Poetry

Death and immortality are two major themes in Emily Dickinson. Discuss this in the light of her poems
you have read in the block.

Do you agree that Emily Dickenson fills her poems with a strong feminist temper? Answer with
examples.

Do you think there is a Feminist Voice in Emily Dickinson's poems? give reasons for your answer.

Write a note on Imagery in Emily Dickinson's poetry.

Examine the significance feature of Robert Frost’s poetry with reference to the poems in your block.

What are the significant features of Robert Frost's poetry? Answer with special reference to "Mending
Wall" and "Birches".

Bring out the irony in the line 'good fences make good neighbors’ of in Robert Frost's poem 'Mending
Wall'.

The poem 'Mending Wall' projects a close link between man and nature. Discuss.

Elaborate upon the chief characteristics of Robert Frost's poetry with special reference to 'Mending Wall'
and 'Birches'.

Vat is ironic about the speaker's statements concerning his neighbor’s opinion of wall-building in
"Mending wall"?

Walt Whitman's poem 'Song of Myself' reflects his youthful exuberance and hope. Discuss
Explain the concept of the self in Whitman's poems.

Discuss the influence of Transcendentalism on Walt Whitman's poems.

How is nature presented in Whitman's poetry? Explain.

Discuss Walt Whitman as a representative poet of the American Renaissance. Support your answer with
instances from the poems prescribed in your course.

Song of Myself is a celebration of American Individualism. Comment.

What different kinds of women do we come across in 'Snapshots of a Daughter-in-law'? Discuss with
examples.

In 'Snapshots of a Daughter-in-law', rich describes different kinds of women. Comment.

Do the two poems by Rich, 'Aunt Jenifer's Tigers' and 'Snapshots of a Daughter-in-law' have anything in
common? How are they different from each other with respect to theme and content?

Snapshots of a Daughter-in-Law" makes a very important statement about Rich's feminism. Discuss.

'Snapshots of a Daughter - in - law' makes a very important statement about Rich's feminism. Discuss.

Would you call Adrienne Rich a Feminist? Discuss with examples.

Comment on the theme of Wallace Stevens poem The Emperor of Ice - Cream.'

Wallace Stevens is a poet who is deeply concerned with the - world of imagination. Discuss with
reference to his poems in the block.

How does Wallace Stevens juxtapose images of life and death in "The Emperor of Ice-Cream"? Explain.

Analyze all the ways in which life and death are juxtaposed in "The Emperor of Ice-Cream". What is the
significance of this juxtaposition?

Write a critical note on Wallace Steven's 'Sunday Morning

Trace the development of thought and feeling in the poem "Sunday Morning".

Wallace Stevens is a poet who is deeply concerned with the world of imagination. Discuss with reference
to his poems in your course.

Critically evaluate the treatment of oppositional extremes of life and death as done in "The Emperor of
Ice-cream".

Is "Hugh Selwyn Mauberley" a fragmented poem or a well-Integrated one? Give reasons to support your
answer.

Write a critical note on the poem 'Hugh Selwyn Mauberley'.

Write a note on imagism in Ezra Pound's poetry. Cite instances from his poems prescribed in your course.

Contextualize the modern American Poetry in its abiding concerns.

Huckleberry Finn
Discuss the use of humour as a tool of social criticism in Huckleberry Finn.

Comment on the difficulties faced by Jim and Mark Twain’s Huckleberry Finn.

What is the significance of the river in Huckleberry Finn?

Discuss the use of humour as a tool of social criticism in Huckleberry Finn.

Write an essay on Mark Twain's art of characterization in 'Huckleberry Finn'

Discuss how the comic and the critical combine in Mark Twain's Huckleberry Finn.

Discuss the twin themes of Freedom and Slavery in Huckleberry Finn.

Discuss the role and use of humour in Huckleberry Finn.

Discuss, how the comic and the serious combine IMn Mark Twain's Huckleberry Finn

Drama

Examine the American milieu in which Arthur Miller emerges as a dramatist.

Discuss Death of a Salesman as a tragedy.

Examine the growth of American drama during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.

Examine Death of a Salesman as a Brechtian play.

Examine the nature of realism in Death of a Salesman, with respect to the point of view reflected in the
text.

In O'Neill's The Hairy Ape, we notice disharmony between man's primitive pride and his individualism.
Comment.

