What aspect of death does the poet Emily Dickinson highlight in her poems?

(i) They added ridge to valley, brook to pond And signed for all that bounded their domain; This suits me for a pasture; that’s my park; We must have clay, lime, gravel, granite-ledge,

(ii) The Past!. the past! the past! The Past-the dark unfathom’d retrospect! The teeming gulf-the sleepers and the shadows! The past-the infinite greatness of the part! For what is the present after all but a growth out of the past?

(iii) Because I could not stop for Death– He kindly stopped for me– The carriage held just ourselves And Immortality.

(iv) Exult O shores, and ring O bells! But I with mournful tread. Walk the deck my captain lies, Fallen cold and dead.

(i) They added ridge to valley, brook to pond And signed for all that bounded their domain; This suits me for a pasture; that’s my park; We must have clay, lime, gravel, granite-ledge,

(ii) The Past!. the past! the past! The Past-the dark unfathom’d retrospect! The teeming gulf-the sleepers and the shadows! The past-the infinite greatness of the part! For what is the present after all but a growth out of the past?

(iii) Because I could not stop for Death– He kindly stopped for me– The carriage held just ourselves And Immortality.

(iv) Exult O shores, and ring O bells! But I with mournful tread. Walk the deck my captain lies, Fallen cold and dead.

Discuss Thomas Hardy’s philosophical views. In what way is his philosophy as expressed in Far From the Madding Crowd different from that in later novels like The Mayor of Casterbridge?

Discuss Thomas Hardy’s philosophical views. In what way is his philosophy as expressed in Far From the Madding Crowd different from that in later novels like The Mayor of Casterbridge?

According to Terry Eagleton, the real heroines of the play Macbeth, are the witches. Do you agree with this view? Justify your answer with your views on the role of the witches in Macbeth.

Write a short essay on Bernard Shaw’s political vision. To what extent did this vision colour his dramatic work?

The ‘Victorian Conflict’ as expressed in the poems of Tennyson.

The ‘Banquet Scene’ in Macbeth.

Tennyson’s “Idylls of the King” and the Arthurian Legend.

Thomas Hardy and the fictional region of Wessex.

Explain the following passages with reference to the context. 

1. “I have no spur To prick the sides of my intent, but only Vaulting ambition, which o’erleaps itself And falls on th’ other.”

2. “Out, damned spot: out I say! One, Two: Why then ’tis Time to do’t. Hell is murky. Fie, My Lord, fie: a Soldier, and affear’d? What need we fear? Who knows it, When none can call our Power to accompt”?

3. “How strange it is to be talked to in such a way! You know, I’ve always gone on like that. I mean the noble attitude and the thrilling voice. I did it when I was a tiny child to my nurse. She believed in it. I do it before my parents. They believe in it.”

4. “Thou hast betray’d thy nature and thy name, Not rendering true answer, as beseem’d Thy fealty, nor like a noble knight: For surer sign had follow’d, either hand, Or voice, or else a motion of the mere.”

What do you think women’s writing seeks to express?

Why does one need to study Dalit literature?

The Bhakti movement and Sufi movements.

‘The Mad Lover’.

Explain the following with reference to the context:

1. I was in the beginning, I would be there in the end Who could be wiser than me? None else is primed of this secret (Though) I know not who I am

2. I am the boat, you are the sea, and also the boatman. Though you never make the shore, though you let me sink, why should I be foolish and afraid? Is reaching the shore a greater prize than losing myself with you? If you are only the haven, as they say, then what is the sea? 

3. I cannot touch The shadow of your wing. I will be born again and again. As a devil, A ghost, As Kali, And Isaki. 

4. These are the colours of destiny of immutable truth and the colours also with which warring pawns are daily decorating our towns.

You would like to invite your friend to join your family while celebrating a festival. Write a letter to him/her describing the festival and inviting him/her to join you to celebrate it.

The Residents’ Association in your colony has been organizing several activities to support the poor and the needy during the lockdown. Write a short report about these activities (in around 250 words).

You have been asked to speak to a group of school students on the topic: “Joining hands to reduce air-pollution in our town.” Write out the speech in about 300 words