UGC NET English June 2024 Solved Paper: American & World Literature

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

Chronological Timeline of American Literature:

• Revolutionary Age (B): 1765–1790 (Themes of independence; Franklin, Paine).
• Early National Period (A): 1790–1830 (Nation-building; Irving, Cooper).
• Romantic Period / Transcendentalism (D): 1830–1865 (Individualism; Emerson, Thoreau, Whitman).
• Realistic Period (E): 1865–1900 (Social reality; Twain, Henry James).
• Naturalistic Period (C): 1900–1914 (Environmental determinism; Dreiser, Crane).

Correct Answer: 1 (B, D, E, A, C)

Author Birth Years & Movements:

Key Tip: Notice that the "Big Three" of the mid-19th century (Thoreau, Whitman, Dickinson) were born within a 13-year window of each other.

Correct Answer: 1 (Abraham Lincoln)

Explanation (American Civil War Poetry): Walt Whitman wrote this extended metaphor as an elegy for Abraham Lincoln following his assassination in 1865.

• The Metaphor: The "Captain" is Lincoln, the "Ship" is the United States, and the "fearful trip" is the American Civil War.
• Style Note: Unlike most of Whitman's free verse, this poem uses a traditional rhyme and meter, which helped it become his most popular (though not necessarily his favorite) work during his lifetime.

Correct Answer: 1 (Toni Morrison in Beloved)

Context: This famous line is spoken by the character Paul D to the protagonist Sethe near the end of the novel. It serves as a profound moment of healing, encouraging Sethe to value her own existence and identity outside of her traumatic past as a slave and her identity solely as a mother.

Correct Answer: 1 (Brother to Brother: New Writings by Black Gay Men)

Literary History: Joseph Beam conceived of this anthology but died before its completion. Essex Hemphill took over the project to honor his friend. Published in 1991, it remains a landmark text in Black Queer studies, challenging both the racism of the mainstream gay movement and the homophobia within the Black community.

Correct Answer: 1 (February 21)

Historical Context: Established by UNESCO, this date honors the 1952 Language Movement in Bangladesh (then East Pakistan). Students sacrificed their lives protesting for the recognition of their mother tongue, Bengali, as an official language.
Distractors: September 14 is Hindi Diwas; March 8 is International Women's Day.

Correct Answer: 3 (B and D only)

Explanation (Literary Styles - Magic Realism): Magic Realism is a style of fiction that paints a realistic view of the modern world while also adding magical elements. It is often used to critique society, particularly in post-colonial contexts.

• Gabriel García Márquez (D): The "father" of the movement. His masterpiece, One Hundred Years of Solitude, defines the genre by treating the supernatural as a mundane part of everyday life.
• Salman Rushdie (B): He famously adapted magic realism to the Indian context in Midnight's Children, where children born at the stroke of independence possess telepathic powers.
• The Realists (A, C, E): R.K. Narayan and Mulk Raj Anand are rooted in Social Realism and Humanism, while V.S. Naipaul is known for his sharp, objective, and often pessimistic realistic prose.

Correct Answer: 3 (A–IV, B–III, C–I, D–II)

Explanation (Modern European Drama Techniques): This question covers the foundational concepts of 20th-century avant-garde and experimental theatre.

• The Theatre of the Absurd (A-IV): Coined by critic Martin Esslin in his 1961 book to describe playwrights (like Beckett) whose work reflects the loss of meaning in the post-WWII world.
• Estrangement-effect (B-III): Also known as Verfremdungseffekt or the V-effect. Bertolt Brecht used this technique in Epic Theatre to keep the audience emotionally detached and intellectually active.
• The Theatre of Cruelty (C-I): Developed by Antonin Artaud in The Theatre and its Double. It aims to "shock" the audience out of complacency using sensory bombardment rather than logical dialogue.
• Dream Play (D-II): August Strindberg's A Dream Play (1901) is a seminal work that broke traditional rules of time and space, laying the groundwork for Surrealism and Expressionism.

Correct Answer: 2 (A and D only)

Explanation (World Literature – Australian Nobel Laureates): 1973 was a landmark year for Patrick White and Australian literature.

• Nobel Prize in Literature (D): In 1973, Patrick White became the first and only Australian to win the Nobel Prize in Literature "for an epic and psychological narrative art which has introduced a new continent into literature."
• Australian of the Year (A): He was also honored as Australian of the Year in 1973, though he was famously critical of the Australian establishment.
• Fact Check: The Booker Prize (C) was only established in 1969, so winning it in 1955 is historically impossible. The Pulitzer (B) is restricted to American citizens.

Key Works: The Tree of Man (1955), Voss (1957), and The Eye of the Storm (1973).

Correct Answer: 2 (B, C, D only)

Explanation (Postcolonial Literature – Indigenous Australian Voices): This question focuses on the pioneers who used literature as a tool for Aboriginal political and social activism.

• Oodgeroo Noonuccal (C): Formerly known as Kath Walker, she was the first Aboriginal person to publish a book of verse, We Are Going (1964). She was a giant of the civil rights movement in Australia.
• Kevin Gilbert (B): A radical activist and writer. His work Because a White Man'll Never Do It is a foundational text of Aboriginal resistance and political philosophy.
• Jack Davis (D): A major playwright whose works, such as No Sugar and The Dreamers, brought the Aboriginal experience and the impact of colonial policies to the mainstream Australian stage.
• The Non-Aboriginal Writers (A & E): David Malouf is a celebrated contemporary Australian novelist of Lebanese-English descent. Judith Wright was a famous white Australian poet and a staunch supporter of Aboriginal land rights, but she is not classified as a "pioneer of the Aboriginal movement" itself.

Correct Answer: 4 (Weep Not, Child)

Explanation (African Postcolonial Literature): Chinua Achebe is celebrated for his "African Trilogy" and his critical dismantling of Western colonial narratives.

• Achebe's Works (1, 2, 3): Arrow of God and No Longer at Ease (the story of Obi Okonkwo) are parts of his famous trilogy. An Image of Africa is his searing critical essay that famously labeled Joseph Conrad a "bloody racist" for his portrayal of Africans in Heart of Darkness.
• Weep Not, Child (4): ❌ This is the debut novel of the Kenyan writer Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o. Published in 1964, it explores the impact of the Mau Mau Uprising on a young boy and his family.

Correct Answer: 1 (John Galsworthy)

Literary Institutions: PEN International (Poets, Essayists, Novelists) was founded by Catherine Amy Dawson-Scott to promote friendship and intellectual cooperation among writers.

• John Galsworthy (1): The author of The Forsyte Saga was the first president of the London center and the overall international organization. He was a vocal advocate for the rights of writers and freedom of expression.
• Other Options: While Eliot, Yeats, and Pound were titanic figures of the era, they were more associated with high Modernism and specific poetic movements rather than the institutional founding of PEN.