Set 1 UGC NET English DEC 2024 (Jan 7, 2025 Afternoon Shift):
Questions 1–10
Question 1
Which of the following is not matched correctly?
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Ira De – The Hunt and Other Poems
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Margaret Chatterjee – The Spring and the Spectacle
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Tapati Mookerji – The Golden Road to Samerkhand
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Tilottama Ranjan – Poems of Govindagraj
Correct Answer: 4. Tilottama Ranjan – Poems of Govindagraj
This pairing is incorrect. The poems under the name Govindagraj were actually written by Ram Ganesh Gadkari, not Tilottama Ranjan.
Explanations
🔹 Ram Ganesh Gadkari (1885–1919)
A renowned Marathi poet, playwright, and humorist.
He contributed significantly to the transformation of Marathi literature in the early 20th century.
Pen Names & Genres:
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Govindagraj – Poetry
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Balakram – Humorous prose
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Ram Ganesh Gadkari – Drama and plays
Major Works:
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Ekach Pyala – A social play on alcoholism
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Prema Sanyas – On renunciation in love
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Bhava Bandhan – On emotional and familial ties
🔹 Ira De
A mid-20th-century Indian poet writing in English, known for her reflective and stylistically modern poetry.
Notable Work:
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The Hunt and Other Poems (1961; revised edition 1968) – Published by Writers Workshop, India
🔹 Margaret Chatterjee
A distinguished philosopher and professor at Delhi University, with deep engagement in both philosophy and Gandhian studies.
Selected Works:
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Spring and the Spectacle (1967)
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Gandhi’s Religious Thought (1983)
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Towards the Sun (1970)
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The Rimless World (1987)
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Contemporary Indian Philosophy (1974)
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Sound of Wings (1968)
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Existentialist Outlook (1973)
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Religious Spectrum (1984)
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Gandhi and the Challenge of Religious Diversity (2005)
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The Philosophy of Nikunja Vihari Banerjee (Editor, 1990)
🔹 Tapati Mookerji
A celebrated Indian poet, known for her expressive and nuanced poetic voice.
Notable Work:
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The Golden Road to Samarkand (1967) – A collection rich in nostalgia, humor, pathos, and translated pieces
Question 2
Who amongst the following was not a member of the Bloomsbury Group?
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Virginia Woolf
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E. M. Forster
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Lytton Strachey
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W. B. Yeats
Correct Answer: 4. W. B. Yeats
Explanations
🔹 The Bloomsbury Group
The Bloomsbury Group was a loosely connected circle of British writers, artists, and intellectuals active in the early 20th century, primarily associated with Bloomsbury, London.
Core Members Included:
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Virginia Woolf – Novelist and feminist
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E. M. Forster – Novelist (A Passage to India)
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Lytton Strachey – Biographer and critic
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Vanessa Bell – Painter (Virginia Woolf’s sister)
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John Maynard Keynes – Economist
They shared progressive views on art, literature, sexuality, feminism, and pacifism. Most male members were linked to Cambridge University, while many women were from King’s College London.
While they denied being a formal group, their ideas significantly shaped modernist thought in Britain.
🔸 Why W. B. Yeats is Incorrectly Matched
Though W. B. Yeats was a towering literary figure of the same era, he was not associated with the Bloomsbury Group.
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Yeats was more closely aligned with the Irish Literary Revival and movements involving mysticism and nationalism.
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His associations were with figures like J. M. Synge, Lady Gregory, and Maud Gonne—not the Cambridge-based Bloomsbury circle.