History

Novels, Society and History

Question:

What were the favourite themes to women novelists in India? Explain giving any three examples. [CBSE 2012]

Answer:

(i) New conception of womanhood : A reason for the popularity of novels among women was that it allowed5 for a new conception of womanhood. Stories of love which was a staple theme of many novels showed women who could choose or refuse their partners and relationships. It showed women who could to some extent control their lives.
(ii) Women changing the world : Some women authors also wrote about women who changed the world of both men and women.
(iii) Satiric fantasy : Rokeya Hossein (1880 ¬1932) a reformer who wrote a satiric fantasy in English called Sultana's Dream (1905) which shows a topsy-turvy world in which women take the place of men. Her novel Padmarag also showed the need for women to reform their condition by their own actions.
(iv) Women's daily Life : Bengali writer Kailashbashini Debi wrote books highlighting the experiences of women – about how women were imprisoned at home, kept in ignorance, forced to do hard domestic labour and treated unjustly by the very people they served.
(v) Condition of upper caste women : In the 1880s, in present-day Maharashtra, Tarabai Shinde and Pandita Ramabai wrote with passionate anger about the miserable lives of upper-caste Hindu women, especially widows.

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Novels, Society and History

Q 1.

Who was Leo Tolstoy?

Q 2.

What was the importance of novels ?
Or
In what ways was the novel in colonial India useful for both the colonisers as well as the nationalists ?  [CBSE 2009 (O), Sept. 2010, 2011, 2012]
Or
"Novels were useful for both the colonial administrators and Indians in colonial India."Support the statement with example. [CBSE 2010 (O)]
Or
What Were the various uses of novels from the Indian point of view ? [CBSE Sept. 2010]

Q 3.

Which was the first novel of Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay ?

Q 4.

Novels had explained and focussed on the terrible conditions of urban life under industrial capitalism. Justify.

Q 5.

What do you mean by epistolary novel ? Give One example.
Or
State the meaning of epistolary novel. Give one example for this type of novel. [CBSE 2013]

Q 6.

How most of the novels of the 19th century represented the true picture of the community and the society ?

Q 7.

Name any two famous Hindi novelists. Also mention the names of the novels written by them.

Q 8.

During the 19th century, the early Bengali novelists lived in two worlds'. Explain.

Q 9.

In many novels written during the colonial period, the ideal person successfully deals with one of the central dilemmas faced by colonial subject'. What was the dilemma ?

Q 10.

Who is the author of the novel ‘Robinson Crusoe' ? [CBSE. Sept.2011, 12]

Q 11.

Explain the following:
a) Social changes in Britain which led to an increase in women readers
b) What actions of Robinson Crusoe make us see him as a typical coloniser.
c) After 1740, the readership of novels began to include poorer people.
d) Novelists in colonial India wrote for a political cause.

Q 12.

Write a short note on novels for the young.

Q 13.

Name any three novels by Premchand.

Q 14.

What did the novels in the nineteenth- century India mean to :
(a) Women
(b) Children
Or
What was the attitude of people in India in the 19th century towards women reading ? How did women responded to this ? [CBSE Sept. 2010, 2011]

Q 15.

Name the countries where the novel first took firm roots. [CBSE 2009 (o)]

Q 16.

Who is the author of the novel "Robinson Crusoe ?

Q 17.

Which was the first modern novel in Nalayalam ? [CBSE 2014]

Q 18.

Discuss some of the social changes in the nineteenth century Britain which Thomas Hardy and Charles Dickens wrote about.

Q 19.

In what ways was the novel in colonial India useful for both the colonisers as well as the nationalists?

Q 20.

Describe the ways in which the novel in India attempted to create a sense of pan-Indian belonging

Q 21.

Write about the early Bengali novels.

Q 22.

How did the novels play a significant role in awareness about the India's glorious past. [CBSE 2013]
Or
How did novels inspire the freedom fighters? Explain with two examples. [CBSE 2011]

Q 23.

How did novel become a popular medium of entertainment among the middle class in India? Explain. [CBSE 2012]

Q 24.

Who was another of Pamela a novel based on exchange of letters between two lovers.

Q 25.

What was the theme of the novel Jane Eyre written by Charlotte Bronte?

Q 26.

