NTA UGC NET/JRF Exam. December 2023 ENGLISH

Total Questions: 100

1. Who among the following is the earliest available Indian dramatist?

Correct Answer: (c) Bhasa
Solution:

Bhasa is one of the earliest and most prominent Indian playwrights in Sanskrit predating Kalidas. His best work, Svapnavasavadatta ("The Dream of Vasavadatt"), depicts a king losing and then regaining his kingdom from usurper.
The 3rd century AD writer Bhasa, adopted the themes of heroism and romantic love from India's two great epics Ramayana and Mahabharata. Hence, the correct answer is option (с).

2. Edgar Allan Poe is often called as the originator of the short story as an established genre. He defined 'the prose tale' as:

Correct Answer: (a) A narrative which can be read at one sitting of from half an hour to two hours.
Solution:

Edgar Allan Poe is often called the originator of the short stony as an established genre. The defined 'the prose tale' as a narrative which can be read at one sitting of from half an hour to two hours.
Edgar Allan Poe was a 19th century American short story writer, poet, critic, and editor who is famous for his cultivation of mystery and the macabre. Hence, the correct answer is option (a).

3. Arrange the chronological sequence in which the following works were published:

(A) Culture and Society
(B) Culture and Anarchy
(C) To Hell with Culture
(D) Studies in Dying Culture
(E) Notes towards the Definition of Culture
Choose the correct answer from the options given below:

Correct Answer: (e) *
Solution:

• The chronological sequence of the given works as per the publication year would be B, D, E, A, C
• Culture and Society (1958) by Raymond Williams.
• Studies in Dying Culture (1938) by Christopher Caudwell.
• Notes Towards the Definition of Culture (1948) by T.S. Eliot.
• Culture and Anarchy (1869) by Matthew Arnold.
• To Hell with Culture (1964) by Hebert Read.
Note: None of the given combination is correct. Hence, NTA has dropped this question.

4. Choose the correct option(s) in the New Historicist reading of Dalit writing:

(A) Dalit writing does not essentialise Indian society, culture and identity.
(B) Dalit writing has inflected the immanent metanarratives.
(C) There is no single location of Dalit writing.
(D) Dalit writing is only a political category.
(E) Dalit writing is not grounded in history.
Choose the correct answer from the options given below:

Correct Answer: (a) (A), (B) and (C) Only
Solution:

• In the reference to the New Historicist reading of Dalit writing statement A,B, and C are correct.
• Dalit writing does not essantialise Indian Society. Culture and identity.
-Dalit writing has inflected the immanent Metnarratives.
• There is no single location of Dalit writing.
• Dalit writing is not merely a political category rather it was a literature of social category.
• Dalit writing was grounded in history as the prominent works emerged in the colonial and post colonial period and it has the narratives of exploitation and discrimination for the centuries.
• The prominent writers of this genre are Jyotirao Phule (Gulamgiri), Namdeo Dhasal, Om Prakash Valmiki (Juthan) etc..
Hence, the correct answer is option(a).

5. How many major forms of drama have been described by Bharata in his manual of dramaturgy?

Correct Answer: (d) Ten
Solution:

• Bharata in his manual of dramaturgy has described Ten major forms of drama.
• Natyashastra is a detailed treatise and handbook on dramatic art that deals with all aspects of classical Sanskrit theatre.
Hence, the correct answer is option (d).

6. "Being a white man, in short, was a very concrete manner of being-in-the-world, a way of taking hold of reality, language and thought."

What does the theorist signify by the term 'white man' here?

Correct Answer: (d) A form of colonial authority
Solution:

• The term white man in "Being a white man, in short, was a very concrete manner of being in the-world, a way of taking hold of reality, language and thought" signifies a form of colonial authority.
• There was a time between early 17th century to mid 20th century when nearly all the world was colonized by white people (Europeans).
Hence, the correct answer is option(d).

7. Prose romances preceded the emergence of novel as a popular literary genre. Which texts among the following fall under the category of prose Romance?

Correct Answer: (b) Oroonoko and The Fair lilt
Solution:• Aphra Behn's Oroonoko and The Fair Jilt fall under the category of Prose-Romance.
• Oroonoko or the Royal Slave (1688) deals with eponymous hero Oroonoko's life, love, rebellion and execution.
•  The Fair Jilt (1688), a novella by Aphra Behn, delves into the strange story of Miranda, a charming and dangerous femme fatale with a deranged capacity for murder and mayhem.
Hence, the correct answer is option (b).

8. Math List-I with List-II.

  List-I (Literary Device)  List-II (Definition)
 A. Hyperbole  I. Referring to something by the name of something else that is closely connected with it
 B. Metonymy II. A roundabout or indirect manner of writing or speaking
 C. Synecdoche III. A figure of speech in which a part represents the whole
 D. Periphrasis IV. An intentional exaggeration for emphasis or comic effect

Choose the correct answer from the options given below :

Correct Answer: (d) (A)-(IV) (B)-(I), (C)-(III), (D)-(II)
Solution:

The correct match of List (I) and List (II) is A-II, B-I, C-III, D-II.

  List-I (Literary Device)  List-II (Definition)
 A. Hyperbole IV. An intentional exaggeration for emphasis or comic effect
 B. Metonymy I. Referring to something by the name of something else that is closely connected with it
 C. Synecdoche III. A figure of speech in which a part represents the whole
 D. Periphrasis II. A roundabout or indirect manner of writing or speaking

9. Which work of Francis Bacon explains the new logic or inductive method of reasoning?

Correct Answer: (c) Novum Organum
Solution:

• Francis Bacon's Novum Organum (1620) is a philosophical work written in Latin.
• The title is a reference to Aristotle's work Organon, which was his treatise on logic and syllogism.
• In Novum Organum, Bacon details a new system of logic or inductive method of reasoning. This is now known as the Baconian method.
Hence, the correct answer is option(c).

10. According to Greek Mythology, who is a Psyche in John Keats' "Ode to Psyche"?

Correct Answer: (e) *
Solution:

• Ode to Psyche (1819) is a poem by John Keats.
• The poem is first of his 1819 odes, which includes Ode on a Grecian Urn, and Ode to a Nightingale.
• Psyche was the youngest and most beautiful daughter of a king.
• She was a mortal woman.
Note: NTA has considerèd option (a) A mortal and option (c) An immortal woman, as the correct answer of this question.
Hence, the correct answer is option(a & c).