Dr. B. R. Ambedkar Open University Prof. G. Ram Reddy Marg, Road No.

46, Jubilee Hills, Hyderabad 500 033

Department of English 30 August 2012 To The Director Student Services Dr. B. R. Ambedkar Open University Jubilee Hills Hyderabad. Through Proper Channel Sir, Sub: M.A. English 2012-2013 Assignments - Reg. This is to inform that we are sending you a letter, which contains instructions on answering assignments for the students in the PG programme in English and one set of assignments (two per course i.e. ten assignments) for the academic year 2012 2013. The same are also provided in a soft copy on CD. We would appreciate if the assignments for each course are printed on a single sheet and sent to the students, further, uploaded onto the university website, as early as possible.

Sincerely,

(A. KISHORE KUMAR REDDY)

DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH Dr. B. R. Ambedkar Open University Prof. G. Ram Reddy Marg, Road No. 46, Jubilee Hills, Hyderabad 500 033

Instructions to the students of the PG programme in English (2012-2013) Dear Student, Welcome to the MA English programme. We are glad you have taken a decision to join this programme. Studying on your own through the distance mode can be very challenging. You must prepare for it by setting aside some time for reading the prescribed books and the course material on a regular basis everyday. As a student of literature, you ought to read the original works of great writers (primary texts) in addition to the course material prescribed for study in order to make the most of this programme. As you know, assignments are a compulsory component of this programme and working through them will give you practice in writing answers as well as motivate you to study further. This note includes the assignments you have to submit for this academic year. 1. Given below are ten assignments (two for each of the courses) of the MA programme in English for the academic year 2012-2013. The assignments are compulsory and carry a weightage of 30% marks in your final assessment. You have to answer two assignments per course of 15 marks each and submit them to the head of the study centre for evaluation. You have to submit the assignments on or before the schedule, which is mentioned below. Each assignment carries 15 marks. You are required to secure a minimum pass mark of 6 out of 15 marks (i.e. 40%) in each of the assignments in order to become eligible for award of the degree. If you fail to secure a minimum pass mark of 12 out of 30 marks in both the assignments put together for each course, you will have to re-submit the assignments before the year-end examination. If, for some unavoidable reason, you are unable to submit an assignment or do not get pass marks in it, you are allowed to re-submit the assignment. You will be allowed to re-submit the assignments only once in an academic year. If you again fail to secure the required minimum marks in the re-submitted assignments, you have to attempt the assignments of the fresh batch of the next academic year and submit them. Your final results will not be declared until you fulfil the requirements of assignment submission and secure a pass in all the papers of the year-end examination.

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While answering the assignments you are required to follow the instructions given below: Use A-4 size paper. Leave wide margins on both sides for the comments of evaluators. Write your name, admission number, name of the study centre, programme code, course title and number, and assignment number, clearly on page one at the top right hand corner. Answer the assignments in your own handwriting. Typed, photocopied, computer-printed answers shall not be accepted. Copying or resorting to malpractice shall attract penal measures up to debarring you from writing the year-end examination. Retain a photocopy of your assignments for your personal record with the date of submission entered on it. Dont copy answers from the course material. Answer in your own words and refer to standard journals and texts for supporting and illustrating your points of description. Dont submit printed articles as your answer to the assignments. Write each assignment in about 500 words.

The schedules for submission of assignments for all the five courses are as follows: 1st assignment on or before ___________________________ 2nd assignment on or before ___________________________ You must strictly adhere to the schedules for submission of assignments. No special permission for extension of submission deadlines will be entertained. Please feel free to contact the Department of English for any further clarification regarding the programme. Good luck Dept. of English Dr. B. R. Ambedkar Open University Hyderabad 500 033 040 23680423, 23680497 E-mail: yours.reddy@gmail.com

Dr. B. R. Ambedkar Open University

Prof. G. Ram Reddy Marg, Road No. 46, Jubilee Hills, Hyderabad 500 033 Faculty of Arts M. A. (English) (P) 2012-2013 Course I: Survey of British Literature

ASSIGNMENT 1

Answer any two questions selecting one from each section

Marks: 15 Section A 1) 2) Discuss Dr. Faustus as a tragedy of damnation. Write a short note on a) the theme of sonnet XVIII Shall I compare thee to a summers day b) Renaissance comedy and Comedy of Humors. Section B 3) 4) Critically analyse the character of Satan. Comment on Drydens poetic technique.

ASSIGNMENT 2

Answer any two questions selecting one from each section

Marks: 15 Section A

1)

Critically evaluate John Keats and S. T. Coleridge as Romantic poets.

2)

Write a short note on a) major characteristics of the Victorian Age b) dramatic monologue keeping Andrea del Sarto in view

Section B

3)

Critically analyse Sons and Lovers as a psychological novel.

