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GATE 2026 XH2 (English) – Question 61

History of English Literature and Literary Studies · English Literary Traditions across Time: Chaucer to contemporary English literature · 2 marks · Multiple select

“She felt very young; at the same time unspeakably aged. She sliced like a knife through everything; at the same time was outside, looking on.”

Which narrative technique/s is/are evident in this passage?

  1. Fragmentation of identity
  2. Free indirect discourse
  3. Linear chronological narration
  4. Allegory of nationalism

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Show answer and explanation

Correct answer: (A) Fragmentation of identity; (B) Free indirect discourse

Explanation

The lines come from Woolf's Mrs Dalloway. The character's thoughts are given in the narrator's voice without quotation marks (free indirect discourse), and she feels both young and aged, both inside and outside the scene, which shows a divided or fragmented sense of self. Nothing here is linear narration or an allegory of the nation.