth
into a mode of self-defense and decadent self-indulgence. His decadence in throwing the
masquerade ball, however, unwittingly positions him as a caged animal, with no possible escape.
 Novels

Pride and Prejudice

1. Themes, Love, Reputation and Class

Themes

Themes are the fundamental and often universal ideas explored in a literary work.

Love:

The novel “Pride and Prejudice” is written by Jane Austin. It is one of the most cherished love stories
in English Literature: the courtship between Darcy and Elizabeth. In any love story, the lovers must elude
and overcome numerous stumbling blocks, beginning with the tensions caused by the lovers’ own personal
qualities. Elizabeth’s pride makes her misjudge on Darcy and Darcy’s prejudice blinds him for a time although
she has many virtues.

The author poses countless obstacles to the realization of the love between Elizabeth and Darcy. They
include Lady Catherine’s attempt to control her nephew, Miss Bingley’s snobbery, Mis. Bennet’s idiocy and
Wickham’s deceit. The mutual and tender love between Darcy and Elizabeth is something independent of
social forces. Austin seems to demonstrate that the heart does not always dictate marriage. The writer
suggests that true love is a force separate from society and one that can conquer all circumstances.

Reputation

The novel “Pride and Prejudice” is written by Jane Austin. The writer depicts (portrays) a society in
which a woman’s reputation is of the most importance. A woman is expected to behave in good ways.
Stepping outside the social norms makes her vulnerable to ostracism. (Stepping outside the social norms is
considered to be bad reputation). When Elizabeth walks to Nether field and arrives with muddy skirts, it
shocks reputation-conscious Miss Bingley and her friends. Mis. Bennet’s ridiculous behaviors gives Elizabeth
a bad reputation. Austin pokes gentle fun at the mobs in these examples: In the novel, when Lydia elopes
with Wickham and lives with him out of wedlock, the author treats reputation as a very serious matter. Lydia
is placed outside the society and her disgrace threatens the entire Bennet family. The happy ending of the
novel is emotionally satisfying. But in many ways, it leaves the theme of reputation.

Class

The theme of class is related to reputation, in that both reflect the strictly regimented nature of life
for the middle and upper classes in Regency England. The lines of class are strictly drawn. While the Bennets,
who are middle class, may socialize with the upper-class Bingleys and Darcys, they are clearly their social
inferiors and are treated as such. Austen satirizes this kind of class-consciousness, particularly in the
character of Mr. Collins, who spends most of his time toadying to his upper-class patron, Lady Catherine de
Bourgh. The satire directed at Mr. Collins is therefore also more subtly directed at the entire social hierarchy
and the conception of all those within it at its correctness, in complete disregard of other, more worthy
virtues. Through the Darcy-Elizabeth and Bingley-Jane marriages, Austen herself is often criticized as being
a classist. Austen does criticize class structure but only a limited slice of structure.

2. Mr. Bennet and Mrs. Bennet (analysis) ***

Mr. Bennet

Mr. Bennet is the patriarch of the Bennet household – the husband of Mrs. Bennet and the father of
Jane, Elizabeth, Lydia, Kitty, and Mary. He is a man driven to exasperation by his ridiculous wife and difficult
daughters. He reacts by withdrawing from his family and assuming a detached attitude punctuated by bursts
of sarcastic humor. He is closest to Elizabeth because they are the two most intelligent Bennets. Detached
from his family, he is a weak father and, at critical moments, fails his family. In particular, his foolish
indulgence of Lydia’s immature behavior nearly leads to general disgrace when she elopes with Wickham.
Further, upon her disappearance, he proves largely ineffective. It is left to Mr. Gardiner and Darcy to track
Lydia down and rectify the situation. Ultimately, Mr. Bennet would rather withdraw from the world than cope
with it.

