Kerala PSC HSA English Rank File Series – 4 Solved Model Question Paper

8. ............... is often described as chronologically Victorian and qualitatively a modern poet.

     Answer: Gerard Manley Hopkins

• G M Hopkins was born in 1844 and died in 1889.
• Use of imagery and experimental exploration of poetic language make him distinct from other major Victorian poets.
• Though Mathew Arnold is also considered as Modern by some critics because of the skeptical and lamenting tone of his poems, this is a shared quality of many Victorian writers.
• As modernist writers are known for their experimental  language use, new coinage of words like "inscape" "instress" and the use of images like 'winghover' qualifies Hopkins as a precursor of modernist poetry.
• In  "The Wreck of the Deutschland", Hopkins introduced Sprung Rhythm, which was odd in Victorian period. Later writers like W.H. Auden, Dylan Thomas, and Charles Wright turned to Hopkins use of innovative language.
• His was poetry of the inner self which was a unique feature of modernist writings. 

9.  The subtitle of 'Andrea Del Sarto' is ____

         Answer: The Faultless Painter

• Andrea was a painter whose craft was technically perfect but he lost the inner/spiritual inspiration needed for artistic creations. This is a comment on Victorian society which lacked spiritual life but was materially progressive. 
• Other important subtitles:

Title/ Author of the work	Subtitle
Pygmalion by Bernard Shaw	"A Romance in Five Acts."
The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde	“ A Trivial Comedy for Serious People”

 
10. Charles Lamb's sister appears with the name ____in his essays. 

         Answer:  Briget Elia

• Charles Lamb and his sister Mary Lamb co authored a book for children - Tales From Shakespeare.
• In his essays 'Elia' is Lamb himself and 'Briget' is his sister Mary Lamb.

11. ____ is a poetic form perfected by Browning.

        Answer:  Dramatic Monologue.

• My Last Duchess, Laboratory: An Ancient Regime are examples of dramatic monologue.
• In a dramatic monologue, there is an omniscient speaker who begins his narration at a dramatic moment. There is a silent listener whose responses will be expressed by the speaker. Most often, monologues are exploration of the thoughts of the main character.
•   This equipped Browning to bring out the hidden interior thoughts of human mind.

12. "As flies to wanton boys are we to gods. They kill us for their sport." Whose words are these ?
            
            Answer: Gloucester.

• This lines are taken from Shakespeare's tragedy King Lear.  Hamlet, Othello and Macbeth are other important tragedies by Shakespeare.

Emily Dickinson as a mystic poet

                            Modern interpreters of Emily Dickinson’s poems have succeeded in theorizing her stand points. Her poems are considered as feminist, Psychoanalytic etc. but a close readings of her poems will reveal that they are more metaphysical than material.

                            Ambivalence is the key in analyzing Ms. Dickinson’s poems. When she deals with ‘Death’ she presents ambivalent nature of all things. It is common in her poems to see God or Death as cruel as well as compassionate. As William Blake's poetry testify, this is an essential feature mystic writings, which synthesize the contradictory faces of the world in to an organic whole.

Summary of the novel Kanthapura by Raja Rao

    Raja Rao’s first novel Kanthapura (1938) is the story of a village in south India named Kanthapura. The novel is narrated in the form of a ‘sthalapurana’ by an old woman of the village, Achakka. Kanthapura is a traditional caste ridden Indian village which is away from all modern ways of living. Dominant castes like Brahmins are privileged to get the best region of the village whereas Sudras, Pariahs are marginalized. The village is believed to have protected by a local deity called Kenchamma. Though casteist,  the village has got a long nourished traditions of festivals in which all castes interact and the villagers are united.

    The main character of the novel Moorthy is a Brahmin who discovered a half buried ‘linga’ from the village and installed it. A temple is built there, which later became the centre point of the village life. All ceremonies and festivals are celebrated within the temple premises.

    Hari-Kathas, a traditional form of storytelling, was practiced in the village. Hari-Kathas are stories of Hari(God). One Hari-Katha man, Jayaramachar, narrated a Hari Katha based on Gandhi and his ideals. The narrator was arrested because of the political propaganda instilled in the story.

    The novel begins its course of action when Moorthy leaves for the city where he got familiar with Gandhian philosophy through pamphlets and other literatures. He followed Gandhi in letter and spirit. He wore home spun khaddar. Discarded foreign clothes and fought against untouchability. This turned the village priest, a Brahmin, against him who complained to the swami who was a supporter of foreign government and Moorthy was ex-communicated.  Heartbroken to hear it, his mother Narasamma passed away.

