1 Mark Questions
Question 1. Why do novels use vernacular?
Answer : The novels used vernacular language because it was spoken by the common people.
Question 2. Name the writer of the novel Anandamath.
Answer : The novel Anandmath was written by Bankimchandra Chattopadhyay.
Question 3. Who wrote the first proper modern novel in Hindi?
Answer : Srinivas Das of Delhi wrote the first proper modern novel in Hindi.
Question 4. Which novel in Hindi, published in 1882, gives more emphasis to moral values?
Answer : Pariksha Guru was the Hindi novel published in the year 1882, which gives more emphasis to moral values.
Question 5. Name the first Hindi novel based on romance with dazzling element of fantasy.
Answer : Chandrakanta was the first Hindi novel based on romance with dazzling element of fantasy. It was written by Devaki Nandan Khatri.
Question 6. Which Hindi novel reflects the inner and the outer world of the newly emerging middle class?
Answer : The Hindi novel that reflects the inner and the outer world of the newly emerging middle class was Pariksha Guru.
Question 7. Which novel depicts a topsy-turvy world in which women take the place of men?
Answer : Sultana’s Dream was the novel which depicts a topsy-turvy world in which women take the place of men.
Question 8. By whom was the novel “Hard times” written?
Answer : Charles Dickens wrote the novel “Hard Times”.
Question 9. What problem of the society was focused in the novel Hard Times, written by Charles Dickens?
Answer : Hard Times, a novel written by Charles Dickens in the year 1854, describes the conditions of the industrial towns and the workers there and criticized the greed for profits by the industrialists.
Question 10. Name the two countries of Western Europe where the novel first took firm root.
Answer : England and France were the two countries of Western Europe where the novel first took firm root.
3 Marks Questions
Question 11. Distinguish between the themes of ‘Pride and Prejudice’ and ‘Jane Eyre’ novels written by Jane Austen and Charlotte Bronte respectively.
Answer : (a) Pride and Prejudice, a novel written by Jane Austen where she wrote about the genteel rural society women, whereas Jane Eyre, a novel written by Charlotte Bronte wrote about the women who broke the established norms of the society.
(b) The characters of Pride and prejudice were preoccupied with marriage and money whereas the characters of Jane Eyre were daring, independent and assertive.
(c) The novel Pride and Prejudice encouraged the men oriented society whereas the novel Jane Eyre protested the hypocrisy of elders and wanted a dignified life for women.
Question 12. Differentiate between the novels written by Charlotte Bronte and Jane Austen.
Answer : (a) In Jane Eyre, a novel written by Charlotte Bronte she wrote about the women who broke the established norms of the society whereas in Pride and Prejudice, a novel written by Jane Austen she wrote about the genteel rural society women.
(b) The characters of Jane Eyre were daring, independent and assertive whereas the characters of Pride and Prejudice were preoccupied with marriage and money.
(c) The novel Jane Eyre protested the hypocrisy of elders and wanted a dignified life for women whereas the novel Pride and Prejudice encouraged the men oriented society.
Question 13. When and in which languages were the modern form of novels developed in India? Give examples of any two earliest modern Indian novels.
Answer : The Indians became familiar with western novels in the 19th century. The earliest novels in India were written in Bengali and Marathi languages.
Yamuna Paryatan, a novel written by Baba Padmanji in Marathi in the year 1857 about the miserable condition of the widows.
Another Marathi novel Muktamala was written by Moreshwar Halbe in the year 1861 which was an imaginary romance.
Question 14. In what ways did novels help to give the people a vision of being ideal character?
Answer : Srinivas Das of Delhi wrote Pariksha Guru cautioned the young men of the good families about the influence of the bad company and loose morals, revealed the inner and outer world of the newly emerging middle class, preserving the Indian culture, right way to live, living with dignity and honour and be rooted in the traditional culture and tradition. The novels like Rangbhoomi and Godan written by Premchand was based the democratic values. These novels spread the message among the people to maintain their dignity in every condition. The novel Indulekha written by Chandu Menon talks about a balance between our original culture and the western culture.
Question 15. Explain the contribution of Charles Dickens in the field of English literature.
Answer : Hard Times, a novel written by Charles Dickens in the year 1854, describe the conditions of the industrial towns and the workers there and criticized the greed for profits by the industrialists. Oliver Twist was another novel written by Charles Dickens in the year 1838, which explained the horrible conditions of the urban life due to the industrial capitalism.
Question 16. Who was Potheri Kunjambu? Write about him.
