ASSIGNMENTS BOOKLET
Assignments for Courses 1,2,3,4 and 5
2005
Diploma
In
Creative Writing in English
School of Humanities
Indira Gandhi National Open University
Maidan Garhi, New Delhi-110068
Diploma in Creative Writing in English
Dear students,
We hope you are already familiar with the system of evaluation to be followed for the Diploma in Creative Writing in English. At this stage you should read again the pages of the Programme Guide that give the details of the evaluation procedure. A weightage of 30 per cent, as you are aware, has been earmarked for Continuous Evaluation¸ which would consist of two assignments per Course.
The Assignments Booklet for Courses 1,2,3,4 and 5 is being sent herewith. It has a total of 10 assignments, of which 8 must be submitted by you. The 2 assignments for Course 1 are compulsory and every student must attempt these. You are required to do the assignments for only three courses, out of DCE-2,3,4 and 5
Following is the calendar for submission of assignments:
Course 1 -
Course 2 -
Course 3 -Sept. 30, 2005
Course 4 -
Course 5 -
All assignments must be submitted on or before the date set.
All assignments pertaining to any Course must be submitted in one batch. No piecemeal submission is acceptable.
In case you are not able to keep this deadline in the first year, say 2004, you should submit your assignments in 2005, 2006 or 2007. That is, you have a total of 1+3 years to submit your assignments.
At the commencement of every academic year, your progress will be intimated and you will be asked your plan of studies for that year. At this stage, please ask for the assignment Booklet of that year, not for your year of enrolment. Irrespective of your year of enrolment, you do the assignment in force for the year in which you submit it.
Do not plan to take the terminal examination for any course if you have not done the assignments set for it first. You will not be permitted to do so.
Instructions for submitting your assignments
- You should attach a slip in the following format to the top of the relevant course assignments.
Course Title ………………….Name………………………..For Office Use
Assignments No……………..Address …………………….Grades:
Enrolment No. ………………………………………………Letter…………………………
Date sent on………………….……………………………………………………………….
………………………………Evaluated by …………………
………………………………………………………………..
PLEASE FOLLOW THE ABOVE FORMAT STRICTLY TO FACILITATE EVALUATION AND TO AVOID DELAY
2.The answer sheets should be complete in all respects. Make sure you have answered all the questions in an assignment before you submit it.
3.Use only foolscap size writing paper (but not of very thin variety), for writing your answer.
- Leave 5 cm’s margin on the left, top and bottom of your answer scripts so that comments, if any, can be made.
- Start every assignment on a fresh sheet so that you can prepare separate sets for each block.
- You should not send printed articles as your answers to assignments.
- Please write ASSIGNMENT FOR DIPLOMA IN CREATIVE WRITING IN ENGLISH on top of the cover in which you send your answer/response sheets.
DCE - 1
Assignment - 1
(Based on Blocks 1&2)
Max. Marks: 100
Programme: DCE
Assignment Code: DCE 1/TMA/1/2005
I.Read the following passage and answer the questions given below (1-5)
I remember once taking an overnight journey with my son in a Pullman compartment. He slept in the lower berth, handy to the instrument panel containing fan and light controls; I slept in the upper. Early in the morning I awoke and from my vantage point looked down. My boy had raised the shade a few inches and was ingesting the moving world. In that instant I encountered my unforgettable former self: it seemed as though it were I who was down there in the lower berth looking out of the train window just as the sky was growing light, absorbing the incredible wonder of fields, houses, bakery trucks, the before-breakfast world, testing the sweetness and scariness of things seen and only half understood-the train penetrating the morning, the child penetrating the meaning of the morning and of the future. To this child the future was always like a high pasture, a little frightening, full of herds of steers and of intimations of wider prospects, of trysts with fate, of vague passionate culminations and the nearness to sky and to groves, of juniper smells, and sweet-fern in a broiling noon sun. ...
1.(i)Write imagined entries in the diary of the author as a boy as suggested by this extract.
10
(ii)Comment on the change in style between the ‘diary’ and this extract.
5
- This extract is an engaging piece of writing because it is so credible. Examine this statement in the light of your reading of Block 1,2.2, 3.4 and 3.5
15
- If you could meet the child that was you, what would you talk about? Reproduce the conversation.
16
4.(i)Now, rewrite this conversation in question 3 in the third person indirect mode of narration. (Block 1, unit 4)
9
(ii)Comment on the changed perspective; in what way will this mode alter the response of the reader to the piece?
9
5.(i)From the given extract select and quote one sentence each which focuses on (i) locale (ii) atmosphere and (iii) character.
8
(ii)Do a similar exercise from the passage you have written for question 4(a). (Block 2, 1.5)
8
6.(i)From your own reading, either fiction or non-fiction, select and quote one opening paragraph that you think is good and one that makes you not want to read further. (Give the titles and authors of the quoted material).
