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75 Questions · 150 Marks (2 Marks Each) · 2 Hours · No Negative Marking

UGC NET English Paper 2: Most Probable Question Paper (Set 2)

Time: 2 Hours Total Marks: 150 (75 Questions x 2 Marks) Negative Marking: None

Unit I: Drama

1. In Doctor Faustus, the Good Angel and the Evil Angel primarily function as (A) Comic relief characters (B) Allegorical representations of Faustus's internal conflict (C) Messengers of the Pope (D) Historical commentators on the Reformation

2. Which of the following plays by Shakespeare is classified as a "problem play"? (A) A Midsummer Night's Dream (B) Measure for Measure (C) Henry V (D) The Tempest

3. Assertion (A) : The "University Wits" were a group of Elizabethan playwrights who paved the way for Shakespeare. Reason (R): They were educated at Oxford or Cambridge and wrote for the public stage. Choose the correct option: (A) Both A and R are true, and R is the correct explanation of A. (B) Both A and R are true, but R is NOT the correct explanation of A. (C) A is true, but R is false. (D) A is false, but R is true.

4. Match the following plays with their authors: List I: I. The Spanish Tragedy, II. The Duchess of Malfi, III. The Alchemist, IV. She Stoops to Conquer List II: 1. John Webster, 2. Thomas Kyd, 3. Ben Jonson, 4. Oliver Goldsmith

Choose the correct option (A) I-2, II-1, III-3, IV-4 (B) I-1, II-2, III-4, IV-3 (C) I-2, II-3, III-1, IV-4 (D) I-3, II-1, III-2, IV-4

5. In The Pilgrim's Progress, the protagonist Christian's journey represents (A) A historical account of the Crusades (B) An allegory of the Christian life from sin to salvation (C) A political satire on the English Civil War (D) A romance of courtly love

Unit II: Poetry

6. "Meta-physical poetry" is characterized by (A) Simple, pastoral imagery (B) Elaborate conceits and intellectual wit (C) Strict adherence to classical forms (D) Rejection of religious themes

7. In Paradise Lost, Milton's stated purpose is to (A) Justify the ways of God to men (B) Celebrate the monarchy (C) Describe the beauty of Eden (D) Retell the Trojan War

8. Assertion (A) : Wordsworth's "Tintern Abbey" emphasizes the importance of nature and memory. Reason (R): The poem was written during the Romantic period, which valued emotion and individual experience. Choose the correct option: (A) Both A and R are true, and R is the correct explanation of A. (B) Both A and R are true, but R is NOT the correct explanation of A. (C) A is true, but R is false. (D) A is false, but R is true.

9. Arrange the following poets in chronological order of their birth: I. John Keats II. William Wordsworth III. T.S. Eliot IV. Alexander Pope (A) IV, II, I, III (B) II, IV, I, III (C) IV, I, II, III (D) II, I, IV, III

10. The term "negative capability" was coined by (A) P.B. Shelley (B) John Keats (C) William Wordsworth (D) S.T. Coleridge

Unit III: Fiction & Short Story

11. Which novel by Charles Dickens is a Bildungsroman? (A) A Tale of Two Cities (B) David Copperfield (C) Bleak House (D) Hard Times

12. In Wuthering Heights, the narration is primarily mediated through (A) Nelly Dean and Mr. Lockwood (B) Heathcliff and Catherine (C) Emily Brontë as omniscient narrator (D) Isabella Linton

13. Assertion (A) : In Jane Eyre, the character Bertha Mason represents the repressed and colonial "other." Reason (R): Bertha is a Creole woman from the West Indies, and her madness is linked to her colonial origins. Choose the correct option: (A) Both A and R are true, and R is the correct explanation of A. (B) Both A and R are true, but R is NOT the correct explanation of A. (C) A is true, but R is false. (D) A is false, but R is true.

