American Literature past/previous question paper

Question 1: Critically analyse the following lines with reference to context. (10+10)

(a) In the German tongue, in the Polish town Scraped flat by the roller Of wars, wars, wars. But the name of the town is common. My Polack friend

Says there are a dozen or two.

(b) We are the hollow men We are the stuffed men Leaning together  Headpiece filled with straw. Alas! Our dried voices, when

– We whisper together Are quiet and meaningless As wind in dry grass

Or rats’ feet over broken glass In our dry cellar

Question 2: Do the Hollow Men have any hope of being saved? If not, why would Eliot write such a hopeless

poem? Discuss critically. (10)

Question 3: How does the poem Daddycomment on the freedom of women in society, especially in the 1960s?(10)

Question 4: Is Lavinia just being bitter jealous of her mother for doing so much to take her father’s love from her for all those years and then getting busy with Adam Brant on top of all that? (10)