What are the distinguish features of O'Neillian tragedy as illustrated in The Hairy Ape?

In O'Neill's The Hairy Ape, we notice "a disharmony between man's primitive pride and his
individualism." Do you agree? Give a reasoned answer.

Discuss Death of a Salesman as a tragedy of modern times.

Write a critical note on the dramatic form in the 20th century

Analyse Death of a Salesman as a realistic tragedy.

Analyze The Hairy Ape as an expressionistic comedy.

Critically examine the American dramatic form in the twentieth century.

Write a detailed note on the evolution of American Drama during the seventeenth and eighteenth
centuries.

Explain the significance of the river in Huckleberry Finn.

'In O'Neill's The Hairy Ape we come across man's struggle with his past as also himself.' Comment. 2

Discuss Death of a salesman as a realistic tragedy. 'Death of a Salesman' perfects the genre of realistic
tragedy that began with Eugene O'Neill. Comment.

The Hairy Ape is about the predicament of man in the 20thcentury industrial civilization. Do you agree?
Discuss.

'Death of a Salesman' is a critique of the 20th century, American capitalist society. Comment.

Would it be correct to say that Miller's Death of a Salesman offers a sharp critique of modern American
society? Explain.

The Bluest Eye

Comment on the appropriateness of the title of Toni Morrison's novel The Bluest Eye .

How do your account \for (ecola's low self-esteem and her quest for blue eyes?

Critically examine The Bluest Eye as a Novel of protest against white dominance.

The novel, The Bluest Eye, deals with the issue of colour in America. Discuss.

Which are the narrative strategies employed by the writer in The Bluest eye? Explain with examples.

Describe the major themes of Black American literacy expression on the basis of the author in your
course

The Bluest Eye is "not merely the story of Pecola — it deals with the entire community to which Pecola
belongs." Comment

Comment on Toni Morrison's attitude to physical beauty with reference to her novel The Bluest Eye.

Discuss the narrative strategies used by the writer in The Bluest Eye.

'Colour consciousness is a constant presence in Toni Morrison's The Bluest Eye.' Discuss.
Examine the folk elements present in The Bluest Eye.

Write an elucidatory note on the importance of the seasons in The Bluest Eye'.

"Colour consciousness is a constant presence in Toni Morrison's The Bluest Eye." Discuss.

"Toni Morrison's The Bluest Eye is a serious scrutiny of colour consciousness of the times." Elaborate.

Write an essay on claudia as the narrator in The Bluest Eye.

Critically evaluate The Bluest Eye as a novel of protest against racism.

Discuss the narrative strategies used by Morisson in The Bluest Eye.

The Scarlett Letter

Discuss The Scarlet Letter as a historical romance.

Bring out the importance of the minor characters in The Searlet Letter. How are they related to the major
characters.

Critically comment on the significance of the three scaffold scenes in the narrative of The Scarlet Letter

Discuss The Scarlet Letter as a romance novel.

What does Hawthorne focus upon and criticize in The Scarlet Letter?

A classic like The Scarlet Letter has been interpreted differently in different times. Discuss.

What role does language play in Huckleberry Finn?

Bring out the significance of the three scaffold scenes in the narrative of The Scarlet letter

Examine The Scarlet Letter as an open-ended novel.

The Scarlet Letter' by Nathaniel Hawthorne is both, a critique and an affirmation of Utopia. Comment.

A classic like The Scarlet Letter has been interpreted differently in different times. Discuss.

The central concern of Huckleberry Finn is freedom and slavery. Discuss.

In The Scarlet Letter, Pearl, Hester and Dimmesdale foreshadow Id, Ego and Super-Ego. Do you agree?
Give reasons for your answer.
The Scarlet Letter is both a critique and an affirmation of Utopia. Illustrate your answer with suitable
examples from the text.

Do you agree with the view that Pearl saves Hester from the temptation of the Devil?

What does Hawthorne focus upon in The Scarlet Letter, Discuss?

In The Scarlet Letter, Hawthorne has presented the intolerance of the Puritans in early American history.
Comment.

Attempt a comparative reading of 'A Clean Well-Lighted Place' and 'The Bear'.

Examine the theme of A clean Zell-lighted place and the techniques Hemingway employs to project this
theme.

