Rajshahi University Dept. of English Questions on Literary Criticism 2020-2013
B.A. (Honours) English Part III Examination 2020
Course 306 (Literary Criticism)
Full Marks: 90 Time: 4 Hours
[N.B. Question no. 6 carries 10 marks, and the others carry 20 marks each. Answer question no. 6 and FOUR others.]
1. a) The term ‘mimesis in the Poetics must be taken as referring not to some kind of aid or parallel to nature, but to the making of a likeness or image of nature. Discuss.
Or, b) How does Aristotle, in the Poetics, formulate the distinction between simple and complex plots?
2. a) Comment on how Wordsworth exalts the nature of poetry in Preface to Lyrical Ballads. Or,
b) How does Wordsworth emphasize the individualism of the poet in his Preface to Lyrical Ballads?
3. a) How does Coleridge explain his ideas of a poem and poetry itself in Biographia Literaria?
Or. b) How does Coleridge examine the distinction between imagination and fancy in his Biographia Literaria?
(4. a) In “Tradition and the Individual Talent”, Eliot’s conception of art focuses attention not upon the
poet but upon poetry. Elucidate. Or,
b) How does Eliot demonstrate the interdependence between a poet and his tradition in “Tradition and the Individual Talent?
5. a) “Intentional Fallacy” challenges the Romantic conception of literature as a vehicle of personal expression. Elucidate.
Or. b) Affective fallacy involves the error of evaluation of a text on the basis of its emotional effects on the reader. Expand on the statement.
6. Write short notes on any TWO of the following:
a) Pity and Fear
b) Depersonalization
c) Historical Sense
d) Recollection in Tranquility
e) Objective Correlative
f) Hubris
Rajshahi University
BA Honours Part Ill Examination 2019 : English
Course: 306 (Literary Criticism)
Time: 4 Hours Full Marks: 90
[NB: Question 6 carries 10 marks and the others carry 20 marks each. Answer question 6 and four others.]
- a) In the Poetics, Aristotle contends that the plot is the soul and first principle of tragedy. Or,
b) For Aristotle, catharsis implies the purification or aesthetic depersonalization of our usually selfish emotions of pity and fear. Comment. - a) In Preface to Lyrical Ballads, Wordsworth expatiates on the nature of the poetic process, the origin and purpose of poetry, and the language most suitable for it. Elucidate. Or,
b) “There neither is nor can be any essential difference between the language of prose and metrical composition.” Do you agree with this statement? Give reasons for your answer. - a) How does Coleridge criticize Wordsworth’s theories in the Biographia Literaria? Or,
b) How does Coleridge formulate his theory of imagination and its implications for the art of poetry in the Biographia Literaria?
- a) In “Tradition and the Individual Talent”, Eliot states categorically: “No poet, no artist of any sort, has his complete meaning alone.” Explain the implications of this statement. Or,
b) How is Eliot’s view of poetry different from the Romantic poetic ideals?
- a) Why does Eagleton, in The Rise of English, draw our attention to the fact that the era of the academic establishment of English is also the era of high imperialism in England? Elucidate in the light of The Rise of English. Or,
b) How does Eagleton differentiate between 18th and 19th-century views of literature in The Rise of English? - Write short notes on any two of the following:
a) A complex plot
b) Esemplastic power
c) Poetic diction
d) F. R. Leavis
e) Dante
BA Honours Part Ill Examination 2018
Department of English
Course: 306 (Literary Criticism)
Full Marks: 90 Time 4 hours
[Question no.8 carries 10 marks and others carry 20 marks each. Answer question no. 8 and four others. Question no. 2 is from 2016 syllabus]
- a) Aristotle in Poetics defines poetry as imitation. Explore the implications of this definition. Or
b) Discuss reversal, discovery and calamity as elements of a complex plot. What are the different kinds of discovery?
- a) Comment on Johnson’s evaluation of Shakespeare in his Preface to Shakespeare as a poet of nature. Or,
b) How does Johnson defend Shakespeare’s violation of the unities of time and place? - a) How does Wordsworth glorify poets and poetry in Preface to Lyrical Ballads? Or,
b) Wordsworth’s theory of poetry enunciated in the Preface is full of contradictions. Refute or justify this statement. - a) Secondary imagination is “identical with the primary in the kind of its agency, and differing only in degree and in the mode of its operation.” Elucidate. Or,
b) How does Coleridge analyse the originality of Wordsworth’s poetry in Biographia Literaria? - a) Why does Arnold, in The Study of Poetry, state categorically that poetry is a religious act? Or,
b) Comment on Arnold’s evaluation of Pope and Dryden as poets in his The Study of Poetry. - a) How does Eliot clarify our understanding of the interaction between an individual poet and her/his “Tradition and the Individual Talent“? Or
b) In”Tradition and the Individual Talent” Eliot emphasises the necessity of differentiating the eperience of the man from the activity of the artist. Elucidate. - a) Why does Eagleton attribute the growth of English studies in the later nineteenth century to the failure of religion? Or,
b) English in England was “the offspring of the provincial petty bourgeoisie.” Explain how.
a) ln Preface to the Lyrical Ballads, Wordsworth asserts that poetry is the expression or overflow of feeling, or emerges from a process of imagination in which feelings play the crucial part. Elucidate. Write short notes on any two of the following:
a) Poetic Truth and Historical Truth
b) Depersonalisation
c) Fancy
d) Hubris
e) Catalyst
BA (Honours) English P-III Examination 2017
Course: 306 (Literary Criticism)
Time: 4 hours Full Marks: 90[Answer Question No. 8 and Four others. Q. each.) No. 8 carries 10 marks and the others carry 20 marks each.]