10
(ii)Give reasons for your choices.
10
DCE - 1
Assignment - 2
(Based on Blocks 3&4)
Max. Marks: 100
Programme: DCE
Assignment Code: DCE 1/TMA/2/2005
1. Read the following poem and answer the questions given below:
FAREWELL, SWEET DUST
Now I have lost you. I must scatter
All of you on the air henceforth;
Not that to me it can ever matter
But it’s only fair to the rest of earth.
Now especially, when it is winter
And the sun’s not half so bright as he was,
Who wouldn’t be glad to find a splinter
That once was you, in the frozen grass?
Snowflakes, too, will be softer feathered,
Clouds, perhaps, will be whiter plumed;
Rain, whose brilliance you caught and gathered,
Purer silver have reassumed.
Farewell, sweet dust; I was never a miser:
Once, for a minute, I made you mine:
Now you are gone, I am none the wiser
But the leaves of the willow are bright as wine.
(Elinor Wylie)
i.“Farewell Sweet Dust” by Elinor Wylie, muses on a personal loss. What is the attitude of the poet to her loss?
4
- After reading the poem what insight do you receive into the human condition?
4
- Describe the situation in this poem.
4
- Comment on the imagery of this poem.
4
- What, to you, is most appealing about this poem?
4
2.A situation “can take the reader directly to the heart of the human condition and give him a glimpse of truth”. (Block 3,1.2.1) Select three situations: one from your experience, one from a newspaper (give the cutting from the newspaper), and one recounted by a friend. Write a few sentences on each situation about:
i.the insight you gained;
5
ii.the format and mode you would use to present it so as to capture your readers’ imagination;
10
iii.the age group (target audience) for whom you would write.
5
3.i.From question 2 select one situation and develop the story-line in summary form.
12
ii.Think about the imagery this story evokes and state what images you would use to project the insight you wish it to communicate. (Hint: what particular image-sight, sound, taste, touch etc.-would you like to repeat several times in the story or use in the title.) (Block 3, unit 3)
8
4.Editing your own text means giving it clarity, consistency and cogency to make it more readable. For assignment I you’ve written two pieces - questions three and four. Edit these for grammar, diction and organisation of subject matter to ensure effortless and smooth reading.
10+10=20
5.(a)Edit the following sentences for diction, grammar and readibility.
12
- Knowing Greek and Roman antiquity is not just learning to speak their language but also their culture.
- It was voted that there would be a drive for the cleaning up of the people’s park.
- It has been decided that your proposal for independent study is not sufficiently in line with the prescribed qualifications as outlined by the regulations of the Faculty.
(b)Revise the following sentences for inappropriate metaphors and similes.
8
(i)The tangled web of Jack’s business crumbled under its own weight.
(ii)Richard was ecstatic with his success. He had scaled the mountain of difficulties and from here on out he could sail with the breeze.
DCE - 2
Assignment - 1
(Based on Blocks 1&2)
Max. Marks: 100
Programme: DCE
Assignment Code: DCE 2/TMA/1/2005
1.You have been asked to write an article for a magazine that targets girl child. What would be the focus of your article? Give it a title.
5
2.Write a paragraph (80-100 words) outlining the theme for the above-mentioned article.
10
3.Women have cut across gender ascribed roles and are, severely constrained by simultaneously balancing the roles. Recall two articles which you have read recently in terms of their delineation of the above theme. If you were to recommend one for the award of a progressive approach which one would you choose and for what reasons.
20
4.Analyse any article from an English magazine/newspaper in terms of gender sensitivity. How would you rewrite the article to eliminate the insensitivity?
15
5.Keeping the international audience in mind for an international magazine, write the ten most important questions you would ask while interviewing a famous Indian personality.
15
6.Critically comment on any book review that you have read in terms of the qualities that you think make a good review. Attach a copy of the review to the assignment.
20
7.Write a review of a novel you have read recently.
15
DCE – 2
Assignment – 2
(Based on Blocks 3&4)
Max. Marks: 100
Programme: DCE
Assignment Code: DCE 2/TMA/2/2005
- You have been commissioned by the Tourism Department of your state government to write an article aimed at the business traveller and an article for the traveller who wishes to visit a historical place. How will the two articles differ from each other?
10
- Supposing you were to write an article for the Sunday supplement of a national newspaper on the topic of business traveller, what other information would you include and how would your style differ?
10
- Write out the article for the business traveller for the newspaper and for visit to a historical place.
20
4.The Tourism Department has commissioned you to write on the maintenance of the historical sites in your city.
i.Describe five people you would interview for this. Why would you choose these five?
10
ii.What points would you like to question them on? (Note down at least five)
10
iii.Write down at least two questions you would ask each interviewee.
10
iv.Where would you interview them? Do you think the setting would make any difference to the interviews?
10
v.What technical tools would you like to make use of for interviewing?
