Entrance Test for M

Entrance Test for M.A. English

Objectives: This test aims at testing primarily the candidate's competence in language. It also test her background knowledge of literature, aptitude for literature and critical and creative ability.

Weightage of Marks

Qualifying examination     ---- 100 marks
Written entrance test       ---- 70 marks
Viva - Voce                    ---- 30 marks

Total Marks = 200 marks

M.A. (English)
E-Test
Attempted all Questions.

Marks: 70 Time: 2:30 hrs.

I. Attempt a critical appreciation of the following:

Books! 't is a dull and endless strife;
Come, hear the woodland linnet,
How sweet his music! on my life
There's more of wisdom in it.
And hark! how blithe the throstle sings,
He too is no mean preacher:
Come forth into the light of things,
Let Nature be your teacher-----
Enough of Science and of Art;
Come forth, and bring with you a heart
That watches and receives. -------------------- (15 marks)

II Attempt an essay on one of the following:

1. Humour is the salt of life.
2. If winter comes, can spring be far behind?
3. Happiness is an occasional episode in the general drama of pain -
4. Should SMS language be used in examination?
--------- (15 marks)

III 1. Insert articles wherever necessary.

-------Uneasy paragraph appeared in The Times recently about ------- serious crisis. within ------- last thirty years, not only natural gas but also other resources on which we now depend will be running low. this assumes that we shall survive -------- more immediate problems of land, food, population and water supply which show every sign of Compounding -------crisis with in our life time. Hope we shall not have to face such ---- crisis again.
---------------- (6*1/2 = 3 marks)

2. Fill in the correct form of the verb.

(i) Fortune (favour) the brave.
(ii) I (go) to the cinema tonight.
(iii) We (live) here for ten years.
(iv) They (build) the bridge for several years.
(v) When she gets her degree, she (study) at the university for six years.
(vi) I (write) the letter before the arrived.
------------------ (6* 1/2 = 3 marks)

3. Use the following phrasal verbs in sentences of your own.

(i). Bring up
(ii). Come across
(iii). Get over
(iv). Drop out
(v). Look out
(vi). Put on
---------------- (6* 1/2 = 3 marks)

4. Correct the following sentences.

(i). Slow and steady win the race.
(ii). The Arabian Nights are an interesting book.
(iii). Silver, as well as gold, have fallen in price.
(iv). Either you or your friends had stolen the book.
(v). Each of these qualities are to be found in him.
(vi). Many a man come and go.
--------------- (6* 1/2 = 3 marks)

5. Identity the Subject , Verb, Object, Complement 7 Adverbial in the following.

(i). He painted the house green.
(ii). Birds build nest on the tree branches.
(iii). She always keeps her house neat and clean.
(iv). Her aunt is a dentist.
(v). The shop was closed at 6 o'clock.
(vi). Seema sings a song melodiously.
----------------------------- (6*1/2 = 3)

6. Convert the sentences as directed.

(i). Everyone would die for his country.
                                              (change into interrogative).
(ii). The sun having resin, the fog disappeared .
                                             (change into compound).
(iii). He confessed his crime.
                            (changed into complex).
(iv). She said to her, "I am promoted in my job".
                                   (change into complex)
(v). The lion was wounded , but not killed.
                                    (changed into passive)
(vi). The audience loudly cheered the Mayor's speech.
                                    (changed into comparative).
(vii). Australia is the largest island in the world.
                                    (changed into comparative degree).
(viii). The guide said to us," take a map if you go walking up the hills".
                                                       (changed into indirect)
(ix). How sweet is the song!
                                  (change into asserting)
(x). Who taught you grammar?
                                 ( change into passive)
                                                              -------------------(10* 1/2 = 5)

IV Attempt one of the following.

(i). Discuss the contribution of Indian writing in English. Elaborate with the help of any one Indian author you have read.

(ii). What are the Characteristic features of Modern fiction? Discuss with the help of any on author you have studied.
------------------- (10*1 = 10)

V. Explain any five of the following literary terms.

(i). Alliteration
(ii). Personification
(iii). Hyperbole
(iv). Metaphor
(v). Oxymoron
(vi). Transfered epithet
(vii). Onomatopoeia
(viii). Dramatic monologue.
(ix). Soliloquy
(x). Romantic Comedy. ---------------------- (5 * 1 = 5)

VI Match the following.

(i). publication of lyrical Ballads                                           a) Jawaharlal Nehru
(ii). Nobel prize for literature                                                b) John Keats
(iii). Famous social novelist of Victorian Age                        c) Younger Romantics
(iv). Glimpses of World History                                           d) Rabindranath Tagore
(v). Where are the songs of spring? Ay where are they       e) Salman Rushdie.
(vi). The King of the Dark Chamber                                      f) Charles Dickens
(vii). Shelley, Keats and Byron                                           g) 1798
(viii). Midnights Children                                                    h) Swedish Academy
(ix). Arundhati Roy                                                            i) Socialite Evenings.
(x). Shoba de                                                                   j) The God of small things.
                                                                                                                   -----------------------(10*1/2 = 5)