poetry paper 1 2018 supply

poetry 1 paper 2019 punjab university

Significance of the Title of the Novel 'Things Fall Apart' by Chinua Achebe

Significance of the Title of the Novel 'Things Fall Apart' by Chinua Achebe

Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe is a novel whose title bears the central massage of the work. The very title ‘Things Fall Apart’ foreshadows the tragedy which takes place at the end of the novel. The novel depicts the tragedy of an individual as well as the tragedy of a society. The protagonist of the novel Okonkwo who was rich and respectable at the beginning of the novel meets a tragic fate at the end of the novel. Achebe portrays how an ambitious, well known, and respected African Okonkwo’s life falls apart. But when he suffers, his whole tribe also suffers. At the beginning of the novel, the Ibo society was a peaceful, organic society, but at the end of the novel it falls into pieces. Thus, the novel records not only falling apart of Okonkwo’s life but also his whole society.

The Title- A Literary Allusion:

The phrase "things fall apart" is taken from the poem, “The Second Coming” by W.B Yeats, which Achebe quotes more extensively in the epigraph. Achebe’s literary allusion to Yeats’ poem might deepen or extend—by comparison and/or contrast—the meaning(s) of Achebe’s title and his novel.  The beginning four lines of the poem are referred as a preface of the novel.

“Turning and turning in the widening gyre
The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,”

"Things fall apart" can be said when something we believed would last forever, comes to an end. The title Things Fall Apart refers to the fact that without proper balance, things do fall apart. The notion of balance in the novel is an important theme throughout the book. Beginning with the excerpt from Yeats' poem, the concept of balance is stressed as important; for without balance, order is lost. In the novel, there is a system of balance, which the Igbo culture seems but at the end of the novel the society people can not listen the leader, so a chaotic situation is created.

Okonkwo’s Life Falls Apart:

At the beginning of the novel we see Okonkwo as a prosperous leader of the Igbo people. But the novel ends with his tragic end. Thus, we can say that the novel Things Fall Apart  depicts how Okonkwo’s life falls apart. Okonkwo is definitely a man of importance for his society. He is a well-known person throughout the nine villages and beyond. He is a warrior and wrestler who gains respect through his athletics. He is a fierce-free individual. He hasn’t lost one fight or any battles. And for this the people of the village love him. He is also respected because of his wealth.

Okonkwo's life first begins to fall apart when he kills Ikemefuna, a prisoner who stayed at Okonkwo's home. Okonkwo considers Ikemefuna as one of his own sons. It has been decided from the oracle that Ikemefuna will be killed. Okonkwo takes part in his murder, despite warning from his friend, “That boy calls you father. Do not bear a hand in his death.”  But when he hears Ikemefuna’s crying, ““My father, they have killed me!” as he ran towards him. Dazed with fear, Okonkwo drew his machete and cut him down.”  Okonkwo’s fear of being weak, which is one of his tragic flaws, drives him to rashness, and in the end it contributes to his own tragedy that his own life falls apart.

        Another significant incidence where Okonkwo's life falls apart was when he was thrown out of the clan for seven years. From this event, one can see that Okonkwo's hopes dreams have begun to fall apart. His hopes of being a rich and popular individual had drifted away with this disturbing incident. Okonkwo had no longer had his farm or animals. Also Okonkwo lost faith with most of his friends. This goes to show that Okonkwo lost faith with his friends, like his father lost faith with his friends.  Another episode that showed the downfall in Okonkwo's life was when Nwoye, his oldest and favorite son, converted to the white mans.

Okonkwo’s life finally shattered after his returning to his village where he finds that everything is changed. After the clansman burn the Church building down, the District Commissioner asks the leaders of the clan, Okonkwo among them, to go and see him for a peaceful meeting. The leaders arrive, and are quickly seized. While they are in detention waiting for the fine to be collected from their people, they are beaten severely by the court messengers and their heads are shaved. They are held in jail until the clan pays a heavy fine. Embittered and grieving for the destruction of his clan’s independence, and fearing the humiliation of dying under white law, Okonkwo commits suicide and his life totally falls apart.
Igbo Society Falls Apart:

Like Okonkwo his Igbo society also falls apart. In the first part of the book we see a socially, politically and religiously organic Igbo society. But this organic society becomes divided and virtually loses all energy at the end of the book. Thus, the novel documents the falling apart of the Igbo tribe due to its own brutal rules as well as the coming of the Christian missionaries and the rule of the English government.

