English Literature CSS Paper 2016

FEDERAL PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSION
COMPETITIVE EXAMINATION -2016
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
Notes:
(i) Part-II is to be attempted on the separate Answer Book.
(ii) Attempt ONLY FOUR question from PART-II. ALL question carry EQUAL marks.
(iii) All the parts (if any) of each question must be attempted at one place instead of at different places.
(iv) Candidate must 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 answer. All the blank pages of Answer Book must be crossed.
(vi) Extra attempt of any question or any part of the attempted question will not be considered.

Q.2 (a) After their gift exchange, are Della and Jim Richer, poorer, or just about where they were at the beginning? Have they made a wise decision in sacrificing their most precious possessions? (10)
(b) Written in Russell’s usual style, The Conquest of Happiness gets straight to the point. Express your view point by giving relevant examples as evidence. (10)

Q.3: The Second Coming is a magnificent statement about the contrary forces at work in history, and about the conflict between the modern world and the ancient. Elaborate. (20)

Q.4: Wordsworth in Tintern Abbey clearly indicates a change in his attitude. His sensuous apprehension and coarser pleasures of nature have been transformed into a deeper, sober and mystical understanding of nature. Discuss in detail. (20)

Q.5: Many critics take a deterministic view of Hamlet’s plot, arguing that the prince’s inability to act & his tendency towards melancholy reflection point to a “tragic flaw” that leads inevitably to his demise. Is this an accurate way of understanding the play? Given Hamlet’s character & situation, would another outcome of the play have been possible? (20)

Q.6: Edmund is really “a stranger who never feels at home, who does not really want and is not wanted, who can never belong, who must always be a little in love with death!” What is the cause of Edmund’s loneliness? (20)

Q.7: The scarlet Letter makes extensive use of symbols. Bring out some of the most striking symbols and their significance in the novel. (20)

Q.8: How does literary text in the Western canon reinforce or undermine colonialist ideology through its representation of colonization and/or its inappropriate silence about colonized people. (20)