KHYBER PAKHTUNKHWA PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSION
COMPETITIVE EXAMINATION FOR THE POSTS OF
PROVINCIAL MANAGEMENT SERVICES (BPS-17)
ENGLISH LITERATURE, PAPER II 2013
TIME ALLOWED: 03 HOURS MAX. MARKS: 100
Note: Please attempt any FIVE questions. All questions carry equal marks.
Q1. Santiago is considered by many readers to be a tragic hero, in that his greatest strength his pride leads to his eventual downfall. Discuss the role of pride in Santiago’s plight.
Q2. Throughout the play, Hamlet claims to be feigning madness, but his portrayal of a madman is so intense and so convincing that many readers believe that Hamlet actually slips into insanity at certain moments in the play. Do you think this is true, or is Hamlet merely play-acting insanity? What evidence can you cite for either claim?
Q3. Gulliver’s Travels communicates meanings on more than one level. Discuss.
Q4. The narrator is constantly in flux in The Waste Land. Outline the various roles and personas the narrator assumes, and consider the significance of each.
Q5. Pride and Prejudice is a novel about women who feel they have to marry to be happy. Taking Charlotte Lucas as an example, do you think the author is making a social criticism of her era’s view of marriage?
Q6: Could Pygmalion be set in the modern day at a time when there are, generally, more opportunities for women?
Q7. Is The Second Coming a “visionary poem? If yes, describe what Yeats’ vision is?
Q8. Beckett called his play Waiting for Godot a “tragicomedy.” Do you agree with this classification)? If not, how would you classify the play? Do you think the play contains more elements of tragedy or comedy?