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GNDU Question Paper-2023
Bachelor of Business Administration
BBA 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.
GNDU Answer Paper-2023
Bachelor of Business Administration
BBA 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: The Seed of the Story
Joe Keller, the head of the Keller family, is a successful businessman. Years earlier, during
the war, a batch of airplane parts from his factory turned out to be faulty — cracked
cylinder heads. Those parts were installed in fighter planes, and 21 pilots died because of it.
The terrible decision at the center of the play? The parts were shipped anyway, in order to
save the business from collapse. Another man — Joe’s business partner, Steve — ended up
taking the blame and went to prison, while Joe walked free.
From here, Miller invites us to examine the moral crossroads that people face: choosing
between personal survival and the greater good. And he makes it intimate by showing us
the impact not just on society, but on a single family.
Core Theme — Responsibility Beyond the Backyard Fence
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The most powerful theme of All My Sons is moral responsibility — the idea that our actions
ripple far beyond ourselves and those we love.
Joe Keller convinces himself he did what any father would do: protect his family’s livelihood.
But Miller asks us to think — can we truly protect our family if our actions harm someone
else’s? Aren’t the pilots who died also “our sons” in a moral sense? Hence the title: All My
Sons suggests that every life lost was as precious as his own children’s.
Through this, Miller blurs the fence lines. He tells us: your responsibility isn’t just to your
own household — it extends to the world.
Family Love vs. Social Duty
At the heart of Joe Keller’s tragedy is a clash: the deep love for his family versus the duty he
owes to society. Joe’s life philosophy is simple: “If my family is safe and comfortable, then I
have done right.” In contrast, Miller’s view — echoed in the play’s resolution — is that a
true moral compass must include strangers, even those we will never meet.
This theme strikes at a universal human tension. Often, we believe helping our loved ones
excuses us from bigger responsibilities. The play challenges that by showing the devastating
consequences of a choice made only for personal gain.
🌪 War as a Moral Test
The play is set in the shadow of World War II — a time when national sacrifice was
expected. The war serves as both backdrop and mirror: those pilots died serving their
country, and yet, on the home front, a selfish decision directly contributed to their deaths.
This contrast amplifies the moral question: What do we owe to those who risk everything
for the greater good?
The Fall of Joe Keller
Joe’s downfall is almost like a Greek tragedy. In such tragedies, a fatal flaw — hamartia —
leads the hero to ruin. For Joe, this flaw is short-sighted selfishness disguised as love for his
family. He tells himself the decision was just business, but deep down he knows it was
wrong. His eventual realization — that those dead pilots were “all my sons” — comes too
late. The emotional punch is in seeing that moment of clarity arrive just as the
consequences close in.
The Voice of the Younger Generation
Through Chris Keller, Joe’s surviving son, Miller voices the idealism and disillusionment of
the younger generation after the war. Chris believes in a world of honesty and selflessness
because he saw soldiers sacrifice without question. But the reality he encounters — his own
father’s moral compromise — shatters that belief. This generational conflict adds another
layer to the theme: how ideals can clash with the messy compromises of real life.
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Guilt, Denial, and Truth
Another thread running through the play is the corrosive power of lies and denial. Joe
keeps his guilt hidden, believing he has outsmarted fate. But truth, in Miller’s world, is like a
seed that forces its way to the surface — no matter how deep you bury it. The longer a lie is
maintained, the more devastating its unmasking becomes.
🕊 The Human Message
The title All My Sons is not just poetic — it’s the moral heart of the play. Miller urges us to
see beyond self-interest and recognize our shared humanity. Whether in times of war or
peace, the decisions we make affect people we may never meet. And those people’s lives
are no less valuable than the lives of those sitting at our dinner table.
Why This Still Matters
Even today, the play’s question rings true: Are we responsible only for ourselves, or for
everyone our actions touch? From corporate ethics to environmental issues, the same
dilemma plays out daily. Miller’s genius is in distilling a global question into the intimate
heartbreak of a single family.
Summary of Themes in a Student-Friendly Way:
• Responsibility to Society: Our moral duty doesn’t end with our family; it includes
strangers whose lives are impacted by our choices.
• Family Love vs. Social Justice: Love is noble, but not when it causes harm to others.
• War as a Moral Mirror: The sacrifices of soldiers highlight the failures of those who
act selfishly at home.
• Generational Conflict: Idealism meets reality, often painfully.
• Truth and Consequences: Lies may protect in the short term, but truth eventually
forces its way through.
