MAH
M.A. HISTORY
SECOND YEAR COURSES
(MAH)
Assignments
For July
2011 and January 2012 Sessions
(For
M.A. History 2nd Year Courses)
MHI-03 : Historiography
MHI-06 : Evolution
of Social Structures in India
Through the
Ages
MHI-08 : History of Ecology and Environment: India
MPSE-003:
Western Political Thought (From Plato to
Marx)
MPSE-004: Social and
Political Thought in Modern India
Faculty
of History
School of Social Sciences
Indira
Gandhi National Open University
Maidan
Garhi, New Delhi‑110 068
M.A. History – 2nd Year
Assignments – July 2011 and January 2012 Sessions
Dear
Student,
You have to do one assignment in each course of 8 and
4 credits. The assignments are compulsory. The assignment will cover the whole course.
It is
important that you write the answers to all the assignment questions in your
own words. Your answers should be within the approximate range of the
word-limit set for a particular question.
The assignments
should be submitted to the Coordinator of your Study Centre. You must obtain a receipt from the Study
Centre for the assignments submitted and retain it. If possible, keep a photocopy of the submitted
assignment with you.
The
Study Centre will have to return the assignments to you after they are
evaluated. Please insist on this. The Study Centre in turn will send the marks
to the Student Evaluation Division at IGNOU, New Delhi.
These will be entered in your grade card.
Submission of Assignments
You should note that the
submission of assignments is compulsory before taking up Term-end
Examination. It is therefore suggested
that you do them within time. In M.A. second
year you will have to do a total of 5 assignments. We have given you a lot of time to do the
assignments but we advise you to do them one by one along with your study of
the particular course and submit them so that you may get back the marks and
comments of the Counsellor with evaluated assignment. With a proper planning you will be able to do
them within the stipulated period.
Please do not wait for the last date to submit all the assignments
because it would be difficult to do all of them in one go.
Last Date of Submission of Assignment
July 2011 Session Students 31st March, 2012
January 2012 Session Students 30th September 2012
Where to submit the assignments The Coordinator of your Study
Centre
Before
attempting the assignments please read the detailed instructions provided in
the Programme Guide sent to you separately
Now
read the following guidelines carefully before answering the questions:
GUIDELINES FOR ASSIGNMENTS
The
assignments have two types of questions:
1) Essay
Type Questions which you have to answer in about 500 words each carry 20 marks
each.
2) Short
notes which you have to answer in about 250 words each carry 10 marks each.
You will find it useful to keep the following points in
mind:
a) Planning:
Read the assignments carefully. Go through the units on which they are
based. Make some points regarding each
question and then re-arrange these in a logical order.
b) Organisation: Be a little more selective and
analytical before drawing up a rough outline of your answer. In an essay-type question, give adequate
attention to your introduction and conclusion.
The introduction must offer your brief interpretation of the question
and how you propose to develop it. The
conclusion must summarize your response to the question.
Make
sure that your answer:
· is
logical and coherent;
· has
clear connections between sentences and paragraphs;
· is
written correctly giving adequate consideration to your expression, style and
presentation;
· does
not exceed the number of words indicated in your question.
c) Presentation: Once you are satisfied with
your answers, you can write down the final version for submission, writing each
answer neatly and underlining the points you wish to emphasize.
d) Interpretation:
Interpretation is a constant process in history writing. It is already
reflected in your planning and selection. Explanatory comments with phrases
like may be, because, could be, etc., immediately introduce an element of
interpretation in writing itself. Here you have to be careful that these
comments can be supported by the
material you have in the answer.
MHI-03 HISTORIOGRAPHY
Course Code: MHI-03
Assignment Code: MHI-03/AST/TMA/2011-12
Total Marks: 100
Note: Attempt any five questions.
The assignment is divided into two Sections ‘A’ and ‘B’. You have to
attempt at least two questions form each section in about 500 words each. All
questions carry equal marks.
Section-A
1. Give an analytical account of the various
traditions of historiography which constitute the Positivist tradition. 20
2. Discuss the important features of Indo-Persian
tradition of history-writing during the Sultanate period. 20
3. Discuss the
distinctive features of traditional Chinese historiography. 20
4. Who are considered to be the founders of the Annales School of historiography? Discuss their works. 20
5. Write a note
on the historiographical traditions in early India. 20
Section-B
6. What do you understand by the term ‘subaltern’?
Discuss the development of the project of the Subaltern Studies in India. 20
7. What is colonial historiography? Discuss some of
the important historians and their works associated with this trend. 20
8. Write a note
on the conflicting views on Indian Renaissance. 20
9. What is
history from below? Discuss it with reference to the history-writing in India. 20
10. Write short
notes in about 250 words each on any two
of the following:
10+10
a) Main concepts
of postmodernism
b) D.D. Kosambi
and the paradigm shift in Indian history-writing
c) Nationalist
historiography
d) Race as
political and social construct.
MHI-06: EVOLUTION OF SOCIAL STRUCTURES
IN INDIA
THROUGH THE AGES
Course Code: MHI-06
Assignment Code:
MHI-06/AST/TMA/2011-12
Total Marks: 100
Note: Attempt any five questions.
