B21EG01DC - INTRODUCTION TO LITERATURE B1 (Q&A)

BLOCK -1 INTRODUCTION TO LITERATURE

UNIT-1 WHAT IS LITERATURE

OBJECTIVE QUESTIONS

1. Which form of literature originated first?

Ans. Oral

2. Give an example of a historical play.

Ans. Shakespears play Antony and Cleopatra

3. What does the term literature mean?

Ans. Writing formed with letters

4. What is a story that uses animals as characters, and has a moral lesson called

as?

Ans.a fable

5. What is a poem about rustic life called?

Ans. An idyll

6. What is a poem lamenting the death of someone called?

Ans. Elegy

7. What is mythology?

Ans. The story of gods and goddesses

8. Movies are examples of which form of literature?

Ans. Visual

9. Name the genre of poetry that communicates personal and emotional feelings.

Ans. Lyric

10. Give an example of an oral form of literature.

Ans. Ballad

II. What is a poem of 14 lines called?

Ans. Sonnet

12. What is a narrative shorter than a novel, but longer than a short story called?

Ans. Novella

13. What is the life story of a person written by someone else called?

Ans. Biography

14. What is a play having characters from history called?

Ans.historical play

Questions and answers

1. What are the difference between tragic and comedy plays

Ans.

Comedy

It is a play meant to be enacted on the stage,having a plot with a happy ending.

E.g. Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest.

Tragedy

It is a play meant to be enacted on the stage, having a plot with a tragic ending, culminating in the death of the main characters.

E.g. Oedipus Rex written by Sophocles.

2. Differentiate between the different kinds of poetry

Ans.

a)Narrative

The entire story is narrated from the point of view and voice of the narrator or the characters. Narratives may be short or long dealing with simple or complicated issues. Narrative poems mostly have a dramatic nature and are written in metrical verse. Novels, stories, epics, ballads, idylls and lyrics are the different kinds of narrative.

b)epic

It is a long narrative poem on a great and serious subject related in an elevated or grand It style. Epics mostly present the adventures of heroes. The protagonist of an epic is heroically larger than life, and is often the source and subject of a legend.

Homer's The Iliad and The Odyssey are examples of epics.

c)ballad

It is a long narrative poem, often in short stanzas, commonly called the ballad stanza.

Ballads have been passed on from one generation to the next In oral form.

d. Idyll

It is a narrative poem dealing with a scene or incident related to pastoral, rustic or rural country life. It usually employs a romantic and sweeping tone to describe things.

E.g., Alfred Tennyson's English Idylls and Other Poems, and Robert Browning's Dramatic Idylls.

e. Metrical Romance

It is a narrative poem which portrays the emotions of a person or the stages of life. In metrical romances, the story is communicated in a simple, frank and authentic way.

E.g., John Milton's Paradise Lost, and S.T. Coleridge's The Rime of the Ancient Mariner.

f. Lyric

It is a type of poetry that presents the personal feelings of the speaker. Lyrics were originally meant be sung with the accompaniment of a lyre. Although lyrics differ from other types of poems in lacking a rhyme scheme, it is famous for its musical quality.

E.g., Emily Dickinson's "The Heart Asks Pleasure First", and W.B. Yeats" "He Wishes for the Cloths of Heaven".

g. Song

It is a lyric poem meant to be sung, especially with music, harmony and rhythm.

h. Sonnet

It is a lyric poem consisting of fourteen lambic pentameter lines. There are two types of sonnets - the Italian sonnet or the Petrarchan sonnet, and the English sonnet or the Shake- spearean sonnet. It is Thomas Wyatt and the Earl of Surrey who brought the sonnet form to

England. The sonnets of William Shakespeareand William Wordsworth are examples of English sonnets.

i. Ode

It is a type of lyric poem admiring or praising an incident or person, or illustrating nature both in rational as well as emotional terms. The Regular or Pindaric Ode is passionate while the Horatian ode is calm and meditative. P.B. Shelley's "Ode to the West Wind", and John Keats""Ode on a Grecian Urn" are examples of odes.

j. Elegy

It is a type of poem lamenting or commemorating the death of someone. The mood of an elegy is melancholic, contemplative and mournful.

E.g., John Milton's "Lycidas," and Lord Tennyson's "In Memoriam."