- a) What does Aristotle say in Poetics about the media, objects and manner of poetic imitation? Or,
b) What, according to Aristotle, are the constituent elements of tragedy? Comment on the interdependence of their relationship. - a) ln Preface to Shakespeare, the penetrating power of Johnson’s perception enables him to be an even-headed critic of Shakespeare. Comment. Or,
b) “Shakespeare with his excellences has likewise faults….” What excellences and faults of Shakespeare does Johnson point out in his Preface to Shakespeare? - a) ln Preface to the Lyrical Ballads, Wordsworth asserts that poetry is the expression or overflow of feeling, or emerges from a process of imagination in which feelings play the crucial part. Elucidate. Or,
b) Write a critique on Wordsworth’s four stages of poetic development. - a) What is Coleridge’s view of the language of poetry in Biographia Literaria? How is it diffferent from Wordsworth’s view in Preface to Lyrical Balalds? Or,
b) What, according to Coleridge, are the principal features of the secondary imagination? Comment on the relationship between the secondary imagination and the primary imagination. - a) “Poetry is not a turning-loose of emotion, but an escape from emotion; it is not the expression of personality, but an escape from personality.” How does Eliot validate this statement in “Tradition and individual Talent”? Or,
b) Tradition involves the perception of the presentness of the past as well as the pastness of the present. Explain with reference to ‘Tradition and the Individual Talentu. - (a) How does Arnold determine the principal features of a classic in The Study of Poetry? Or,
(b) What is Arnold’s view of Chaucer as a poet?
- (a) How does Eagleton evaluate the achievement of the Scrutiny movement in the context of the growth of English studies in the early 1930s in “The Rise of English”? Or,
(b) Why does Eagleton assert that the era of the academic establishment of English is also the era of high imperialism in England?
Write short notes on any two of the following:
(a) personal estimate and historic estimate
(b) esemplastic power
(c) pity and fear
(d)Shakespeare as a poet of nature
(e) poetic diction
BA Honours English Part III Examination 2016
Course 306: Literary Criticism
Full Marks: 90 Time:4 Hours
[Question no. 8 carries 10 marks and Others carry 20 marks each. Answer question no. 8 and four others.]
1. a) Why does Aristotle, in Poetics,contend that the plot is the life-blood of tragedy?
b) Why does Aristotle, in Poetics, assert that the full tragic effect requires the union of the emotions of pity and fear?
2. a) Examine Johnson’s defense of Shakespeare’s mingling of the comic and the tragic in his Preface to Shakespeare. Or,
b)Johnson’s failure to appreciate the tragedies of Shakespeare can be attributed to his preconceived opinions and grievances. Discuss.
3. a)Do you support Wordsworth’s statement that “there neither is, nor can be, any essential difference between the language of prose and metrical composition “? Give reasons for your answer. Or,
b) How, according to Wordsworth, is a poet different from and superior to ordinary men?
4. a) Why does Coleridge assert, in Biographia Literaria, that fancy and imagination “are two distinct and widely different faculties”? Or,
b) Biogaphia Literaria contains some of the most penetrating insights into the nature of Wordsworth’s poetry. Elucidate.
5. a)What does Eliot say in “Tradition and Individual Talent” about the relation between a present poet and poets of the past? Or,
b) For Eliot a poem is to be assessed by what it is rather than by what it says. Discuss.
6. a) Comment on Eagleton’s view of literature as expressed in “The Rise of English”. Or,
b) How, according to Eagleton, was English literature used as an alternative ideology in Victorian England?
7. a) How does Trilling demonstrate the relevance of the Freudian method of interpretation to literary studies in “Freud and Literature”? Or,
b) How does Trilling analyze the inadequacies of the Freudian method of interpreting literature in “Freud and Literature”?
8. Write short notes on any two of the following:
a) Simple and complex plots
b) Dramatic Unities
c) Spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings
d) Poetic Truth and Historical Truth
BA (Hons) English Part II Examination 2015
Course: 306 (Literary Criticism)
Time: 4 hours Marks: 90
[N. B. Question No. 8 carries 10 marks others carry 20 marks each. Answer Question No 8 any four others.]
1. a) How does Aristotle examine the relationship between plot and character in the Poetics?
Or, b) Analyse Aristotle’s distinction between tragedy and epic. How does he prove that tragedy is the better of the two?