The Society Itself Responsible For Falling Apart:

At the beginning of the book we see that the Igbo people have a strong faith in their traditional religion. The religion of the Igbos consisted in the belief that there is a suspense God, the creator of the universe and the lesser gods. The supreme God was called Chukwu. The other gods were made by Chukwu to act his messengers so that people could approach him through them. People made sacrifices to the smaller gods, but when the failed, the people turned to Chukwu. Ancestor worship was also an equally important feature of the religion of the Ibo people. There were man superstitious ideas related with their religious belief. They believed in evil spirits and oracle. One of such Oracles is responsible for Okonkwo’s sacrifice of Ikemefuna. This incident underlines the superstitious brutality of traditional Igbo society. We also find the brutality, injustice and the inhuman activities in some other rituals or rules such as – people who are affected by some severe diseases are carried on the Evil Forest to die and they do not get any burial and twain babies are thrown out in the Evil Forest just after their birth. The ultimate result of such brutality is when the people, who are dissatisfied with these rules such as- Nwoye, the mother of three twin babies, get the opportunity to change their religion they do it  and the society ultimately falls apart.

Igbo Society Encounters the Colonial Masters and Falls Apart:

Prior to the coming of the white the political life of the Igbo people was also very organic and strong. They were very loyal to their political leaders. After the entrance of colonial masters, the colonial religion, mostly replaces the traditional religion. When the white man arrives, however, they ignore the Igbo’s values and tries to enforce his own beliefs and religious practices. Missionaries would convince these tribesmen that their tribe worshipped false gods and that its false gods did not have the ability to punish them if they chose to join the mission. Like many others, Okonko’s son Nwoye is also affected by the colonial religion.

The only point in the book in which the title is referenced is Chapter Twenty, when the main character, Okonkwo, and his friend, Obierika, are discussing the invasion of white men into their community. Obierika says, "The white man is very clever. He came quietly and peaceably with his religion. We were amused at his foolishness and allowed him to stay. Now he has won our brothers, and our clan can no longer act like one. He has put a knife on the things that held us together and we have fallen apart." his passage clearly ties the destruction of the Igbo people's way of life to sneaky, divisive action on the part of European missionaries and imperialists.

The colonial politics affects the Igbo society. Okonko’s life is also affected by the colonial politics. The Igbo people become the victims of the colonial politics and many people die as a result of colonialism. The same things happen to Okonkwo.

The novel concludes with the end of the Igbo society and the death of the hero. In the face of the chaos caused by the incursion of Christianity, Okonkwo becomes a murderer and then hangs himself. His world has literally fallen apart, and it symbolically represents that Igbo society has fallen apart. Thus, we can say, the title of the novel, Things Fall Apart denotes its theme appropriately.

Hedda’s Suicide : A Reasonable Act?

Hedda’s Suicide : A Reasonable Act?

In the late nineteenth century, the forces of capitalism and colonialism that shaped European society were veiled in doubt by the evolution of several new ways of thinking. In France, the beginnings of the impressionist movement reformed art, drama and literature by questioning the long-standing tradition of realism.

In central Europe, Sigmund Freud’s revolutionary science of psychoanalysis gained momentum; changing the way people related to each other and paving the way for surrealist art and progress of alternative thinking. Finally, Karl Marx’s promotion of social systems which were alternative to the dominant capitalism of the time raised peoples’ awareness of the severe injustices their new way of living had created.
It was in this social milieu that Henrik Ibsen turned for a final time to write a play with a particular social agenda. In his effort to comment on events around him and assess the impact of society’s new ideologies on a specific echelon of society, Hedda Gabler was born.

The title of the play is the maiden name of its protagonist. The audience is invited into Hedda’s new home in Norway shortly after she has returned from honeymoon with George Tesman, a scholar of Middle Ages history. In the introductory conversation between George and their maid, Bertha, we are introduced to Hedda’s upbringing which is to play a crucial role in events to come. With the renowned General Gabler as a parent, Hedda was conditioned for a life of independence, entertainment and decadence. After her father dies and her life of horseback riding comes to an end, Hedda slowly realises that her society will not let her live in the way she would like.