4)

Write a short note on a) W. B. Yeats concept of history and culture b) Waiting for Godot as an existential play

Dr. B. R. Ambedkar Open University

Prof. G. Ram Reddy Marg, Road No. 46, Jubilee Hills, Hyderabad 500 033 Faculty of Arts M. A. (English) (P) 2012-2013 Course II: American Literature

ASSIGNMENT 1

Answer any two questions selecting one from each section

Marks: 15 Section A 1) Write a note on the term, American Dream.

2)

Explain the theme of Moby Dick

Section B

3)

Write a short note on a) Huckleberry Finn as a critique of American Society. b) the distinctive qualities of Hemingways style. Discuss the major themes of the Post-War novel.

4)

ASSIGNMENT 2

Answer any two questions selecting one from each section

Marks: 15 Section A

1)

Discuss Emersons philosophy and show its relevance to his poetry.

2)

Discuss death as a recurring theme in Whitmans poetry.

Section B

3)

Write a brief note on a) poetic drama in America. b) on the technical devices employed by Williams in The Glass Menagerie.

4)

Discuss the main themes of Jewish fiction.

Dr. B. R. Ambedkar Open University

Prof. G. Ram Reddy Marg, Road No. 46, Jubilee Hills, Hyderabad 500 033 Faculty of Arts M. A. (English) (P) 2012-2013 Course III: English in India

ASSIGNMENT 1

Answer any two questions selecting one from each section

Marks: 15 Section A 1) Discuss the stated objectives in Macaulays Minute.

2)

Critically analyse the link between British bureaucracy and the use of English in India.

Section B

3)

Write a note on the Indian Universities Act of 1904.

4)

Outline the impact of the National Education Movement of 1920-22.

ASSIGNMENT 2

Answer any two questions selecting one from each section

Marks: 15 Section A

1)

Write a note on English education and the growth of Indian nationalism.

2)

Discuss briefly on the National Policy of Education (1968).

Section B

3)

What is the impact of globalization on the English language.

4)

Critically evaluate: English in Post-Independence India

Dr. B. R. Ambedkar Open University

Prof. G. Ram Reddy Marg, Road No. 46, Jubilee Hills, Hyderabad 500 033 Faculty of Arts M. A. (English) (P) 2012-2013 Course IV: The Growth and Structure of English

ASSIGNMENT 1

Answer any two questions selecting one from each section

Marks: 15 Section A

1)

Write a short note on: a) the uses of language b) language universals

2)

Write a note on the treatment of foreign words in English: Plural Forms of Nouns. Section B

3)

Write a short note on: a) the distinction between letters and speech sounds b) diphthong and monophthong Write a short note on: a) accent and rhythm in connected speech b) function of intonation

4)

ASSIGNMENT 2

Answer any two questions selecting one from each section

Marks: 15 Section A

1)

Write a short note on: a) the different types of word-building processes b) Doublets, Synonyms/Antonyms, Denotation and Connotation

2)

Discuss briefly on the internal structure of phrases

Section B

3)

Write a short note on: a) the Types of Sentences. b) the Types of Clauses

4)

State the relationship between language and dialect

Dr. B. R. Ambedkar Open University

Prof. G. Ram Reddy Marg, Road No. 46, Jubilee Hills, Hyderabad 500 033 Faculty of Arts M. A. (English) (P) 2012-2013 Course V: Literary Criticism

ASSIGNMENT 1

Answer any two questions selecting one from each section

Marks: 15 Section A

1)

Discuss any six kinds of criticism.

2)

Write a short note on: a) formative elements of tragedy b) the qualities of an ideal tragic hero, Hamartia, peripeteia and anagnorisis

Section B

3)

What, according to Johnson, are the merits of Shakespeare?

4)

Explain the views of Arnold on the function of criticism.

ASSIGNMENT 2

Answer any two questions selecting one from each section

Marks: 15 Section A

1)

Write a short note on: a) Eliots Theory of Impersonality b) I A Richards Four kinds of Meaning

2)

What are the basic tenets of the New Criticism?

Section B

3)

Write a short note on: a) the terms langage, langue and parole. b) Figures of Speech

4)

Write a short note on: a) Karya-Karana theory, Bhoga theory and the Rasa-Dhvani theory b) Novel, its basic features and elements.

Dr. B. R. Ambedkar Open University

Prof. G. Ram Reddy Marg, Road No. 46, Jubilee Hills, Hyderabad 500 033 Faculty of Arts M. A. (English) (F) 2012-2013 Course VI: Indian Writing in English

ASSIGNMENT 1

Answer any two questions selecting one from each section

Marks: 15 Section A

1)

Write an essay on Soob Rows Report on the methods of teaching Indian languages and English and his specific recommendations for its improvement.