3. Explain the different forms of drama

Ans. Drama

It is a literary form primarily designed for the theatre and is accompanied by dialogue and performance. It presents fictional, or non-fictional elements, or incidents through performance. Dramas can be performed on stage, through films, or through radio. They are also known as plays, and the writers are known as playwrights. A closet drama is intended to be read rather than performed. Lord Byron's Manfred is a typical example.

The plays of Sophocles and the plays of William Shakespeare are classical dramas, where as Long Day's Journey into Night by Eugene O'Neill is an example of a modern play.

a. Historical

It is a play meant to be enacted on the stage, having historical plot and settings.

E.g. Shakespeare's play Antony and Cleopatra.

b. Comedy

It is a play meant to be enacted on the stage, having a plot with a happy ending.

E.g. Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest.

c. Tragedy

It is a play meant to be enacted on the stage, having a plot with a tragic ending, culminating in the death of the main characters.

E.g. Oedipus Rex written by Sophocles.

UNIT -2 EVOLUTION OF LITERATURE

OBJECTIVE QUESTIONS

1. Who wrote The Canterbury Tales?

Ans. Geoffrey chaucer

2. Who was the first English printer?

Ans. William caxton

3. What were the non fictional writings of the Victorian Age called?

Ans. Sage writings

4. What kind of play is Congreve's The Way of the World?

Ans. Comedy of manners

5. To which century did the Metaphysical Poets belong?

Ans. 17th

6. Who published Lyrical Ballads?

Ans. William Wordsworth ans S.T Coleridge

7. Who wrote dramatic monologues?

Ans. Robert Browning

8. Who wrote the poem "The Waste Land"?

Ans. T.S Eliot

9. Who introduced the Comedy of Ideas?

Ans. G.B shaw

10. In which Age did poetic comedy originate?

Ans. The Victorian age

11. Who was the revolutionary poet of the Romantic period?

Ans. P b Shelly

12. Which period is known as the Age of Readers?

Ans. The victorian age

13. What does the term 'Renaissance' mean?

Ans. Rebirth

14. What is the Puritan Age also known as?

Ans. The age of Milton

15. Name a poem by T.S. Eliot.

Ans. The waste land

QUESTIONS AND ANSWER

1.discuss the nature of literature written during the victorian period.

Ans.

The commencement of the Victorian period took place during the second quarter of the 19th century. The Victorian era was a very prolonged period, full of complexities. The period witnessed great change and progress in all spheres of life. It was an era of material affluence, political awakening, democratic reforms, industrial and mechanical progress, scientific advancement, social unrest, educational expansion, idealism, and pessimism.

The literature of this period, wonderfully richand varied in personal quality, embodies the

spirit of the age. The Victorian era is characterised by the following main currents which

transformed both life and literature. Philosophy, criticism and prose attained greater importance than poetry. But that did not mean that poetry was neglected. The three

great names under Victorian poetry are Alfred Tennyson, Robert Browning, and Mat-

thew Arnold. Tennyson is the most representative poet of the Victorian Age. His poetry is

a record of the intellectual and spiritual life of the time. Browning dealt with subjects thatf were rough and ugly, and he aimed to show at that truth was hidden in both the evil and the

good. Browning immortalised himself with his dramatic monologues. Matthew Arnold

stands in the direct line of poet critics from Sidney to T.S. Eliot. He defined poetry as a

criticism of life and explained that he meant a powerful application of ideas to life. Mi

nor poets of the Victorian Age are Elizabeth Barret Browning, D.G. Rossetti, Morris and

Swinburne. Of them, Rossetti was a leader of the Pre-Raphaelite Movement.

ovel.

The Victorian Age in English Literature is markable for the development of fiction and

novels. Its literary importance is as great as the Elizabethan drama of the Age of Elizabeth.

The novelists of this era Charles Dickens, Meredith, Thackeray, Thomas Hardy, George

Eliot and the Bronte Sisters- occupy a very high place in the history of English fiction.

Charles Kingsley, Charles Reade, Benjamin Disraeli, Wilkie Collins and Anthony Trollope

are a few worthy names to be mentioned in a discussion of social novels in Victorian Literature. The Victorian non-fictional prose is a rich sequel to the earlier traditions. The major, non-fictional prose writings of the period are known as "sage writings." The most meaningful contributions to the storehouse of sage writing are made by Thomas Carlyle, John Ruskin, and Matthew Arnold.