Answer : Potheri Kunjambu a lower caste writer from the north Kerala. He wrote the novel Saraswativijayam in the year 1892. This novel stresses on the issue of untouchability and importance of education.
Question 17. Assess the advantages of serialized novels published during nineteenth century Europe.
Answer : The advantages of the serialized novels published during nineteenth century Europe were:
(a) Serialization helped the readers to enjoy the suspense.
(b) The readers discussed the stories for weeks and also anticipated for the next series.
(c) It created an absorbing and believable world and the imagination of the reader took them in another person’s world and feel the experiences of the character.
Question 18. Describe the process of the development of novel in Hindi.
Answer : Bhartendu Harishchandra was the pioneer of the modern Hindi literature in the north India under whose guidance number of novels were translated and adopted from English and Bengali languages. Srinivas Das of Delhi was the one who wrote the first proper modern novel in India and was published in the year 1882 titled Pariksha Guru.
This novel cautioned the young men of the good families about the influence of the bad company and loose morals, revealed the inner and outer world of the newly emerging middle class, difficulty of adapting the colonial society, preserving the Indian culture, right way to live, become worldly-wise, living with dignity and honour and be rooted in the traditional culture and tradition.
Though the novel Pariksha Guru was written with good intention but it could not get popularity among many readers because it was flooded with moral values. Chandrakanta was written by Devaki Nandan Khatri based on romance and fantasy. It made the Hindi language and the Nagari script popular and created a novel reading public in Hindi.
The novel Sewasadan was published by Premchand in the year 1916 dealing with the misery condition of the women, child marriage and dowry in the Indian society. His novels took the Hindi novel to excellency. He wrote novels in both Urdu and Hindi.
Question 19. Who wrote the novel Saraswativijayam? Highlight any two messages given to the people through the novel.
Answer : Saraswativijayam was written by Potheri Kunjambu in the year 1892. He was a lower caste writer from the north Kerala. This novel gives the following two messages to the people:
(a) Stresses on the issue of untouchability.
(b) Importance of education.
Question 20. Explain the picture of new middle class, which the novel Pariksha guru portrays.
Answer : Srinivas Das of Delhi was the one who wrote the first proper modern novel in India and was published in the year 1882 titled Pariksha Guru.
This novel cautioned the young men of the good families about the influence of the bad company and loose morals, revealed the inner and outer world of the newly emerging middle class, difficulty of adapting the colonial society, preserving the Indian culture, right way to live, become worldly-wise, living with dignity and honour and be rooted in the traditional culture and tradition.
Though the novel Pariksha Guru was written with good intention but it could not get popularity among many readers because it was flooded with moral values.
Question 21. How did novels become popular in India? Explain.
Answer : The Indians became familiar with western novels in the 19th century. The earliest novels in India were written in Bengali and Marathi languages. Yamuna Paryatan, a novel written by Baba Padmanji in Marathi in the year 1857 about the miserable condition of the widows.
Another Marathi novel Muktamala was written by Moreshwar Halbe in the year 1861 which was an imaginary romance. The leading Indian novelists of the 19th century wrote for a cause like the colonial rule, national unity and cultural equality. The translated versions of these novels into the different regional languages made them popular.
Vernacular novels were the source of information about the Indian society and customs which helped the British to govern the country. For Indians, novels became a medium to criticize and suggest measures for the society.
Novels also helped in building a relation with the past by glorifying the past. The Indian novels shared a common flavour which created a sense of collective belonging and it also made the readers aware about the languages spoken in other parts of the country.
Question 22. Explain how novels assisted in the spread of silent reading.
Answer : The new culture of print like the picture books, translated novels, popular songs and stories made the novels a new source of amusement and entertainment. The novels also developed the culture of silent reading. These were read at home or while travelling which was like day dreaming. These novels were also read for the public.
Question 23. What type of problems were highlighted by the novelist Charles Dickens in his novels? Explain any two such problems.
Answer : Hard Times, a novel written by Charles Dickens in the year 1854, describe the conditions of the industrial towns and the workers there and criticized the greed for profits by the industrialists.
The industrial towns were full o f machinery, chimneys and pollution. The condition of the workers were quite pathetic as they were overworked, underpaid, and homeless and lived in workhouses. They were known as hands because their identity was only as operators of machines.
Oliver Twist was another novel written by Charles Dickens in the year 1838, which explained the horrible conditions of the urban life due to the industrial capitalism. In the novel Oliver Twist a poor orphan, lived with the petty criminals and beggars in a cruel workhouse but finally adopted by a wealthy man and lived the life happily.
Question 24. How did novels became popular among masses? Explain with examples.
