FEDERAL PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSION
COMPETITIVE EXAMINATION-2025 FOR RECRUITMENT
TO POSTS IN BS-17 UNDER THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT
ENGLISH LITERATURE
TIME ALLOWED: THREE HOURS
(PART-I MCQs) : MAXIMUM 30 MINUTES
(PART-I MCQs) MAXIMUM MARKS: 20
(PART-II) MAXIMUM MARKS: 80
NOTE: (i) First attempt PART-I (MCQs) on separate OMR Answer Sheet which shall be taken back after 30 minutes.
(ii) Overwriting/cutting of the options/answers will not be given credit.
(iii) There is no negative marking. All MCQs must be attempted.
PART-I (MCQs)(COMPULSORY)
Q1 (i) Select the best option/answer and fill in the appropriate Box on the OMR Answer Sheet. (20×1=20)
(ii) Answers given anywhere else, other than OMR Answer Sheet, will not be considered.
1 George Bernard Shaw was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in:
(A) 1912 (B) 1925 (C) 1930 (D) 1942
2 What does the speaker learn from the leech-gatherer in Wordsworth’s poem?
(A) The value of solitude (B) The importance of wealth
(C) The virtue of patience and perseverance (D) The dangers of ambition
3 Harold Pinter shows the loss of spiritual life in ‘The Caretaker’ through the shattering of the statue of:
(A) Virgin Mary (B) Buddha (C) Christ (D) ST. Paul
4 In his essay ‘Self-Reliance’, Emerson stresses the importance of:
(A) Conforming to societal expectations (B) Relying on external authorities for guidance
(C) Trusting one’s own intuition and individuality (D) Achieving fame and recognition
5 What does Gabriel Oak do to save Bathsheba’s farm during a violent storm?
(A) Protects her grain from fire (B) Covers the ricks with tarpaulins
(C) Diverts floodwaters away from her fields (D) Guards the livestock from thieves
6 Paradox is a literary device in which you make a statement which is:
(A) Affirmative (B) Self-contradictory (C) Ironical (D) Humorous
7 Which character in 1984 works at the Ministry of Truth and is involved in rewriting history?
(A) Winston Smith (B) Julia (C) O’Brien (D) Emmanuel Goldstein
8 William Wordsworth is associated with which literary movement?
(A) The Renaissance (B) Romanticism (C) Modernism (D) Realism
9 ‘The Lotus Eater’ by Maugham shares a similar theme of indulgence and pleasure with ‘The Picture of Dorian Gray’ by:
(A) Oscar Wilde (B) Forster (C) Kipling (D) None of these
10 Which play is considered Shakespeare’s longest play?
(A) Hamlet (B) Macbeth (C) Othello (D) Romeo and Juliet
11 Which group of intellectuals constitutes a trinity in Postcolonial Theory?
(A) Said, Derrida, Barthes (B) Barthes, Kristeva, Young
(C) Said, Fanon, Spivak (D) Said, Bhabha, Spivak
12 Keats sees an intricate link between melancholy and:
(A) Anxiety (B) Beauty (C) Sadness (D) Love
13 “Where youth grows pale and spectre-thin and dies” is a line from Keats’ Ode to:
(A) Autumn (B) Beauty (C) Nightingale (D) Psyche
14 ‘In The Wasteland’, Eliot entreats his readers to come under the shadow of:
(A) God (B) Red Rock (C) London Bridge (D) Tree
15 Tennyson’s poetry is characterized by his belief in:
(A) Unflinching human spirit (B) Wavering human nature
(C) Nobility of human soul (D) Both (A) & (C)
16 William Congreve was an English poet and politician with a:
(A) Whig outlook (B) Tory outlook (C) Evangelical outlook (D) Protestant outlook
17 Both Joyce and Murdoch are similar in their use of a literary motif of:
(A) Shackles (B) Chains (C) Labyrinth (D) Wheel
18 In Greek mythology, Icarus is often seen as a symbol of:
(A) Wisdom and Strength (B) Hubris (C) Recklessness (D) Both (B) & (C)
19 Philip Larkin was often associated with a post-war literary movement named:
(A) The Beat Generation (B) The Movement (C) The Bloomsbury Group (D) The Imagist Movement
20 In ‘Long Day’s Journey’ into Night, the senior Tyrone has an obsession with:
(A) Buying junk property (B) Buying new apartment (C) Planting Trees (D) Changing Houses
ENGLISH LITERATURE
PART-II
NOTE: (i) Part-II is to be attempted on the separate Answer Book.
(ii) Attempt ONLY FOUR questions from PART-II. All questions carry EQUAL marks.
(iii) All the parts (if any) of each Question must be attempted at one place instead of at different places.
(iv) Write Q. No. in the Answer Book in accordance with Q. No. in the Q.Paper.
(v) No Page/Space be left blank between the answers. All the blank pages of Answer Book must be crossed.
(vi) Extra attempt of any question or any part of the question will not be considered.
Q No 2 The Structuralist and Poststructuralist theories have invaded the core assumptions of Humanism regarding human subjectivity, language, nature and culture. Elaborate by building up an argument with reference to major debates in the field. (20)
Q No 3 T. S. Eliot’s poetry can be read like a mystery religion in its own right by reinforcing the cardinal principles of Christian morality blended with myths and allusions all over the world. Elaborate with reference to pertinent textual instances from Eliot’s poems. (20)
Q No 4 D. H. Lawrence represents the complex shades of human relationship, both intimate and familial, by showing his characters’ vulnerability in maintaining a balance between desire and duty, sensuality and spirituality and impersonalization and engagement. (20)
Q No 5 After reading O’Neill’s ‘Long Day’s Journey into Night’, one gets the feeling that as a typical Irish family, religious blasphemy, albeit in its different manifestation, runs in all four Tyrones. Discuss with special reference to relevant textual sites. (20)
Q No 6 Emerson’s transcendentalism shares some chief features with the esoteric voices of East, including Muhammad Iqbal and Maulana Rumi, highlighting a cross-cultural resonance between Western and Eastern spiritual philosophies. Comment. (20)
Q No 7 Reading Wordsworth’s poetry one hears the “still sad music of humanity” that Romanticism celebrates as a core value of literature. Elaborate in the context of relevant poetic instances from the poet. (20)
Q No 8 What is the significance of the title of Somerset Maugham’s ‘The Lotus Eater’ in relation to human sufferings and fragility as intrinsic to existence? (20)
Answer Key Q 1
1 (B) 1925, 2 (C) The virtue of patience and perseverance, 3 (B) Buddha, 4 (C) Trusting one’s own intuition and individuality, 5 (B) Covers the ricks with tarpaulins, 6 (B) Self-contradictory, 7 (A) Winston Smith, 8 (B) Romanticism, 9 (A) Oscar Wilde, 10 (A) Hamlet, 11 (D) Said, Bhabha, Spivak, 12 (B) Beauty, 13 (C) Nightingale, 14 (B) Red Rock, 15 (D) Both (A) & (C), 16 (A) Whig outlook, 17 (C) Labyrinth, 18 (D) Both (B) & (C), 19 (B) The Movement, 20 (A) Buying junk property
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