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Answering Guide with

Resources for O/L
English Literature
New Syllabus to be implemented from 2016

Sudesh Sampath
B.A.(English Literature)

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Preface

Thank you for purchasing the guide book for writing. Hope this
will be an additional resource book for you to expand your
knowledge.
Sometime it is hard for some teachers and students to use the
technology in the classroom to reach our website while some still
prefer the paper as it is easy to make annotations. Therefore, we
thought of bringing all the posts we have posted so far to benefit
the teachers and students. Hope you would find this useful.
However, you can always visit to the website www.litspring.com
as it keeps on updating and you can download all the materials for
your study purposes. If you have any suggestions, please visit to
our website or the Facebook page. If you have any suggestions to
be made please send a generous email to
[email protected].

H.G.Sudesh Sampath
#litspring (2021)

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What is literature?
Literature refers to the practice and profession on writing. It comes from
human interest in telling a story, in arranging words in artistic forms, in
describing in words some aspects of human experiences. In other words,
it is a way of recording human experiences into literary forms like poems,
stories, dramas or biographies. (especially those considered of superior or
lasting artistic merit.)

Views on literature
Literature is a performance in words
– Robert Frost
Literature, as an art, is surely to arouse “the excitement of emotion for
the purpose of immediate pleasure, through the medium of beauty”
– Coleridge
“verbal artfulness” – proper choice and good arrangement of all
linguistic components (phonological, morphological, syntactical,
semantic and pragmatic).
– Tung (2007)
It is not only mirror of society. Literature is a soft and sweet feeling
which makes a person good human being. If force you to think of every
little thing. It changes the thinking of human beings. It teaches humanity
and I am proud of myself that I am a literature student
– Sushmitha Sharma

Literature builds upon experiences and transferred into written form

using variety of genres.
-Litspring (2020)
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What is Genre in Literature?
It means the type of literature characterized by a specific form, content
and style. For example, literature has four main genres: poetry, drama,
fiction and non – fiction. Each has its own form to be distinguished from
the other. That means genres are sub divisions of literature.

What are the other types of genres in literature?

Biography - A book about someone’s life, written by someone else.
Autobiography - A book someone writes about his/her life.
Allegory - Story in which the events and characters represent particular
ideas or teach a moral lesson.
Fables - A short simple story that teaches a moral or religious lesson.
Fairy tales - Imaginary stories with personified characters such as talking
animals, objects and supernatural characters intended for children
readership.
Folk tales - Based on oral literature transfer thorough generations often
carrying a moral message.
etc, etc - There are variety of genres based on countries, traditions and
creativity. There can be many of them which fall into the same sea of
literature.

Why do we study literature?

 We study literature because it is an excellent way to sharpen our
close reading skills, enable critical thinking and refine our general
sense of art appreciation.
 We study literature because it is profound, beautiful and moving.

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 We study literature because it enriches us; for wisdom, for
entertainment, for an understanding of diverse human
experiences.
 We study literature because it gives us spiritual and psychological
insight.
 Overall literature teaches you to be human who empathize others
feelings and gives meaning to the life you got; making this world
a beautiful place to live in.

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How to Write a Literary Answer in Poetry?
Well, writing an answer in exams is a process of thinking about the
question given and answering the question. Some students tend to write
all the things they know about the poem which is not accurate. It is
required to understand the question and write a good response to the
issues raised in the questions. For example: if the question asks about the
theme bravery, you should show how the poet show it in his lines. There
is no static model about writing answers. It is good if you can have your
own way of writing. However, your answer should be analytical and
touch the key points asked in the question. You may follow following
steps to write a response in exams.

Read and Mark the Key Points in the Question

It is required to understand the question properly before answering. Some
students fail to understand the question and write something else which
is a grave mistake. While reading the question you can underline
important points shown in the question which show what the question
requires you to write in the answer.
Ex: Power forces the possessor to be lonely. Do you agree? Describe the
above statement with regard to the poem The Eagle by Alfred Lord
Tennyson.
Marking key points helps you to form a good outline to the answer.