14. Match the following novels with their authors: List I: I. Heart of Darkness, II. To the Lighthouse, III. The Great Gatsby, IV. Things Fall Apart List II: 1. Virginia Woolf, 2. Joseph Conrad, 3. F. Scott Fitzgerald, 4. Chinua Achebe

Choose the correct option (A) I-2, II-1, III-3, IV-4 (B) I-1, II-2, III-4, IV-3 (C) I-2, II-3, III-1, IV-4 (D) I-3, II-1, III-2, IV-4

15. In The God of Small Things, Arundhati Roy explores the theme of (A) Globalization (B) The "Love Laws" and social hierarchies (C) The Indian diaspora (D) Technology and modernity

Unit IV: Non-Fictional Prose

16. In his essay "The Function of Criticism at the Present Time," Matthew Arnold argues that the primary role of criticism is (A) To propagate political revolution (B) To see the object as in itself it really is (C) To promote the moral improvement of the masses (D) To establish a new literary canon

17. "A Room of One's Own" by Virginia Woolf is an extended essay on (A) The history of architecture (B) Women and fiction (C) The art of biography (D) The aesthetics of modernism

18. Assertion (A) : George Orwell's 1984 introduces the concept of Newspeak. Reason (R): Newspeak is a controlled language designed to limit freedom of thought. Choose the correct option: (A) Both A and R are true, and R is the correct explanation of A. (B) Both A and R are true, but R is NOT the correct explanation of A. (C) A is true, but R is false. (D) A is false, but R is true.

19. Which of the following is NOT a characteristic of New Criticism? (A) Close reading of the text (B) Rejection of the Intentional Fallacy (C) Emphasis on biographical context (D) The text as a self-contained object

20. In The Archetypes of Literature, Northrop Frye proposes a theory of criticism that is (A) Marxist (B) Psychoanalytic (C) Structuralist and myth-based (D) Deconstructionist

Unit V: Language: Basic Concepts, Theories, and Pedagogy

21. In linguistics, "morphology" is the study of (A) Speech sounds (B) Word formation and structure (C) Sentence structure (D) Meaning in context

22. The term "phoneme" refers to (A) The smallest unit of meaning (B) The smallest distinctive unit of sound (C) A grammatical rule (D) A type of intonation pattern

23. Assertion (A) : Noam Chomsky's theory of "Universal Grammar" suggests that the ability to acquire language is innate to humans. Reason (R): All human languages share a common underlying structure. Choose the correct option: (A) Both A and R are true, and R is the correct explanation of A. (B) Both A and R are true, but R is NOT the correct explanation of A. (C) A is true, but R is false. (D) A is false, but R is true.

24. "ELT" stands for (A) English Literary Theory (B) English Language Teaching (C) European Literature Test (D) English Linguistic Terminology

25. The "Communicative Approach" to language teaching emphasizes (A) Memorization of grammar rules (B) Translation of literary texts (C) Interaction and real-life communication (D) Rote learning of vocabulary

Unit VI: English in India: History, Evolution, and Futures

26. Raja Rao's Kanthapura is a novel about (A) The partition of India (B) The Indian freedom struggle through the lens of a village (C) Life in a modern Indian metropolis (D) The Naxalite movement

27. In Midnight's Children, Salman Rushdie uses the device of (A) Realism (B) Magic Realism (C) Stream of Consciousness (D) Epistolary form

28. Assertion (A) : Mulk Raj Anand's Untouchable deals with the life of a young sweeper boy, Bakha. Reason (R): The novel is a critique of the caste system in India. Choose the correct option: (A) Both A and R are true, and R is the correct explanation of A. (B) Both A and R are true, but R is NOT the correct explanation of A. (C) A is true, but R is false. (D) A is false, but R is true.

29. Match the following Indian English poets with their works: List I: I. Sarojini Naidu, II. Kamala Das, III. Nissim Ezekiel, IV. A.K. Ramanujan List II: 1. The Golden Threshold, 2. An Introduction, 3. Enterprise, 4. The Striders

Choose the correct option (A) I-1, II-2, III-3, IV-4 (B) I-2, II-1, III-4, IV-3 (C) I-1, II-3, III-2, IV-4 (D) I-3, II-1, III-2, IV-4

30. The play Tughlaq by Girish Karnad is based on the life of (A) Akbar (B) Muhammad bin Tughlaq (C) Ashoka (D) Shivaji

Unit VII: Cultural Studies

31. Which concept is central to Edward Said's Orientalism? (A) Hybridity (B) The Subaltern (C) Discourse of power and knowledge (D) Simulacra and Simulation

