History

Novels, Society and History

Question:

Explain how the writings of Munshi Premchand promoted the sense of nationalism among the Indians.
Or
How did the novels of Munshi Premchand promote the feeling of nationalism ? Explain. [CBSE Sept. 2010, 2011]

Answer:

(i) Munshi Premchand’s novels are filled with all kinds of powerful characters drawn from all levels of the society. In his novels, one can meet aristocrats and landlords, middle- level peasants and landless labourers, middle-class professionals, and people from all the sections of the society.
(ii) The women characters are strong individuals, especially those who come from the lower classes, and are not modernised.
(iii) Premchand's novels look towards the future without forgetting the importance of the past.
(iv) Drawn from various stratas of the society, Premchand’s characters create a community based on democratic values. The central character of his novel Rangbhoomi (The Arena), Surdas, is a visually impaired beggar from a so-called ‘untouchable' caste. One can see Surdas struggling against the forcible takeover of his land for establishing a tobacco factory.
(v) Godan (The Gift of Cow), published in 1936, remains Premchand’s best-known work. It is an epic of the Indian peasantry. The novel tells the moving story of Hori, and his wife, Dhania, a peasant couple, who fought against landlords, moneylenders, priests and the colonial bureaucrats.

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Novels, Society and History

Q 1.

Who wrote Anandmath ? [CBSE 2014]

Q 2.

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 3.

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 4.

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

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 any three features of Pickwick Papers.

Q 8.

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 9.

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

Q 10.

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

Q 11.

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

Q 12.

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 13.

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

Q 14.

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

Q 15.

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 16.

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

Q 17.

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

Q 18.

Which was the first historical novel written in Bengal ?

Q 19.

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

Q 20.

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

Q 21.

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 22.

What is a novel ?

Q 23.

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

Q 24.

Which was the first novel of Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay ?

Q 25.

Who wrote Saraswativijayam ? [CBSE 2014]

Q 26.

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 27.

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

Q 28.

What is Epistolary?

Q 29.

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

Q 30.

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 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.

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

Q 34.

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 35.

What are major differences between a novel and a manuscript ?

Q 36.

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

Q 37.

"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 38.

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

Q 39.

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

Q 40.

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

Q 41.

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 42.

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 43.

What is satire ? Give one example. [CBSE 2014]

Q 44.

What was the theme of Saraswativijayam ?

Q 45.

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

Q 46.

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

Q 47.

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

Q 48.

Outline the changes in technology and society which led to an increase in readers of the novel in eighteenth-century Europe.

Q 49.

What was the reason for the popularity of the novel?

Q 50.

Name any three novels by Premchand.