South Asian and African literature NU Masters
Brief -2018
a) What is the central theme of ‘Tree Without Roots‘?
Ans.The struggle for survival.
b) What is the basic principle of Nazrul’s sense of equality?
Ans. His love for mankind.
c)What does the ‘Thunder in the Sky’ symbolize?
Ans. The threat of the British Imperialist rulers.
d)What is the Yam festival?
Ans.An important way of making the beginning and end of the farming season.
e) What is Surrealism?
Ans. An artistic attempt to bridge together reality and imagination.
f)How is Ilamorog modernized?
Ans. With the building of the Trans-Africa road that connects it with the rest of the world.
g)Who was Amalinze?
Ans.Amalinze was a great wrestler.
h)Whom did Ammo see in her dream?
Ans.A beautiful one-armed man.
I.)How does the poet address the readers in his poem ‘Man’?
Ans.As comrades.
j)Who sets fire to Wanja’s brothel?
Ans.Munira.
k) What is the background of the novel ‘Petals of Blood“?
Ans.Kenyan independence after the Man Mali revolution.
l) When was the feast of New Yam held every year in Umuofia?
Ans. Before the harvest began.
Brief -2017
a) What was Majeed’s occupation in Garo Hills?
And.Muezzin.
b)What is the source of the title of the novel ‘Things Falls Apart’
Ans. ‘The Second Coming’ of W.B. Yeats.
c)On what pretext did Majeed marry Jamila?
Ans. To satisfy his sexual urge and have children.
d)Who is Dhurjati?
Ans. A prominent poet of Medieval Telugu literature.
e) Who is Dhola Mia?
Ans. The brother of Khaleque’s second wife Tanu Bibi.
f) What does ‘Beware My Captain’ allegorize?
Ans. National movement for freedom.
g)Who is Pappachi?
Ans.Estha and Rachel’s grandfather.
h)Who is ‘Bedouin’?
Ans. An Arab semi-nomadic man.
l). Why did people laugh at Unoka?
And. Because he was poor,a loafer and borrowed money without paying it back.
j)How did Sophie Mol die?
Ans. Sophie Mol tragically drowns in a boat accident.
k)What massage does ‘The Rebel’ carry?
Ans. The revel carries the message of revolt to the earth and sky.
I)Who was Baby Kochamma?
Ans. The sister of Pappachi.
Brief -2016
a)Who sets fire to Wanja’s brothel?*
Ans.Munira.
b) Which film does the family from Anyemenem watch in Cochin?
Ans.Abhilash Talkies.
c)What special musical skill did Unoka have?
Ans. He was a great flute player.
d) Which university did Chacko go to?
Ans.Delhi University.
e)Why was the wrestler Amalinze nicknamed ‘the Cat’?
Ans. Because his back would never touch the earth.
f) Which government project brings development in Ilmorog?
Ans. The Trans-African Highway.
g)Who inspires the villagers to go Nairobi and talk to their MP?
Ans.Karega.
h)Why did Majeed leave his own village?
Ans.Because Saint Shah Sedeque tells him in a dream to go to Mahabbatpur one night.
i.)Who does Achebe borrow the title of his novel from?
Ans. ‘The Second Coming’ by W.B. Yeats.
j)Why did Majeed punish Amena?
Ans. Amena wanted to get some water blessed by the new pir so that she could
conceive. Majeed took it as an insult.So, he punished her.
k)Why did Baby Kochamma convert to Roman Catholicism?
Ans. To win the heart of Father Mulligan.
I)Which poem of Nazrul has the following lines? “My words, comrade, are not false There is no greater temple or house of god Than this heart of man”.
Ans.Of Equality and That Happy Land.
Brief -2015
a)In the God of Small Things who or what is the God of Small Things?
And. Velutha.
b)Who is Mwathi?
Ans. The town’s prophet and medicine man.
c)What is the trident of Pinakpani?
And. It refers to the three-pronged spear of the God Shiva.
d) How does Okonkwo die?
Ans. He commits socide by hanging.
e) What is the consequence of Wanja’s love with Kimeria?
Ans.Wanja ran out of her house and became a barmaid in the town.
f)Whom did Chacko marry at Oxford?
Ans. Margaret Kochamma.
g) What massage does ‘The Rebel’ carry?
Ans. The revel carries the message of revolt to the earth and sky.
h)What is the setting of Things Fall Apart?
Ans.In lower Nigerian villages,Iguedo and Mbanta.
i.)Why did the priest/Mollah drive away the hungry traveller at last?
Ans. When the hungry traveller told that he did not say a prayer in his life, the Mollah shut the door on his face.
j)Why does Munira develop a relationship with Julia?
Ans. Munira develops a relationship with Julia with an intention to make Wanja jealous.
k)What does the ‘Thunder in the Sky’ symbolize?
Ans. The threat of the British imperialist rulers.
I) What was the Oracle called in Things Fall Apart?
Ans. The Oracle was called Agbala.
Brief -2014
a)What is the basic principle of Nazrul’s sense of equality?
Ans. His love for mankind.
b)What do you mean by ‘tender flute’ in one hand and ‘war bugle’ in the other?
Ans. The flute represents creation and the war bugle represents destruction.
c)What is the setting of the novel The God of Small Things?
And.Aymenem, the Southern Indian state of Kerala,spelled “Aymanam”.
d) Why does Jamila fail to say the day’s last prayer?
Ans. Because she falls asleep.
e)Why did Ammu Choose Velutha as her lover?
Ans. They both are untouchable. As she has divorced her husband at the age of twenty-seven.
f)What is Entomology?
Ans. The scientific study of insects.
g) What was the profession of Majeed in the Garo Hills?
Ans.Muezzin.
h)Who molested Estha?
Ans.Eatha was molested by the Orange drink Lemondrink man.
i.)What is Munira’s attitude toward the love affair of Wanja and Karega?
Ans.Munira is jealous of the love affair of Karega and Wanga.
j) What is the source of the title of the novel ‘Things Fall Apart’?
Ans. ‘The Second Coming’ by W.B. Yeats
k)Who are Samaritans?
Ans.Munira, Abdulla and Karega.
I)What did the Igbos do with the twin babies?
Ans. The Igbos left the twin babies in the Evil Forest to die and rot.