By the end, All My Sons doesn’t just tell a story — it hands us a mirror and asks: What would
you have done? Would you protect your own at all costs, or widen the circle of who you see
as “yours”? In Joe Keller’s final moments, the tragedy is that he finally chooses the larger
moral view, but only after everything has been lost. And in that, Miller leaves us with a
haunting reminder: responsibility is not something we can delay until it’s convenient.
2. Discuss the title of All My Sons.
Ans: What the Title Seems to Mean at First
When you first hear All My Sons, you might think it’s simply about a man and his children —
a father’s love, maybe even a family drama centered around a son’s struggles. Joe Keller,
after all, has two sons: Larry, the eldest, missing in action during WWII, and Chris, who
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survived and came home. But Miller doesn’t waste titles — he’s never just literal. Here,
“sons” stretches far beyond the Keller family tree.
The beauty of the title is that it works on two levels: the private (Joe’s actual family) and the
universal (our shared human family).
The Family Frame
At the start of the play, everything seems to orbit around family:
• Joe Keller’s world is his wife, Kate, and his son, Chris.
• The missing son, Larry, is a constant ghost in their lives — Kate believes he’s alive;
Chris has accepted his death.
• Every decision Joe claims to have made — even the terrible one that drives the story
— is explained as being “for the family.”
So, in the most obvious sense, All My Sons could be read as a play about the value and
protection of one’s own children. But that’s where Miller invites us in… only to broaden the
circle.
Expanding the Definition of “Sons”
The deeper meaning reveals itself slowly. Joe Keller’s great moral failure is that he shipped
defective airplane parts during the war to avoid shutting down his factory. Those planes
crashed, killing 21 pilots. To Joe, in that moment, the pilots were strangers — nameless,
faceless young men, not “his problem.” His “real problem” was keeping his family secure.
But Miller forces us — and Joe — to ask: aren’t those men also someone’s sons? Don’t they
deserve the same protection and care Joe reserves for his own children?
By the end, in one of the play’s most crushing moments, Joe finally admits:
“They were all my sons.”
Those five words collapse the wall Joe built between my family and other families. The title,
in that instant, becomes a confession — the moral truth Joe refused to see until it was too
late.
Moral Responsibility as the Core
This is where the title holds its full weight: it’s an appeal to a universal moral responsibility.
Miller is saying:
• You cannot limit your care to those who share your blood.
• Your “sons” are the young men sent to war, the strangers who will live — or die —
based on your choices.
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• The world is interconnected; the harm you cause to others will eventually circle back
to your own doorstep.
The title is short, but it’s the play’s entire argument: we are responsible for each other.
The Irony Hidden in the Words
The title also carries bitter irony. For most of the play, Joe doesn’t live by that principle. He
uses “family first” as an excuse for selfishness. Only after the truth destroys his relationships
does he see the bigger picture.
Miller’s choice of words is deliberate — it’s almost like the title is a moral riddle for the
audience. By the time you understand it, the tragedy is unavoidable.
The War Connection
The play’s wartime setting makes the title even sharper. War, in theory, is about collective
sacrifice — everyone doing their part to protect lives. The soldiers in the story risked
everything. But Joe’s choice betrayed that collective trust. His failure wasn’t just a “bad
business decision”; it was a betrayal of the very idea that “we’re all in this together.”
In a way, the title could almost be the slogan for wartime solidarity — the mindset that
every soldier is someone’s son, and their life matters equally.
The Title as a Moral Lesson
If you think about it, All My Sons is also a challenge to the audience. It quietly asks:
• Who do you consider “yours”?
• Where do you draw the line of care and responsibility?
• And if that line is too small, what might it cost others — and you?
It’s not just Joe’s question; it’s ours. That’s why the title stays with you long after the play
ends.
The Turning Point and the Title’s Reveal
The brilliance of the play is that the full meaning of the title isn’t revealed until the climax.
When Chris confronts Joe about the pilots, Joe still leans on the same defense: “I did it for
you, for the family.” But when Chris pushes him to see that those dead men had families
too, something shifts. And when Joe finally mutters the line — “They were all my sons” —
it’s not just an admission of guilt. It’s the first time he truly understands the scope of his
responsibility.
That single line unlocks the title completely. You can almost imagine Miller smiling when he
wrote it, knowing the audience would look back at the title and think, Oh. Now I see.
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Why the Title Works So Well
Let’s break down why All My Sons is such a powerful title:
1. It’s simple and human. No complex metaphor, no abstract phrase — just plain
language with emotional punch.
2. It has double meaning. It works as a family reference and as a global moral truth.
3. It’s revealed gradually. You don’t understand its full weight until the end.
4. It’s tied to the emotional climax. The title comes directly from a key moment of
realization, making it unforgettable.
