BEGC-104 June 2026 — key facts
- Course: BEGC-104 British Poetry and Drama — 14th to 17th Century, 6 credits
- Course type: Compulsory core course
- Programme: BA (Honours) English, BAEGH (CBCS)
- Prescribed texts: Chaucer's The Wife of Bath's Prologue, Spenser's Amoretti, Shakespeare's sonnets and Macbeth, Donne's poems, Marlowe's Doctor Faustus
- Course structure: 4 blocks, confirmed by IGNOU's official BEGC-104 assignment
- Maximum marks: 100
- Duration: 3 hours
- Questions in the June 2026 paper: 17 — Section A 7, Section B 7, Section C 3
- What you attempt: 12 answers — any 3 short notes (3 × 4), any 2 passages (2 × 4), any 5 medium answers (5 × 10), any 2 essays (2 × 15)
- Word limits printed on the paper: 100 words per short note, 200 per Section B answer, 300 per essay
- On this page: 2 full answers (Q2(f) and Q3(c)); the other 15 questions appear as question text only
- Full file: all 17 answers on WhatsApp 9899436384
BEGC-104 Solved Question Paper June 2026 answers every question set for BEGC-104 British Poetry and Drama, a compulsory core course of IGNOU's BA (Honours) English (BAEGH) programme. Two answers are open on this page so you can judge the quality before you ask for the complete file on WhatsApp 9899436384.
1. What the BEGC-104 Solved Question Paper June 2026 Covers
BEGC-104 Solved Question Paper June 2026 answers every question set for BEGC-104 British Poetry and Drama — 14th to 17th Century, a compulsory core course of IGNOU's Bachelor of Arts (Honours) English (BAEGH) programme.
The paper moves from Chaucer's Middle English to Spenser's Amoretti, Shakespeare's sonnets, Donne's metaphysical wit, Marlowe's Doctor Faustus and Macbeth. One three-hour sitting asks you to switch between glossing fourteenth-century verse, writing tight 4-mark notes and building 15-mark critical essays.
Our subject experts took the official June 2026 paper and wrote full answers to all 17 questions, sized to the word limits IGNOU now prints. Two of those answers are on this page so you can judge the quality before you ask for the complete file.
IGNOU's School of Humanities confirms in the official BEGC-104 assignment for BAEGH that the course is taught through four blocks, and the solved answers follow the same set texts.
2. BEGC-104 Sample Solved Questions from the June 2026 Paper
Two complete answers from the June 2026 BEGC-104 paper are shown below: Q2(f) from Section B and Q3(c) from Section C.
Both questions come from texts IGNOU tests again and again, Donne's Holy Sonnet and the end of Doctor Faustus. Each answer is written to the length printed on the paper, so you can see how much detail earns full marks.
Section B John Donne 10 marks About 200 words Asked in 5 of 8 papers
Question 2(f): How does the poet address death in 'Death Be Not Proud'? Discuss. (10)
In 'Death Be Not Proud', one of John Donne's Holy Sonnets first printed in 1633, the speaker talks to Death directly, so the whole poem is an apostrophe. Death is personified as a proud boaster, and the speaker sets out to puncture that pride through argument rather than fear.
The opening lines deny Death its fearsome reputation. Some have called it 'mighty and dreadful', but the speaker says it is not so, because those whom Death thinks it overthrows do not really die. He even pities it as 'poor Death', reversing the usual fear of man's last enemy.
The tone grows bolder as Donne strips Death of its power. It is a 'slave to fate, chance, kings, and desperate men' and lives with poison, war and sickness, while poppy or charms bring sleep as well as its stroke. So why should Death swell with pride?
The final couplet turns the argument into a paradox. After 'one short sleep' the soul wakes into eternity, and then 'Death shall be no more; Death, thou shalt die.' Christian faith in the resurrection lets the poet defeat Death by its own logic, so the one who kills is itself killed.