Answer : Reasons for the popularity of the novels –it created an absorbing and believable world, the imagination of the reader took them in another person’s world and feel the experiences of the character, it gave pleasure of reading in private and public and they were related to the lives of the common people.
Charles Dickens’ Pickwick Papers was serialized in the year 1836 in a magazine which were quite attractive due to the illustrations and the low price. Serialization helped the readers to enjoy the suspense for weeks.
Question 25. With the help of an example show how the early novels in Europe contributed to colonialism.
Answer : The time when the novels started in Europe, it was a period of colonisation in the rest of the world, therefore the novels made the readers feel a part of the superior community. Robinson Crusoe was the hero of Daniel Defoe’s novel which was written in the year 1719. The hero was an adventurer and slave trader who treated the colored people inferior.
The novels of that time idealized the colonized people as primitive, barbaric, less than human who need to be civilized and made human by the colonial rule. But the writers like Joseph Conrad in the 20th century started writing about the darker side of the colonial rule.
Question 26. State the significance of the novels of Premchand.
Answer : The novel Sewasadan was published by Premchand in the year 1916 dealing with the misery condition of the women, child marriage and dowry in the Indian society. His novels took the Hindi novelto excellency. He wrote novels in both Urdu and Hindi. The novels of Premchand characterized different classes of the society like the peasants, landless labourers, landlords, professionals, women etc. which was a society drawn the democratic values.
In the novel Rangbhoomi written by Premchand, the main character Surdas was a visually impaired beggar from the untouchable caste.
Another novel Godan written b y Premchand published in the year 1936 was an epic of the Indian peasantry.
Question 27. Explain any three features of the early Bengali novels.
Answer : There were two groups of the early Bengali novels.
(a) One was based on the past events.
(b) The other on the contemporary world domestic life. Durgeshnandani was the first novel of Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay in the year 1865. This novel was known for its turns and twist and its language.
Question 28. Explain how novels became a popular medium of entertainment among the middle class during the late nineteenth century in India?
Answer : Vernacular novels were the source of information about the Indian society and customs which helped the British to govern the country.
For Indians, novels became a medium to criticize and suggest measures for the society.
Novels also helped in building a relation with the past by glorifying the past. The Indian novels shared a common which created a sense of collective belonging and it also made the readers aware about the languages spoken in other parts of the country.
The new culture of print like the picture books, translated novels, popular songs and stories made the novels a new source of amusement and entertainment. India was depicted by the British historians as weak, divided and dependent on the British which was not convincing to the educated Indians.
The historical novels in Bengal produced a sense of Pan-Indian belonging full of adventure, heroism, romance and sacrifice. The novels of Premchand characterized different classes of the society like the peasants, landless labourers, landlords, professionals, women etc. which was a society drawn the democratic values.
Question 29. “Novels were useful for both the colonial administrators and Indians in colonial India.” Support the statement with examples.
Answer : The time when the novels started in Europe, it was a period of colonisation in the rest of the world, therefore the novels made the readers feel a part of the superior community. Robinson Crusoe was the hero of Daniel Defoe’s novel which was written in the year 1719. The hero was an adventurer and slave trader who treated the colored people inferior.
The novels of that time idealized the colonized people as primitive, barbaric, less than human who need to be civilized and make human by the colonial rule. But the writers like Joseph Conrad in the 20th century started writing about the darker side of the colonial rule.
The leading Indian novelists of the 19th century wrote for a cause like the colonial rule, national unity and cultural equality. The translated versions of these novels into the different regional languages made them popular. Vernacular novels were the source of information about the Indian society and customs which helped the British to govern the country. For Indians, novels became a medium to criticize and suggest measures for the society.
Novels also helped in building a relation with the past by glorifying the past. The Indian novels shared a common flavour which created a sense of collective belonging and it also made the readers aware about the languages spoken in other parts of the country.
Question 30. Explain the teachings given by Srinivas Das in his novel Pariksha guru.
Answer : Srinivas Das of Delhi was the one who wrote the first proper modern novel in India and was published in the year 1882 titled Pariksha Guru.
This novel cautioned the young men of the good families about the influence of the bad company and loose morals, revealed the inner and outer world of the newly emerging middle class, difficulty of adapting the colonial society, preserving the Indian culture, right way to live, become worldly-wise, living with dignity and honour and be rooted in the traditional culture and tradition.
Though the novel Pariksha Guru was written with good intention but it could not get popularity among many readers because it was flooded with moral values.
