ENGLISH LITERATURE
ENGLISH Paper – 2
SECTION A – DRAMA
The Merchant of Venice : Shakespeare
Q. 1. Read the extract given below and answer the Questions that follow:
Why, look you, how you storm!
I would be friends with you and have your love,
Forget the shames that you have stain’d me with,
Supply your present wants, and take no doit
Of usance for my moneys, and you’ll not hear me:
This is kind I offer.
(i) Where does this scene take place? Who is the speaker? To whom is he talking?
(ii) What are the ‘shames’ which the speaker says have stained him?
(iii) What are the ‘present wants’? Who is in need of the ‘present wants’? Why?
(iv) Explain “This is kind I offer.” What does the speaker propose to do immediately after this?
(v) What do you think of Antonio and of Shylock with regard to the signing of the bond?
Q. 2. Read the extract given below and answer the Questions that follow:
PORTIA : To these injunctions everyone doth swear
That comes to hazard for my worthless self.
ARRAGON : And so have I address’d me. Fortune now
To my heart’s hope! – Gold, silver and base lead.
(i) Who had tried his luck in trying to choose the correct casket before the prince of Arragon? Which casket had that suitor chosen? What did he find inside the casket?
(ii) What are the three things Arragon was obliged by oath to obey?
(iii) What was the inscription on the golden casket? How do the actions of the martlet illustrate this inscription?
(iv) Which casket does Arragon finally choose? Whose portrait does he find inside? Which casket actually contains Portia’s portrait?
(v) Who enters soon after? What does he say about the young Venetian who has just arrived? What gifts has the Venetian brought with him?
Loyalties : John Galsworthy
Q. 3. Read the extract given below and answer the Questions that follow:
DE LEVIS : Social Blackmail? H’m !
CANYNGE : Not at all – simple warning. If you consider it necessary in your interests to start this scandal – no matter how, we shall consider it necessary in ours to dissociate ourselves completely from one who so recklessly disregards the unwritten code.
(i) Where are the speakers at present? What is referred to as Social Blackmail?
(ii) Who is Canynge? What scandal is being referred to? Why will it be a scandal?
(iii) Which race does De Levis mention later? What is his opinion about society?
(iv) What does Canynge do soon after and what does he find? What was his reaction? What does the discovery prove?
(v) What is De Levis going through at this point of time? What light does it throw upon his character? What change do we see in his character later in the play? Give a reason to justify your answer?
Q. 4. Read the extract given below and answer the Questions that follow:
DE LEVIS. Confront me with Dancy and give me fair play.
WINSOR. [Aside to CANYNGE] Is it fair to Dancy not to let him know? CANYNGE. Our duty is to the Club now, Winsor. We must have this cleared up. [COLFORD comes in, followed by BORRING and DANCY.]
ST ERTH. Captain Dancy, a serious accusation has been made against you by this gentleman in the presence of several members of the Club.
DANCY. What is it?
ST ERTH. That you robbed him of that money at Winsor’s.
DANCY. [Hard and tense] Indeed! On what grounds is he good enough to say that?
(i) How does De Levis respond to Dancy’s last Q. in the extract?
(ii) How did Dancy wish to settle the matter? What was St Erth’s suggestion?
(iii) Why did Dancy’s friends wish him to take legal action against De Levis? What reasons did Dancy give for not wanting to do so?
(iv) When Mabel Dancy later requests De Levis to withdraw the charge, how does he respond? What declaration does Dancy wish De Levis to sign?
(v) What information does Gilman give to Twisden? Why did Twisden decide to withdraw from the case?
SECTION B – POETRY
A Collection of Poems
Q. 5. Read the extract given below and answer the Questions that follow:
‘Tell me not in mournful numbers,
Life is but an empty dream!
For the soul is dead that slumbers,
And things are not what they seem.’
(A Psalm of Life – H. W. Longfellow)
(i) Explain- ‘Tell me not in mournful numbers, Life is but an empty dream!’ What should not be considered the goal of life?