Outline Your Answer

Planning is the key for a good written answer. It helps your answer to be
well organized and to avoid unnecessary details. You can write down all
the important information related to the question including quotations.
You can use a mind map, chart or any method depending on your choice.
Now that you have information to write the answer; Cut off unnecessary
points and select the most important information according to an order.
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This may be the most important information first and others depending
on the importance. Write your quotations under the point. Well, you are
ready to go.

Write the Opening Paragraph

Opening paragraph is the compass. It shows the direction of your answer.
In this paragraph you have to show the examiner what and how you are
going to answer. Good start is always half the job done. Here you can
introduce the answer you are going to produce.
Ex: Power has positive and negative effects on the possessor. Because of
its force the possessor has to live alone from other. The poem The Eagle
by Alfred Lord Tennyson explores what factors create such force…

Prove the Points Put forward.

After writing the first paragraph, it is the time to produce an analytical
answer using the points you gathered earlier. You have to prove the points
using the details in the poem. Whatever the point you have you should
have evidences form the poem to prove them. First you have to introduce
the point you are going to prove. Then you can introduce a quote from
the poem and then you can describe how that quote supports your point.
If it is about the lifestyle of ‘The Eagle’ that kept him away from others:
show it and prove from a quote in the poem and describe how so it
happens.

Provide a Good End

Ending can be the summery of your answer. Here you can restate what
you have written in the answer. You have to clearly define what your
answer to the question. If it is yes, it should be clearly mentioned. Do not
rewrite the first paragraph. If it is about power issue, restate what reasons

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you have brought forward and write the final effect created. Here the
possessor has to be alone.
There can be a number of ways to produce a better answer. You have to
have your own way of answering. For that, you have to keep reading good
model answers, read books and keep on writing. The best formula is
reading and writing. Those are the key elements for every student who
needs to write a good piece of writing.

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 Resources
for
Writing Answers

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What are the Resources and How to Use Them?
These resources are articles written covering various areas of genres in
your syllabus. Most are written based on past paper questions in your
exam. By reading them you will be able to expand knowledge about the
texts you learn.
Remember these are written not based on the structure of an answer.
However, you can adapt them into an answer using the methods we have
discussed earlier.

-Poetry-
Comments Made on the Society in the Poem Big
Match,1983 by Yasmine Goonerathne
The Poem big match raises a number of critical comments with regard to
the communal crisis plunged in 1983 creating a dark mark on the body of
Sri Lankan land. It creates a cinematic portrayal of how the activities of
people lead to a such unfortunate incident and their behaviour in front of
a communal problem.
The poet seems critical toward the behaviour of social bodies like rulers,
media and the religion amid of a crisis. The metaphorical newspaper
headlines like: “flash point in paradise,” “Racial pot boils over” seem not
create the real picture which prevails in the society. The title also
suggestive of the irony created in a title which can give different meaning
apart from the real message. The people who govern the society do not
hear what intellectual tell about the root of the problem. Poet seems
critical toward the real cause which is introduced as “treacherous
politics”. Further, the poet shows how the legal officers look away in front
of the injustice created upon helpless group of people. “Blood on kakhi

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uniforms” is suggestive that the protectors have taken part of the villain
role too.
Inhumanity above religion and race have created the people like savages
according to the poem. A man is getting attacked “beneath a bo-tree”
suggests that people have lost their real sense of religion due to their mind
is polluted by the poison of racism. The image created about the society
which has no religion or law is like a jungle which govern the wild power.
The nature of power which is corrupted results innocents getting
victimized. A normal intellectual citizen who has no weapon in his hand
but books tries to give away his life knowing his vulnerability before the
wild force plunged upon him. This is a universal reality that the innocent
getting suffered in crisis situations.
Poet passes critical comments in a satirical tone to express the depth of
the problem. Although, the poem is written in simple language the effect
created about a society without law and rule is not pleasant at all. The
gravity of the result is shown in the line “Sri Lanka burns alive” suggests
that not only the victims but a whole society suffered during the
horrifying events happened in 1983.

(To read all the articles, kindly click on the download now,
and click buy now)

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