Question 31. “Colonial administrators found vernacular novels a valuable source of information on native life and customs.” Support the statement with suitable examples.
Answer : Vernacular novels were the source of information about the Indian society and customs which helped the British to govern the country. For Indians, novels became a medium to criticize and suggest measures for the society.
Novels also helped in building a relation with the past by glorifying the past. The Indian novels shared a common which created a sense of collective belonging and it also made the readers aware about the languages spoken in other parts of the country.
The new culture of print like the picture books, translated novels, popular songs and stories made the novels a new source of amusement and entertainment.
India was depicted by the British historians as weak, divided and dependent on the British which was not convincing to the educated Indians.
The historical novels in Bengal produced a sense of Pan-Indian belonging full of adventure, heroism, romance and sacrifice.
Question 32. Exp la in any three reasons for the popularity of novels in eighteenth century Europe.
Answer : Reasons for the popularity of the novels –it created an absorbing and believable world, the imagination of the reader took them in another person’s world and feel the experiences of the character, it gave pleasure of reading in private and public and they were related to the lives of the common people.
Charles Dickens’ Pickwick Papers was serialized in the year 1836 in a magazine which were quite attractive due to the illustrations and the low price. Serialization helped the readers to enjoy the suspense for weeks.
Question 33. In what ways were novels in colonial India useful for both the colonisers as well as the nationalists? Explain.
Answer : The time when the novels started in Europe, it was a period of colonisation in the rest of the world, therefore the novels made the readers feel a part of the superior community. Robinson Crusoe was the hero of Daniel Defoe’s novel which was written in the year 1719. The hero was an adventurer and slave trader who treated the colored people inferior.
The novels of that time idealized the colonized people as primitive, barbaric, less than human who need to be civilized and made human by the colonial rule.
But the writers like Joseph Conrad in the 20th century started writing about the darker side of the colonial rule.
The leading Indian novelists of the 19th century wrote for a cause like the colonial rule, national unity and cultural equality. The translated versions of these novels into the different regional languages made them popular.
Vernacular novels were the source of information about the Indian society and customs which helped the British to govern the country. For Indians, novels became a medium to criticize and suggest measures for the society.
Novels also helped in building a relation with the past by glorifying the past. The Indian novels shared a common which created a sense of collective belonging and it also made the readers aware about the languages spoken in other parts of the country.
5 Marks Questions
Question 34. Briefly describe the journey o f the development of novel in Hindi.
Answer : Bhartendu Harishchandra was the pioneer of the modern Hindi literature in the north India under whose guidance number of novels were translated and adopted from English and Bengali languages. Srinivas Das of Delhi was the one who wrote the first proper modern novel in India and was published in the year 1882 titled Pariksha Guru.
This novel cautioned the young men of the good families about the influence of the bad company and loose morals, revealed the inner and outer world of the newly emerging middle class, difficulty of adapting the colonial society, preserving the Indian culture, right way to live, become worldly-wise, living with dignity and honour and be rooted in the traditional culture and tradition.
Though the novel Pariksha Guru was written with good intention but it could not get popularity among many readers because it was flooded with moral values. Chandrakanta was written by Devaki Nandan Khatri based on romance and fantasy. It made the Hindi language and the Nagari script popular and created a novel reading public in Hindi.
The novel Sewasadan was published by Premchand in the year 1916 dealing with the misery condition of the women, child marriage and dowry in the Indian society. His novels took the Hindi novel to excellency. He wrote novels in both Urdu and Hindi.
Question 35. Why did novels became popular among women in India? Explain with examples.
Answer : The novels always took away the readers in the imaginary world from their real surrounding. The women and the children were vulnerable to this and were advised to stay away from the immoral influence of the novels.
The novels were kept secretly in the lofts to keep it out of reach from the children and also was read by the youngsters in secret. The grand children read out the novels for the older women in the families who could not read.
Women also started writing poems, essays, autobiographies, short stories and novels which popularized the concept of womanhood.
Sultana’s Dream was a satiric fantasy written in English by Rokeya Hossein in the year 1905. This novel showed the topsyturvy world of women replacing men.
Padmarag was another novel written by Rokeya Hossein which explained the need of reform through their own actions to improve their condition in the society.
Novel writings by the women in many cases were treated suspicious by men and were written either secretly or with the support of their husbands. For example, Karuna o Phulmonir Bibaran written by a Christian missionary named Hannah Mullens in the year 1852 and the other novelist named Ghosh Jaya could write just because of the support of her husband.
Question 36. Who translated the novel “Henrietta temple” written by Disraeli in Malayalam? Why did the author give up the idea of translating English novels? What did he do instead in the literary field?