Mrs. Bennet

Mrs. Bennet is a miraculously tiresome character. Noisy and foolish, she is a woman consumed by
the desire to see her daughters married and seems to care for nothing else in the world. Ironically, her single-
minded pursuit of this goal tends to backfire, as the lack of social graces alienates the very people when she
tries desperately to attract. Austen uses her continually to highlight the necessity of marriage for young
women. Mrs. Bennet also serves as a middle-class counterpoint to such upper-class snobs as Lady Catherine
and Miss Bingley, demonstrating that foolishness can found at every level of society. In the end, however,
Mrs. Bennet proves such an unattractive figure, lacking redeeming characteristics of any kind, that some
readers have accused Austen of unfairness in portraying her.
 Section (B)

Poetry

1. “When We Two Parted” George Byron) ***

The first stanza of the poem sets up the parting of the two lovers: so, some reason their split was
accompanied by “silence and tears:” (line 2). Upon parting, the speaker’s beloved become physically cold
and pale: a change foreshadowing later sorrow which is taking place as the poet writes.

The second stanza continues the sense of foreboding as the speaker awakes with the morning dew
“chill on my brow”. He believes this chill to have been “a warning”. His beloved has broken all vows and the
sound of the beloved’s name brings shame to both lover and beloved.

The name of the beloved carries over into the third stanza as an unknown. Her beloved’s name
sounds as a “knell” in the speaker’s ears. He wonders why the beloved was so dear. The speaker concludes
that he shall mourn the beloved’s loss.

In the fourth stanza, the speaker reflects upon his relationship with the beloved. They met in secret
and so he must mourn in silence. What he mourns is that the beloved could forget him and be delightful.
Thus, the speaker concludes that he could not again meet his beloved.

Analysis:

The poem is a lyric poem. It is made up of four octets, each with a rhyme scheme ABABCDCD. It
begins with the bleak tone of despair which characterizes the entire work. Then the reader is introduced to
the speaker’s “silence and tears” upon the break up. Her own reaction is to grow cold as the poem is about
an emotional detachment growing from the very moment of their parting which Byron finds unbearable.

The imaginary of coldness carries over the end of the first stanza into the beginning of the second
stanza with the chilly dew upon Byron’s brow. He awakens into a world still as desolate as the one he ended
the previous night. Thus, he turns his attention to his beloved’s apparent infidelity to him. The poet is thought
to have an affair with the Lady Frances who was with the Duke. So, she has broken all her vows. Because
of the secret nature of their affair, he is unable to mourn publicly for her. He grieves silently over her
neglectful heart and deceitful spirit.
2. Easter Song (George Herbert) (Message)

George Herbert was an English poet and orator. He balanced a secular career with a life of theological
contemplation. It is a highly complex connotative poem that is often difficult to understand.

In this song of joyful celebration, George Herbert sees the day of Christ’s resurrection as unsurpassed
in glory. He said, “Can there be any day like this?” He also said that the sun that rises each day of the year
cannot shine as brightly as the Son of God as he brings light to world. However, the Risen Christ does not
need any gifts. Jesus Christ does not need the gifts such as the sun illuminating the empty grave, the Magi
providing gold, frankincense and myrrh. Herbert see Easter as the definitive moment in human history. The
poet helps us see the love that our Creator holds for his creation. If we are encouraged to consider the art
of living and dying. The poet reminds us that we all included as potential participants in the Christ’s
Resurrection.

3. The poem “Death, be not proud” conveys that the people, who were always preparing themselves
to face the inevitable past of life, know that death brings pleasure, not pain. Explain. ***

The poem conveys that people, who are always preparing themselves to face the inevitable past of
life, know that death brings pleasure, not pain. At the beginning of the poem, the poet tells that the memoir
(Divine Meditation 10) is an attack on death, and to an extent, he and his family do attack his tumor –
through operations, diets, injections and so on. He seems to reach a placid acceptance of death while he
fights it (death). He never tries to defy death. He simply loves life too much to let it go. He twice exclaims,
“But I have so much to do and so little time.” He indicates not a fear of death. He means that one must nor
agonize over these questions of death but accept them as a battle. He mostly keeps his fears to himself.
Every one who comes to know Johnny, finds him remarkably courageous and mature about his fate. However,
Johnny focuses on living his life. Thus, the poet prepares to face the inevitable past of life and he knows that
death brings pleasure, not pain.