2)

Discuss the social relevance of Gurajadas Kanyasulkam.

Section B

3)

What are Rabindranath Tagores views on nature? Explain.

4)

Write an essay on how the Train to Pakistan provides a social history of partition.

ASSIGNMENT 2

Answer any two questions selecting one from each section

Marks: 15 Section A

1)

Comment on the technique adopted by the play, Mother of 1084

2)

What is the story Ayoni trying to convey about a woman status in society? Explain.

Section B

3)

Discuss the issue of violence in Imtiaz Dharkers writing?

4)

Critically examine the concept of Dalit aesthetics.

Dr. B. R. Ambedkar Open University

Prof. G. Ram Reddy Marg, Road No. 46, Jubilee Hills, Hyderabad 500 033 Faculty of Arts M. A. (English) (F) 2012-2013 Course VII: Aspects of Language and their Relation to Literature

ASSIGNMENT 1 Answer any two questions selecting one from each section Marks: 15 Section A

1)

Write a short note on: a) discourse, text and textuality b) speech act theory: Austin

2)

Comment briefly on a) Communicative competence and speaking model b) language as social identity

Section B

3)

Write a short note on a) Literature and society b) Irony, Imagery and Symbolism

4)

Mention any two forms of prose as a literary language and comment on them.

ASSIGNMENT 2

Answer any two questions selecting one from each section

Marks: 15 Section A

1)

In what way is the post-structuralism a departure from structuralism.

2)

Discuss Saussures concept of sign.

Section B

3)

Write a short note on a) Michel Foucaults position within the post structuralism b) Differance, Structure, sign and play

4)

Briefly comment upon a) the three types of kavyas b) how meaning emerges from a literary text

Dr. B. R. Ambedkar Open University

Prof. G. Ram Reddy Marg, Road No. 46, Jubilee Hills, Hyderabad 500 033 Faculty of Arts M. A. (English) (F) 2012-2013 Course VIII: English in Use: The Abilities of Individuals

ASSIGNMENT 1

Answer any two questions selecting one from each section

Marks: 15 Section A

1)

Explain how signs help people to communicate.

2)

Discuss language development in children.

Section B

3)

Write a note on how varieties of English came into being.

4)

Describe the structure of two types of texts that you have studied.

ASSIGNMENT 2

Answer any two questions selecting one from each section

Marks: 15 Section A

1)

Discuss the various purposes for which people write.

2)

How does formal letter writing differ from informal letter writing?

Section B

3)

Write a short note on a) planned and unplanned discourse b) features of spoken language

4)

List at least 2 problems teachers face in developing listening and speaking skills in the typical classroom, and suggest a solution for each of them.

Dr. B. R. Ambedkar Open University

Prof. G. Ram Reddy Marg, Road No. 46, Jubilee Hills, Hyderabad 500 033 Faculty of Arts M. A. (English) (F) 2012-2013 Course IX: Indian English Literature

ASSIGNMENT 1

Answer any two questions selecting one from each section

Marks: 15 Section A

1)

What were Gandhis main concerns in Hind Swaraj.

2)

Discuss the issue of the Partition and Indian fiction

Section B

3)

How does Narayan show the role of the family in constructing gender roles?

4)

Write a note on Derozios nationalist poetry.

ASSIGNMENT 2

Answer any two questions selecting one from each section

Marks: 15 Section A

1)

Write an essay on the theme of nationalism in the Indian novel in English.

2)

Explore magic realism in postmodern fiction.

Section B

3)

Write an essay on the theme of dispossession in the novel, A Fine Balance.

4)

Write an essay on the theme of memory and childhood in Indian women poets.

Dr. B. R. Ambedkar Open University

Prof. G. Ram Reddy Marg, Road No. 46, Jubilee Hills, Hyderabad 500 033 Faculty of Arts M. A. (English) (F) 2012-2013 Course X: English Language Teaching in India

ASSIGNMENT 1

Answer any two questions selecting one from each section

Marks: 15 Section A

1)

Describe the various kinds of English-learning contexts in the country with examples from your own experience.

2)

Discuss the role of language beyond the language classroom.

Section B

3)

Write a short note on a) Learning as Information-Processing b) the Target Language

4)

Why is a correlation between objectives and classroom techniques important?

ASSIGNMENT 2

Answer any two questions selecting one from each section

Marks: 15 Section A

1)

Discuss the various issues involved in the development of proficiency.

2)

What is the difference between teaching the materials and teaching with the materials.

Section B

3)

Write a short note on a) Exercise, Activity and Task b) Learner-centered classroom

4)

Write a short note on a) Reliability and Validity b) Teaching, Learning and Testing