The form supports the address: a Petrarchan octave and sestet that closes on a couplet (abba abba cddc ee), so the knockout line lands last. Donne does not plead with Death; he out-reasons it with wit and paradox, a hallmark of metaphysical poetry.
Section C Marlowe's Doctor Faustus 15 marks About 300 words Asked in 5 of 8 papers
Question 3(c): Is Faustus' damnation tragic or an act of justice? Discuss in detail. (15)
Christopher Marlowe's Doctor Faustus, written around 1588 to 1592 and first printed in 1604, ends with its hero carried off to hell. Whether that end is tragic or just depends on how we read the play: as a medieval morality play or as a Renaissance tragedy of an overreacher. The best answer is that it is both, and the tension between the two gives the play its power.
As a morality play, the damnation is justice. Faustus knowingly signs a deed in his own blood, giving body and soul to Lucifer for twenty-four years of Mephistopheles' service. He is warned again and again: his blood congeals, 'Homo, fuge' appears on his arm, the Good Angel pleads and the Old Man begs him to repent. He still chooses pleasure and power, so judgement follows.
Yet Marlowe gives Faustus a tragic hero's stature. He is a brilliant scholar who has mastered logic, medicine, law and divinity and still finds them too small for his mind. His hunger for knowledge is the restless spirit of Renaissance humanism, and the Chorus mourns him as a branch 'that might have grown full straight'.
The deepest tragedy is his despair. Faustus keeps telling himself he cannot be forgiven, and despair of God's mercy is itself a sin in Christian thought. His fall comes less from one contract than from his refusal to believe repentance is possible, which makes it both self-made and pitiable.
The final soliloquy joins both readings. With 'one bare hour to live', he begs time to stand still, sees Christ's blood streaming in the firmament and cannot reach it, and even offers to burn his books. We feel terror at the judgement and pity for the man, the double response Aristotle linked to tragedy.
So Faustus' damnation is justice in the play's theological frame and tragedy in its human one. Marlowe refuses to choose, and that divided response is what lifts the play above a simple warning.
Liked the depth of these two answers? The other 15 BEGC-104 answers are written in the same style and are shared on WhatsApp.
3. Questions Answered Only in the Full BEGC-104 File
These 15 questions appear exactly as printed in the June 2026 paper. Their answers are not shown on this page.
Where the printed paper garbles a quotation, the correct reading is given below it, so you can recognise the lines in the hall and quote them properly in your own answer.
Section A — Q1(a) to (d): write short notes, any three, about 100 words each (3 × 4 = 12). Q1(e) to (g): reference to the context, any two (2 × 4 = 8).
Q1(a) Chaucer's Humanism
Q1(b) Reformation
Q1(c) The Sonnet form
Q1(d) Motifs
Q1(e) From rest and sleep, which but try [thy] pictures be,
Much pleasure; then from thee much more must flow,
And soonest our best men with thee do go,Q1(f) And Summer's lease hate [hath] all too short a date;
Sometimes too hot the eye of heaven shines,
And often is his gold complexion dimm'dQ1(g) Good clepett folk to hym in sondry wise,
And enrich hate of God a propreyifte,
Som this, som that, as him liketrshifteCorrect reading of Q1(g): God clepeth folk to hym in sondry wyse, / And everich hath of God a propre yifte, / Som this, som that, as hym liketh shifte.
Section B — Q2(a) to (g): answer any five in about 200 words each (5 × 10 = 50)
Q2(a) How does Chaucer represent women in the fourteenth century in The Wife of Bath's Prologue? Discuss.
Q2(b) Write a note on Tudor Poetry.
Q2(c) What according to Spenser was the role and aim of the poet in the Elizabethan period?
Q2(d) Discuss master-servant relationship in Dr. Faustus.
Q2(e) Critically analyse the Banquet scene in Macbeth.
Q2(g) In 'Sonnet 18' the poet is talking to himself as much as he is addressing the friend or beloved. Discuss.