Answer : An attempt was made by O. Chandu Menon to translate the English novel Henrietta Temple into Malayalam but did not became popular as the readers were not familiar with the lifestyle of the characters of the English novels.
He gave up the idea of translating the English novels because of two reasons – first, the readers were not familiar with the lifestyle of the English characters and second, the direct translation of the English novels would be ultimate boring. In the year 1889, the first modern Malayalam novel Indulekha was written and published by Menon.
Question 37. How did novels in India attempt to create a sense of Pan-India belonging? Explain.
Answer : India was depicted by the British historians as weak, divided and dependent on the British which was not convincing to the educated Indians.
The historical novels in Bengal produced a sense of Pan-Indian belonging full of adventure, heroism, romance and sacrifice. Anguriya Binimoy was the first historical novel written in Bengal in the year 1857 by Bhudeb Mukhopadhyay which depicted the heroic image of Shivaji against Aurangzeb. Another novel that inspired the freedom fighters was Anandamath written by Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay in the year 1882 which depicted the secret Hindu militia fight against the Muslims.
The novels of Premchand characterized different classes of the society like the peasants, landless labourers, landlords, professionals, women etc. which was a society drawn the democratic values. In the novel Rangbhoomi written by Premchand, the main character Surdas was a visually impaired beggar from the untouchable caste.
Question 38. How did the characters like Indulekha and Madhavan inspire the contemporary generations to strike a balance between the western ideas and Indian traditional culture?
Answer : The novels like Indulekha wrote about inter caste marriage of Nambuthiri Brahmins, the upper caste Hindus who were the major landlords in Kerala with the Nayars, the tenants of Nambuthiri Brahmins.
Indulekha rejected the marriage offer by Suri Nambuthiri, a foolish landlord and married Madhavan from a Nayar family. The Indian novels created heroes and heroines successfully dealing with the dilemma of accepting the western ideas without losing their own tradition and culture.
In the novel Indulekha by Chandu Menon, Indulekha was a beautiful lady with great talent and abilities with command over English and Sanskrit.
The hero Madhavan was from English educated class Nayar family, a first class Sanskrit scholar dressed up in western style but had hairstyle according to the Nayar custom.
Question 39. “Premchand’s novels are filled with powerful characters from all levels of society.” Justify the statement.
Answer : The novel Sewasadan was published by Premchand in the year 1916 dealing with the misery condition of the women, child marriage and dowry in the Indian society. His novels took the Hindi novelto excellency. He wrote novels in both Urdu and Hindi. The novels of Premchand characterized different classes of the society like the peasants, landless labourers, landlords, professionals, women etc. which was a society drawn the democratic values. In the novel Rangbhoomi written by Premchand, the main character Surdas was a visually impaired beggar from the untouchable caste.
Another novel Godan written b y Premchand published in the year 1936 was an epic of the Indian peasantry.
Question 40. Explain the aspects of Premchand’s writings that make them special.
Answer : The novel Sewasadan was published by Premchand in the year 1916 dealing with the misery condition of the women, child marriage and dowry in the Indian society. His novels took the Hindi novelto excellency. He wrote novels in both Urdu and Hindi. The novels of Premchand characterized different classes of the society like the peasants, landless labourers, landlords, professionals, women etc. which was a society drawn the democratic values. In the novel Rangbhoomi written by Premchand, the main character Surdas was a visually impaired beggar from the untouchable caste.
Another novel Godan written b y Premchand published in the year 1936 was an epic of the Indian peasantry.
Question 41. Who is the author of novel Titash Ekti Nadir Naam? Why is it considered a special novel? Explain any four reasons.
Answer : Titash Ekti Nadir Naam was an epic novel written by Advaita Malla Burman in the year 1956. The four reasons which made this novel special were:
(a) The author belong to a low caste fisher folk community along the river Titash.
(b) This novel explained the life of Mallas, their festivals, songs, relationships with each other.
(c) The novel wrote about the injustice by the upper caste people.
(d) The whole Malla community was vanished as the river Titash dries up.
Question 42. How was the problem of being modern addressed by the Indian novelists? Explain.
Answer : The Indian novels created heroes and heroines successfully dealing with the dilemma of accepting the western ideas without losing their own tradition and culture. In the novel Indulekha by Chandu Menon, Indulekha was a beautiful lady with great talent and abilities with command over English and Sanskrit and the Hero Madhavan was from English educated class Nayar family, a first class Sanskrit Scholar dressed up in western style but had hair style according to the Nayar custom.