Discuss the major concerns and strategies employed by Hemingway in his short stories

Story

Compare and contrast Hemingway and Faulkner as short story writers.

Write an essay on the growth and development of the American short story. Cite instances from the texts
by William Faulkner and Ernest Hemingway.

"The twentieth century short story primarily offers perceptions on human characters". Discuss.

Critically analyze the major concerns of Hemingway in his short stories.

Discuss Hemingway's art of storytelling with reference to 'A Clean Well-lighted Place'.

Compare and Contrast Hemingway and Faulkner as short story writers with particular reference to their
short stories included in your syllabus.

Discuss the theme of initiation in Faulkner's The Bear

Describe the growth and development of the short story in American literary writing.

How does "A Clean, Well-Lighted Place" explore Hemingway's existentialist concerns? Discuss.

The Bean' is central to understanding Faulkner's attitudes towards the land, the Negro, and the South. Do
you agree?

Discuss the major concerns of Hemingway in the short story included in your course
Write an essay on the growth and development of the American short story. Cite instances from the texts
by William Faulkner and Ernest Hemingway.

Discuss the art of short-story writing in the hands of Hemingway. Give suitable examples from the stories
prescribed in your course.
Critically comment on expressionism in The Hairy Ape.

Examine Poe's definition of the short story and its influence on the subsequent American short story
writers.

"Hemingway and Faulkner show points of coming together as well as departure." Draw a comparison.

Trace the growth and development of the American short story.

Prose

The prose of Henry James represents a reaction against the 'naturalistic' tendencies in literature. Discuss.

Comment on some of the, shifts in style and substance in American Prose written after the American civil
war as compared to the period before?

Write a critical note on the prose of the American Civil War.

Discuss the evolution of pamphlet - writing in America leading up to the Declaration of Independence.

"The notable changes in the American prose around the civil war came not in what was written about but
in the ways of writing". Comment.

What are the chief characteristics of American Transcendentalist Prose? Elaborate with reference to the
prose writers you have read.

Outline the evolution of prose in America in the nineteenth century.

Write an essay on the nature of prose of the American Civil War.

Attempt a critical evaluation of American Prose around the Civil War.

8. Analyze the rise and development of revolutionary prose in America.

Block 1

Discuss the literary genres of the Puritans.

Write a critical note on puritanism as reflected in American literature.

With the puritan migration from Europe to America there was an emergence of a 'new American culture
and Literature'. Discuss with reference to nineteenth century American writing

Discuss the major tenets of American Enlightenment. What were its effects on life and literature?

Discuss the Puritan influence on American Literature of the 19thcentury.

Discuss the material conditions and circumstances which made The American Enlightenment possible.

Critically discuss the 'Indian' context of American literature.

"With the Puritan migration from Europe to America there was an emergence of a 'new' American culture
and literature." Apply this to the nineteenth century American writing.

Critically comment on Puritanism with reference to American writing in the 19th century.
How did the emergence of trading interests undermine the unity within the Puritan settlements?

Explain the circumstances under which the Puritans migrated from Europe to America.

Bring out the major guidelines/framework of the literary theory of the Puritans.

"With the Puritan migration from Europe to America, there was the emergence of a 'new' American
culture and literature." Discuss with reference to nineteenth century American writing.

Write a critical note on the ideology of puritanism reflected in American literature

Discuss the material and social conditions that allowed the American Enlightenment to take place.

Write a critical note on the ideology of Puritanism as reflected in American literature.

Write an essay on the Puritan migration and the emergence of a 'new' American culture and literature.

Write short notes on any two of the following : (a) The Harlem Renaissance 10x2= (b) John Dickinson's
"Letters from a farmer in Permsylyania." (c) Imagery in Emily Dickinson's poetry (d) John Adam's "A
Dissertation on the Canon and Feudal Law."

What were the native Indian responses to American Romanticism in the mid-nineteenth century.

To what extent is African American literature a departure from mainstream American Writing? Discuss.

“With the Puritan migration from Europe to America there was an emergence of a ‘new’ American
culture and literature.” Apply this to nineteenth century American writing.

The Scarlet Letter, Hawthorne has presented the intolerance of the Puritans in early American history.
Comment.
What are the significant features of Robert Frost's poetry? Answer with special reference to "Mending
Wall" and "Birches