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GNDU Question Paper-2023
Bachelor of Commerce
(B.Com) 5
th
Semester
ENGLISH (Compulsory)
Time Allowed: Three Hours Max. Marks: 50
Note : Attempt Five questions in all, selecting at least One question from each section. The
Fifth question may be attempted from any section. All questions carry equal marks.
SECTION-A
1. Discuss the theme of All My Sons.
2. Discuss the title of All My Sons.
SECTION-B
3. Critically analyze Matthew Arnold's poem Dover Beach.
4. Critically analyze William Wordsworth's poem The World is Too Much With Us.
SECTION-C
5. Critically analyze W.H. Auden's poem The Unknown Citizen.
6. Discuss Ted Hughes 'The Thought Fox.
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SECTION - D
7. Write a letter to the editor of The Tribune highlighting the problem of noise pollution in
your locality.
8. Write a resume for the post of CA in Multi National Company.
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GNDU Answer Paper-2023
Bachelor of Commerce
(B.Com) 5
th
Semester
ENGLISH (Compulsory)
Time Allowed: Three Hours Max. Marks: 50
Note : Attempt Five questions in all, selecting at least One question from each section. The
Fifth question may be attempted from any section. All questions carry equal marks.
SECTION-A
1. Discuss the theme of All My Sons.
Ans: A Sunny Morning with Shadows
The Keller backyard is bathed in warm sunlight. Neighbours drop by, children’s laughter
drifts from the street, and Joe Keller sits reading the paper. On the surface, it’s the perfect
picture of post-war American family life.
But if you look closely, you’ll see the shadows. They’re not from the trees — they’re from
the past. They’re from a decision Joe made during the war, a decision that saved his
business but cost the lives of 21 young pilots.
This is the world Arthur Miller builds in All My Sons — a world where the central theme is:
The conflict between personal loyalty to one’s family and moral responsibility to society
— and the tragic consequences when that balance is lost.
The Heart of the Theme
At its core, All My Sons asks a timeless question: Do we owe more to our own family’s
comfort and survival, or to the larger community we are part of?
Joe Keller believes his first duty is to his wife Kate and his surviving son Chris. In his mind,
everything he does — even morally questionable things — is justified if it protects them. But
Miller’s play shows us that when you protect your family at the expense of others’ lives, you
are not really protecting them at all.
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How the Theme Unfolds in the Story
1. Joe Keller’s Decision
During World War II, Joe’s factory produced airplane engine parts. When a batch was found
to be cracked, he made the decision to ship them anyway, fearing that rejecting them would
ruin his business and his family’s financial security.
The result? Twenty-one pilots died when their planes crashed. Joe’s business partner, Steve
Deever, took the legal blame and went to prison, while Joe was acquitted.
Joe tells himself he did it “for the family.” But the theme challenges this idea:
• Can you really claim to protect your family if your actions destroy other families?
• Is financial security worth more than human life?
2. Chris Keller’s Idealism
Chris, Joe’s surviving son, returned from the war with a strong sense of moral duty. He saw
soldiers sacrifice their lives for the greater good, and he believes that same spirit should
guide civilian life.
When Chris learns the truth about his father’s actions, he is devastated. For him, the idea
that his father could put profit above human life is a betrayal not just of him, but of the
values he fought for.
Through Chris, Miller shows the other side of the theme: the belief that our responsibility to
society is as important as — or even greater than — our responsibility to our own family.
3. Kate Keller’s Denial
Kate clings to the belief that her missing son Larry is still alive. On the surface, it’s a mother’s
hope. But underneath, it’s also a way to avoid facing the truth: if Larry is dead, then Joe’s
guilt in the pilots’ deaths might also mean guilt in Larry’s death.
Kate’s denial is part of the theme because it shows how families sometimes protect
themselves from painful truths — even if it means living in a lie.
The Moral Equation
The main theme boils down to a moral equation that Miller wants us to wrestle with:
• Joe’s view: Family comes first, even if it means bending or breaking the rules.
• Chris’s view: Moral integrity and responsibility to others must guide our actions,
even if it costs us personally.
The tragedy of All My Sons is that Joe’s choice to prioritise his family’s comfort over his duty
to others ends up destroying the very family he was trying to protect.
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Why This Theme Is So Powerful
1. It’s Universal
You don’t have to be an American in the 1940s to understand this conflict. Every society
faces moments where personal loyalty clashes with the greater good — whether in
business, politics, or daily life.
2. It’s Intensely Human
Miller doesn’t paint Joe as a cartoon villain. He’s a loving father, a hardworking man,
someone who genuinely believes he’s doing the right thing. That’s what makes the theme so
unsettling: good people can make terrible choices when they convince themselves that the
ends justify the means.
3. It Forces Self-Reflection
As an audience, we’re left asking ourselves:
• Would I have done the same in Joe’s place?
• Where do I draw the line between protecting my own and protecting others?
The Climax and the Theme’s Resolution
The theme reaches its peak when Chris confronts Joe with Larry’s letter. In it, Larry reveals
that he plans to take his own life because he cannot live with the shame of his father’s
actions.