32. The term "hegemony" as used in cultural studies was developed by (A) Louis Althusser (B) Antonio Gramsci (C) Theodor Adorno (D) Raymond Williams

33. Assertion (A) : Elaine Showalter's concept of "gynocriticism" focuses on the study of women writers and female literary traditions. Reason (R): It aims to construct a female framework for the analysis of women's literature. Choose the correct option: (A) Both A and R are true, and R is the correct explanation of A. (B) Both A and R are true, but R is NOT the correct explanation of A. (C) A is true, but R is false. (D) A is false, but R is true.

34. "Panopticism," a concept by Michel Foucault, is related to (A) The celebration of individual freedom (B) Mechanisms of surveillance and discipline (C) The study of linguistic signs (D) The aesthetics of the sublime

35. Which theorist is associated with the concept of "différance" and the idea that meaning is endlessly deferred? (A) Michel Foucault (B) Jacques Derrida (C) Roland Barthes (D) Jean Baudrillard

Unit VIII: Literary Criticism

36. In "The Death of the Author," Roland Barthes argues that (A) The author's biography is essential for interpretation (B) The text's unity lies in its origin, the author (C) Writing is the destruction of every voice, of every point of origin (D) The author is a product of the text's language

37. Julia Kristeva's concept of "intertextuality" implies that (A) A text has a single, fixed meaning (B) Texts are closed systems (C) Any text is a permutation of other texts (D) Authors are the sole creators of meaning

38. Assertion (A) : T.S. Eliot's "The Waste Land" is characterized by fragmentation and multiple allusions. Reason (R): The poem reflects the disillusionment and cultural breakdown of the post-World War I era. Choose the correct option: (A) Both A and R are true, and R is the correct explanation of A. (B) Both A and R are true, but R is NOT the correct explanation of A. (C) A is true, but R is false. (D) A is false, but R is true.

39. Arrange the following critical works in chronological order of their publication: I. The Function of Criticism at the Present Time II. The Death of the Author III. Orientalism IV. The Archetypes of Literature (A) I, IV, II, III (B) IV, I, II, III (C) I, II, IV, III (D) II, I, IV, III

40. The term "Oedipus Complex" was coined by (A) Carl Jung (B) Sigmund Freud (C) Jacques Lacan (D) Alfred Adler

Unit IX: Literary Theory Post World War II

41. In Waiting for Godot, Samuel Beckett explores the theme of (A) The triumph of human will (B) The absurdity and meaninglessness of existence (C) The beauty of language (D) The inevitability of progress

42. Which writer is associated with the "Angry Young Men" movement? (A) Philip Larkin (B) John Osborne (C) Harold Pinter (D) Tom Stoppard

43. Assertion (A) : Jeanette Winterson's Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit is a postmodern Bildungsroman. Reason (R): It blends autobiography, fiction, and fantasy to explore the protagonist's coming-of-age. Choose the correct option: (A) Both A and R are true, and R is the correct explanation of A. (B) Both A and R are true, but R is NOT the correct explanation of A. (C) A is true, but R is false. (D) A is false, but R is true.

44. Match the following theorists with their concepts: List I: I. Judith Butler, II. Jean Baudrillard, III. Homi K. Bhabha, IV. Gayatri Spivak List II: 1. Simulacra and Simulation, 2. Gender Performativity, 3. Hybridity, 4. Subaltern

Choose the correct option (A) I-2, II-1, III-3, IV-4 (B) I-1, II-2, III-4, IV-3 (C) I-2, II-3, III-1, IV-4 (D) I-3, II-1, III-2, IV-4

45. Which post-war British playwright wrote The Birthday Party and The Caretaker? (A) John Arden (B) Arnold Wesker (C) Harold Pinter (D) Joe Orton

Unit X: Literary Theory & Criticism (Advanced)

46. In The Great Gatsby, the green light at the end of Daisy's dock symbolizes (A) The American Dream and Gatsby's unattainable desires (B) The wealth of East Egg (C) The moral decay of the 1920s (D) The power of love

47. Which African American writer is known for the novel Invisible Man? (A) Richard Wright (B) Ralph Ellison (C) James Baldwin (D) Langston Hughes

48. Assertion (A) : Beloved by Toni Morrison is based on the story of Margaret Garner, a fugitive slave. Reason (R): The novel explores the psychological trauma of slavery and its aftermath. Choose the correct option: (A) Both A and R are true, and R is the correct explanation of A. (B) Both A and R are true, but R is NOT the correct explanation of A. (C) A is true, but R is false. (D) A is false, but R is true.

