History

Novels, Society and History

Question:

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 the existing social issues.

Answer:

(i) Novels like Indirabai and Indulekha were written by members of the upper castes, and were primarily about the uppercaste characters. But all novels were not of this kind.
(ii) Potheri Kunjambu, a lower-caste' writer from north Kerala, wrote a novel called Saraswativijayam in 1892, mounting a strong blow on caste oppression. This novel shows a young man from an untouchable' caste, leaving his village to escape the cruelty of his Brahmin landlord.
He converted himself to Christianity, obtained modem education and returned as the judge in the local court. Saraswativijayam stressed the importance of education for the upliftment of'the lower castes.
(iii) From the 1920s, in Bengal too a new kind of novel emerged that depicted the lives of peasants and ‘low' castes. Advaita Malla Burmaris (1914-51) Titash Ekti Nadir Naam (1956) is an epic about the Mallas, a community of fisherfolk who live off fishing in the river, Titash.
(iv) While novelists before Advaita Malla had featured low castes' as their main character, Titash is special because the author is himself a ˜low caste'.
(v) The central character of Munshi Premchand's novel Rangboomi, Surdas is. a visually impaired beggar from a so-called ˜untouchable caste.'

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Novels, Society and History

Q 1.

Who wrote Anandmath ? [CBSE 2014]

Q 2.

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 3.

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

Q 4.

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

Q 5.

What was the reason for the popularity of the novel?

Q 6.

How did novels promote colonialism ? Explain with an example of a novel. [CBSE Sept. 2010]
Or
What kind of novels were written for young boys in the 19th century ? Explain. [CBSE Sept. 2010]
Or
How did novels make themselves relevant to young boys ? [CBSE Sept. 2011]
Or
Explain any five features of novels written for the young in the last stage of 19 th century. [CBSE 2012]

Q 7.

Mention some important characteristics of novels which increased their popularity among the readers.

Q 8.

Name a novel which is about a secret Hindu militia that fights Muslims to establish a Hindu Kingdom. It was a novel that inspired many kinds of freedom fighters. ‘

Q 9.

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

Q 10.

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 11.

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 12.

What Is a novel ? Mention any two features of novel.

Q 13.

Mention any three features of Pickwick Papers.

Q 14.

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 15.

Explain any three features of early Bengali novels . [CBSE 2010 (D)]
Or
Describe two kinds of novels that came to be written in Bengali in the 19th century. Name any two famous novelists of Bengal. [CBSE Sept. 2010]

Q 16.

What is a novel ?

Q 17.

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

Q 18.

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

Q 19.

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

Q 20.

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

Q 21.

Who was the author of Mayor of Casterbridge ?

Q 22.

Which novel supplied the adventurous text for the young English population ? [CBSE 2014]

Q 23.

Which was the first historical novel written in Bengal ?

Q 24.

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

Q 25.

Which social issues were included in the novels in India? Explain by giving examples. [CBSE 2014]
Or
Novels helped in creating a sense of social awareness in India.' Explain. [CBSE 2012]

Q 26.

Outline the changes in technology and society which led to an increase in the readers of the novel in the eighteenth century Europe. [CBSE Sept. 2013]

Q 27.

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

Q 28.

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

Q 29.

What was the reason for the popularity of the novel?

Q 30.

What is Epistolary?

Q 31.

Name any three novels by Premchand.

Q 32.

Describe the earliest novels written in Bengali and Marathi. [CBSE 2013]

Q 33.

Mention some important reasons for the popularity of the novels. [CBSE Sept. 2010, 2011]
Or
Explain, how did novels become a popular medium of entertainment among the middle class during the late nineteenth century in India. [CBSE 2010 (D), Sept. 2013]
Or
Why were the novels widely read and become popular very quickly ? [CBSE Sept. 2011, 2012]
Or
How did novels become popular among masses ? (CBSE 2013)
Or
Assess the reasons for the popularity of the novel in Europe ? [CBSE 2012]

Q 34.

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 35.

What are the main features of novel Sewasadan' written by Munshi Premchand? Mention any three. [CBSE 2012]

Q 36.

Explain the themes and issues of the novels of Thomas Hardy. [CBSE 2011]

Q 37.

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 38.

What did G.A. Henty write about in his novel ? [CBSE Sept. 2010]
Or
How did the novels for the young boys idealise a new type of man ? Explain. [CBSE Sept. 2010, 2011]

Q 39.

Why did the readership of novel begin to include poorer people? Give any three reasons. [CBSE 2013]
Or
"For a long time the publishing market excluded the poor."Give reasons for such an exclusion. [CBSE 2015]

Q 40.

"Social changes in Britain led to an increase in women readers". Explain.
Or
Explain the factors that led to women writing novels in Europe. [CBSE 2012]

Q 41.

What are major differences between a novel and a manuscript ?

Q 42.

"It is a truth universally accepted acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife". Name the novel and the author.

Q 43.

Name any two novelists of South India. Also mention the names of the novels written by them.

Q 44.

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

Q 45.

How was the sources of entertainment of the old merchant elite of Calcutta different from the new bhadralok ?

Q 46.

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 47.

Which was the first novel of Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay ?

Q 48.

Who wrote Saraswativijayam ? [CBSE 2014]

Q 49.

What was the theme of Saraswativijayam ?

Q 50.

Who was the English author who showed the darker side of colonialism in his novels ? [CBSE. Sept.2011]