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Alt 303: Theory And History Of Literature Question Paper

Alt 303: Theory And History Of Literature

Course:Bachelor Of Arts

Institution: Kenyatta University question papers

Exam Year:2017

KENYATTA UNIVERSITY
UNIVERSITY EXAMINATIONS 2016/2017
SECOND SEMESTER EXAMINATIONS FOR THE DEGREE OF BACHELOR OF ARTS AND BACHELOR OF EDUCATION
ALT 303: THEORY AND HISTORY OF LITERATURE
DATE” Friday 12th May 2017 TIME: 11.00A.M-1.00P.M
INSTRUCTIONS:
Answer question ONE and any other two questions
1. To what extent is the argument of history of literature is a history of mankind’s attempt to understand the meaning and f unction of creative imagination true? Refer to at least two literary theories to illustrate your arguments. (26marks)

2. Show how two major concerns of Feminist Literary Theory can be used to discuss the predicaments of the principal female characters in ONE of the following texts. (22marks)
Bessie Head’s A Question of Power OR
Mariama Ba’s So Long a letter OR
Nawal El Sadaawi’s God Dies by the Nile

3. a)Use three arguments of the Psychoanalytic literary theory to analyze social relations in Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart (22marks)
OR
b) Using Freud’s concept of “the unconscious” discuss the characters of Gregor, Greta and the father in Franz Kafka’s Metamorphosis. (22marks)
a) Discuss both Marlow and Kurtiz’s expeditions in Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness using the postcolonial literary theory. (22marks)
OR
b) Referring to an African novel you have studied in this course, show in what way the statement “The Empire writes back” can be used to discuss its portrayal of imperialism (22marks)

5. a) Give a Marxist analysis of the symbolism of the road, theng’eta and wanja brothel in Ngugi Wa Thiong’o’s Petals of Blood. (22marks)

OR
b) Discuss how any text studied in this course brings to the fore problems that are likely to exist when class stratification occurs in society (22marks)

6. a) What were the main concerns of Negritude Literary Movement? Illustrate your answer using a poem influenced by the movement. (22marks)

OR.
b) Explain the central tenets of deconstruction as a literary theory. Then attempt a deconstructive reading of the following poem. (20marks)

THERE IS A GIRL INSIDE
By Lucille Clifton
There is a girl inside.
She is randy as a wolf.
She will not walk and leave these bones
To an old woman

She is a green tree in a forest kindling
She is a green girl in a used poet

She waited patient as a nun
For the second coming,
When she can break through grey hairs
Into blossom

And her lovers will harvest
Honey and thyme
And the woods will be wild
With the damn wonder of it.

Alt 303: Theory And History Of Literature Question Paper

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