Section C — Q3(a) to (c): answer any two in about 300 words each (2 × 15 = 30)
Q3(a) In 'The Sun Rising' Donne presents love as a microcosm of the universe. Discuss.
Q3(b) Write a critical note on Sonnet LVII.
4. BEGC-104 British Poetry and Drama Syllabus by Author and Text
BEGC-104 is studied through four blocks covering Chaucer, Spenser, Shakespeare's sonnets, Donne, Marlowe's Doctor Faustus and Macbeth, with the Renaissance and Reformation as background.
The table maps each set text to the topics IGNOU has actually examined. Check the block and unit numbers for each text against your own printed course books, because the paper itself does not print them.
| Author or area | Prescribed text | Topics that come up in the exam |
|---|---|---|
| Background to the age | Renaissance, Reformation and the Tudor court | Reformation and Renaissance humanism; Tudor poetry and the sonnet's arrival in England; theatre censorship and cultural materialism |
| Geoffrey Chaucer | The Wife of Bath's Prologue | Alison's five marriages and Jankin's book of wicked wives; the wife as interpreter of scripture; structure of the Prologue |
| Edmund Spenser | Amoretti Sonnets LVII, LXVII and LXXV | love as a siege in 'Sweet warrior'; the reversed hunt of the gentle deer; a name written on the strand and fame through verse |
| William Shakespeare (poetry) | Sonnets 18, 55 and 65 | seasons and 'eternal lines'; verse outlasting marble and gilded monuments; time's decay set against black ink |
| John Donne | 'The Sun Rising' and 'Death Be Not Proud' | the lovers' bed as the whole world; apostrophe and paradox against Death; metaphysical conceit and wit |
| Christopher Marlowe | Doctor Faustus | the blood pact and twenty-four years of service; Good and Evil Angels and the seven deadly sins; the Chorus and the final hour |
| William Shakespeare (drama) | Macbeth | the witches' prophecies; banquet, porter and sleepwalking scenes; Lady Macbeth set against Lady Macduff |
Read these texts in the IGNOU blocks first. Pair the solved paper with your BEGC-104 Study Material so each answer links back to the unit it comes from.
5. BEGC-104 Question Paper Pattern and Marks Distribution
The June 2026 BEGC-104 Question Paper has 17 questions in three sections, of which you answer 12 for 100 marks in 3 hours.
| Section | Questions | Choice | Word limit | Marks |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Section A | Q1 (a) to (d): short notes | Any 3 of 4 | About 100 words | 3 × 4 = 12 |
| Section A | Q1 (e) to (g): reference to context | Any 2 of 3 | Not printed | 2 × 4 = 8 |
| Section B | Q2 (a) to (g): medium answers | Any 5 of 7 | About 200 words | 5 × 10 = 50 |
| Section C | Q3 (a) to (c): essays | Any 2 of 3 | About 300 words | 2 × 15 = 30 |
| Total | 17 questions | 12 to answer | 3 hours | 100 |
(3 × 100) + (5 × 200) + (2 × 300) = 300 + 1,000 + 600 = about 1,900 words, plus the two reference-to-context answers
Note where the marks sit: Section B alone carries 50 of the 100 marks across five answers, so those five 200-word answers decide half your result. The two 15-mark essays are worth less than Section B put together.
The pattern has changed twice since December 2021. Long 20-mark essays have given way to more, shorter answers, so a student who practises only with old model answers will run out of time.
| Sessions | First section | Second section | Third section |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dec 2021 to Dec 2023 | Reference to context, any 4 passages, 4 × 5 = 20 | Short notes, 2 × 10 = 20 | 3 essays of 500 to 600 words, 3 × 20 = 60 |
| Dec 2024 and Jun 2025 | Short notes, 2 × 10 = 20 | Reference to context, 2 × 10 = 20 | 3 essays, 3 × 20 = 60 (about 400 words in Jun 2025) |
| Dec 2025 and Jun 2026 | Short notes 3 × 4 plus reference to context 2 × 4 = 20 | 5 answers of about 200 words, 5 × 10 = 50 | 2 essays of about 300 words, 2 × 15 = 30 |
You can compare these patterns yourself through our IGNOU Previous Year Question Paper collection.
