Section A: Critical Appreciation

Answer only one question from this section.

1

JANE AUSTEN: Pride and Prejudice

If your master would marry, you might see more of him.

Yes, sir; but I do not know when that will be. I do not know who is good enough for him.
Mr. and Mrs. Gardiner smiled. Elizabeth could not help saying, It is very much to his credit,
I am sure, that you should think so.
I say no more than the truth, and what everybody will say that knows him, replied the other.
Elizabeth thought this was going pretty far; and she listened with increasing astonishment as the
housekeep added, I have never had cross word from his in my life, and I have known him ever since
he was four years old.
This was praise, of all others most extraordinary, most opposite to her ideas. That he was not
a good tempered man had been her firmest opinion. Her keenest attention was awakened; she longed
to hear more, and was grateful to her uncle for saying
There are very few people of whom so much can be said. You are lucky in having such a
master.
Yes, sir, I know I am. If I were to go through the world, I could not meet with a better. But I
have always observed, that they who are good-natured when children, are good-natured when they
grow up; and he was always the sweetest-tempered, most generous-hearted boy in the world.
Elizabeth almost stared at her. Can this be Mr. Darcy? thought she.
His father was an excellent man, said Mrs. Gardiner.
Yes, maam, that he was indeed; and his son will be just like him just as affable to the
poor.
Elizabeth listened, wondered, doubted, and was impatient for more. Mrs. Reynolds could
interest her on no point. She related the subjects of the pictures, the dimensions of the rooms, and the
price of the furniture, in vain. Mr. Gardiner, highly amused by the kind of family prejudice to which
he attributed her excessive commendation of her master, soon led again to the subject; and she dwelt
with energy on his many merits as they proceeded together up the great staircase.
He is the best landlord, and the best master, said she, that ever lived; not like the wild
young men now-a-days, who think of nothing but themselves. There is not one of his tenants or
servants but what will give him a good name. Some people call him proud; but I am sure I never saw
anything of it. To my fancy, it is only because he does not rattle away like other young men.
In what an amiable light foes this place him? thought Elizabeth.
On reaching the spacious lobby above they were shown into a very pretty sitting-room, lately
fitted up with greater elegance and lightness than the apartments below; and were informed that it was
but just done to give pleasure to Miss Darcy, who had taken a liking to the room when last at
Pemberley.
He is certainly a good brother, said Elizabeth, as she walked towards one of the windows.
Mrs. Reynolds anticipated Miss Darcys delight, when she should enter the room. And this is always
the way with him, she added. Whatever can give his sister any pleasure is sure to be done in a
moment. There is nothing he would not do for her."
From there, the party was led to the family gallery.
In the gallery there were many family portraits, but they could have little to fix the attention
of a stranger. Elizabeth walked on in quest of the only face whose features would be known to her. At
last it arrested her--and she beheld a striking resemblance of Mr. Darcy, with such a smile over the

face as she remembered to have sometimes seen when he looked at her. She stood several minutes
before the picture, in earnest contemplation, and returned to it again before they quitted the gallery
There was certainly at this moment, in Elizabeths mind, a more gentle sensation towards the
original than she had ever felt in the height of their acquaintance. The commendation bestowed on
him by Mrs. Reynolds was of no trifling nature. What praise is more valuable than the praise of an
intelligent servant? ... Every idea that had been brought forward by the housekeeper was favourable to
his character, and as she stood before the canvas on which he was represented, and fixed his eyes
upon herself, she thought of his regard with a deeper sentiment of gratitude than it had ever raised
before; she remembered its warmth, and softened its impropriety of expression. "

With close reference to the passage above, compare Elizabeths and the rest of the characters
feelings towards Darcy. What do these feelings reveal about Elizabeth and Darcy?

Or 2

AMY TAN: The Joy Luck Club

Double Face
My daughter wanted to go to China for her second honeymoon, but now she is afraid.
"What if I blend in so well they think I'm one of them?" Waverly asked me. "What if they don't let me
come back to the United States?"
"When you go to China," I told her, "you don't even need to open your mouth. They already
know you are an outsider."
"What are you talking about?" she asked. My daughter likes to speak back. She likes to
question what I say.
"Aii-ya," I said. Even if you put on their clothes, even if you take off your makeup and hide
your fancy jewellery, they know. They know just watching the way you walk, the way you carry your
face. They know you do not belong."
My daughter did not look pleased when I told her this, that she didn't look Chinese. She had a
sour American look on her face. Oh, maybe ten years ago, she would have clapped her hands - hurray!
As if this was good news. But now she wants to be Chinese, it is so fashionable. And I know it is too
late. All those years I tried to teach her! She followed my Chinese ways only until she learned how to
walk out the door by herself and go to school. So now the only Chinese words she can say are sh-sh,
houche, chr fan, and gwan deng shweijyau. How can she talk to people in China with these words?
Pee-pee, choo-choo train, eat, close light sleep. How can she think she can blend in? Only her skin
and her hair are Chinese. Inside - she is all American-made.
It's my fault she is this way. I wanted my children to have the best combination: American
circumstances and Chinese character. How could I know these two things do not mix? I taught her
how American circumstances work. If you are born poor here, it's no lasting shame. You are first in
line for a scholarship. If the roof crashes on your head, no need to cry over this bad luck.
You can sue anybody, make the landlord fix it. You do not have to sit like a Buddha under a
tree letting pigeons drop their dirty business on your head. You can buy an umbrella. Or go inside a
Catholic church. In America, nobody says you have to keep the circumstances somebody else gives
you.
She learned these things, but I couldn't teach her about Chinese character. How to obey
parents and listen to your mother's mind. How not to show your own thoughts, to put your feelings
behind your face so you can take advantage of hidden opportunities. Why easy things are not worth
pursuing. How to know your own worth and polish it, never flashing it around like a cheap ring. Why
Chinese thinking is best. No, this kind of thinking didn't stick to her. She was too busy chewing gum,
blowing bubbles bigger than-her cheeks. Only that kind of thinking stuck.
"Finish your coffee," I told her yesterday. "Don't throw your blessings away."
"Don't be so old-fashioned, Ma," she told me, finishing her coffee down the sink. "I'm my
own person."
And I think, how can she be her own person? When did I give her up?

With close reference to the passage, compare the two cultures mentioned.

Section B: JANE AUSTEN: Pride and Prejudice

Answer the question below.
3. In Pride and Prejudice, the women are oppressed and inhibited, to what extent do you agree
with this statement. Discuss, with close reference to the novel.
Section C: AMY TAN: The Joy Luck Club
Answer the question below.
4. Discuss the significance of family relationship in the novel The Joy Luck Club.