You have to memorise facts about the author, major works, details of publication and first performance of the dramas.
Date of Composition or Publication.
The question paper includes questions regarding the exact date of a poem was written or published.
For example, you may expect a question like this:
Question: When was the poem “Obituary” published?
Answer: 1971
Title of the Anthology.
It is a common question in all competitive exams to select the title of the anthology from which a poem or essay is taken.
Question: The essay “On the Rule of the Road” by A. G. Gardiner is taken from the anthology ------------
Answer: Leaves in the Wind.
First Performance of Drama
In the case of dramas, it is usually the name of the theatres where it was first performed. This assures the examiner that the candidate is familiar with the poet/ dramatist and his works. You may expect a question like this:
Question: The School for Scandal was first performed in London at -------- on 8th May, 1777.
Answer: Drury Lane
Sources of the Plot.
Dramatists usually work with existing plots and develop them into interesting plays. For example, Shakespeare’s primary source for English history plays was Raphael Holinshed's Chronicles of England, Scotland, and Ireland. Similarly, Girish Karnad adapted plots of his plays from the Mahabharatha. Of course, novels and other literary forms also have interesting sources.
Question: Nagamandala is based on two folk stories Karnad heard from his guru -----------------
Answer: A K Ramanujan
Textual Details (Plot, Setting, and Character):
In order to answer these types of questions, you need to read the text thoroughly and note down important details.
Setting
Note down the town or place where the story takes place. In addition, try to remember places where important actions happened. For example, you may get a question like:
Question: Where does most of the action in the novel The Bluest Eye take place?
Answer: Lorain, Ohio
Character Details:
It is important to remember the profession of characters, their specific traits, relationships and allegiances.
For example, you may expect questions like:
Question: By profession, the protagonist of Roots and Shadows, Indu, is a/an----------------------?
Answer: Journalist.
Question: Who is Santiago’s hero?
Answer: Joe DiMaggio
Plot Points.
Read the texts thoroughly so that you know every detail of the plot. Pay attention to specific events, especially from the beginning or end of a text.
Question: With whom does Napoleon play cards at the end of the novel Animal Farm?
Answer: Mr. Pilkington
Structural and Formal Analysis
Literary Form
Identify the Genre of a poem or play or novel. Note down whether a poem is an epic, a dramatic monologue or an ode. Similarly, note whether a drama is a tragedy, comedy or a tragicomedy. Usually these types of questions come from poetry.
For example, you may expect a question like:
Question: The poem “Africa” is --------------
Answer: A dramatic monologue.
Poetic Structure
When studying poetry, note down who is the speaker of the poem. It is also important to know how many speakers are there in a poem and the number of stanzas.
You may expect question like:
Question: How many stanzas does the poem “Because I Could Not Stop for Death” have?
Answer: 6
Literary and Poetic Devices
Identifying the primary literary devices of a poem and the meaning of imagery is very important.
You may expect a question like:
Question: The most important literary device employed in the poem “This is a Photograph of me” is -----------
Answer: Enjambment.
Thematic and Critical Understanding
Themes in Prose
While studying essays, identify the important argument of an essay. You may expect a question like:
Question: According to Bertrand Russel, ----------- is essential to the proper fulfilment of the teacher’s functions.
Answer: Intellectual independence.
Critical Interpretation of a Work
Make sure that you are familiar with a specific critic’s view on a work. These questions are a bit difficult to answer as modern theorists such as psychoanalysts or feminists have made in-depth studies on older texts. But remember that difficult questions decide the rank holder. So, pay attention to this section.
For example, you may expect a question like:
Question: Name the Shakespearean critic who argues that Macbeth begins “by unleashing the terrible threat of destructive maternal power and demonstrates the helplessness of its central male figure before that power”?
Answer: Janet Adelman
Understanding Critical Texts
It is important to remember specific references made within a prescribed essay. This often comes in critical essays in which authors will quote other texts in order to support their argument.
For example, you may get a question like:
Question: Which cantos of Dante’s Inferno are referred to in the essay “Tradition and the Individual Talent”?
Answer: Cantos XV and XXVI