This is the moment Joe finally understands:
• The pilots who died were “all my sons” — not just strangers, but young men like
Larry.
• His responsibility was not only to his own family, but to every family whose sons
risked their lives in the war.
Joe’s suicide at the end is his final, tragic acceptance of this truth. It’s not just an escape
from punishment — it’s an acknowledgment that he failed in his larger duty as a human
being.
A Simple Analogy — The Leaking Boat
Imagine you’re in a boat with your family, and you see a leak on the other side where
strangers are sitting. You decide not to fix it because you think, “It’s not on our side — we’re
fine.”
But water doesn’t care about sides. Eventually, the whole boat sinks.
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That’s Joe Keller’s mistake. He thought he could protect his family by ignoring harm to
others, but in the end, everyone went down together.
Exam-Ready Summary
Main Theme of All My Sons: The play explores the conflict between personal responsibility
to one’s family and moral responsibility to society. Joe Keller’s decision to prioritise his
family’s financial security over the safety of others leads to the deaths of 21 pilots and
ultimately destroys his own family. Arthur Miller shows that true responsibility extends
beyond our own household — we are accountable to the wider human community, and
ignoring that duty can have devastating consequences.
Final Takeaway
Arthur Miller’s message is clear:
We cannot build a safe home for our own family on the broken foundations of other
people’s lives.
In All My Sons, the tragedy is not just that Joe Keller made a terrible choice — it’s that he
made it believing he was doing the right thing. And that’s what makes the theme so
haunting, so human, and so unforgettable.
In All My Sons, the tragedy is not just that Joe Keller made a terrible choice — it’s that he
made it believing he was doing the right thing. And that’s what makes the theme so
haunting, so human, and so unforgettable.
2. Discuss the title of All My Sons.
Ans: The Moment That Changes Everything
It’s late in the play. The truth has finally clawed its way to the surface. Joe Keller — the
proud, practical businessman — has spent the whole story insisting that he only ever acted
for his family. Every decision, every compromise, every lie… all “for the family.”
Then Chris, his surviving son, confronts him with a letter from Larry — the son who never
came back from the war. In that letter, Larry reveals that he took his own life because he
couldn’t live with the shame of his father’s crime: shipping defective airplane parts that
caused the deaths of 21 pilots.
And in that crushing moment of clarity, Joe says:
“Sure, he was my son. But I think to him they were all my sons. And I guess they were, I guess
they were.”
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That single line is the key to the title — and to the whole moral heart of the play.
What the Title Means on the Surface
At first glance, All My Sons might sound like a simple family drama — a father and his
children. But Miller’s title is deliberately misleading if you take it only in the narrow,
biological sense.
Yes, Joe has two sons: Larry (dead) and Chris (alive). But the title points to something bigger:
the idea that every young man who fought and died in the war was, in a moral sense, Joe’s
son too.
The “sons” in the title are:
• Larry and Chris — Joe’s actual children.
• The 21 pilots who died because of Joe’s decision.
• Symbolically, all the young men of that generation who risked their lives for the
country.
Joe’s Journey to Understanding the Title
For most of the play, Joe’s worldview is narrow:
• Family first — protect them at all costs.
• Business decisions are just business — everyone does what they must to survive.
• Responsibility stops at the edge of his own backyard.
But Larry’s letter forces him to see the truth:
• Those pilots were not strangers; they were someone else’s sons, just as precious to
their families as Larry and Chris are to him.
• By harming them, he harmed his own moral family — the larger human family we all
belong to.
The title is the moment Joe’s moral vision expands from “my two sons” to “all my sons.”
The Moral Weight of the Title
Arthur Miller uses the title to hammer home the play’s central theme:
We are responsible not just for our own family, but for the wider community — for all of
humanity.
Joe’s tragedy is that he realises this too late. His earlier choices were driven by a false belief
that protecting his immediate family justified harming others. The title is Miller’s way of
saying:
• The world is interconnected.
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• The line between “my family” and “other people’s families” is an illusion.
• Morality demands that we treat all lives with equal value.
Why the Title is So Effective
1. It’s a Revelation
The phrase “all my sons” doesn’t make full sense until Joe says it near the end. It’s like a
puzzle piece that clicks into place — the audience suddenly sees the bigger picture.
2. It’s Emotional
By calling the dead pilots “my sons,” Joe personalises the loss. It’s no longer an abstract
number (21 dead) — it’s a family tragedy multiplied 21 times.
3. It’s Universal
The title speaks beyond the play’s setting. In any society, in any time, the idea that we are
all connected — that other people’s children are “our” children too — is a moral truth.
The Title as a Critique of Narrow Morality
Before his realisation, Joe’s morality is limited to:
• Provide for Kate.
• Secure Chris’s future.
• Keep the business alive.
But Miller shows that this narrow morality is dangerous. If everyone only protects their own
small circle, society as a whole collapses. The title is a call to widen our circle of concern.
