LITERATURE IN ENGLISH ENGLISH Paper - 2 (Two hours) Answers to this Paper must be written on the paper provided separately. You will not be allowed to write during the first 15 minutes. This time is to be spent in reading the question paper. The time given at the head of this paper is the time allowed for writing the answers. Attempt five questions in all. You must attempt at least one question from each of the Sections A, B and C compulsorily. You may attempt the remaining two questions from any section(s) of your choice. The intended marks for questions or parts of questions are given in brackets [ ]. SECTION A-DRAMA Answer at least one question from this Section. The Merchant of Venice: Shakespeare Question 1. Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow: Portia: If live to be as old as Sibylla, | will die as chaste as Diana, unless | be obtained by the manner of my father’s will. !am glad this parcel of wooers are so reasonable; for there is not one among them but I dote on his very absence; and | pray God grant them a fair departure. (i) What news has Nerissa just conveyed to Portia? B) This paper consists of 7 pages. NH20 012 Turn Over Copyright Reserved(ii) Portia says that she can only be obtained ‘by the manner’ of her father’s will. What method had her father devised in his will to ensure that Portia would marry the person who truly deserved her? (iii) What conditions did Portia’s suitors have to agree to before taking the test? (iv) Who were Sibylla and Diana? Explain Portia’s reference to them in this context. (Vv) Nerissa reminds Portia of someone whom she thinks would be ‘best deserving’ of Portia. Who is this person? What does Nerissa say about him? Question 2. Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow: (ii) (ii (w) Launcelot: Why, Jessica! Shylock: — Who bids thee call? ! do not bid thee call. Launcelot: Your worship was wont to tell me that | could do nothing without bidding. (Enter Jessica) Jessica: Call you? What is your will? Shylock: | am bid forth to supper, Jessica Who is Launcelot? Who had sent him to meet Shylock? ‘Who is Jessica? What is her o| n of Shylock? Why is Shylock reluctant to accept the invitation to supper? ‘What reasons does he give for accepting it? What piece of information does Launcelot share with Shylock soon after the above exchange? Mention any TWO instructions Shylock gives Jessica after he receives this information. NH20 012 2 (3) (3) (3] (4) (3](vy) What are Launcelot’s parting words to Jessica? (4) Mention any TWO traits of Shylock’s character that are revealed in this scene. Question 3. Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow: Shylock: Nay, that’s true, that’s very true. Go Tubal, fee me an officer; bespeak him a fortnight before. Iwill have the heart of him, if he forfeit; for, were he out of Venice, I can make what merchandise Iwill, Go, Tubal, and meet me at our synagogue; go, good Tubal; at our synagogue, Tubal. (i) | Who was Tubal? (3) What question does Shylock ask Tubal when he enters at the start of the scene? (ii) What does Tubal say to Shylock about Antonio's ‘ill luck’? BI How does Shylock respond to this news? (iii) Tubal speaks of a ring that Jessica had exchanged for a monkey. 8] How does Shylock respond to this? (iv) Why is Shylock eager to hire a lawyer? 13) What would he gain by taking revenge on Antonio? (v) _ In this scene we see two very different sides of Shylock — the father and the {4) moneylender. What aspects of Shylock’s character are revealed through them? NH20 012 3 Turn OverSECTION B - POETRY Answer at least one question from this Section. A Collection of Poems Question 4. Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow: Six humans trapped by happenstance In bleak and bitter cold. Each one possessed a stick of wood Or so the story’s told. (The Cold Within-James Patrick Kinney) (i) At what time of the year is this poem set? Give reasons for your answer. (ii) What do you understand by the word ‘happenstance’? Where were they? Mention any ONE trait of character that is common to al the six humans. (iii) Why was the woman unwilling to share her log? What does this reveal of her character? (iv) How do the rich man and the poor man justify to themselves their unwillingness to share? (v) Explain the meaning of the lines: ‘They did not die from the cold without They died from the cold within.’ What theme does the poet explore through these simple but profound lines? Question 5. Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow: She saw her brother Peterkin Roll something large and round, Which he beside the rivulet NH20 012 4 (3) (3] (3) (4In playing there had found; He came to ask what he had found, That was so large, and smooth, and round. (After Blenheim, Robert Southey) (i) Who is ‘She’? What was this ‘large and round’ object that her brother had found? (ii) What did old Kaspar say when Peterkin asked him about the object? (iii) What personal suffering had Kaspar’s family experienced because of the war? (iv) What words did Old Kaspar repeatedly use to describe the success of the English Army? What ‘shocking sight’ is associated with this success? (v) What innocent thoughts and questions are voiced by the children at the end of the poem? What themes does the poet touch on through these questions? Question 6. Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow: What does he plant who plants a tree? He plants a friend of sun and sky; He plants the flag of breezes free; The shaft of beauty towering high; He plants a home to heaven anigh; (The Heart of the Tree-Henry Cuyler Bunner) (i) The poet describes the tree as ‘a friend of sun and sky’, ‘the flag of breezes free’ and ‘The shaft of beauty, towering high’. Explain in your own words what the poet is trying to convey through these phrases. (3] 8) (3) 13] (4) (3) NH20 012 5 Turn Over(ii) (ii) (iv) ™) How can a tree become ‘a home to heaven anigh’? How do trees help in the process of regeneration? The poet believes that the act of planting a tree can connects us directly to the Creator. How does he develop this idea in the third stanza? Mention any two benefits of tree-planting that the poem celebrates. ‘What message does the poet convey through this poem? SECTION C- PROSE Answer at least one question from this Section. A Collection of Short Stories Question 7. Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow: “i (ii) (iii) (iv) Ww) Mr. Oliver, was returning to his school late one night, on the outskirts of the hill-station of Simla. From before Kipling’s time, the school had been run on English public school lines; and the boys, most of them from wealthy Indian families, wore blazers, caps and ties. Who was Mr. Oliver? When did he usually return from the town? Which route did he take on his way back? What had ‘Life’ magazine called the place where Mr. Oliver worked? Why? Why did most people avoid the route that Mr. Oliver took? Why did Mr. Oliver take that route? Whom did Mr. Oliver encounter in the forest? Give a brief description of the encounter. Whom did Mr. Oliver stumble into, later in the story? What was strange about this person? How does the story end? (3) (3) 8) (4) 8) (3) (3) (8) (4) NH20 012 6Question 8. Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow: “What is to be done with the children?” That was the chief question now. The dead mother would go underground, and be forever beyond all care or concern of the villagers. But the children must not be left to starve. (i) What are the factors that led to the mother’s death? (31 Describe the manner in which she died. (ii) Name the three children she left behind. (3] Mention any ONE fact that you know about each of them (iii) The villagers agreed there was only one thing to be done about the youngest (3) child — what was that? Why did they feel this way? (iv) Who finally took the youngest child away? Where was the child taken to? 8 How long did the child remain in that place? (v) How did the villagers treat the dead woman when she was alive? (4) In what way did their attitude towards her change after her death? What does this reveal of human nature? Question 9. ‘Answer the following questions with reference to R. K, Narayan’s short story ‘A Horse and Two Goats’. (i) Why did Muni mistake the foreigner for a police officer? (4) What crime did he think the foreigner had been sent to investigate? (ii) What information does Muni give to the foreigner about the statue? (4) (ii) What was the underlying cause for all the misunderstanding between Muni (3) and the foreigner? What happened after the foreigner had paid Muni a hundred rupees? Do you think the story ends happily? Give reasons for your answer. NH20 012 7