6. Most Repeated BEGC-104 Topics Across Eight Official Papers
The Wife of Bath's Prologue has appeared in all eight official BEGC-104 papers we checked, making it the single safest text to prepare.
We counted topics in eight official IGNOU BEGC-104 Question Paper sets from ignou.ac.in and webservices.ignou.ac.in: December 2021, June 2022, June 2023, December 2023, December 2024, June 2025, December 2025 and June 2026. December 2022 and June 2024 could not be found on the official sites, so they are not counted.
| Topic | Sessions where it appeared | Papers (out of 8) |
|---|---|---|
| The Wife of Bath's Prologue (any question) | Dec 2021, Jun 2022, Jun 2023, Dec 2023, Dec 2024, Jun 2025, Dec 2025, Jun 2026 | 8 |
| Spenser's Amoretti Sonnet LVII ('Sweet warrior') | Dec 2021, Jun 2022, Jun 2023, Dec 2023, Jun 2025, Jun 2026 | 6 |
| Donne's 'The Sun Rising' | Dec 2021, Jun 2022, Dec 2023, Dec 2024, Dec 2025, Jun 2026 | 6 |
| Shakespeare's Sonnet 18 | Dec 2021, Jun 2022, Jun 2023, Jun 2025, Dec 2025, Jun 2026 | 6 |
| Metaphysical poetry and Donne's poetic sensibility | Jun 2022, Jun 2023, Dec 2023, Dec 2024, Jun 2025, Dec 2025 | 6 |
| Donne's 'Death Be Not Proud' | Dec 2021, Dec 2023, Dec 2024, Dec 2025, Jun 2026 | 5 |
| Shakespeare's Sonnet 55 | Dec 2021, Jun 2022, Jun 2023, Dec 2023, Dec 2025 | 5 |
| Ending, decline or damnation of Doctor Faustus | Dec 2021, Jun 2022, Jun 2023, Dec 2024, Jun 2026 | 5 |
| Macbeth scene questions (porter, banquet, sleepwalking) | Dec 2023, Dec 2024, Jun 2025, Dec 2025, Jun 2026 | 5 |
| Spenser's Sonnets LXVII and LXXV | LXVII: Dec 2021, Dec 2023, Dec 2025; LXXV: Jun 2022, Dec 2023, Jun 2025 | 5 |
| The sonnet form and the Shakespearean sonnet | Jun 2023, Dec 2023, Dec 2024, Jun 2026 | 4 |
| Doctor Faustus as morality play (angels, sins, motifs) | Dec 2023, Dec 2024, Jun 2025 | 3 |
| Lady Macduff in Macbeth | Jun 2022, Jun 2023, Dec 2024 | 3 |
| Chaucer's humanism and art | Jun 2025, Dec 2025, Jun 2026 | 3 |
| Renaissance, humanism and Reformation background | Jun 2022, Dec 2025, Jun 2026 | 3 |
| Tudor poetry | Dec 2021, Jun 2026 | 2 |
A count means the text or topic appeared in that paper in any form: short note, reference to context or essay. Spenser's LXVII and LXXV share one row because they are often set as a pair; between them they were asked in five of the eight papers, with LXVII in three and LXXV in three, and December 2023 setting both.
One prescribed text is missing from this table altogether: Shakespeare's Sonnet 65 did not appear in any of the eight papers we counted. It is still on the syllabus, so do not drop it, but the other two sonnets are the safer bet if you are short of time.
For likely questions in the next session, see our IGNOU Solved Guess Paper page, built from the same counting method.
7. How Our BEGC-104 Answers Are Written and Checked
Every BEGC-104 answer is written by Prateek Talwar, reviewed by Sheetal Kirola and sized to the word limit printed on the June 2026 paper.