A Simple Analogy — The Neighbour’s House on Fire
Imagine your neighbour’s house catches fire. You think, “It’s not my house, not my family —
why risk myself?” But the fire spreads, and soon your own home is in danger.
Miller’s point — through the title — is that we can’t afford to think in “us vs. them” terms.
The neighbour’s children are “our” children in the sense that their safety is tied to ours. In
war, in peace, in business — harm to one part of the community harms us all.
The Title’s Link to the Play’s Ending
Joe’s final act — taking his own life — is tied to the title. Once he accepts that the dead
pilots were “all my sons,” the weight of his guilt becomes unbearable. He can no longer live
with the knowledge that he betrayed not just strangers, but his own moral children.
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Exam-Ready Summary
Discussion of the Title All My Sons:
• On the surface, it refers to Joe Keller’s two sons, Larry and Chris.
• On a deeper level, it includes the 21 pilots who died because of Joe’s decision to ship
defective parts.
• The title reflects the play’s central theme: moral responsibility extends beyond one’s
immediate family to the whole human community.
• Joe’s realisation — “they were all my sons” — is the turning point where he
understands that harming others’ children is as wrong as harming his own.
• The title is both a moral lesson and a tragic irony: Joe learns its meaning only when
it’s too late to undo the damage.
Final Takeaway
Arthur Miller chose All My Sons not just as a title, but as the play’s moral heartbeat. It’s a
reminder that:
• We are all part of one human family.
• Our actions ripple outward, touching lives we may never meet.
• True morality means seeing every loss as a personal loss.
In the end, the title is Joe Keller’s confession, Miller’s warning, and the audience’s challenge
— to live as if all the sons in the world are our own.
SECTION-B
3. Critically analyze Matthew Arnold's poem Dover Beach.
Ans: A Calm Night, A Restless Mind
It’s night on the coast of Dover, England. The moonlight lies gently on the water, the tide is
full, and the air is cool. From the window of a quiet room, Matthew Arnold looks out over
the English Channel. Far away, the lights of the French coast flicker and vanish.
At first, it’s a scene of peace — the kind you’d want to hold onto forever. But as Arnold
listens to the waves pulling pebbles back and forth, he hears something else in their rhythm:
“The eternal note of sadness.”
And just like that, the poem shifts. The calm sea becomes a mirror for the real world —
beautiful on the surface, but carrying an undercurrent of loss, uncertainty, and human
struggle.
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Critical Analysis — Step by Step
1. Form and Voice
Dover Beach is a dramatic monologue — Arnold speaks directly to someone (likely his wife)
but also to us, the readers. There’s no fixed rhyme scheme, and the rhythm flows like
natural speech, which makes the poem feel intimate and conversational.
This free-flowing form mirrors the movement of the sea — sometimes calm, sometimes
restless — and allows Arnold to move smoothly from description to reflection.
2. The Opening — Nature as a Stage
The first stanza paints a serene picture:
• “The sea is calm tonight, / The tide is full, the moon lies fair…” Arnold uses visual
imagery (moonlight, cliffs, tranquil bay) to set a peaceful mood. But this is not just
scene-setting — it’s a deliberate contrast to what’s coming.
The calmness of the sea is deceptive. Beneath it lies the sound of the pebbles being dragged
by the waves — a “grating roar” that hints at something darker. This is our first clue that the
poem will move from beauty to melancholy.
3. The “Eternal Note of Sadness”
Arnold hears in the waves a timeless sound — one that has been heard by others before
him. He recalls the ancient Greek playwright Sophocles, who, standing by the Aegean Sea,
also heard in the waves a reminder of human misery.
This link between past and present is important:
• It shows that human suffering is not new — it’s a constant across history.
• It connects Arnold’s personal feelings to a universal human experience.
4. The “Sea of Faith” — Central Metaphor
In the third stanza, Arnold introduces the poem’s most famous image:
“The Sea of Faith / Was once, too, at the full, and round earth’s shore / Lay like the folds of a
bright girdle furled.”
Here, faith is imagined as a great sea that once surrounded and protected the world. In
earlier times, religion gave people certainty, moral grounding, and a sense of unity.
But now, Arnold says, that sea is retreating:
“But now I only hear / Its melancholy, long, withdrawing roar…”
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This is a direct reflection of the Victorian crisis of faith. Scientific discoveries (like Darwin’s
theory of evolution) and modern thinking were challenging traditional religious beliefs. For
Arnold, this loss of faith leaves the world exposed — “naked shingles” where the sea once
was.
5. The Final Plea — Love as an Anchor
In the last stanza, Arnold turns to the person beside him and says:
“Ah, love, let us be true / To one another!”
Why? Because the world, which seems so beautiful and full of promise, is actually:
• Without joy, love, or certainty.
• A place of confusion and conflict — “Where ignorant armies clash by night.”
This battlefield image is powerful. It suggests that without faith or shared moral values,
humanity is like soldiers fighting in the dark — confused, fearful, and destructive.
