Contemporary India: Women and Empowerment — DU B. A. (Hons) English Previous Year Question Papers

3. Candidates have to answer ALL the questions in Part A and ANY THREE questions in Part B. 4. Questions in Part A carry 10 marks each and questions in Part B carry 20 marks each. I. A. Define the terms masculine and feminine. What social roles are connected to each and are these equitable? B. What is patriarchy? Does it ever negatively affect men? Give a reasoned answer. = 2A Do you think that eco-feminism as discussed by Vandana Shiva is a sustainable model.. for development? Can this model be useful for empowering women? B. Do women suffer from unequal access to résources? Discuss in relation to education and finances using texts prescribed for study in the course. 3. A. Discuss the campaign against dowry deaths in post-independence India. B. Does early marriage negatively affect women? Discuss with the help of the debates on the age of consent. 4. A. "Sultana's Dream" presents men as the real threat to peace and progress. Illustrate. B. Rassundari Devi presents the life of an upper-class woman from nineteenth century Bengal, how does her narrative compare with that of Baby Kamble? 5. A. Analyse the violence faced by the protagonist in Bayen in terms of motherhood, personal autonomy and witchcraft. B. M. M. Vinodini's narrative is a criticism of how patriarchy operates side by side with caste hegemony to confine women to subordinate status. Illustrate with examples from the text. 6. A. Is the law significant in addressing the issue of women's equality? Discuss in detail with the help of any two laws prescribed for study. B. How has sexual harassment negatively affected women? Analyse the protections available in the Sexual Harassment (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) of Women at the Workplace 2013 Act in this regard. 7. A. Discuss how writers have imaginatively challenged women's subordinate status to men in social, economic and individual freedoms with the help of any two texts from your coursé. B. The gendered oppression of women continues to remain powerful through the variety of political and personal structures patriarchal power operates through. Do you agree? Give a reasoned answer with the help of texts you studied as part of the course.