49. Match the following literary terms with their definitions: List I: I. Bildungsroman, II. Epistolary novel, III. Denouement, IV. Zeugma List II: 1. A novel of formation or education, 2. A novel written in the form of letters, 3. The final resolution of the plot, 4. A figure of speech using a word to modify two others in different senses

Choose the correct option (A) I-1, II-2, III-3, IV-4 (B) I-2, II-1, III-4, IV-3 (C) I-1, II-3, III-2, IV-4 (D) I-3, II-1, III-2, IV-4

50. Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe deals with the impact of (A) French colonialism in Africa (B) British colonialism and Christian missionaries on Igbo society (C) The African slave trade (D) Apartheid in South Africa

51. The "Lost Generation" writers were a group of American expatriates in (A) London (B) Paris (C) Berlin (D) Rome

52. Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman is a critique of (A) The healthcare system (B) The "American Dream" (C) The education system (D) The military-industrial complex

53. Assertion (A) : Emily Dickinson's poetry is characterized by sharp, epigrammatic brevity and slant rhyme. Reason (R): She wrote during the American Romantic period, valuing emotion and individualism. Choose the correct option: (A) Both A and R are true, and R is the correct explanation of A. (B) Both A and R are true, but R is NOT the correct explanation of A. (C) A is true, but R is false. (D) A is false, but R is true.

54. Match the following American authors with their works: List I: I. Nathaniel Hawthorne, II. Herman Melville, III. Walt Whitman, IV. Edgar Allan Poe List II: 1. The Scarlet Letter, 2. Moby-Dick, 3. Leaves of Grass, 4. The Fall of the House of Usher

Choose the correct option (A) I-1, II-2, III-3, IV-4 (B) I-2, II-1, III-4, IV-3 (C) I-1, II-3, III-2, IV-4 (D) I-3, II-1, III-2, IV-4

55. "Magic Realism" is most closely associated with the works of (A) Franz Kafka (B) Gabriel García Márquez (C) Jorge Luis Borges (D) Julio Cortázar

56. The Stranger (L'Étranger) is a novel by (A) Jean-Paul Sartre (B) Albert Camus (C) Simone de Beauvoir (D) André Gide

57. Assertion (A) : One Hundred Years of Solitude is a seminal work of magic realism. Reason (R): The novel is set in the fictional town of Macondo and chronicles the Buendía family. Choose the correct option: (A) Both A and R are true, and R is the correct explanation of A. (B) Both A and R are true, but R is NOT the correct explanation of A. (C) A is true, but R is false. (D) A is false, but R is true.

58. Arrange the following literary movements in chronological order: I. Romanticism II. Modernism III. Postmodernism IV. Victorianism (A) I, IV, II, III (B) IV, I, II, III (C) I, II, IV, III (D) II, I, IV, III

59. The term "Postcolonialism" refers to (A) The period after a country gains independence from colonial rule (B) The study of colonial expansion (C) A literary movement of the 19th century (D) The celebration of Western values

60. "Zeugma" is a figure of speech that involves (A) Exaggeration (B) The use of a word to modify two other words in different senses (C) A direct comparison (D) Repetition of initial consonant sounds

61. In The Shadow Lines, Amitav Ghosh primarily deals with (A) The history of the British Raj (B) The partition of India and the nature of borders (C) The opium trade (D) The life of Indian immigrants in the US

62. Which novel by R.K. Narayan is set in the fictional town of Malgudi? (A) The Guide (B) The Painter of Signs (C) Swami and Friends (D) All of the above

63. Assertion (A) : The Guide by R.K. Narayan explores the transformation of a tour guide into a spiritual figure. Reason (R): The novel is set in the fictional town of Malgudi. Choose the correct option: (A) Both A and R are true, and R is the correct explanation of A. (B) Both A and R are true, but R is NOT the correct explanation of A. (C) A is true, but R is false. (D) A is false, but R is true.

