History

Novels, Society and History

Question:

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

Answer:

(i) Industrialisation and Charles Dickens :
In the nineteenth century, Europe entered the industrial age. Factories came up, business profits increased and the economy grew. But at the same time, workers faced problems. Cities expanded in an unregulated way and were filled with overworked and underpaid workers. The unemployed poor roamed the streets for jobs, and the homeless were forced to seek shelter in workhouses. The growth of industry was accompanied by an economic philosophy which celebrated the pursuit of profit and undervalued the lives of workers. Deeply critical of these developments, novelists such as Charles Dickens wrote about the terrible effects of industrialisation on people's lives and characters. His novel Hard Times (1854) describes Coketown, a fictitious industrial town, as a grim place full of machinery, smoking chimneys, rivers polluted purple and buildings that all looked the same. Here workers are known as ‘hands', as if they had no identity other than as operators of machines. Dickens criticised not just the greed for profits but also the ideas that reduced human beings into simple instruments of production. In other novels too, Dickens focused on the terrible conditions of urban life under industrial capitalism. His Oliver Twist (1838) is the tale of a poor orphan who lived in a world of petty criminals and beggars. Brought up in a cruel workhouse Oliver was finally adopted by a wealthy man and lived happily ever after. But not all novels about the lives of the poor gave readers the comfort of a happy ending.
(ii) Emile Zola's : Germinal (1885) on the life of a young miner in France explores in harsh detail the grim conditions of miners' lives. It ends on a note of despair: the strike the hero leads fails, his co-workers turn against him, and hopes are shattered.
(iii) Writings of Thomas Hardy : Thomas Hardy the 19th century British novelist wrote extensively about traditional rural communities of England that were fast vanishing.

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Novels, Society and History

Q 1.

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

Q 2.

Trace the history of novels of South India.

Q 3.

Name some important novelists who use to write for the young generation.
Or
Name some of the important novels for the young. [CBSE 2014]

Q 4.

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

Q 5.

Who is the writer of the novel Germinal ? What was the theme of the novel ?

Q 6.

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

Q 7.

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

Q 8.

Name a novelist who has written about terrible effects of industrialisation on people's lives and character.

Q 9.

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

Q 10.

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

Q 11.

Which was the first proper modem novel in Hindi ? What was its theme ?

Q 12.

Who wrote Saraswativijayam ? [CBSE 2014]

Q 13.

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 14.

What was the reason for the popularity of the novel?

Q 15.

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 16.

"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 17.

What is a novel ?

Q 18.

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

Q 19.

Who was the author of Pariksha Guru ?

Q 20.

The Novel is about an epic about the Mallas, a community of fisherfolk who live off fishing in the river Titash. Identify the novel and the author.

Q 21.

Which was the first historical novel written in Bengal ?

Q 22.

Who wrote Anandmath ? [CBSE 2014]

Q 23.

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

Q 24.

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 25.

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

Q 26.

Summarise the concern in both nineteenth-century Europe and India about women reading novels. What does this suggest about how women were viewed?

Q 27.

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

Q 28.

What was the reason for the popularity of the novel?

Q 29.

Write about the early Bengali novels.

Q 30.

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

Q 31.

How were the modem Indian novels useful for the Indians in day to day life. [CBSE 2013]
Or
"Indian novelists used the novel as a powerful medium to criticize the defects of the society."Justify the statement with the suitable examples. [CBSE 2013]
Or
Explain any three reasons for making the novel popular in India. [CBSE 2014]

Q 32.

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 33.

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 34.

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 35.

"The novels bring together many cultures". Explain. [CBSE 2010, 11]
Or
How did the novels bring together different cultures ?

Q 36.

Who was Charlotte Bronte ? How has she presented the picture of a woman in her novels ?
Or
Describe the depiction of women in the novels of Charlotte Bronte. [CBSE 2013]
Or
In which way was women depicted in Charlotte Bronte's novel Jane Eyre'? [CBSE 2011]

Q 37.

What were the issues raised by the novel Indulekha written in Malayalam ? [CBSE Sept. 2010]
Or
What led Chandu Menon to write Indulekha ? [CBSE Sept. 2011,2014]

Q 38.

Explain the role of novelists in the field of social reforms in India with the help of any three examples. [CBSE Sept. 2010]

Q 39.

What are major differences between a novel and a manuscript ?

Q 40.

Identify the person given in the image.

Q 41.

Who is the writer of the Novel Germinal ? What was the theme of the novel ?

Q 42.

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

Q 43.

Who was the author of Mayor of Casterbridge ?

Q 44.

Who were the author's of the following  novels  ?

Q 45.

Which was the first proper modem Hindi novel? Who was its author ?

Q 46.

Who is known as the pioneer of modem Hindi literature ?

Q 47.

How did the vernacular novels help Britishers to expand their rule in India ?

Q 48.

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

Q 49.

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

Q 50.

Who is the author of the novel Sewasadan'? What is the importance of the novel for the Hindi literature ?