Themes in the Poem
1. Loss of Faith
The “Sea of Faith” metaphor captures the central theme: the decline of religious belief in
the modern world. Arnold mourns this loss because, for him, faith was a source of stability
and meaning.
2. Human Suffering
From Sophocles to Arnold’s own time, the poem suggests that suffering is a permanent part
of the human condition.
3. The Illusion of Beauty
The world may look beautiful — like the calm sea at night — but beneath the surface lies
uncertainty, conflict, and pain.
4. Love as a Refuge
In the absence of faith and certainty, Arnold offers one solution: personal loyalty and love. If
the world is unstable, at least two people can be true to each other.
Imagery and Symbolism
• Sea and Shore: Represent change, uncertainty, and the ebb and flow of human
belief.
• Moonlight and Calm Water: Symbolise beauty and peace — but also the deceptive
surface of life.
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• Grating Roar of Pebbles: The underlying sadness and restlessness of existence.
• Sea of Faith: The spiritual and moral unity that once “surrounded” humanity.
• Darkling Plain: The modern world — chaotic, directionless, and full of conflict.
Tone and Mood
The tone shifts through the poem:
1. Calm and Romantic — in the opening description.
2. Melancholic — with the “eternal note of sadness.”
3. Mournful and Reflective — in the “Sea of Faith” passage.
4. Urgent and Intimate — in the final plea for love and truth.
The mood moves from peaceful to unsettling, mirroring Arnold’s realisation that the beauty
of the world hides deeper troubles.
Critical Appreciation
What makes Dover Beach so enduring is its blend of personal emotion and universal truth.
Arnold begins with a private moment — looking out at the sea with someone he loves —
but expands it into a meditation on the state of the world.
The poem’s strength lies in:
• Its imagery: Vivid and layered, turning a simple seascape into a metaphor for human
history and belief.
• Its structure: Flowing like a conversation, with no rigid rhyme to interrupt the
thought.
• Its honesty: Arnold doesn’t pretend to have all the answers; instead, he offers love
and truth as the best defence against uncertainty.
A Simple Analogy — The Fading Lighthouse
Think of the world as a ship at sea. For centuries, there was a bright lighthouse (faith)
guiding the way. Now, that light is fading. The sea is still beautiful, but without the
lighthouse, the ship is more vulnerable to storms and getting lost.
Arnold is saying: We can’t control the sea, but we can hold on to each other on the deck.
Exam-Ready Summary
Critical Analysis of Dover Beach: Matthew Arnold’s Dover Beach is a dramatic monologue
that begins with a calm, moonlit seascape but shifts into a meditation on the loss of faith in
the modern world. Using the central metaphor of the “Sea of Faith,” Arnold laments the
retreat of religious certainty, linking it to a sense of human misery that has existed since
ancient times. The poem contrasts the deceptive beauty of the world with its underlying
chaos and conflict, concluding with a plea for personal loyalty and love as a refuge. Through
vivid imagery, shifting tone, and universal themes, Arnold captures the Victorian crisis of
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belief and offers a timeless reflection on the need for human connection in an uncertain
world.
4. Critically analyze William Wordsworth's poem The World is Too Much With Us.
Ans: A Poet Looking at the World
It’s the early 1800s. The Industrial Revolution is in full swing. Cities are growing, factories are
roaring, and people are working long hours to earn and spend. In the middle of this
whirlwind, William Wordsworth — a poet who believes deeply in the healing power of
nature — looks around and feels a deep sadness.
He sees people chasing money, possessions, and status, but losing something far more
precious: their connection to the natural world. And so, he writes a sonnet that begins with
a sigh:
“The world is too much with us; late and soon, Getting and spending, we lay waste our
powers…”
From the very first line, you can hear his frustration. And this is where our critical analysis
begins.
Understanding the Title and Opening
“The world” here doesn’t mean the planet — it means worldly concerns: materialism,
commerce, and the endless cycle of earning and consuming.
When Wordsworth says “too much with us,” he means that these concerns dominate our
lives far more than they should. “Late and soon” suggests that this has been true in the past
and will continue into the future — it’s a persistent human problem.
The phrase “we lay waste our powers” is powerful. It means we are wasting our human
potential — our ability to feel deeply, to connect spiritually, to appreciate beauty — by
focusing only on material gain.
The Disconnection from Nature
Wordsworth laments:
“Little we see in Nature that is ours; We have given our hearts away, a sordid boon!”
Here, he says that we no longer see nature as part of ourselves. We’ve traded our emotional
and spiritual connection for a “sordid boon” — an ugly gift. The phrase is ironic: a “boon” is
supposed to be good, but here it’s tainted because it comes at the cost of our souls.
Nature’s Beauty — Ignored
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In the next lines, Wordsworth paints a vivid picture of nature:
• The sea “bares her bosom to the moon” — a tender, intimate image.
• The winds “howl at all hours” but are now “up-gathered like sleeping flowers” — a
moment of calm before the storm.