64. Match the following Indian English authors with their works: List I: I. Salman Rushdie, II. Arundhati Roy, III. Amitav Ghosh, IV. Kiran Desai List II: 1. Midnight's Children, 2. The God of Small Things, 3. The Shadow Lines, 4. The Inheritance of Loss

Choose the correct option (A) I-1, II-2, III-3, IV-4 (B) I-2, II-1, III-4, IV-3 (C) I-1, II-3, III-2, IV-4 (D) I-3, II-1, III-2, IV-4

65. The "stream of consciousness" technique is most notably used in the novels of (A) Charles Dickens and George Eliot (B) Virginia Woolf and James Joyce (C) Jane Austen and the Brontës (D) Henry Fielding and Laurence Sterne

66. In Heart of Darkness, Joseph Conrad's narrative is framed by (A) An omniscient narrator (B) Marlow's story within a story (C) A series of letters (D) A diary

67. Assertion (A) : The Waste Land is a landmark modernist poem. Reason (R): It employs fragmentation, multiple allusions, and a complex structure. Choose the correct option: (A) Both A and R are true, and R is the correct explanation of A. (B) Both A and R are true, but R is NOT the correct explanation of A. (C) A is true, but R is false. (D) A is false, but R is true.

68. Arrange the following British authors in chronological order of their birth: I. Charles Dickens II. Virginia Woolf III. William Shakespeare IV. Jane Austen (A) III, IV, I, II (B) IV, III, I, II (C) III, I, IV, II (D) I, III, IV, II

69. The "Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood" was primarily a movement in (A) Music (B) Architecture and Painting (C) Politics (D) Philosophy

70. In Jane Eyre, the character Bertha Mason represents (A) The ideal Victorian woman (B) The repressed and colonial "other" (C) A symbol of Christian charity (D) The power of female independence

71. Which Victorian novel is set in the fictional town of Casterbridge? (A) Middlemarch (B) The Mayor of Casterbridge (C) North and South (D) Mary Barton

72. Assertion (A) : Matthew Arnold's "Dover Beach" expresses a sense of melancholy and loss of faith. Reason (R): The poem reflects the Victorian crisis of faith in the face of scientific discoveries. Choose the correct option: (A) Both A and R are true, and R is the correct explanation of A. (B) Both A and R are true, but R is NOT the correct explanation of A. (C) A is true, but R is false. (D) A is false, but R is true.

73. Match the following literary periods with their representative authors: List I: I. Romantic Period, II. Victorian Period, III. Modern Period, IV. Postmodern Period List II: 1. William Wordsworth, 2. Alfred Lord Tennyson, 3. T.S. Eliot, 4. Salman Rushdie

Choose the correct option (A) I-1, II-2, III-3, IV-4 (B) I-2, II-1, III-4, IV-3 (C) I-1, II-3, III-2, IV-4 (D) I-3, II-1, III-2, IV-4

74. The "Angry Young Men" movement was a group of British writers in the (A) 1920s (B) 1950s (C) 1890s (D) 1970s

75. In The Birthday Party, Harold Pinter explores themes of (A) Romantic love (B) Menace, power, and the breakdown of communication (C) Historical accuracy (D) Scientific progress

ANSWER KEY

1. B 2. B 3. A 4. A 5. B
2. B 7. A 8. A 9. A 10. B
3. B 12. A 13. A 14. A 15. B
4. B 17. B 18. A 19. C 20. C
5. B 22. B 23. A 24. B 25. C
6. B 27. B 28. A 29. A 30. B
7. C 32. B 33. A 34. B 35. B
8. C 37. C 38. A 39. A 40. B
9. B 42. B 43. A 44. A 45. C
10. A 47. B 48. A 49. A 50. B
11. B 52. B 53. B 54. A 55. B
12. B 57. B 58. A 59. A 60. B
13. B 62. D 63. B 64. A 65. B
14. B 67. A 68. A 69. B 70. B
15. B 72. A 73. A 74. B 75. B