5. It’s timeless. The idea of shared responsibility is as relevant now as it was in the
1940s.
For a Student-Friendly Exam Answer:
If you need to make it examiner-friendly, here’s how to frame it:
• Start with the literal meaning (Joe’s own family and his sons, Chris and Larry).
• Move to the symbolic meaning (all young men — the idea of universal
responsibility).
• Connect it to the plot (Joe’s decision, the pilots’ deaths, his denial, and his eventual
admission).
• Highlight the emotional climax where the title’s meaning is revealed.
• End with its moral — the play’s message about widening our circle of care.
Final Thought
All My Sons as a title is almost like a moral equation:
“My sons” + “your sons” + “their sons” = all our responsibility.
It takes a narrow love and turns it into something bigger, harder, and more necessary. And
by tying that truth to a deeply personal tragedy, Miller ensures we don’t forget it.
In the end, Joe Keller realizes it too late. But we, as the audience, are given the chance to
realize it now — and maybe carry that understanding into our own decisions, before we
have to say the words with the same regret.
SECTION-B
3. Critically analyze Matthew Arnold's poem Dover Beach.
Ans: Let’s start not in a classroom or a dusty library, but on a quiet balcony overlooking the
sea at night. The waves roll in, steady and endless, moonlight brushing the water’s surface
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like silver paint. You can smell the salt in the air, hear the pull and crash of the tide. It feels
peaceful — almost eternal.
Now imagine that this view, this calm, is exactly what Matthew Arnold sees at the opening
of Dover Beach. Yet, instead of staying in that comfort, he uses the scene to lead us into one
of the most moving laments of the Victorian age — a meditation on beauty, faith, doubt,
and the fragility of human connection.
Step 1: Setting the Stage
Arnold begins the poem with vivid, tranquil imagery. The sea is “calm tonight,” the tide is
full, the moonlight gleams — everything feels harmonious. You could almost stop there and
frame it as a romantic painting. But Arnold is no passive observer; he’s a poet-philosopher.
Slowly, the tone shifts. From serenity, he moves to something deeper, more troubled.
The sound of the pebbles being pulled back and forth by the waves becomes significant. He
hears in it a “grating roar” — not just a physical sound, but one that stirs an emotion: an
“eternal note of sadness.”
This is Arnold’s genius: nature here isn’t just scenery. It becomes a mirror for the human
condition.
🏛 Step 2: Ancient Echoes — Sophocles and the Sea of Life
Arnold then makes a surprising leap in both time and space. He tells us that Sophocles, the
great ancient Greek tragedian, heard the same sound on the Aegean Sea and linked it to
human suffering. This is not a random reference — it’s a way of saying this sadness is
timeless. From ancient Greece to Victorian England, humans have wrestled with the same
sense of melancholy and uncertainty.
By linking two distant moments in history, Arnold broadens the scope of the poem. He’s
saying: these feelings aren’t just personal. They’re part of a long, shared human story.
Step 3: The “Sea of Faith”
Now comes the heart of the poem — the metaphor that has made Dover Beach famous.
Arnold speaks of the “Sea of Faith,” which once wrapped the world like a bright girdle, full
and strong, giving life meaning and moral certainty. But in his time — the mid-19th century
— this sea is retreating.
This is where history steps in: Arnold is writing in the Victorian era, a time when scientific
discoveries (like Darwin’s theory of evolution) and rapid social changes were shaking the
foundations of religious belief. For many, faith — once a solid shore — seemed to be ebbing
away.
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Arnold’s image is haunting: the Sea of Faith “retreats… down the vast edges drear and
naked shingles of the world.” What’s left behind feels barren, exposed.
Step 4: From Beauty to Bitterness — The Tone Shift
Notice the journey so far:
• Opening: Beautiful, calm imagery of the moonlit coast.
• Middle: A subtle sadness creeps in, linked to human suffering.
• Now: A profound sense of loss — not just of personal hope, but of society’s shared
moral anchor.
Arnold is not just talking about religion as doctrine. He’s talking about the loss of certainty,
the loss of a common spiritual language that gave people a sense of unity.
Step 5: The Response — Love as an Anchor
In the face of this loss, Arnold doesn’t turn to politics or even try to resurrect faith in its old
form. Instead, he offers something deeply personal: human love.
He turns to his companion (often interpreted as his wife) and pleads, essentially: Let us be
true to one another.
If the world is no longer underpinned by absolute faith, then at least we can be honest,
loyal, and loving to each other. That, Arnold suggests, might be the last defense against the
chaos and uncertainty of life.