The assignment is divided into two Sections ‘A’ and ‘B’. You have to
attempt at least two questions form each section in about 500 words each. All
questions carry equal marks.
SECTION A
- Comment on the nature of interpretation in history writing. Should historical problems be discussed with an open mind? 20
2.
Discuss the archaeological evidence for early food
producing villages and Camp sites. What light does this throw on the nature of
this society? 20
- Elaborate on the structure and function of guilds between 6th century B.C. and 4th century A.D. 20
- Comment on the problematic of the concept of ‘tribe’ in the context of chaityas and viharas. 20
- Discuss the debates on the term ‘early medieval’ 20
SECTION B
- Discuss B.D. Chattopadhya’s arguments on the early Rajputs. 20
- Comment on the ideological roots of the nationalists’ perceptions of the Indian society. 20
- Discuss the non-Brahman movement in the 19th century in the context of an emerging modernity. 20
- Comment on the rise of the Indian middle classes during the colonial period.
20
- How did the various Criminal Tribes Acts affect the wandering and the nomadic groups? 20
MHI-08 HISTORY OF ECOLOGY AND
ENVIRONMENT: INDIA
ASSIGNMENT: 2011-2012
Course Code: MHI-08
Assignment Code: MHI-08/AST/TMA/2011-12
Total Marks: 100
Note: Attempt any five questions.
The assignment is divided into two Sections ‘A’ and ‘B’. You have to
attempt at least two questions form each section in about 500 words each. All
questions carry equal marks.
SECTION A
1. Write
an essay on the nature of writings pertaining to the environmental conditions
prevailing
during the colonial period in India.
20
- The beginning of agriculture changed the relationship between human societies and the nature in a significant manner – Do you agree with this view? Give reasons in support. 20
- What are the nature of evidence and the geographical spread of Hunting-Gathering Communities? Discuss. 20
- Discuss the main features of resource use practices in early India. 20
- Write Short Notes on any two of the following in about 200 words each: 10+10
- The Indian Platea
- Agro-Pastoralism in Chalcolithic Cultures
- Principles Defining the Water Rights
- Historical Evolution of Metals
SECTION B
- Describe the historical pattern of the use of water in India. 20
- Describe the main features of the Indian view of Nature Conservation. 20
- Explain the reasons and the form of Chipko Movement. 20
- Give the main features of the Convention of Biodiversity. 20
- Write Short Notes on any two of the following in about 200 words each: 10+10
- Inter-State Water Disputes
- Environmental Discourse of Industrialism
- Gandhian Alternative to Development
- Deep Ecology
MPSE-003 WESTERN POLITICAL THOUGHT (From Plato to Marx)
TUTOR MARKED ASSIGNMENT (TMA)
(MPSE-003)
Course Code: MPSE-003
Assignment Code: ASST/TMA/2011-12
Marks: 100
Note:Answer any five
questions in about 500 words each. Attempt at least two questions from each
section. Each question carries 20 marks.
SECTION - I
1.
Discuss Aristotle’s theory of revolution.
2.
Write an essay on Machiavelli’s ‘The Prince’.
3.
Examine Edmund Burke’s critique of natural rights and
social contract.
4.
Describe the salient features of Bentham’s political
philosophy.
5.
Discuss J.S Mill’s views on equal rights for women.
SECTION -II
Write a short note on
the following in about 250 words each:
6. a) Hegel’s
dialectical method
b) Hegel’s
theory of freedom of the individual
7. a) Marx’s
theory of alienation
b) Dictatorship
of the Proletariat
8. a) Relevance of
Western Political Thought
b) Plato’s scheme
of education
9. a) St. Thomas
Aquinas’s views on the law and the state
b) Thomas Hobbes
on right and duties of the Sovereign
10. a) Rousseau’s
critique of civil society
b) Kant’s
concept of perpetual peace
MPSE-004 SOCIAL AND
POLITICAL THOUGHT IN MODERN INDIA (MPSE-004)
TUTOR MARKED ASSIGNMENT (TMA)
Course Code: MPSE-004
Assignment Code: Asst /TMA/2011-12
Marks: 100
Note: Answer five
questions in all, selecting at least two questions from each section. Each
question is to be answered in about 500 words. Each question carries 20 marks.
SECTION - I
1.
Write an essay on modes of reformist thought in British
colonial India.
2.
Examine Jyotiba Phule’s role as a social revolutionary.
3.
Describe the Hindu Nationalism of V.D. Savarkar.
4.
Comment on Sir Syed Ahmed Khan’s views on Hindu-Muslim
Unity.
5.
Discuss E.V. Ramaswamy Naicker as a social reformer.
SECTION -II
Write short notes on
the following in about 250 words each:
6. a) Philosophical
foundations of M. K. Gandhi’s political perspective
b)
Gandhi’s views on the relationship between religion and politics
7. a) Nehru’s
scientific temper
b)
Nehru’s theory of culture
8. a) B.R.
Ambedkar’s ideological orientation
b)
Ambedkar’s views on social justice and supportive polity
9. a)
Rabindranath Tagore’s critique of nationalism
b)
Tagore’s differences with Gandhi
10. a) Communist
Party of India before independence
b) M.N.
Roy and Radical Humanism