As a bourgeoisie woman, taking up a job is both awkward and very difficult for Hedda. Hedda has little choice: she must marry if she wants to have any chance of supporting the extravagant way of living to which she had become accustomed.

In George Tesman, Hedda found both the perfect solution of her situation and the inevitable curse of boredom and discontentment. George, brought up by his Aunts, is as conventional and colourless as his name suggests. His conversation is trite, and he is completely oblivious to the subtlety; failing to notice Aunt Julie’s suggestive questions about Hedda’s pregnancy. He is dedicated to his studies, having spent his honeymoon researching “marvellous old documents that nobody knew existed”.
It would have been very dangerous for Hedda to pass up George’s offer of marriage. With Lövborg and Brack, two men with whom she had relationships in the past, indisposed, doing so would have squandered her opportunity to live comfortably in marriage. Hedda realizes the merit in marrying a man who is to soon become a professor, and feels scared of approaching age and loneliness. Her decision, however, is guided predominantly by the structure of her patriarchal society which dictates that she must depend completely on men and on marriage for her future happiness.

It is with her marriage to George that Hedda’s life of monotony and boredom increasingly strains her personality and livelihood. She declares: “Sometimes I think I only have a talent for one thing… boring myself to death!” and becomes obsessed with the task of finding interest and beauty in her life. The tragedy of Hedda Gabler begins when Hedda is unable to discover these qualities in her own life. She cannot have the fulfilment of a profession - the interest in another world of studies, colleagues and relationships. As an uninfluential member of society, she is not challenged intellectually or socially. Living under a monarch and as a woman in a patriarchal society, she can have no influence on the future of her community. With European countries establishing colonies throughout the world, Hedda realizes the inexorable domination of her society and feels a helpless victim of its hegemony.

To find the interest and beauty she desires, Hedda must turn to others. In her earlier life, she made use of Lövborg to satisfy herself. Often described as Hedda’s alter ego, Lövborg had an intense relationship with Hedda during childhood. Hedda was attracted by the “style and Romantic secrecy” and ended the relationship when it threatened to become physical. In a revealing dialogue with Lövborg, Hedda exposes her profound desire for fascination and intrigue in an otherwise uninteresting life:

The reasons for Hedda's suicide are fairly clear, she realised she could not live in a middle-class environment under the threat of Brack revealing the fact that she gave the pistol to Lovborg whilst her husband is wrapped up in a project which does not involve her and it is clear that he is not going to provide her with the attention or standard of living which she was hoping for. Her first environment, materialistic and prestigious, led her to choose her second environment purely on material values. She soon found that she could not move from one environment to the other, and with the added problem of people within her environment who reminded her of her own failings, she simply found she could not cope. It is clear that in another environment, probably a more wealthy one and one in which she received more attention, she could have been happier. — with Muhammad Hussain and 2 others.

Past papers of waiting for Godot drama 2 Punjab University LAHORE 2012 to 2019 annual

Past papers of waiting for Godot

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1. "Yet, If Beckett devalues language, he continues to use it and, bilingually, to show a mastery of it". How far do you agree with this view? Waiting for Godot.(2004)

2. Is Beckett's Waiting for Godot relevant for us today?(2005)

3. Can one identify with Beckett's characters in Waiting for Godot and if so why?(2006)

4. "In an instant all will vanish and we’ll be alone once more, in the midst of nothingness!" How far do you agree that these lines of the play Waiting for Godot reflect the intellectual climate of Beckett's time?(2007)

5. How does Beckett transform inaction into dramatic auction in Waiting for Godot?(2008)

6. What is the dramatic significance of the song in Act II of Waiting for Godot?(2009)

7. Is Waiting for Godot a meaningful play?(2010)

8. Waiting for Godot shows Beckett's ability to blend derision, humour and comedy with tragedy. His words are simultaneously tragic and comic. How far would you agree?(2010-supp)

9. How does Beckett prevent the audience from being bored by Waiting for Godot?(2011)

10. "I have used Christianity as mythology in the play WAITING FOR GODOT'. What dramatic purpose does Christian mythology serve in the play?(2011-supp)