Step 6: The Final Image — A World Without Certainty
The poem closes with one of its most striking images: the world, to Arnold, looks like a
“darkling plain… where ignorant armies clash by night.” Without a shared faith or moral
compass, life can become confused and directionless — people lost in conflict, not even
knowing what they are fighting for.
It’s a grim ending, but also a wake-up call. Arnold isn’t wallowing in despair for its own sake.
He’s urging his reader to hold onto what remains — love and honesty — in a world where
old certainties may vanish.
Critical Analysis — Pulling It All Together
Let’s break down what makes Dover Beach so powerful:
1. Thematic Depth
• Loss of Faith: Central to the poem is the Victorian crisis of belief.
• Human Suffering: Linked through time, from Sophocles to Arnold’s present.
• Love as Salvation: In a fragmented world, personal truth becomes a refuge.
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2. Structure and Progression
The poem moves like a tide:
• Calm and beauty
• Slow encroachment of sadness
• Recognition of loss
• Final turn toward love amidst darkness
This movement mirrors the ebb and flow of both the literal sea and human hope.
3. Imagery
Arnold’s sea is a living symbol:
• At first, it reflects harmony.
• Later, it becomes the retreating “Sea of Faith.”
• Finally, it frames the desolate battlefield of human conflict.
4. Tone
• Begins peaceful and reflective.
• Shifts to melancholy.
• Ends with urgency and quiet desperation.
5. Historical Context
Understanding the Victorian background — industrialization, scientific upheaval, and the
questioning of traditional beliefs — makes Arnold’s sense of instability more poignant.
For a Student-Friendly Exam Answer
If you were answering in an exam, here’s how you might frame your response:
In Dover Beach, Matthew Arnold uses the image of the sea as both a natural scene and a
metaphor for human experience. The poem starts with calm beauty but shifts into a
meditation on the loss of faith in the modern world. Drawing on history (Sophocles) and
personal emotion, Arnold connects the past to his present. The central metaphor of the
“Sea of Faith” expresses how belief once united society but now seems to be retreating,
leaving humanity exposed and uncertain. Arnold’s response is not to recover that old
certainty, but to urge personal truth and love as a way to face life’s confusion. The structure
mirrors a tide: moving from harmony to despair, but ending with a personal plea for loyalty
in an uncertain world.
🕊 Why This Poem Still Speaks Today
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Even if religion isn’t the central force in your life, the feeling Arnold describes — of watching
something once solid and comforting disappear — is universal. People today experience
similar disillusionment with politics, institutions, or even relationships. The advice to “be
true to one another” remains as urgent as ever.
Final Thought: Dover Beach is not just a Victorian lament. It’s a love poem, a social critique,
and a philosophical reflection — all in one. Arnold stands at the shore, hearing the eternal
waves, and tells us: the world can be beautiful and sad at the same time. And in that
paradox, we must decide what to hold onto.
4. Critically analyze William Wordsworth's poem The World is Too Much with Us.
Ans: Step 1: Understanding the Context
Wordsworth was a central figure of the Romantic movement — a group of poets and
thinkers in the late 18th and early 19th centuries who believed deeply in the emotional,
spiritual, and restorative power of nature. They lived in an age when the Industrial
Revolution was transforming England: factories were rising, cities swelling, and commerce
booming. To Wordsworth, this “progress” came at a price — people were becoming
emotionally and spiritually numb, losing touch with the natural world.
Step 2: What Does the Title Mean?
The World is Too Much with Us — the title itself is almost a sigh. The “world” here doesn’t
mean the planet, but rather worldly concerns: money, possessions, social status. When
Wordsworth says it’s “too much with us,” he means these things are taking up too much
space in our minds and hearts. We are drowning in them, and as a result, we no longer feel
the pulse of the earth beneath our feet.
Step 3: The Poem’s Argument, in Story Form
Imagine this as a short tale:
A traveler (the poet) walks along a shoreline at night. The wind smells of salt, the moon lays
a silver road across the water, and the waves dance with wild joy. But the traveler sees no
one watching. People are too busy counting coins, buying goods, chasing after the next deal.
In their race to own the world, they have forgotten how to feel it.
Wordsworth says humanity has “given our hearts away, a sordid boon!” That oxymoron —
“sordid boon” — sums up the tragedy. We think we’ve gained something (material wealth),
but it’s actually dirty, unworthy, and hollow.
He accuses us of being “out of tune” with nature, like an instrument whose strings have
slackened. The wind, the waves, the moon — they still sing their eternal song, but we no
longer hear it.