(ii) What is the beating of the heart compared to? How is the heart described? What does the beating of the heart remind us of?
(iii) What does the poet mean when he compares the world to a battle field? What should our role be in this battle?
(iv) How should we view the past and the future? What advice does the poet give in this context?
(v) What do we learn from the lives of great men? What is the final message of the poem? Give one reason why the poem appeals to you.
Q. 6. Read the extract given below and answer the Questions that follow:
Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high
Where knowledge is free
Where the world has not been broken up into fragments
By narrow domestic walls.
(Where the Mind is Without Fear: Rabindranath Tagore)
(i) To whom is the poet praying? Whose mind is the poet referring to in the beginning of the poem? Why?
(ii) In which situation is the head held high? What does he mean by ‘knowledge is free’? What are ‘narrow domestic walls’?
(iii) What does the poet mean by ‘tireless striving’? What does ‘clear stream’ refer to? Explain.
(iv) What is meant by ‘dead habit’? What is ‘dead habit’ compared to and why?
(v) What does the poet wish for at the end of the poem? What does the poem tell the readers about the poet? Give a reason to justify your answer.
SECTION C – PROSE
Collection of Short Stories
Q. 7. Read the extract given below and answer the Questions that follow:
“He was not accustomed to facing the entire class and speaking out aloud. He knew that he did not have a flair for making speeches. However, he had worked hard on his assignment and had written it from the depth of his heart.”
(India’s Heroes- Anonymous)
(i) Who was ‘he’? What evidence is there that he was not used to facing the entire class? (ii) What was the assignment? How was ‘his’ assignment different from the others? (iii) Who was the first person to feature in ‘his’ assignment? What did ‘he’ say about him? (iv) Who was the General Manager of the Taj Hotel? What role did he play? (v) What, according to this speaker, is the only true religion in the world? What human qualities have been highlighted through ‘his’ speech?
Q. 8. Describe the first meeting and the last meeting between the Kabuliwala and Mini. What realization dawns upon the Kabuliwala after the last meeting with Mini.
Animal Farm : George Orwell
Q. 9. Read the extract given below and answer the Questions that follow:
All that year the animals worked like slaves. But they were happy in their work, they grudged no effort or sacrifice, well aware that everything that they did was for the benefit of themselves and those of their kind who would come after them, and not for a pack of idle thieving human beings.
Throughout the spring and summer they worked a sixty-hour week, and in August…………….
(i) What did Napoleon announce in August?
(ii) How much time had elapsed since the constitution of the Animal Farm? As summer wore on, what unforeseen shortages began to be felt?
(iii) What new policy did Napoleon make? The new policy brought a vagu Animal farm and the outside world? Describe him.
(v) What roused the pride of the animals and made them reconcile to the new arrangement? In the meanwhile, what sudden decision was taken by the pigs? What do we learn about Napoleon at this juncture?
Q. 10. Boxer lives his life in patient and unquestioning service. How far is this statement true? Throw light on Boxer’s character.
To Sir, With Love : E.R. Braithwaite
Q. 11. Read the extract given below and answer the Questions that follow:
“What’s your name?” he asked.
“Braithwaite,” I replied, “Ricardo Braithwaite.”
“I’m Pinkus and this is Mama Pinkus.” The introduction was effected with a filial devotion which was good to see.
“How d’you do, Mama Pinkus.”
“I think I know some place for you.” He went to the little noticeboard and removed a small card on which was written a short advertisement of a room to let near-by.
(i) Why was Braithwaite looking for a new place to stay? Why was he impressed by the place that was on rent?
(ii) What reception did he get when he reached the address that had been advertised? Whom did the house belong to?
(iii) Why did Mrs. Pegg come to see Braithwaite? What reply did Braithwaite give to her?
(iv) What changes occurred in Pamela’s personality after the August holiday?
(v) What comment did Potter make when Braithwaite hurt himself? What did he mean by that comment? How did Pamela react to Potter’s remark?
Q. 12. Give an account of the trip to The Victoria and Albert Museum that was planned by Braithwaite for his class.