11. WAITING FOR GODOT exposes the eternal loneliness, bafflement and ennui suffered by man. Comment.(2012)

12. WAITING FOR GODOT shows the individual as the product of linguistic forces, a 'tissue of textualities'. Comment.(2012-supp)

13. Bring out the significance of the title of WAITING FOR GODOT.(2013)

14. Waiting for Godot voices the infinite hope and despair of man about the future of humanity. Do you agree?(2014)

Q : Waiting for GODOT exposes the eternal loneliness,  bafflement and ennui suffered by man. Comment
2012 annual

Q : Waiting for godot shows the individual as the product of linguistic forces, a tissue of TEXTUALITIES. COMMENT.
2012 supply

Q : Bring out significance of the TITLE of waiting FOR GODOT
2013 Annual

Q: Waiting for goDOT voices the infinite hope and despair of man about the future of humanity. Do you agree?
2013 supply

Q: Repeated question 2013 supply
2014 annual

Q: Repeated QUESTION 2012 supply
2014 SUPPLY

Q : Discuss waiting for godot it as representative of 20th century issues of anxiety and despair.
2015 annual

Q: Waiting for Godot is the greatest 20th century play aiming to question the religion. Do you agree? Substantiate your answer with appropriate textual quotations.
2015 supply

Q : Bring out the various ways in which language has been exploited waiting for Godot
2016 annual

Q : How does waiting for godot treat the concept of time.
2016 supply

Q : How far Would you agree that waiting for godot highlights the concept of KIERKEGAARD's philosophy of existentialism?
2017 annual

Q : What  is the SIGNIFICANCE of little games the characters play in waiting for GODOT? Elaborate Your ANSWER citing examples from the PLAY.
2018 annual

Q:The hope of salvation may be merely an evasion of the suffering and anguish that spring from facing the reality of the human condition. Discuss with the reference to the play Waiting for Godot...(2018) supply

How does Waiting for Godot appropriate language and why?
2019 annual

what are major concerns voiced broken by Lucky through his speech?

how do they integerate with the rest of the play

2020 annual

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WAITING FOR GODOT PAST PAPERS CONTEXT

1. He imagines when I see him indefatigable I'll regret my decision. Such is his miserable scheme.(2004)

2. (gesture towards the Universe) This one is enough for you. (silence). It's not nice of you, Didi. Whom am I to tell my private nightmares to if I can't tell them to you?(2005)

3. We wait we are bored. (He throws up his hand.) No, don't protest. We are bored to death, there is no denying it.(2006)

4. What are we doing here, that is the question. And we are blessed in this, that we happen of known the answer. Yes, in this manner confusion one thing alone is clear. We are waiting for Godot to come .....(2007)

5. Is there anything I can do, that's what I ask myself, to cheer them up? I have given them bones, I have talked to them; about this and that, I have explained the twilight, admittedly.(2008)

6. We should ask him for the bone first. Then if he refuses we'll leave him there.(2009)

7. But we were there together, I could swear to it! Picking grapes for a man called .... (he snaps his fingers) .... can't think of the name of the man, at a place, do you not remember?(2010)

8. Remark that I might just as well have been in his shoes and he in mine. If chance had not willed otherwise. To each one his due.(2010-SUPP)

9. Perhaps I haven't got it right. He wants to mollify me, so that I'll give up the idea of parting with him. No, that's exactly it either.(2011)

10. Gentlemen I don't know what came over me. Forget all I said. (more and more his old self) I don't remember exactly what it was, but you may be sure there wasn't a word of truth in it.(2011-SUPP)

11. Was I asleep? While the others suffered? Or am I asleep at this time? When I wake up tomorrow, or think that I have woken up, what shall I say about today?(2012)

12. Does he not have the right to put down his bags? He certainly have the right. From this we conclude that he keeps on carrying the bags all the time because he likes to do so. This is a good explanation.(2012-SUPP)

13. Recognize! What is there in which one should recognize? All my wretched life I have crawled in mud! And you think it proper to talk to me about scenery? Look at this heap of rubbish! I have never gone away from it.(2013)

14. Was I asleep? While the others suffered? Or am I asleep at this time? When I wake up tomorrow, or think that I have woken up, shall I say about today?(2014)

15. Does he not have the right to put down his bags? He certainly have the right. From this we conclude that he keeps on carrying the bags all the time because he likes to do so. This is a good explanation.(2015)

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