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Step 4: Nature as a Living Presence
For Wordsworth, nature isn’t just scenery. It’s alive, it’s divine, it’s an extension of the
human spirit. In this sonnet, he personifies the sea — it “bares her bosom to the moon” —
and the winds — they “howl at all hours.” Nature here has moods, desires, and beauty, but
people pass her by as if she were invisible.
🏛 Step 5: The Pagan Wish
Then comes one of the most surprising turns in the poem. Wordsworth declares he would
rather be “a Pagan suckled in a creed outworn” than a modern man disconnected from
nature. This is startling because Wordsworth was a Christian living in a Christian society.
Pagans, to his audience, were ancient worshippers of multiple gods, often tied to natural
forces — like Proteus, the old sea-god who could change shape, or Triton, the sea-god who
blew his conch shell.
Why does he say this? Because even if Paganism was “outworn” in his time, at least Pagans
felt the sacredness of the natural world. They saw divinity in the tides, the forests, the sun.
They believed the world was alive with gods and mysteries. That, to Wordsworth, was
better than modern numbness.
Step 6: Tone and Emotion
The tone of the poem is part lament, part passionate outcry. It moves from sorrow over
what humanity has lost to yearning for a world where people once felt deeply connected to
the earth. There’s also a note of defiance — this willingness to say, “If loving nature makes
me seem like a relic or outsider, so be it.”
Step 7: Critical Insights
Let’s break down why this poem still matters:
1. A Timeless Critique of Materialism
What Wordsworth saw in the early 19th century — people obsessed with possessions at the
cost of the planet — rings even louder today. In the age of mass consumerism, climate
change, and screen addiction, his warning feels prophetic.
2. The Romantic Ideal
For the Romantics, nature was not just beautiful — it was the source of truth, wisdom, and
healing. Losing touch with it meant losing touch with ourselves.
3. The Sonnet Form
This is a Petrarchan (Italian) sonnet, with an octave (8 lines) presenting the problem —
humanity’s disconnection from nature — and a sestet (6 lines) offering the emotional
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response — Wordsworth’s wish to be a Pagan in order to feel that old connection again. The
tight, formal structure contrasts with the intensity of the emotion, making it all the more
powerful.
4. Language and Imagery
• “Sordid boon”: a perfect paradox, showing how what we think is a gain can actually
be a loss.
• “Out of tune”: the metaphor of music to describe our relationship with nature
suggests we’ve lost harmony.
• Mythological references (Proteus, Triton): These bridge the gap between nature and
the sacred, showing how ancient beliefs saw no separation between the two.
Step 8: Why This Still Speaks to Us
Think about how often we scroll through our phones without noticing a sunset, or walk past
flowers without smelling them. Wordsworth’s frustration with his contemporaries feels like
it’s aimed at us, too. The “world” — the rush for wealth, possessions, social image — is still
too much with us. And the more it consumes us, the more silent and distant the voice of the
natural world becomes.
Final Thought: This sonnet isn’t just a 19th-century poet’s complaint. It’s a deeply human
plea: to look up from our ledgers and screens, to feel the wind, to watch the moonlight on
the water, to remember that we are part of something vast and beautiful. Wordsworth
believed that in returning to that awareness, we might also return to a fuller, richer kind of
living.
SECTION-C
5. Critically analyze W.H. Auden's poem The Unknown Citizen.
Ans: Let’s begin — not in a classroom, but at a memorial. Imagine walking into a towering
marble hall. The walls shine with official emblems, and at the center stands a large plaque
dedicated to “The Unknown Citizen.” There’s no name, no face — just a list of facts about
his life. You read it, and it’s all neat, polite, and… strangely empty. That’s where W.H.
Auden’s poem takes us. It’s not about one man, but about what happens when human
beings are reduced to statistics, certificates, and public records.
By the end of the poem, you realize that the title is ironic — because although every public
detail of this citizen’s life is “known” by the state, not a single thing is known about his inner
world, his joys, fears, or dreams.
Step 1: Context Behind the Poem
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The Unknown Citizen was written in 1939, just before World War II broke out — a time
when the rise of modern states, bureaucracy, and mass industrial societies was transforming
individual life. Governments were keeping closer records on their citizens than ever before:
births, jobs, taxes, military service, consumer habits. On the surface, it might seem harmless
— even efficient. But Auden saw the danger in measuring a person’s life only through
institutional lenses.
The title echoes the “Tomb of the Unknown Soldier” — a monument in many countries
honoring an unidentified soldier who died in war. But here, instead of a war hero, we have
an “unknown” civilian whose identity has been erased beneath layers of official paperwork.