Which was the first modem novel in Malayalam? When was it published ?

Q 27.

Explain the following :
(a) Social changes in Britain which led to an increase in women readers.
(b) What actions of Robinson Crusoe make us see him as a typical coloniser ? [CBSE Sept. 2011]
Or
"Daniel Defoe's Robinson Crusoe made the readers feel that they were part of a superior community". Support the statement. [CBSE 2013]
Or
What actions of Robinson Crusoe made him as a typical coloniser ? Explain. [CBSE 2013]
(c) After 1740, the readership of novels began to include poorer people.
(d) Novelists in colonial India wrote for a political cause.
Or
How does the novel Pariksha Guru reflect the inner and outer world of the newly emerging middle classes ? [CBSE Sept. 2010]

Q 28.

How did serialisation of novels increase the popularity of novels and magazines ? [CBSE 2012]

Q 29.

Write about some of the important characteristics of the Hindi novels. [CBSE Sept. 2010]
Or
How did the Hindi novels reflect the true picture of the Indian society of the 19th century ?
Or
Explain the teachings given by Srinivas Das in his novel ‘Pariksha Guru'. [CBSE 2010 (F), 2014]
In what ways did novels help to give the people a vision of being ideal characters without losing one's identity ? Explain.  [CBSE 2012]

Q 30.

Why were children prevented from reading novels ? Explain. (CBSE-2012)

Q 31.

Who is the author of novel "Titash Ekti Nadir Naam"? Why is it considered a special novel ? Explain any four reasons.  [CBSE 2013, 2014]
Or .
Who is the author of novel "Titash Ekti Nadir Naam"? Describe the theme of this novel. [CBSE 2012]

Q 32.

Explain the contribution of Premchand in Hindi novels. [CBSE Sept. 2010, 2011, 2013]
Or
Which is the most popular novel written by Premchand ? When was it published ? Write its theme. [CBSE 2008 (O)]
Or
"It was with the writings of Premchand that Hindi novel achieved excellence."Justify the statement. [CBSE 2013]

Q 33.

How did the early novels contribute to colonialism ?
Or
With the help of an example show how the early novels in Europe contributed to colonialism? [CBSE Sept. 2010, 2011]

Q 34.

Who formed the readership for the novels ?

Q 35.

Who was the author of Pickwick Papers which was serialised in 1836 ? [CBSE 2014]

Q 36.

Name a novelist who wrote about traditional rural communities of England that were vanishing.

Q 37.

How most of the novels of the 19th century represented the true picture of the community and the society ?

Q 38.

Name a novelist who wrote for lower- castes.

Q 39.

Which was the first historical novel written in Bengal ?

Q 40.

The novel revolves around Surdas who is visually impaired and belongs to an untouchable caste. Identify the novel.

Q 41.

The novel is an epic of the Indian peasantry and tells the moving story of Hori and his wife, Dhania. Identify the novel. [CBSE. Sept. 2011]

Q 42.

Write a note on :
(a) Hie Oriya Novel
(b) Jane Austen's portrayal of women
(c) The picture of the new middle class which the novel Pariksha Guru portrays.

Q 43.

Describe the ways in which the novels in India attempted to create a sense of pan- Indian belonging.

Q 44.

Describe how the issue of caste was included in novels in India. By referring to any two novels, discuss the ways in which they tried to make readers think about existing social issues.

Q 45.

Write about Thomas Hardy's Mayor of Caster Bridge.

Q 46.

What is Epistolary?

Q 47.

What is meant by vernacular as a language?

Q 48.

How was the involvement of women, the most important event of the novel in the 18th century ? [CBSE Comp. (O) 2008]
Or
How did novels explore and depict the world of women ? Explain it by giving examples. [CBSE Sept. 2010]
Or
How was the New Women' portrayed in the novels of the 18th century? Explain [CBSE 2013]

Q 49.

How were the stories and prose not new to India ? Give three examples. [CBSE Comp. (O) 2008]

Q 50.

In what ways did the character of the novel Indulekha' show that India and foreign lifestyles’ could be brought together in an ideal combination ? [CBSE Sept. 2010]
Or
How did the characters like Indulekha and Madhavan inspire the contemporary generations to strike a balance between the western ideas and Indian traditional culture? [CBSE 2012]