2. Who were the major writers of the neoclassical period? Discuss the contributions to literature of the period.

Ans.

The Neoclassical period spans between 1660 and 1798. It has further been classified into

two parts: the Restoration Period or the Age of Dryden (1660-1700), and the Classical Age or

the Augustan Age (18th Century). The Classical Age has been subcategorized into two distinct periods - the Age of Pope (1700-1744) and the Age of Johnson (1744-1784).

The Restoration Period is so called because monarchy was restored in England after the period of Oliver Cromwell in 1660. Charles Il returned from France, and was crowned in

England at that time. The period is alternately known as the Age of Dryden, as Dryden was

the greatest literary personality of the period. The society lacked the Elizabethan spirit of

patriotism, creative vigour and the passion for exploration and romance. Together with

this, Puritanism, with its moral discipline and worship of freedom also became extinct. The

writers of the age made two significant contributions to the world of English literature:

realism, and preciseness. jeje.The main feature of Restoration poetry is that it is mostly representative of the age, and satirical. The poets of the period, especially

Dryden, adopted heroic couplet as a means to express their emotions. He wrote in an elo-

quent and powerful manner, which paved the stones for the classical school of poetry.

Restoration drama displayed entirely new characteristics, as it originated after enduring

rigorous changes in the social and political conditions. For these writers, prose was the medium of expression, and they expressed a realistic, intellectual and critical attitude towards human life and the problems pertaining to it.

The most famous form of drama that flourished during the Restoration Period was the Comedy of Manners, which satirically pre- peculiarity of the prose writings of this period

was that it exhibited the fealides of classical sented the false sophistications and manner-

isms of the dominant classes of the society. prose like, preciseness and clarity in expres

The most popular dramatist belonging to this sion, and direct statement of things genre was William Congreve. The second half of the Augustan Age is also The Restoration literature excelled in the known as the Age of Johnson, because the lit field of prose. There emerged a unique style. erature of the age was dominated by the works of writing in prose, which could be employed of Dr. Samuel Johnson. Towards the end of for plain narrative, practical business, and dis- the period, an aversion towards classicism,

cussion of complicated issues. Dryden, John and an attraction towards the romantic spirit

Bunyan, William Temple, Thomas Sprat, and were fottered. The change was clearly visible

Viscount Halifax were the prominent prose in the poetry of the time. The poets, who

writers. John Bunyan also was a predominant their poetry showed affinity towards the Ro

figure in prose literature of the period, whose mantic ideas, are considered as the precursors

famous works include The Pilgrim's Progress of the Romantic period. Some of them are

Thomas Gray, William Blake, James Thomson, William Cowper, William Collins, and

George Crabbe. As the age showed an affinity towards Romanticism, it is also known as the

Age of Transition. The 18th century in English literature is known

as the Classical Age, the Augustan Age, the Age of Prose, the Age of Reason or the Age of

Good Sense. Prose occupied a superior position in the history of English literature in this

period. The most noteworthy achievement of this

period was the birth and growth of the novel genre. Novel, which is an unavoidable genre

in literature today, was nurtured by the eminent writers of the period, like Daniel Defoe,

Richardson, Smollet and Fielding The first half of the 18th Century is known as the Age of Pope, because it was Alexander Pope who was the predominant writer of that

period. Although the poetry of his period is not high poetry, it still had some attractive fea-

tures like the versification that was technically beautiful, the precision in terms of expression

and satirical quality. The period was also rich in prose. The main prose writers of the period were Samuel Johnson, Edmund Burke, and Edward Gibbon.

These writers can be considered as the pillars of the period, and embodied in themselves the

chief achievements of English prose. The Age of Johnson was succeeded by the Romantic

Period. The publication of Lyrical Ballads, by William Wordsworth and S. T. Coleridge, in

1798, marked the end of the Neoclassical era.

UNIT-3 LITERATURE AND SOCIETY

OBJECTIVE QUESTIONS

1. P.B. Shelley's revolutionary poem "Ode to the West Wind" can be considered as

an example of which function of poetry?

Ans. Ideological function

2. Which societal influence caused the lack of freedom for the writers of the

Elizabethan period?