🏛 Step 2: The “Story” Told by the Poem
If you imagine the poem as a short film, here’s what happens:
A government department writes an official tribute to this man after his death. They proudly
note that he paid his dues, worked hard, never broke the law, was popular with his
colleagues, bought the right products, had the right opinions, and was a “normal” family
man. Every part of his public and economic life is neatly stamped approved.
What’s missing? Everything human. We don’t know his favorite song, what made him laugh,
whether he ever rebelled against something wrong, whether he loved his wife deeply or just
went through the motions. The state considers his life a success — not because of who he
was — but because of how well he fit into the expected mold.
Step 3: The Theme — Individual vs. State
At its core, The Unknown Citizen is a satire of how modern society measures success. The
poem asks: Is a good citizen the same thing as a good human being?
Auden shows us a disturbing truth: in a highly bureaucratic state, an individual’s worth can
be calculated like a spreadsheet — job performance, tax compliance, number of children.
Yet all of these are external markers. They say nothing about the soul.
The poem warns that when governments or societies define people purely in terms of their
usefulness, individuality is erased. People become like interchangeable machine parts —
perfect for efficiency, but lifeless in spirit.
🛠 Step 4: Tone — Polite, Cold, and Ironic
One of the poem’s cleverest tricks is its tone. It’s written like a formal government report.
The voice is polite, even admiring:
• He was a “saint” — but in the bureaucratic sense, meaning he caused no trouble.
• He was “fully insured” — as if that’s the pinnacle of human achievement.
• He had the “proper opinions for the time of year” — suggesting he thought exactly
what the authorities approved of.
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The more the poem praises him, the more uncomfortable we feel. It’s like being at a funeral
where the eulogy is all about the deceased’s paperwork rather than their passions.
This is irony at work — saying something in praise but meaning the opposite.
Step 5: Key Details and Their Implications
• “He was found by the Bureau of Statistics to be / One against whom there was no
official complaint.” — Perfection, here, is defined only by the absence of trouble.
Obedience is valued over creativity or moral courage.
• “He worked in a factory and never got fired, / But satisfied his employers.” — His
career is measured not by fulfillment or innovation, but by compliance.
• “He bought a paper every day.” — Even his habits as a consumer are noted,
suggesting a society that monitors private choices.
• “He had everything necessary to the Modern Man, / A phonograph, a radio, a car
and a frigidaire.” — Consumer goods become indicators of a “successful” life,
reducing human happiness to ownership.
• Ending question: “Was he free? Was he happy? The question is absurd.” — This is
the mic-drop moment. The state considers these questions meaningless because
they can’t be measured. Freedom and happiness aren’t in the database, so they
don’t count.
Step 6: The Bigger Picture
Auden isn’t just attacking one government or one country. He’s warning about a universal
danger in modern societies — whether capitalist or socialist, democratic or authoritarian.
Whenever people are valued only by their compliance, productivity, and spending, we risk
creating a world where freedom and individuality are meaningless.
It’s also a commentary on conformity. The Unknown Citizen is praised precisely because he
never stood out. The irony is that the very qualities that make a person human —
questioning, dreaming, rebelling — are absent.
Step 7: Structure and Style
• Form: The poem is written in free verse, but it imitates the bureaucratic rhythm of
an official document.
• Voice: A collective “we” speaks — representing the state or some public office —
which distances the narrator from the humanity of the citizen.
• Irony and Satire: These are the main tools. By writing a glowing tribute that is
completely lifeless, Auden makes us feel the emptiness of such recognition.
Step 8: Why It Still Speaks to Us
Fast forward to today — with algorithms tracking our online habits, governments keeping
detailed databases, and companies profiling us through our purchases. In many ways, we
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are closer than ever to becoming “unknown citizens” in Auden’s sense: our external profiles
are rich with data, yet our true selves remain invisible to the systems that measure us.
The poem challenges us to protect our individuality, to value human connection over mere
conformity, and to insist that happiness and freedom are not “absurd questions” at all —
they’re the most important ones.
6. Discuss Ted Hughes' The Thought Fox.
Ans: Step 1: The Poem’s Core Idea
At first glance, The Thought Fox might seem like a nature poem, describing a wild animal
moving through the night. But it’s really a metaphor for the act of writing — how a poem
(or any creative idea) comes into existence.
Hughes doesn’t begin with the fox in sight. Instead, he shows us the emptiness before
creation: the blank page, the ticking clock, the quiet night. Then, line by line, the fox appears
— slowly, carefully, just like a thought forming in the mind.
