UGC NET English June 2024 Solved Paper: British Literature Analysis

Correct Answer: 2 (Robert Southey)

Literary Rivalry: In the preface to A Vision of Judgment (1821), Poet Laureate Robert Southey attacked Byron and Shelley by coining the term "Satanic School." He criticized their works as immoral and impious. Byron responded brilliantly with his own satirical poem, The Vision of Judgment.

Correct Answer: 2 (Endymion)

Explanation: Endymion (1818) is dedicated to Thomas Chatterton, whom Keats viewed as a "marvellous boy" and a tragic literary precursor. The poem begins with the immortal line: "A thing of beauty is a joy for ever."

Correct Answer: 2 (Alfred Tennyson's "In Memoriam A.H.H")

Explanation: This quintessential Victorian line comes from Section 27 of Tennyson's massive elegy for his friend Arthur Henry Hallam. The poem explores the struggle between faith and doubt after a profound loss.

Correct Answer: 1 (A–II, B–III, C–IV, D–I)

Explanation (Poetry – Historical & Thematic Matching):

• To His Coy Mistress (A-II): A masterpiece of Metaphysical poetry by Andrew Marvell, famous for its logical structure (If/But/Therefore) and the theme of Carpe Diem.
• The Scholar Gipsy (B-III): Written by Matthew Arnold, this Victorian poem laments the "sick fatigue" and "divided aims" of modern life, contrasting it with the single-minded quest of an Oxford student who joined the gipsies.
• Still I Rise (C-IV): An iconic 20th-century poem by Maya Angelou. It is a powerful anthem of resilience against racial and gender oppression.
• If (D-I): A Victorian/Edwardian stoic classic by Rudyard Kipling, written as advice to his son on the qualities required to be a virtuous man.

Correct Answer: 1 (Dante Gabriel Rossetti and John Everett Millais)

Explanation (Victorian Art & Literature): The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood (PRB) was formed in 1848 as a rebellion against the "artificial" and "unimaginative" style of the Royal Academy. They aimed to return to the sincerity and detailed naturalism of art before the time of Raphael.

• The Core Trio: Dante Gabriel Rossetti, John Everett Millais, and William Holman Hunt were the primary founding members.
• Rossetti (1): Noted for blending poetic symbolism with painting; his work often featured lush, romantic imagery.
• Millais (1): Famous for his incredible technical precision and fidelity to nature, seen in his iconic painting Ophelia.
• Incorrect Options: Elizabeth Barrett Browning was a contemporary Victorian poet but not part of the PRB. Leigh Hunt was a Romantic-era figure associated with the "Cockney School."

Correct Answer: 3 (Matthew Arnold)

Explanation (Victorian Poetry): Sohrab and Rustum (1853) is a narrative poem in blank verse by Matthew Arnold. It is an "episode" based on the Persian epic Shahnameh.

• The Plot: It tells the tragic story of a father (Rustum) who unknowingly kills his son (Sohrab) in single combat.
• The Style: Arnold intentionally used Homeric similes and a "grand style" to emulate classical Greek epics.
• The Ending: The poem is famous for its majestic closing lines describing the River Oxus flowing into the Aral Sea, symbolizing the detachment and persistence of nature.

Correct Answer: 2 (Benjamin Disraeli's Sybil)

Explanation (The Condition-of-England Novel): Sybil, or The Two Nations (1845) was written by Benjamin Disraeli, who also served as the Prime Minister of the UK.

• The Theme: The "Two Nations" refers to the massive socio-economic gap between the Rich and the Poor in Victorian England.
• Social Commentary: Disraeli argues that these two classes live side by side but are as ignorant of each other as if they lived in different planets.
• Context: Along with writers like Elizabeth Gaskell and Charles Dickens, Disraeli used fiction to highlight the harsh realities of the Industrial Revolution.

Correct Answer: 1 (A–IV, B–I, C–III, D–II)

Explanation (Literary Pseudonyms): This question tests knowledge of the "private" identities behind famous literary figures.

• Lewis Carroll (A-IV): The pen name of Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, a mathematician at Oxford who wrote Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.
• George Eliot (B-I): The male pseudonym adopted by Mary Ann Evans to ensure her novels (like Middlemarch) were taken seriously by Victorian critics.
• George Orwell (C-III): The pseudonym of Eric Arthur Blair, chosen to reflect his love for the English countryside (the River Orwell) and a traditional English name.
• Mark Twain (D-II): The famous American pen name of Samuel Langhorne Clemens; the term comes from Mississippi riverboat slang for "two fathoms deep."

Correct Answer: 4 (E, B, D, A, C)

Chronological Breakdown:

• Pre-Raphaelitism (E): 1848 — Founded by Rossetti, Hunt, and Millais; a mid-Victorian rebellion against academic art.
• Impressionism (B): Late 19th Century — Focused on subjective sensory experience and fleeting moments (e.g., Virginia Woolf, Joseph Conrad).
• Futurism (D): 1909 — Launched by Marinetti's manifesto; celebrated technology, speed, and industrial modernity.
• Imagism (A): 1912–1917 — Led by Ezra Pound and H.D.; insisted on precise imagery and "direct treatment of the thing."
• Absurdism (C): 1950s — Post-WWII movement exploring the meaningless nature of existence (e.g., Samuel Beckett).

Correct Answer: 2 (D, B, C, E, A)

Publication Timeline:

• The White Peacock (D): 1911 (His debut novel).
• Sons and Lovers (B): 1913 (Semi-autobiographical masterpiece).
• The Rainbow (C): 1915 (Infamously banned upon publication).
• The Plumed Serpent (E): 1926 (Set in Mexico).
• Lady Chatterley's Lover (A): 1928 (His final major novel).

Pro-Tip (NerdSchool Mnemonic): "The White Peacock trespassed with my Sons and Lovers under The Rainbow while a Plumed Serpent bit Lady Chatterley's Lover."

Correct Answer: 1 (Charles Kingsley)

Explanation (Post-War British Poetry): The Movement (coined by J.D. Scott in 1954) was a group of British writers who rejected the romanticism and obscurity of Dylan Thomas and the 1940s. They favored irony, realism, and traditional forms.

• Associated Members: Philip Larkin (the leading figure), Kingsley Amis (often confused with Charles Kingsley), Donald Davie, Elizabeth Jennings, John Wain, Thom Gunn, and D.J. Enright.
• Charles Kingsley (1): ❌ He was a Victorian novelist and clergyman (author of The Water-Babies), living a century before this movement.

NerdSchool Mnemonic: "The Movement is Right (Enright) for Amis and Davie, but they point the Gunn at Jennings and Larkin, though the Gunn was Hollow (Holloway) and Wain."

Correct Answer: 4 (Charles Kingsley)

Explanation (Victorian Intellectual History): The Oxford Movement (Tractarianism) sought to return the Church of England to its "High Church" or Catholic roots in the 1830s and 40s.

• Key Proponents: John Henry Newman (wrote Tract 90), John Keble (whose sermon 'National Apostasy' started it), Edward Pusey, and Hurrell Froude.
• Charles Kingsley (4): ❌ He was a fierce critic of the movement. He represented the "Broad Church" or "Muscular Christianity" and his public attack on Newman's integrity famously led Newman to write his spiritual autobiography, Apologia Pro Vita Sua.