These are moments of beauty and power, but Wordsworth says:
“For this, for everything, we are out of tune; It moves us not.”
This is the heart of his complaint: nature is magnificent, but we are unmoved because we
are too busy with “getting and spending.”
A Shocking Wish
Then comes the dramatic turn:
“Great God! I’d rather be A Pagan suckled in a creed outworn…”
For a Christian poet in the 19th century, this is a bold statement. Wordsworth says he would
rather be an ancient pagan — someone who worshipped nature gods — than live in a
modern world that feels nothing for nature.
Why? Because even in their “outworn” beliefs, pagans could see the divine in nature. They
could imagine gods like Proteus rising from the sea or Triton blowing his horn —
mythological figures that symbolise a living, breathing connection with the natural world.
The Romantic Spirit
This wish reflects the Romantic movement’s ideals:
• Emotion over reason — valuing feeling and imagination.
• Nature as sacred — seeing the natural world as a source of spiritual truth.
• Critique of industrialisation — warning that progress without balance leads to loss.
Wordsworth isn’t literally saying we should return to paganism. He’s using it as a metaphor
for a worldview that honours and feels nature deeply.
Themes in the Poem
1. Materialism vs. Spirituality
The poem is a critique of materialism. Wordsworth warns that in chasing wealth and
possessions, we lose our spiritual connection to the world.
2. Disconnection from Nature
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He mourns the fact that people no longer feel moved by the sea, the wind, or the moon —
things that once inspired awe.
3. The Power of Imagination
By invoking pagan gods, Wordsworth shows that imagination can restore our sense of
wonder and connection.
4. The Need for Harmony
The poem suggests that true fulfilment comes from being “in tune” with nature, not from
material gain.
Imagery and Language
Wordsworth’s imagery is rich and layered:
• Sea baring her bosom — personification that makes nature intimate and alive.
• Sleeping flowers — a gentle image for the calm winds.
• Proteus and Triton — mythological allusions that bring grandeur and mystery.
The language moves from calm observation to passionate outburst (“Great God!”),
mirroring the poet’s rising emotion.
Structure and Form
This is a Petrarchan sonnet:
• Octave (first 8 lines): Presents the problem — humanity’s disconnection from
nature.
• Sestet (last 6 lines): Offers a personal, emotional response — the wish to be a pagan
who can still see the divine in nature.
The shift between octave and sestet (the “volta”) is where the poem’s emotional energy
peaks.
Critical Appreciation
What makes this poem powerful is its blend of critique and longing. Wordsworth doesn’t
just scold society; he also offers a vision of what we’ve lost and what we could regain.
His use of mythological imagery is clever — it bridges the gap between the modern reader
and ancient ways of seeing the world, reminding us that reverence for nature is a timeless
human instinct.
A Simple Analogy — The Forgotten Garden
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Imagine you inherit a beautiful garden from your ancestors. It’s full of flowers, fruit trees,
and birdsong. But instead of tending it, you build factories on it to make money. Years later,
you realise the garden is gone — and with it, the peace and joy it once gave you.
That’s the world Wordsworth is describing: we’ve traded our garden for machines, and now
we’re poorer in ways money can’t fix.
Exam-Ready Summary
Critical Analysis of The World is Too Much With Us:
• Wordsworth laments humanity’s obsession with materialism (“getting and
spending”) and the resulting loss of connection with nature.
• He uses vivid imagery to show nature’s beauty and our indifference to it.
• The “Sea of Faith” equivalent here is the pagan vision — a time when people saw the
divine in nature.
• The poem is a Romantic critique of industrialisation and a call to restore harmony
with the natural world.
• Structure: Petrarchan sonnet with a clear volta between problem and emotional
response.
• Tone: Starts reflective, becomes passionate and almost desperate.
Final Takeaway
In The World is Too Much With Us, Wordsworth isn’t just talking about his own time — he’s
talking about us, too. In our rush to earn, spend, and consume, we risk losing the ability to
stand on a “pleasant lea” and feel the magic of the sea, the wind, and the moon.
His message is simple but urgent:
If we give our hearts away to materialism, we lose the very things that make us human.
SECTION-C
5. Critically analyze W.H. Auden's poem The Unknown Citizen.
Ans: A Life Measured in Reports
Imagine walking into a grand marble hall. In the centre stands a monument — not to a
famous leader or war hero, but to a man identified only by a code: JS/07 M 378. There’s no
smiling portrait, no personal story — just an inscription written like an official report.
It lists facts:
• He worked in a factory.
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• He paid his union dues.
• He bought a newspaper every day.
• He had the right number of children.
• He owned a radio, a car, and a fridge.
Everything sounds perfect — until you realise something is missing: Who was he, really?
Was he happy? Was he free?
This is the world of W.H. Auden’s The Unknown Citizen — a poem that looks like a tribute
but is actually a sharp critique of modern society’s obsession with conformity, statistics, and
surface-level “success.”
The Poem’s Form and Voice
Auden writes the poem as a mock-epitaph — the kind of inscription you might find on a war
memorial or a state monument. But instead of celebrating bravery or individuality, it praises
the man for being exactly what the system wanted him to be.
