IGNOU BEGC-111 - Women's Writing

Section A 1 Explain the following giving reference to the context. a) Even as you wash rice, fish, vegetables even as you peel, cut, bake, stir and cook the thieving letters on the wall take wings. b) I wonder if it hurts to live– And if They have to try– And whether–could They choose between– It would not be–to die– c) For all of them, whose feet devouring rough, Miles, grow cracks on the heels, so that when they Clambered up our porch, the noise was grating, Strange. d) wonder if it hurts to live – And if They have to try – And whether – could They choose between – It would not be – to die – e) For the akshara you scratched on the walls so furtively, the akshara you tried to match with the sounds you heard They’ve quickened now, with life. Section B 2. What do you understand by ‘heroic code’? To what extent is it found in Chandrabati Ramayana? 3. Define autobiography. Bring out Pandita Ramabai’s contribution to this genre. 4. How does Pandita Ramabai qualify as an educationist, social reformer and crusader for women’s rights? 5. Comment on the view of Jiji regarding the authority a woman has in a household. Is it true power? Why or why not? Comment on the symbolic value of the kitchen in the story. Section C 6. “The predominant issue and theme in Sunlight On A Broken Column emerges from the situations that focus on a woman caught in the crisis of a transitional society.” Elaborate. 7. Write a note on the poetic technique of Emily Dickinson with special reference to diction,meter, imagery and metaphor.

Section A Explain the following with reference to the context: 1. The Eyes around – had wrung them dry- And Breaths were gathering firm For that last Onset – when the King Be witnessed – in the Room - 2. I measure every Grief I meet With narrow, probing, eyes – I wonder if It weighs like MineOr has an Easier size 3. The language I speak Becomes mine, its distortions, its queerness All mine, mine alone. It is half English, half Indian, funny perhaps, but it is honest, It is as human as I am human, don’t You see? 4. You need no book, Rasha Sundari no paper or pen either you have the black, smudgy kitchen wall for your magical scribbles lines, ellipses, curves all of them your secret codes for a whole new world. Section B 5. What are the issues that Mary Wollstonecraft touches upon? 6. Comment on the changed perspective in Chandrabhati’s Ramayana. 7. How does Ambai critique patriarchy in her story? 8. Can The Yellow Wallpaper be described as self-confessional literature? Elaborate. Section C 9. How does Sunlight on a Broken Column reflect the society of that time and place? 10. What do you think women’s writing seeks to express?