By the end, the fox isn’t just in the forest. It has entered the poet’s mind, the page, and the
poem itself.
Step 2: Why a Fox?
A fox is the perfect symbol here for a thought or idea:
• Silent but alert — ideas often arrive quietly, without fanfare.
• Cunning and elusive — inspiration can’t be forced; it comes when it chooses.
• Graceful and precise — like the careful placement of words in a poem.
• Wild — creativity is instinctive, raw, and untamed, even when it’s shaped into art.
The fox in Hughes’ poem is not domesticated. It moves with purpose, emerging from the
dark forest of the subconscious, bringing the raw energy of the wild into the human space of
writing.
🖋 Step 3: Inspiration as a Hunter and the Poet as Its Observer
The beauty of Hughes’ approach is that the poet is almost passive at the start. He’s not
hunting the fox — the fox is coming toward him. This flips the usual image of a writer
chasing ideas. Instead, the poem suggests that inspiration is alive and has its own will. The
writer’s role is to remain alert, patient, and ready to capture it when it arrives.
There’s a sense of intimacy in how the fox approaches — it’s not rushing; it’s deliberate.
Every movement is a step closer to the moment when thought will turn into language.
Step 4: Structure as a Reflection of the Fox’s Movements
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The poem unfolds in short, precise stanzas, mirroring the careful tread of the fox:
• At first, everything is still — the “blank page” and the “midnight moment’s forest.”
• Then, the fox’s presence becomes faintly noticeable — a smell, a shadow.
• Bit by bit, details sharpen — its nose, its prints, its eyes.
• Finally, the fox fully emerges in the poet’s vision, and then — it’s on the page.
It’s like watching a shadow solidify into a living, breathing creature right before your eyes.
Step 5: Nature Meets the Mind
Even though the poem’s main subject is the creative process, Hughes grounds it in natural
imagery. The forest isn’t just a backdrop; it’s the deep, instinctive part of the mind where
ideas live before they’re born. The darkness isn’t empty — it’s full of potential.
Hughes himself was deeply influenced by the natural world. He often used animals to
embody human emotions, instincts, and inner processes. Here, the fox is more than
symbolic — it’s almost visceral. We can see its eyes, smell its scent, feel the tension in its
muscles.
Step 6: Symbolism Layer by Layer
Let’s break it down:
• The Night: Represents the unconscious mind, a space where ideas are hidden until
they choose to reveal themselves.
• The Forest: The uncharted territory of the imagination — wild, deep, and unknown.
• The Fox: The thought, moving from the unknown into clarity.
• The Prints in the Snow (or Ground): The first marks of creation — words appearing
on the page.
• The Final Image: The fox disappearing into the poem itself, meaning the thought has
been fully captured.
Step 7: The Creative Process Made Tangible
One of the poem’s strengths is how it turns something invisible — thought — into a
physical, almost cinematic scene. Writers often describe inspiration in vague terms, but
Hughes gives it movement, breath, and texture.
In this way, The Thought Fox is both:
1. A literal description of a fox appearing in the night, and
2. A figurative journey of an idea taking shape in the poet’s mind.
By merging the two, Hughes makes the creative process feel alive.
Step 8: Tone and Mood
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• Tone: Quiet, concentrated, slightly mysterious.
• Mood: A mix of solitude, anticipation, and sudden vividness when the fox appears.
You can almost feel the poet leaning forward, sensing something before it’s visible, like
hearing a faint sound in the woods.
Step 9: Critical Appreciation
Critically, The Thought Fox works on multiple levels:
• As a nature poem: It captures the stealth, mystery, and beauty of a wild animal.
• As a metaphor for writing: It brilliantly shows how an idea comes into focus.
• As an example of Hughes’ style: The language is precise, economical, and rich in
sensory detail — no wasted words.
The gradual movement from darkness to the vivid image of the fox mirrors the shift from a
blank page to a finished poem. This structure mirrors a classic arc in creativity: from nothing,
to something sensed, to something made.
Summary
Ted Hughes’ The Thought Fox is a symbolic depiction of the creative process. Using the
image of a fox moving silently through the night forest toward the poet, Hughes personifies
the arrival of inspiration. The poem begins in stillness — the blank page at midnight — and,
through sensory details, the presence of the fox becomes clearer. The forest and night
represent the unconscious mind, while the fox symbolizes a thought or idea entering the
poet’s awareness. Its prints are the words on the page, and the final moment of the poem
marks the completion of creation. Written in short, precise stanzas, the poem captures both
the mystery of inspiration and the vividness of nature. Hughes blends the literal and
metaphorical to show how an abstract process can feel as real as watching a living creature
approach.