    Bade Khan was a police officer, a non hindu of Kanthapura. He was brought and supported by the coffee planters who were Englishmen. Considered as an outsider, Bade khan is an enemy of the people who refuses to provide shelter to him.

    After the death of his mother, Moorthy started living with an educated widow Rangamma, who took part in India’s struggle for freedom. Moorthy was invited by Brahmin clerks at Skeffington coffee estate to create an awareness among the coolies of the estate. When Moorthy turned up, Bade Khan hit him and the pariah coolies stood with Moorthy.  Though he succeeded in following Gandhian non violence principle, the incident made him sad and unhappy.  

    Rachanna and family were thrown out of the estate because of their role in beating Bade Khane. Meanwhile, Moorthy continued his fight against injustice and social inequality and became a staunchest ally of Gandhi. Taking the responsibility of the violent actions happened at the estate; Moorthy went on a three day long fasting and came out victorious and morally elated.Following the footsteps of Gandhi, a unit of the congress committee was formed in Kanthapura. Gowada, Rangamma, Rachanna and seenu were elected as the office bearers of the committee and they avowed to follow Gandhi’s teachings.

    Fearing the greater mobility of people of Kanthapura under the leadership of Moorthy, the foreign government accused him of provoking people to inflict violence it and arrested him. Though Rangamma and Rachanna were willing to release him on bail, he refused. He was punished for three months rigorous imprisonment.

    While Moorthy spent his days in prison, the women of Kanthapura took charge of the struggle for freedom. They formed Women’s Volunteer Corps under the leadership of Rangamma who instilled patriotism among the women by presenting thr historical figures like Laxmi Bai of thansi, rajput princess, Sarojini Naidu etc... Moorthy was released later and he came out as strong as he was. People thronged at his house were dispersed peacefully.

    Dandi March, Picketting of Boranna’s toddy grove were other activities led by Moorthy after his release. Arrest of the satyagrhis, and police brutality to women became a part of the everyday life of the people in Kanthapura. Atrocities against women added miseries of the people. In the last part o the novel, it is mentioned that people of the village were settled in Kashipur and Kanthapura was occupied by people from Bombay.

Kerala PSC HSA English Rank File Series – 3 Solved Model Question Paper

5. ...................reproduced King Lear with a comic ending.

Answer : Nahum Tate in 1681

• This version of King Lear was a tragicomedy in which the king regains his throne,Cordelia marries Edgar and ends happily.
• Major English writers like William Hazlitt, Charles Lamb, Joseph Addison, and Anna Jameson condemned Nahum Tate's reproduction.
• Samuel Johnson approved  it. 
• In the play Edgar declares at the end: "Truth and virtue shall at last succeed"
• Tate's play also has V acts but the character fool was omitted. 

Shakespearean adaptations are plenty. A few important dramatic reproductions/adaptations are given below.

 

Shakespeare’s plays	Adaptations/ Reproduction
·         King Lear	·         The History of King Lear – Nahum Tate. ·         Lear – Edward Bond
·         Antony and Cleopatra	·         Caesar and Cleopatra – Bernard Shaw
·         Hamlet	·         Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead - Tom Stoppard

6. .......................... is the longest of Shakespeare's plays.

Answer: Hamlet(4024 lines)

• Smallest Shakespeare play - Comedy of Errors
• Last play by Shakespeare ( swan song) - The Tempest.
• First ply - Henry VI, Part One. 1590-91

7. The autobiographical  poem written by Wordsworth is ..............................
Answer: The Prelude.

• Tintern Abbey is a poem in which Wordsworth develops his relationship with nature.
• Wordsworth, Coleridge and Robert Southey are described as 'Lake Poets' because they lived in the lake district of Cumbria in the early part of 19th century.
• The label 'Lake Poets' were first used in Edinburgh Review.

8. .................. defined poetry as 'the best words in the best order'
Answer: Coleridge.

•  Coleridge described prose and poetry as  Prose is the words in their best order. Poetry is the the best words in their best order.
• Philip Sidney commented that “Poetry…is…a speaking picture, with this end: to teach and delight.”
• “A poem begins in delight and ends in wisdom.” -Robert Frost
• "Poetry is a criticism of life"- Arnold

7. Who said of  Shelly: ''He is a beautiful and ineffectual angel beating in the void his luminous wings in vain?''
Answer: Mathew Arnold

• Mathew Arnold is a Victorian poet and critic.
• He was classicist and advocated reflective, thoughtful and intelligent poems than emotional outburst.
• According to Arnold, Shelly's poems lack reflection, stoicism, and austerity.