2. a) How does Johnson, in his “Preface to Shakespeare”, exalt Shakespeare as a poet of nature? Or,
b) In his criticism of Shakespeare, Johnson at once follows and deviates from the Neo-Classical
tenets. Elucidate.
3. a) “Preface to Lyrical Ballads” provides a theoretical justification for a new kind of poetry. Comment. Or,
b) Discuss Wordsworth’s views about the characters, incidents and situations to be treated in
poetry. To what extent do you agree with him?
4. a) How does Coleridge analyse the nature of Wordsworth’s poetry in Biographia Literaria? Or,
b) Analyse Coleridge’s definitions of the primary imagination and the secondary imagination.
5. a) Eliot in “Tradition and Individual Talent” appears to uphold both innovation and conservatism in
literary form. Show how. Or,
b) Critically discuss Eliot’s contention that poetry is “an escape from equation…an escape from
Personality”.
6. a) Comment on Eagleton’s main argument about the rise and role of English literary studies in “The Rise of English”. Or,
b) Discuss how Eagleton views the theoretical development in English up to the New Criticism phase.
7. a) In “Freud and Literature”, Trilling argues that psychoanalysis cannot determine the true meaning of a work of art, because there is no single meaning, Elucidate.
Or, b) How, according to Trilling, does Freudian psychology make poetry “indigenous to the very
constitution of the mind”?
8. Write short notes on any two of the following:
a) Catharsis
b) Poetic diction
c) Depersonalisation
d) Unity of action
e) Poetic justice
BA Honours English Part III Exanıination 2014
Course 306 : Literary Criticism
Time: 4 Hours Full Marks: 90
[Question 6 carries 10 marks and others carry 20 marks each. Answer Question 6 and Four others.]
1. a) What does Aristotle say about the media, objects, and manner of poetịc imitation? Or,
b) Aristotle’s emphasis falls on the imitation in words of human action, passion and characters. Discuss.
2. a) According to Johnson, Shakespeare’s merits far outweigh his faults. Comment.
Or, b) Comment on Johnson’s evaluation of Shakespeare as a writer of tragedy and that of comedy.
3. a) Coleridge’s Biographia Literaria contains an outstanding important critique of Wordsworth’s poetry. Elucidate.
Or, b) In Biogruphia Literaria Coleridge provides a philosophical explanation of the distinction between fancy and imagination. Comment.
4. a) What, according to Wordsworth, are the four stages of the process of the poetic creation? Elaborate. Or,
b) Wordsworth denies the existence of any essential difference between the language of prose and metrical composition. Discuss the implication of this denial.
5. a) How does Eliot explore the complex nature of the interaction between the impersonality of tradition and the personality of the artist in “Tradition and the Individual Talent”?
Or, b) Write an essay on Eliot’s theory of depersonalization with reference to his “Tradition and the Individual Talent”.
6. Write short notes on any two of the following:
a) Pity and Fear
b) Escmplastic power
c) The structure and the texture of a poem
d) Wordsworth’s views on metre.
BA Honours English Part III Examination 2013
Course 306 : (Literary Criticism)
Time: 4 hours Full Marks: 90
[ N.B. Question- 6 carries 10 marks and others carry 20 marks each. Answer Questions 6 and four
Others.]
1. a) What, according to Aristotle, are the constituent elements of tragedy? Comment on the interdependence of their relationship.
Or. b) For Aristotle, catharsis implies the purification or aesthetic depersonalisation of our selfish emotions. Elucidate.
2. a) Comment on Shakespeare as a poet of nature in the light of Johnson’s Preface to Shakespeare. Or,
b) Johnson’s praise for Shakespeare does not blind him to the poet of nature’s weaknesses. Discuss
3. a) What, according to toʻWordsworth’s Preface to Lyrical Ballads, are the basic stages of poetic composition? Discuss them in detail. Or,
b) According to Wordsworth, the most important function of poetry is, by its pleasurable resources, to foster and subtilise the sensibility, emotions, and sympathies of the reader. Elucidate
4. a) What, according to Coleridge, is the secondary imagination? Identify the hallmark of this specific faculty. Or,
b) What is Coleridge’s view of Wordswortli’s view of poetry, as expressed in Biographia Literaria?
5. a) What does Eliot mean by ‘tradition’ and historical sense’ in his “Tradition and the Individual Talent”? Or.
bj Write an essay on Eliot’s theory of impartiality in the light of your reading of “Tradition and the Individual Talent”.
6. Write short notes on any two of the following:
a) Poetic diction
b) Plot
c) Primary imagination
d) Anxiety of influence
Rajshahi University Dept. of English Syllabus on Literary Criticism 2020
- Biographia Literaria by S. T. Coleridge
- Tradition and the Individual Talent by T. S. Eliot
- Preface to Lyrical Ballads by W. Wordsworth
- Affective Fallacy and Intentional Fallacy (2020)
- “The Rise of English” by Terry Eagleton (2019)