Question 45
GCE_MODEL_QUESTIONS_VOL1
•
2025
•
LITERATURE_IN_ENGLISH
•
objective
Two prose excerpts are given below.
Excerpt A (from *Great Expectations* by Charles Dickens):
"I loved her, and I liked her, and I was glad that I could see her. I could not have been more content."
Excerpt B (from *Jane Eyre* by Charlotte Brontë):
"I felt a strange mixture of hope and dread as I looked into his eyes; the world seemed both larger and narrower at once."
Compare the narrative perspective employed in each excerpt and discuss how each perspective influences the reader's capacity for empathy with the narrator. Provide a concise conclusion that links your analysis to the broader effect of narrative perspective in Victorian prose.
Answer Options
A.
Both excerpts use a detached third‑person narrative, which prevents any emotional connection with the narrators, making empathy minimal in both cases.
Correct Answer
B.
Excerpt A uses a straightforward first‑person limited voice that states feelings directly, creating immediate empathy. Excerpt B also uses first‑person but layers hope and dread with contradictory imagery, requiring the reader to work harder to understand the narrator's inner conflict, leading to a more nuanced empathy. Thus, while both employ first‑person narration, Dickens's plain disclosure fosters quick alignment, whereas Brontë's complex introspection invites deeper, reflective empathy, demonstrating how Victorian narrative perspective can modulate reader connection.
C.
Excerpt A employs a third‑person omniscient narrator that observes the character from a distance, while Excerpt B uses a first‑person limited voice, so only the second excerpt creates empathy.
D.
Excerpt A's first‑person voice is ironic and unreliable, leading readers to distrust the narrator, whereas Excerpt B's straightforward first‑person narration offers clear empathy.
Correct Answer
B
Correct Option:
Excerpt A uses a straightforward first‑person limited voice that states feelings directly, creating immediate empathy. Excerpt B also uses first‑person but layers hope and dread with contradictory imagery, requiring the reader to work harder to understand the narrator's inner conflict, leading to a more nuanced empathy. Thus, while both employ first‑person narration, Dickens's plain disclosure fosters quick alignment, whereas Brontë's complex introspection invites deeper, reflective empathy, demonstrating how Victorian narrative perspective can modulate reader connection.
About This Question
This is
Gce Model Questions Vol1
2025
Literature In English
Question 45.
It is one of the
objective
questions from the
2025
Gce Model Questions Vol1
Literature In English
examination.
Difficulty level:
Medium
.