Why It Still Feels Fresh
Any creative person — writer, artist, musician — knows the feeling Hughes describes. That
moment when an idea seems to come from nowhere, getting sharper and sharper until you
can finally express it. The poem resonates because it’s true to that experience, but it also
reminds us of the patience and openness needed to let inspiration find us.
Final Thought: The Thought Fox is like a time-lapse of creation, capturing the invisible
journey from silence to words. Hughes leaves us with a vivid reminder: inspiration is alive. It
moves through the darkness on its own terms, and if you’re still and ready enough, it will
step into your world — leaving its pawprints on the white page.
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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: To The Editor The Tribune Chandigarh
Subject: Rising menace of noise pollution in our locality
Sir / Madam,
Through the esteemed columns of your newspaper, I wish to draw the urgent attention of
the concerned authorities to the growing and unchecked problem of noise pollution in our
area of [Your Locality, City].
Over the past year, the peace of our neighbourhood has been shattered by incessant
sources of noise — blaring loudspeakers during late-night functions, indiscriminate honking
by vehicles, construction work extending well beyond permissible hours, and frequent use
of firecrackers. These disturbances not only disrupt the daily lives of residents but also pose
serious health hazards, including sleep deprivation, increased stress levels, and even hearing
impairment.
Elderly citizens and school-going children are the worst affected. Students find it difficult to
concentrate on their studies, while patients and senior citizens suffer aggravated health
issues due to the constant din. Despite several verbal complaints to the local authorities,
little action has been taken, and the situation continues to worsen.
It is high time that stringent measures are enforced:
• Regulating the use of loudspeakers and banning them beyond prescribed hours
• Strictly penalising unnecessary honking and traffic noise
• Monitoring construction activity to ensure adherence to noise-control rules
• Running public-awareness campaigns about the ill-effects of noise pollution
I earnestly hope that by highlighting this issue in your widely-read newspaper, the
concerned departments will take swift and effective steps to restore the peace and
tranquillity that every citizen deserves.
Yours faithfully,
[Your Name]
[Address]
[Date]
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8. Write a resume for the post of CA in Multi National Company.
Ans: [Your Full Name]
[Your Address] •
+91-XXXXXXXXXX •
[Your Email] •
[LinkedIn Profile]
Professional Summary
Results-oriented Chartered Accountant with [X years] of experience in financial reporting,
auditing, compliance, and strategic advisory for global corporations. Proven track record of
streamlining accounting processes, ensuring statutory compliance across jurisdictions, and
partnering with cross-functional teams to drive profitability. Adept at leveraging ERP
systems and data analytics to deliver accurate, timely, and actionable financial insights.
Core Competencies
• Financial Reporting & Analysis (IFRS, IND AS, US GAAP)
• Statutory & Internal Audits
• Tax Planning & Compliance (Direct & Indirect)
• Budgeting, Forecasting & Cost Control
• ERP & Accounting Software (SAP, Oracle, Tally ERP)
• Risk Management & Internal Controls
• Mergers & Acquisitions Support
• Team Leadership & Stakeholder Management
Professional Experience
Senior Chartered Accountant | [Current / Most Recent Company] — [City] MM/YYYY –
Present
• Prepare and present monthly, quarterly, and annual financial statements in
compliance with IFRS and company policies.
• Lead internal and statutory audits, ensuring zero non-compliance remarks.
• Partner with finance leadership to develop multi-year budgets and forecasts,
improving cost efficiency by [X%].
• Provide tax advisory and manage compliance for multi-jurisdictional operations.
• Mentor a team of [X] junior accountants and analysts.
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Chartered Accountant | [Previous Company] — [City] MM/YYYY – MM/YYYY
• Coordinated end-to-end audits for multinational clients across manufacturing, IT,
and FMCG sectors.
• Reduced month-end closing time from [X days] to [Y days] through process
automation.
• Advised on GST and corporate tax matters, achieving savings of ₹[X Lakhs] annually.
Education
Chartered Accountant (CA) — The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India B.Com (Hons.)
in Accounting & Finance — [University Name]
Certifications
• Diploma in International Financial Reporting (DipIFR – ACCA)
• Advanced Excel & Financial Modelling
• [Any other relevant certifications]
Achievements
• Awarded Best Performing Finance Professional at [Company Name] for exceptional
audit outcomes.
• Successfully led financial due diligence for a ₹[X crore] M&A transaction.
Languages
• English (Fluent) • Hindi (Fluent) • [Any other]
References
Available upon request.
“This paper has been carefully prepared for educational purposes. If you notice any mistakes or
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