The voice is that of an impersonal authority — perhaps a government department or a
corporate body — that measures a life entirely through official records. This detached,
bureaucratic tone is key to the satire: it shows how institutions can strip away the human
essence of a person.
Step-by-Step Critical Analysis
1. The Perfect Citizen — On Paper
The opening lines tell us the Bureau of Statistics found “no official complaint” against him.
All reports agree he was “a saint” — but in “the modern sense of an old-fashioned word.”
This is Auden’s first jab: in the modern world, being a “saint” doesn’t mean moral courage
or selflessness — it means being obedient, uncontroversial, and useful to the “Greater
Community” as defined by the state.
2. Work and Loyalty
We learn he worked in a factory until retirement, never got fired, and satisfied his
employers. He wasn’t a troublemaker (“not a scab or odd in his views”) and paid his union
dues.
Here, Auden shows how the system values workers: not for creativity or passion, but for
reliability and compliance. The man’s worth is measured by how smoothly he fit into the
machinery of industry.
3. Social Approval
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Social psychology workers found he was “popular with his mates and liked a drink.” The
press confirmed he bought a newspaper every day and responded “normally” to
advertisements.
This is biting satire — even leisure and personality are reduced to checkboxes. Being
“normal” means consuming the right products and fitting into expected social patterns.
4. Consumer Goods and Modern Life
The poem lists his possessions: a phonograph, a radio, a car, a fridge. He used the
instalment plan — a nod to the rise of consumer credit.
Auden is mocking the idea that owning the standard set of goods equals a good life. The
“Modern Man” is defined by what he buys, not who he is.
5. Opinions on Demand
Public opinion researchers found he held “the proper opinions for the time of year.” When
there was peace, he supported peace; when there was war, he supported war.
This is one of the sharpest lines in the poem — it shows a man without independent
thought, whose beliefs change to match the official line. It’s conformity at its purest.
6. Family and Education
He married and had five children — “the right number” according to the Eugenist. He never
interfered with their education.
Even family life is reduced to a statistic, judged by whether it meets state-approved norms.
The man’s role as a father is measured not by love or guidance, but by compliance.
7. The Final Twist
The poem ends with two questions:
“Was he free? Was he happy? The question is absurd: Had anything been wrong, we should
certainly have heard.”
This is the punchline — and the tragedy. The system assumes that if there’s no complaint on
record, everything must be fine. But freedom and happiness are invisible to statistics. The
irony is devastating: the most important parts of a human life are the ones the system
doesn’t even try to measure.
Themes in the Poem
1. Conformity vs. Individuality
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The “Unknown Citizen” is celebrated precisely because he never stood out. Auden warns
that a society obsessed with conformity erases individuality.
2. Dehumanisation by Bureaucracy
The man is reduced to data points — employment record, consumer habits, family size. His
humanity is lost in the paperwork.
3. The Illusion of a Perfect Life
On paper, he had everything: a job, a family, possessions. But the poem asks us to question
whether that really means he was free or happy.
4. Satire of Modern Society
Auden uses humour and irony to expose the emptiness of a life lived entirely by society’s
rules.
Tone and Style
The tone is cold, formal, and detached — exactly like an official report. This makes the
satire sharper, because the reader feels the gap between the mechanical praise and the
missing human warmth.
The style is conversational in places, with parenthetical asides (“Our report on his Union
shows it was sound”) that mimic bureaucratic language.
A Simple Analogy — The Employee File
Imagine a company keeps a perfect file on an employee:
• Never late.
• Always polite.
• Bought the company’s products.
• Attended every staff party.
The file says nothing about whether the employee loved their work, had dreams, or felt
fulfilled. That’s the “Unknown Citizen” — a life perfectly documented, but not truly known.
Critical Appreciation
What makes The Unknown Citizen so effective is its double voice:
• On the surface, it’s a glowing tribute.
• Underneath, it’s a chilling portrait of a life without individuality.
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Auden’s genius lies in making the reader do the work — we have to notice what’s missing.
The poem is as relevant today as in 1940, in an age of surveillance, social media metrics, and
algorithmic profiling.
Exam-Ready Summary
Critical Analysis of The Unknown Citizen:
• Written in 1940, the poem is a satirical epitaph for a man known only by a code.
• It uses the voice of an impersonal authority to list his conformity in work,
consumption, opinions, and family life.
• Themes include conformity, dehumanisation, and the emptiness of a life measured
only by statistics.
• The ending questions — “Was he free? Was he happy?” — highlight the irony that
the most important human qualities are invisible to official records.
• Tone: cold and bureaucratic; Style: mock-formal with satirical asides.
• Message: A society that values only compliance and measurable output risks erasing
the true essence of human life.
Final Takeaway
Auden’s The Unknown Citizen is a warning wrapped in a tribute. It asks us to think about
what really matters in a life — not just the boxes we tick for society, but the unmeasurable
things: freedom, happiness, individuality.