Ans . patronage

3. Give an example of the entertainment function of literature.

Ans.S.T.colerige's"kubla Khan"

4. What can be considered a mirror to society?

Ans . literature

5. What does the linguistic function of literature help to improve?

Ans . language skills

6. Give an example of a novel that portrays the society after industrialization.

Ans . Charles Dickens 'olivertwist

7. Which function of literature does Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart serve?

Ans . cultural function

8. Whose poems depict the ideological function of literature?

Ans.W.B.yeats

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

1.what are the functions of literature in society?

Ans.

(a)Educational Function

Literature teaches society about many aspects of life. It is used to present the facets of life

that can be seen by the people, and even those that they can never dream of. It teaches peo-

ple about the prevailing social, political andeconomic systems. For example, the strong political allegory in George Orwell's novel The Animal Farm makes us aware of the Corruption of socialist ideals in the Soviet Union at that time.

(b)Cultural Function

Literature has an inseparable relationship with culture. It portrays the life and culture of people of a particular place or society. It presents the traditional notions and conventions that have been handled down from one generation to another. For example, a reading of Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart opens the eyes of the readers to the customs and traditions of the Igbo community.

(c)Ideological Function

Literature influences society by inculcating revolutionary ideas and diverse means of thinking in its members. W.B. Yeats' poems present strong revolutionary ideals which were prevalent during the time of the Irish Revolution.

(d)Linguistic Function

Every literary work makes use of language. Hence, literature acts as a means of development in the language skills of the readers.

Apart from this, it also helps in enhancing their vocabulary and grammar.

(e)To Entertain People

Other than the educational function, literature has a function of imparting pleasure to the

readers. It transforms the readers to imaginary worlds. S.T. Coleridge's poem "Kubla Khan" transports theg readers to the supernatural world of Xanadu.

(f)To Liberate People

A literary work acts as a source for the liberation of minds from the fetters of unfavourable

conditions. It also helps people in identifying and overcoming political oppression, social

injustice, inequalities of gender, caste, creed and colour. For example, after reading Mulk

Raj Anand's Untouchable, a person who faces or confronts the social evil of untouchability

can be awakened against enduring or practising that tradition.

(g)To Critique the Society

Literary works can serve as a means to critique the society by alluding to the social in-

justices and evils. On reading them, the society becomes aware of these, and it determines

to take prevention measures. Osman Conteh's novel, Unanswered Cries condemns the practice of female genital mutilation in some African societies.

UNIT-4 MARIOK KLARER:"WHAT IS LITERATURE? WHAT IS A TEXT"?

OBJECTIVE QUESTIONS

1. What is the etymological meaning of the word literature?

Ans .letter

2. Which are the two forms of literature?

Ans.oral and written

3. Name a most recent hybrid form of oral literature.

Ans. the internet

4. In what form did the visual component of literature gain prominence

during the Middle Ages?

Ans .as handwritten documents

5. Who propagated the earliest forms of oral literature?

Ans . minstrel and bards

6. What is the development of different genres of literature called?

Ans . poetics

7. What can be considered a precursor of the modern novel?

Ans .epic

8. What is the term used for highly conventional written documents?

Ans . text type

9. What is the term used for oral and written works that share a common feature?

Ans . discourse

10. Give an example of a primary source.

Ans. fiction

11. What informs the readers about the latest developments in research?

Ans . journals

12. What is a collection of essays called?

Ans . anthology

13. Dissertations are examples of?

Ans.monograph

14. What is an anthology published to honour a single person called?

Ans.festschrift

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

1.blur the difference between primary sources and secondary sources?

Ans.Primary sources are those traditional objects of analysis in literary criticism, which include texts of all literary genres, such as fiction, po-

etry or drama. Secondary sources are texts, like articles or

essays, book reviews and notes, primarily published in scholarly journals. It is through journals that the readers are informed aboutthe latest advancements in research are published as collections or anthologies They are compiled by one or more editors. If

an anthology is published in honour of a famous researcher, it is known as a festschrift

which is a German term. Monographs are lengthy scholarly treatises, like dissertations

and scholarly books. Secondary literature gives importance to

scholarly practices that have been established for scientific discourse, including objectivity,

documentation of sources, and general validity, which enable the readers to check the

validity of the statements. The reader of a secondary source should be able to refer back

each quotation or paraphrase to the source from which it has been derived.

#qa

#offidam