Reference-to-context answers follow four steps: the poem or play, the speaker and situation, the meaning of the lines, and one critical comment. Middle English passages from Chaucer are glossed word by word before the context is explained, because examiners mark down guesswork.
Quotations from Spenser, Shakespeare, Donne and Marlowe are checked against standard editions, and the BEGC-104 Solved Question Paper keeps quotations short so they support the argument rather than fill space. Essays open with a direct answer, which is what a 15-mark examiner reads first.
Where the printed paper garbles a line, as it does in the Chaucer passage of this session, the answer works from the correct text and says what the printed version should read, so you quote the poet and not the typesetter.
Before writing, the team studied the eight official papers listed above, so answers on repeat texts such as the Wife of Bath and Doctor Faustus cover the angles IGNOU has asked about before.
8. BEGC-104 Solved File Index of All 17 Questions
The full BEGC-104 solved file answers all 17 questions; 2 are shown on this page and 15 are in the full file only.
BEGC-104 is a theory course with no practical or record work, so this index lists every question in the paper, the course text it draws on and where its answer can be found.
| Question | Topic | Course text | Marks | Answer available |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Q1(a) | Short note: Chaucer's Humanism | Chaucer and the Wife of Bath's Prologue | 4 | Full file only |
| Q1(b) | Short note: Reformation | Background: religion and the age | 4 | Full file only |
| Q1(c) | Short note: the Sonnet form | Sonnet tradition (Spenser and Shakespeare) | 4 | Full file only |
| Q1(d) | Short note: Motifs | Drama of the period | 4 | Full file only |
| Q1(e) | Reference to context: 'From rest and sleep…' | John Donne, 'Death Be Not Proud' | 4 | Full file only |
| Q1(f) | Reference to context: 'And Summer's lease…' | Shakespeare, Sonnet 18 | 4 | Full file only |
| Q1(g) | Reference to context: Middle English passage | Chaucer and the Wife of Bath's Prologue | 4 | Full file only |
| Q2(a) | Women in the Wife of Bath's Prologue | Chaucer and the Wife of Bath's Prologue | 10 | Full file only |
| Q2(b) | Tudor poetry | Background: Tudor poetry | 10 | Full file only |
| Q2(c) | Spenser on the role and aim of the poet | Spenser's Amoretti | 10 | Full file only |
| Q2(d) | Master-servant relationship in Dr. Faustus | Marlowe's Doctor Faustus | 10 | Full file only |
| Q2(e) | Banquet scene in Macbeth | Shakespeare's Macbeth | 10 | Full file only |
| Q2(f) | Addressing death in 'Death Be Not Proud' | John Donne | 10 | On this page |
| Q2(g) | Sonnet 18 as self-address | Shakespeare's sonnets | 10 | Full file only |
| Q3(a) | Love as microcosm in 'The Sun Rising' | John Donne | 15 | Full file only |
| Q3(b) | Critical note on Sonnet LVII | Spenser's Amoretti | 15 | Full file only |
| Q3(c) | Faustus' damnation: tragedy or justice | Marlowe's Doctor Faustus | 15 | On this page |
Other papers of the programme are listed in our BAEGH Question Paper section.
9. Programmes That Include BEGC-104 British Poetry and Drama
BEGC-104 British Poetry and Drama is a compulsory core course in IGNOU's Bachelor of Arts (Honours) English, programme code BAEGH.
The course is part of the IGNOU Bachelor of Arts (Honours) English programme under the CBCS scheme, and the June 2026 paper is printed for BAEGH. Check your own programme guide or hall ticket for the semester in which your regional centre has placed it.
Because IGNOU sets one term-end paper for each course code, the IGNOU BEGC-104 Solved Question Paper suits any learner whose programme carries this course, whatever their study centre or region.
10. How to Get the Full BEGC-104 Solved Question Paper
Message WhatsApp 9899436384 with the code BEGC 104 and the session June 2026 to get answers to all 17 questions.