Because if we let the system define us entirely, we might end up like the Unknown Citizen —
perfectly recorded, but never truly known.
6. Discuss Ted Hughes 'The Thought Fox.
Ans: A Midnight Desk, a Blank Page
It’s past midnight. The room is still. The only sound is the ticking of a clock. Ted Hughes sits
at his desk, staring at a blank page. Outside the window, there are no stars — just darkness.
He’s waiting. Not for a visitor in the ordinary sense, but for something far more elusive: a
poem.
And then, in his mind’s eye, something stirs in the darkness — not a human figure, but a fox.
It moves slowly, carefully, through a forest. This fox is not made of fur and flesh, but of
thought. It is the poem itself, approaching.
The Poem as a Story of Creation
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The Thought-Fox is one of Hughes’ most famous poems because it captures the mysterious
process of poetic inspiration. Instead of describing the act of writing in abstract terms,
Hughes turns it into a living scene:
• The poet’s mind is the dark forest.
• The approaching idea is the fox.
• The final moment of inspiration is when the fox “enters the dark hole of the head” —
and the page is printed.
Step-by-Step Critical Analysis
1. The Setting — Loneliness and Expectation
The poem opens with the poet imagining “this midnight moment’s forest.” The clock ticks,
the page is blank, and there’s no star outside the window. This absence of light mirrors the
absence of ideas — the poet is in a kind of creative darkness.
But Hughes hints that “something else is alive” — a sign that inspiration is on its way.
2. The Fox Appears — Tentative and Mysterious
The fox doesn’t rush in. It moves “cold, delicately as the dark snow,” its nose touching “twig,
leaf.” This is a perfect metaphor for how ideas arrive: cautiously, in fragments, testing the
ground before revealing themselves fully.
The imagery is sensory — we can almost feel the cold air, see the delicate prints in the
snow. Hughes makes the act of thinking as vivid as a wildlife documentary.
3. The Approach — Building Momentum
The fox’s eyes “serve a movement” — a repeated, careful advance: “now / And again now,
and now, and now.” This repetition mimics the rhythm of thought, the way an idea comes
closer in bursts, disappearing and reappearing.
The fox is “bold to come / Across clearings” — just as a half-formed idea suddenly becomes
clearer in the poet’s mind.
4. The Climax — The Idea Arrives
Finally, with “a sudden sharp hot stink of fox,” the animal enters “the dark hole of the
head.” This is the moment of creative breakthrough — the idea is no longer outside, circling
in the darkness; it’s inside the poet’s mind, ready to be shaped into words.
5. The Ending — The Page is Printed
The last lines return us to the physical world:
“The window is starless still; the clock ticks, The page is printed.”
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Nothing has changed outside — the night is still dark — but everything has changed inside.
The poem exists now. The fox has done its work.
Themes in the Poem
1. The Creative Process
The central theme is the mystery of inspiration. Hughes shows that creativity is not a sudden
lightning bolt, but a living, breathing presence that approaches slowly, almost shyly.
2. Nature and Imagination
Hughes often used animals as symbols. Here, the fox is both a real creature (in the vividness
of its description) and a metaphor for thought. This fusion of nature and mind reflects
Hughes’ belief in the deep connection between the natural world and human creativity.
3. Patience and Attention
The poem suggests that writing requires stillness and alertness. The poet must wait, watch,
and be ready to receive the idea when it comes.
Imagery and Symbolism
• The Forest: The poet’s mind — dark, quiet, full of hidden life.
• The Fox: The poem itself — elusive, independent, alive.
• The Prints in the Snow: The traces of thought as it takes shape.
• The “Dark Hole of the Head”: The moment when inspiration enters consciousness.
• The Starless Window: The outside world remains unchanged; the transformation is
internal.
Tone and Style
The tone is quiet, tense, and expectant at first, becoming more vivid and intense as the fox
approaches. Hughes uses free verse, which allows the movement of the lines to mirror the
fox’s cautious steps.
The language is sensory and physical — we don’t just see the fox, we feel its presence and
even smell it. This grounds the abstract idea of “thought” in concrete experience.
Why the Poem Works So Well
Hughes could have written an essay about how poems come to him. Instead, he gives us a
story — one we can see, hear, and feel. By the end, we understand that the fox was never
“real” in the physical sense, but it feels real because Hughes has made the process of
thinking tangible.
A Simple Analogy — The Shy Visitor
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Think of inspiration as a shy visitor knocking at your door. At first, you only hear faint
footsteps outside. Then you catch glimpses through the window. Slowly, the visitor comes
closer, until finally they step inside — and you can talk to them, write them down, make
them part of your world.
That’s the fox in Hughes’ poem.
Critical Appreciation
The Thought-Fox is a brilliant example of how metaphor can illuminate the creative process.
It’s also a celebration of the poet’s craft: the patience to wait, the sensitivity to notice, and
the skill to capture the fleeting moment when an idea becomes a poem.
