NAZARETH CONVENT HIGH SCHOOL AND JUNIOR COLLEGE, OOTY.

FIRST REVISION EXAMINATION – JANUARY 2021

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 from only three text books.
You must attempt at least one question from each of the Sections A, B, and C and not more than two other questions
from the same books you have already compulsorily chosen.
The intended marks for questions or parts of questions are given in brackets []
SECTION A DRAMA
The Merchant of Venice: Shakespeare
QUESTION 1
Read the extract given below answer the questions that follow:
“Pray thee take some pain
To allay with some cold drops of modesty Thy skipping
spirit….”
(i) Identify the speaker and the person spoken to. Where are they? [3]
(ii) What else has been said immediately after the given extract by the speaker? [3]
(iii) How does the person spoken to respond? [3]
(iv) Where is the speaker going? With what hopes? How were his hopes answered later? [3]
(v) How had this person advised another character earlier in the play? [4]
QUESTION 2
Read the extract given below answer the questions that follow:
As from her Lord , her governor, her king. Myself and what
is mine to you and yours Is now converted : but now I was
the lord Of this fair mansion, master of my servants,
Queen o’er myself : and even now , but now, This house , these
servants and this same myself, Are yours , my lord :
(i) Where are speaker and ‘my lord’ ? What has just taken place which makes speaker to speak these words?
What was the inscription in the lead casket? [3]
(ii) What does ‘lord’ say in praise of Speaker’s Portrait? [3]
(iii) What news sadden ‘lord’ on this occasion? What does speaker ask the lord to do? [3]
(iv) Who is the servant of speaker? What was the work assigned to him by speaker? [3]
(v) Where does the speaker really plan to go? What similarity do we find between Speaker and Antonio?
What does this scene reveal about the character of the speaker? Give a reason to justify your answer.
[4]
QUESTION 3
Read the extract given below answer the questions that follow:
But little .. I am well armed and well prepared Give me your
hand , Bassanio; fare you well! Grieve not that I have fallen
to this for you”
(i) Who is the speaker? Where is the scene set? To what question the speaker does respond with the words , “
But little”? [3]
(ii) What does the speaker mean when he says, “Grieve not that I have fallen to this for you”? [3]
(iii) What does the speaker instruct the person spoken to do? [3]
(iv) What does the person spoken to respond to the speaker? [3]
(v) On what note the speaker end his speech? What does this reveal of speaker’s attitude to life and death?[4]
SECTION B - POETRY
QUESTION 4
Read the extract given below answer the questions that follow:
He gave out a cry of frustration and anguish His dream and
his efforts dashed in the dirt
But as sure as I am standing here telling the story
(i) Who is ‘he’ referred to here? How did his efforts dash in the dirt? What were his feelings at this moment? [3]
(ii) In this poem, something strange was witnessed. Illustrate. [3]
(iii) What name has been given to that special event. Which race is being talked about here? How many
participants were there for the race? [3]
(iv) What had the runners done just before the extract? [3]
(v) What lesson do we learn from the poem? [4]
QUESTION 5
Read the extract given below answer the questions that follow:
`All right’, you`ll cry. `All right!’you’ll say, But if we take the
set away,
What shall we do to entertain
Our darling children? Please explain!’
(i) What important lesson does the poet say he has learnt at the start of the poem? [3]
(ii) Describe some pf the scenes that the poet says he has seen in the houses which have television. [3]
(iii) List the ways in which television viewing affects the mind of ‘beloved tot’. [3]
(iv) What other activity does the poet recommend to entertain children? Mention two ways in which this
activity would benefit them.? [3]
(v) What does the poet advise readers to do at the end of the poem? What does he assure them will happen if
they followed his suggestion? What would you say is the central idea of this poem? [4]
QUESTION 6 :
Read the extract given below answer the questions that follow :
He plants cool shade and tender rain And seed and
bud of days to be,
And years that fade and flush again, He plants the
forest's heritage
The harvest of a coming age;
the joy that unborn eyes shall see--
(i) How do the last two lines of the extract explain the process of regeneration? How does the man plant the forest's
heritage? [3]
(ii)How has the poet described the tree earlier in the poem? [3]
(iii) What social and ecological value of planting a tree is? [3]
(iv) What do the expression,’ unborn eyes’ indicate? What will they see? Why will they rejoice? [3]
(v) Comment on the appropriateness of the title of the poem 'The Heart of The Tree' [4]
SECTION C PROSE
QUESTION 7
Read the extract given below answer the questions that follow:
The foreigner followed his look and decided that it would be a sound policyto show an interest in the old man’s pets. He
went up casually to them and stroked their backs with every show of courteous attention.
(i) What did Muni often dream of? [3]
(ii) How was the foreigner dressed? Why did Muni feel the urge to run when he first laid eyes on him? What
stopped him from doing so? [3]
(iii) Muni assured that a recent incident had brought this visitor to his village. Give the details of this incident.[3]
(iv) What was the visitor actually interested in? What did he offer Muni soon after they met? Why did the offer
surprise Muni? [3]
(v) Which part of the story do you find the most amusing? Give reasons for your answer. [4]
QUESTION 8
Read the extract given below answer the questions that follow
To us the ashes of our ancestors are sacred and their resting place is hallowed ground. You wander far from the graves
of your ancestors and seemingly without regret.
(i) What is the difference in the attitude of the Red Indians and the White Men about their dead? [3]
(ii) What does Chief Seattle say about the religion of the White Man in the extract? What religion is this?
What does this utterance suggest about Chief Seattle’s opinion about this religion? [3]
(iii) How is the Red Man’s religion described by Chief Seattle? [3]
(iv) How the dead of two religions different according to Chief Seattle? [3]
(v) What does this extract tell about the difference in the attitude of the White Man and the Red Man towards their
ancestors? [4]
QUESTION 9
Answer the following questions with reference to Jesse Owens ‘An Olympic Medal’:
(i) Why had Jesse Owens gone to Berlin in 1936? [4]
(ii) What were Jesse’s thoughts as he travelled by boat? What did he want to prove? [4]
(iii) What message is conveyed by the story? Answer with details from the text. [8]

The only place where success comes before work is in

the dictionary.