The full file adds the 15 answers not shown here: four short notes, three reference-to-context passages, six Section B answers and two Section C essays. Our team replies with the file and the delivery details.
11. BEGC-104 British Poetry and Drama FAQs
These answers cover the BEGC-104 paper pattern, repeat topics and how to get the full solved file.
How many questions are in the BEGC-104 June 2026 paper, and how many do I answer?
The BEGC-104 June 2026 paper has 17 questions across three sections, and a student answers 12 of them. Section A asks for three short notes out of four and two reference-to-context passages out of three. Section B asks for five of seven answers in about 200 words. Section C asks for two of three essays in about 300 words, for 100 marks in three hours.
How do I get the full BEGC-104 solved file on WhatsApp?
Send a WhatsApp message to 9899436384 with the course code BEGC 104 and the session, June 2026. Our team replies with the full solved file, which contains complete answers to all 17 questions in the paper. Two of those answers are shown on this page, so the file gives you the other 15, covering every short note, passage, Section B answer and Section C essay.
Which section carries the most marks in BEGC-104?
Section B does. Its five answers of about 200 words each carry 10 marks apiece, which is 50 of the 100 marks, more than Section A and Section C put together. Many students spend too long on the two 15-mark essays, which are worth only 30 marks between them. Budget your three hours around Section B first.
Which BEGC-104 topics repeat most often in IGNOU papers?
The Wife of Bath's Prologue is the strongest repeat in BEGC-104, appearing in all eight official papers we checked from December 2021 to June 2026. Spenser's Sonnet LVII, Donne's 'The Sun Rising', Shakespeare's Sonnet 18 and metaphysical poetry each came up in six papers. 'Death Be Not Proud', Sonnet 55, the ending of Doctor Faustus and the Macbeth scene questions each appeared in five.
Which IGNOU programme includes BEGC-104 British Poetry and Drama?
BEGC-104 British Poetry and Drama is a compulsory core course of IGNOU's Bachelor of Arts (Honours) English, programme code BAEGH, under the CBCS scheme. The June 2026 paper itself is printed for BAEGH. If your programme guide lists the course under another programme, the paper pattern is the same, because IGNOU sets one term-end paper for each course code.
How long should BEGC-104 answers be under the new paper pattern?
Since December 2025, BEGC-104 answers are much shorter than before. Short notes in Section A are about 100 words for 4 marks, and each reference-to-context passage also carries 4 marks. Section B answers are about 200 words for 10 marks, and Section C essays about 300 words for 15 marks. Older papers asked for 500 to 600 word essays, so old model answers can make you overwrite.
Who wrote and checked the BEGC-104 answers?
The BEGC-104 answers are written by Prateek Talwar and reviewed by Sheetal Kirola at Unnati Educations. Each answer is sized to the word limit and marks printed on the June 2026 paper, and quotations from Chaucer, Spenser, Shakespeare, Donne and Marlowe are checked against standard editions. Older official papers were studied first, so the answers stress the points IGNOU keeps returning to.
Will the BEGC-104 June 2026 solved paper help in the December 2026 exam?
Yes, the BEGC-104 June 2026 solved paper is a strong base for December 2026, because the same prescribed texts keep coming back. The Wife of Bath's Prologue has appeared in every official paper we checked, and several Spenser, Shakespeare and Donne poems have come up five or six times. Use it alongside your study material to cover the texts IGNOU tests most often.
12. About the Authors
The BEGC-104 British Poetry and Drama answers on this page were written and reviewed by Unnati Educations' own academic team.
Prateek Talwar — Academic Head (M.Ed.), Unnati Educations. He writes the IGNOU solved question papers, maps every question to its prescribed text and sizes each answer to the marks and word limit printed on the paper.
Sheetal Kirola — Reviewer, Unnati Educations. She checks quotations against standard editions of Chaucer, Spenser, Shakespeare, Donne and Marlowe, glosses the Middle English passages, and compares repeated questions with the older sessions before a file is released.