It’s no accident that Hughes chose a fox — an animal known for its cunning, independence,
and ability to move silently. These are the same qualities that ideas have before they are
caught on the page.
Exam-Ready Summary
Discussion of Ted Hughes’ The Thought-Fox:
• The poem is an extended metaphor for the act of writing a poem, with the fox
representing the arrival of inspiration.
• The setting — a dark, starless night — mirrors the poet’s initial creative emptiness.
• The fox’s cautious, sensory approach reflects how ideas emerge slowly and
unpredictably.
• The climax comes when the fox “enters the dark hole of the head,” symbolising the
moment of creative breakthrough.
• Themes include the mystery of creativity, the link between nature and imagination,
and the need for patience in artistic work.
• Hughes’ vivid imagery and free verse style make the abstract process of thought feel
concrete and alive.
Final Takeaway
In The Thought-Fox, Ted Hughes turns the invisible — the birth of a poem — into something
we can see, smell, and follow through the snow. By the end, we realise that the fox has left
its prints not just in the forest of the poet’s mind, but on the white page in front of us.
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SECTION - D
7. Write a letter to the editor of The Tribune highlighting the problem of noise pollution in
your locality.
Ans:
Rishabh
[Your Address]
Amritsar,
Punjab 12 September 2025
To
The Editor
The Tribune Chandigarh, Punjab
Subject: Rising Problem of Noise Pollution in Our Locality
Respected Sir/Madam,
Through the columns of your esteemed newspaper, I wish to draw the attention of the
concerned authorities and the public towards the alarming rise in noise pollution in our
locality, [Name of Locality], Amritsar.
Over the past few months, the situation has worsened due to frequent use of loudspeakers
at high volumes during social functions, religious events, and political gatherings, often
continuing late into the night. In addition, constant honking by vehicles, especially during
peak hours, and the use of modified silencers by motorbikes have added to the unbearable
noise levels.
This persistent noise is not just an inconvenience — it is a serious health hazard. Residents,
particularly the elderly, children, and patients, are suffering from disturbed sleep,
headaches, stress, and hearing problems. Students preparing for examinations find it
extremely difficult to concentrate.
Although there are laws regulating permissible noise levels and timings for loudspeakers,
they are rarely enforced. I urge the concerned authorities to take strict action against
violators, ensure proper monitoring, and promote public awareness about the harmful
effects of noise pollution.
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I hope this appeal will prompt immediate steps to restore peace and quiet in our
neighbourhood.
Yours faithfully,
Rishabh
8. Write a resume for the post of CA in Multi National Company.
Ans: RESUME
Name: Rishabh [Your Surname]
Address: [Your Full Address]
Phone: [Your Contact Number]
Email: [Your Email Address]
Career Objective
To secure the position of Chartered Accountant in a reputed multinational company where I
can utilise my expertise in financial management, auditing, taxation, and compliance to
contribute to organisational growth while ensuring adherence to global accounting
standards.
Professional Qualifications
• Chartered Accountant (CA) — Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI),
[Year of Completion]
• Bachelor’s Degree in Commerce (B.Com) — [University Name], [Year]
• [Any additional certifications, e.g., IFRS, CPA modules, GST certification]
Key Skills
• Financial reporting and analysis (IFRS, Ind AS)
• Statutory and internal auditing
• Tax planning and compliance (Direct & Indirect Taxes)
• Budgeting and forecasting
• Risk assessment and internal controls
• Proficiency in accounting software (Tally ERP, SAP, QuickBooks)
• Advanced MS Excel and data analysis tools
• Strong analytical, problem-solving, and communication skills
Professional Experience
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Chartered Accountant [Current/Most Recent Company Name] — [Location] [Month, Year] –
Present
• Prepared and reviewed financial statements in compliance with IFRS and Ind AS.
• Conducted statutory audits for multinational clients, ensuring adherence to
regulatory requirements.
• Managed tax filings, assessments, and advisory for corporate clients.
• Developed cost-control strategies, resulting in [X]% savings in operational expenses.
• Coordinated with cross-functional teams for budgeting and financial planning.
Audit Associate / Article Assistant [Previous Firm Name] — [Location] [Month, Year] –
[Month, Year]
• Assisted in statutory, internal, and tax audits for clients across manufacturing, IT, and
service sectors.
• Prepared audit reports highlighting key findings and recommendations.
• Handled GST returns, TDS compliance, and income tax filings.
Achievements
• Successfully implemented an automated reporting system, reducing monthly closing
time by [X] days.
• Recognised for excellence in audit quality by [Client/Company Name].
• Cleared all levels of CA examination on first attempt (if applicable).
Languages
• English — Fluent
• Hindi — Fluent
• Punjabi — Fluent
Personal Details
• Date of Birth: [DD/MM/YYYY]
• Nationality: Indian
• Marital Status: [Single/Married]
Declaration
I hereby declare that the above information is true and correct to the best of my knowledge
and belief.
Date: [DD/MM/YYYY]
Place: [City Name]
Signature: Rishabh [Your Surname]
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