Thursday, April 30, 2009

First Set for English (Hons./PG)

1. “Come seeling night, / Scarf up the tender eye of pitiful Day”—Who is the speaker? Why does the speaker invite the night?
The speaker is Macbeth.
Macbeth is reluctant to divulge the secret before the deed is done. He fervently invites the night to come fast and close with its scarf of darkness the bright and compassionate eye of the day, so that it may not see and pity the evil deeds done by men on this earth.

2. “Two truths are told, / As happy prologue to the swelling act / Of the imperial theme.”—What are the ‘two truths’ referred here? What is meant by ‘the swelling act’?
The three Witches greeted Macbeth as the thane of Glamis, the thane of Cawdor and the king of Scotland. Of these three greetings the first two were true for Macbeth till then. These are the ‘two truths’ referred here.
‘The swelling act’ refers to the grand event of becoming the king of Scotland as foretold by the Witches.

3. “You have a low shop-keeping mind”—Who says this and about whom? Why does the speaker make this remark?
Raina says this about Captain Bluntschli.
Bluntschli said that he could not carry the old coat about with him all the time and so he pawned it. He redeemed it the day before yesterday. This provokes Raina to make such a remark about Bluntschli.

4. “How would the like of her get a good price for a pig?”—Who is the speaker and to whom is it spoken? Why does the speaker say so?
This is Maurya’s appeal to Bartley.
Maurya pleads Bartley to stay home. Cathleen, being a mere girl will not be able to get a good price for the pig. The broker will cheat her. But here Maurya’s real intention is to keep Bartley away from going to the sea.

5. “It’s that number is in it.”—Who is the speaker? What number is spoken of here? What does it signify?
Cathleen says this to Nora.
The number spoken of here is the number of stitches that Cathleen took to knit the stocking of Michael.
This speech of Cathleen signifies that this stocking belongs to Michael. Cathleen and Nora become sure that Michael’s dead body has been found in the far north.

6. “The disparity of education and fortune, the anger of a parent, and the contempt of my equals, begins to lose their weight;”—Explain.
It is the turning point in Marlow’s affection for the poor relation of the family whom he does not know to be Miss Hardcastle. Here Marlow seems to be head over ears in love. He is almost prepared to defy social convention, the authority of his father and the sneer of his friends and companions.

7. ‘And on her dulcimer she play’d / Singing on Mount Abora.’—Who was ‘she’? What is ‘dulcimer’? Where is ‘Mount Abora’?

‘She’ was a young unmarried Abyssinian woman as mentioned in Coleridge’s poem, Kubla Khan.
‘Dulcimer’ is a musical instrument with strings which are struck with hand-held hammers.
There is no such mountain as Mount Abora. It is the creation of the poet’s mind to give the poem a purely romantic touch.

8. ‘such stuff / Was courtesy, she thought, and cause enough / For calling up that spot of joy.’—Who is the speaker? Who is referred by ‘she’? What does the speaker mean by ‘such stuff’ and ‘spot of joy’?
The speaker here is the Duke of Ferrara in Browning’s poem, My Last Duchess.
‘She’ refers to the Duchess.
‘Such stuff’ means the remarks made by the painter, Fra Pandolf, and ‘spot of joy’ is the smile of the Duchess.

9. ‘Thou dirge of dying year’—What is ‘dirge’? What is here addressed as ‘dirge’ and why?
‘Dirge’ is a mournful song. It is especially indicative of a lamentation which often forms the part of a funeral song.
Here the west wind is addressed as ‘dirge’. Autumn proclaims the end of the year. The poem here imagines the noise of the raging west wind as a dirge that laments the death of the year.

10. When and how was the quietness of Richmond Street disturbed?
The calmness of Richmond Street was disturbed when the boys were set free from the Christian Brothers’ School. When the school was over, the boys played games on the street. The hue and cry of the boys broke the silence of the street.

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