10
vi.How would you get them to respond better to your questions?
10
DCE - 3
Assignment - 1
(Based on Blocks 1&2)
Max. Marks: 100
Programme: DCE
Assignment Code: DCE 3/TMA/1/2005
1.The following is an extract from a short story entitled “The Ant and the Grasshopper” by W. S Maugham. Please read it carefully and answer the questions:
I suppose every family has a black sheep. Tom had been a sore trial to him for twenty years. He had begun life decently enough: he went into business, married and had two children. The Ramsays were perfectly respectable people and there was every reason to suppose that Tom Ramsay would have a useful and honourable career. But one day, without warning, he announced that he didn’t like work and that he wasn’t suited for marriage. He wanted to enjoy himself. He would listen to no expostulations. He left his wife and his office. He had a little money and he spent two happy years in the various capitals of Europe. Rumours of his doings reached his relations from time to time and they were profoundly shocked. He certainly had a very good time. They shook their heads and asked what would happen when his money was spent. They soon found out: he borrowed. He was charming and unscrupulous. I have never met anyone to whom it was more difficult to refuse a loan. He made a steady income from his friends and he made friends easily. But he always said that the money you spent on necessities was boring; the money that was amusing to spend was the money you spent in luxuries. For this he depended on his brother George. He did not waste his charm on him. George was a serious man and insensible to such enticements. George was respectable. Once or twice he fell to Tom’s promises of amendment and gave him considerable sums in order that he might make a fresh start. On these Tom bought a motor-car and some very nice jewellery. But when circumstances forced George to realize that his brother would never settle down and he washed his hands of him, Tom, without a qualm, began to blackmail him. It was not very nice for a respectable lawyer to find his brother shaking cocktails behind the bar of his favourite restaurant or to see him waiting on the box-seat of a taxi outside his club. Tom said that to serve in a bar or to drive a taxi was a perfectly decent occupation, but if George could oblige him with a couple of hundred pounds he didn’t mind for the honour of the family giving it up. George paid.
Once Tom nearly went to prison. George was terribly upset. He went into the whole discreditable affair. Really Tom had gone too far. He had been wild, thoughtless and selfish, but he had never before done anything dishonest, by which George meant illegal; and if he were prosecuted he would assuredly be convicted. But you cannot allow your only brother to go to goal. The man Tom had cheated, a man called Cronshaw, was vindictive. He was determined to take the matter into court; he said Tom was a scoundrel and should be punished. It costs George an infinite deal of trouble and five hundred pounds to settle the affair. I have never seen him in such a rage as when he heard that Tom and Cronshaw had gone off together to Monte Carlo the moment they cashed the cheque. They spent a happy month there.
For twenty years Tom raced and gambled, philandered with the prettiest girls, danced, ate in the most expensive restaurants, and dressed beautifully. He always looked as if he had just stepped out of a bandbox. Though he was forty-six you would never have taken him for more than thirty-five. He was a most amusing companion and though you knew he was perfectly worthless you could not but enjoy his society. He had high spirits, an unfailing gaiety and incredible charm. I never grudged the contributions he regularly levied on me for the necessities of his existence. I never lent him fifty pounds without feeling that I was in his debt. Tom Ramsay knew everyone and everyone knew Tom Ramsay. You could not approve of him, but you could not help liking him.
Poor George, only a year older than his scape-goat brother, looked sixty. He had never taken more than a fortnight’s holiday in the year for a quarter of a century. He was in his office every morning at nine-thirty and never left it till six. He was honest, industrious and worthy. He had a good wife, to whom he had never been unfaithful even in thought, and four daughters to whom he was the best of fathers. He made a point of saving a third of his income and his plan was to retire at fifty-five to a little house in the country where he proposed to cultivate his garden and play golf. His life was blameless. He was glad that he was growing old because Tom was growing old too. He rubbed his hands and said:
“It was all very well when Tom was young and good-looking, but he’s only a year younger than I am. In four years he’ll be fifty. He won’t find life so easy then. I shall have thirty thousand pounds by the time I’m fifty. For twenty-five years I’ve said that Tom would end in the gutter. And we shall see how he liked that. We shall see if it really pays best to work or be idle.”
Poor George! I sympathized with him. I wondered now as I sat down beside him what infamous thing Tom had done. George was evidently very much upset.
“Do you know what’s happened now?” he asked me.
I was prepared for the worst. I wondered if Tom had got into the hands of the police at last. George could hardly bring himself to speak.
“You’re not going to deny that all my life I’ve been hard-working, decent, respectable and straight-forward. After a life of industry and thrift I can look forward to retiring on a small income in gilt-edged securities. I’ve always done my duty in that state of life in which it has pleased Providence to place me.”
“True.”
“And you can’t deny that Tom has been an idle, worthless, dissolute and dishonorable rogue. If there were any justice he’d be in the work-house.”