Solving ICSE Class 10 English Literature Previous Year Question Papers ICSE Class 10 English Literature Question Paper 2018 is the best way to boost your preparation for the board exams.
ICSE Class 10 English Literature Question Paper 2018 Solved
Section-A (Drama)
Answer one or both questions from only one play, either The Merchant of Venice or Loyalties
The Merchant of Venice: Shakespeare
Question 1.
Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow :
Portia : Go draw aside the curtains, and discover
The several caskets to this noble prince – Now make your choice.
Morocco : The first, of gold, who this inscription bears,
“Who chooseth me shall gain what many men desire ”,
(i) Who is Morocco? How did he introduce himself to Portia when they first met in an earlier scene? [3]
(ii) How would Morocco know that he had made the right choice? What would his reward be? [3]
(iii) Which casket did Morocco finally choose? What reasons did he give for rejecting the casket made of lead? [3]
(iv) What two objects does Morocco find in the casket of his choice? What reason does he give to Portia for leaving in haste? [3]
(v) How does Portia respond to Morocco’s parting words? What does this reveal of her nature ? [4]
Answers:
(i) Morocco is a dark-complexioned, boastful prince who has come to try his luck at the lottery of caskets. He introduces himself to Portia as a person who lives near the equator. The constant exposure to sunrays in responsible for his dark skin. But his blood is as red as that of any fairest creature northward bom. He adds that the ‘best regarded virgins’ of his land find him most attractive.
(ii) Morocco would know that he has chosen the right casket, if on opening it he finds the portrait of Portia in it. If he chooses the right casket his reward would be the hand of Portia in marriage.
(iii) Morocco finally chose the golden casket. The inscription on the lead casket was, “who chooses me must give and hazard all he has. “This made the casket” threatening. He wondered why anyone should risk everything for lead. He felt that the portrait of Portia could not be placed in lead which is of lowly origin. Being a proud fellow he decided not to bow down to choose lead. So he rejected it.
(iv) Morocco finds in the casket ‘A Carrion Dealth’ i.e., an empty human skull and a scroll. Having failed in his choice of right casket he wants to leave in a haste. He tells Portia that he does not want to make his departure a painstaking process. Very sadly he leaves with these words “labour lost, farewell heat and Wellcome frost.”
(v) Portia is happy and relieved that Morocco has left without creating a scene. She says that it was a good riddance. All with similar appearance i.e., dark complexioned should choose her in the same way. It reveals that Portia was kind-hearted. She did not want to hurt anyone’s feelings. Moreover she was able to judge a person by his appearance and boastful nature. She disliked Morocco but she did not let anyone know it.
Question 2.
Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow:
Bassanio : Were you the doctor, and I knew you not?
Gratiano : Were you the clerk?
Antonio : Sweet lady, you have given me life and living; For here 1 read for certain that my ships Are safely come to road.
Portia: How now, Lorenzo!
My clerk hath some good comforts too for you.
(i) Where does this scene take place? What had Portia directed Antonio to give to Bassanio just moments before the above words were spoken? [3]
(ii) Portia had just given Antonio, Bassanio and Gratiano a letter to read. Who had written this letter? What does Bassanio learn about Portia from this letter? [3]
(iii) What good news does Portia have for Antonio? How does he respond to it? [3]
(iv) To whom does Portia refer as ‘My clerk’? What ‘good comforts ’ does the ‘clerk ’ have for Lorenzo? [3]
(v) How was Bassanio persuaded to give away the ring that Portia had given him at the time of their marriage? What does this reveal of Bassanio’s relationship with Antonio? [4]
Answers:
(i) This scene takes place in Portia’s house in Belmont. Portia had given Antonio the ring, that earlier she had given to Bassanio at the time of their marriage. She had also taken a promise from him that he would not part with it on any account. But Bassanio had given this ring to the lawyer who saved his friend Antonio from the clutches of Skylock.
(ii) This letter was written by Bellario, a lawyer. From this letter Bassanio learns that it was his wife Portia who had pretended to be a lawyer and saved Antonio from the trap of Shylock.
(iii) Portia gives this good news to Antonio that three of his argosies laden with rich cargo had safely reached the harbour. Hearing this Antonio is too surprised to react. He only says, “You have given me my life and my livelihood.”
(iv) Portia refers to Nerissa as ‘My Clerk”. She says that Nerissa has a special gift for Lorenzo and Jessica. It is from Jessica’s father, the rich-jew. It is a deed which makes it clear that after his death all his possessions will be inherited by Jessica and Lorenzo.
(v) Portia had asked for the ring that Bassanio was wearing. This was the same ring which Portia had given to him as
a token of her love. Bassanio at first refused to part with it. Saying that his wife would be upset if he gave away the ring. Then Antonio persuaded him, in the name of theri friendship, to give it to Portia for the lawyer’s services. It shows that Bassanio valued Antonio’s friendship highly. So he could not refuse him. He decided to risk Portia’s anger and gave the ring to the lawyer (Portia).
Section-B (Poetry)
Answer one or both questions from this Section.
A Collection of Poems
Question 5.
Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow:
“I’m grateful, Sir ”, he whispered, as I handed my canteen
And smiled a smile that was, I think, the brightest that I’ve seen.
“Seems silly a man my size so full of vim and zest
Could find himself defeated by a small pain in his chest. ”
(Small Pain in My Chest – Michael Mack)
(i) Where is ‘he’ when the narrator encounters him? Describe the scene around him. [3]
(ii) What does ‘he’ ask the narrator for? What reasons does he give for his request? [3]
(iii) What does the narrator see when he looks at him? How do we know that ‘he’ is very young and completely unaware of the seriousness of his injury? [3]
(iv) How does ‘he’ describe the battle that had been fought the night before and his role in it? [3]
(v) What feelings do you think the narrator must have experienced when he ‘put his arms around him’? What is the central theme of this poem? [4]
Answers :
(i) When the narrator encounters him, ‘he’ is quietly sitting under a tree. The battle had lasted all through the night and a large number of dead bodies were lying here and there in the morning light.
(ii) ‘He’ smiles at the narrator and asked him to give him a sip of water. He says that he needs a sip of water because he has fought all night without taking a rest. He adds that he has a small pain in his chest. So he needs water.
(iii) When the narrator looks at him, he finds a large stain of blood on his chest. The stain, mixed with the Asian dirt, looks reddish-brown. Seeing the narrator looking at his wound, he dismisses it saying that it matters little to him. He considers himself luckier than others who had died. He has only a little pain in his chest. This shows that he is unaware of the seriousness of the injury.
(iv) ‘He’, the young soldier, tells the narrator how they made the assault on the enemy. They climbed the hill and cleared its top of the enemy soldiers. Then the bombs exploded. He adds that he kept on firing but he could not do much. He did his best to fight when he could do little he sat down with his small pain in chest.
(v) When the narrator put his arms around the wounded soldier and hugged him, he felt that the boy’s wound and his own wound were pressed. The soldier had wound in his chest, where as the narrator had his wound in his heart. It was greater than the boy’s wound. The mental pain which he felt at that time was greater than the pain felt by the soldier boy. The theme of the poem is futility and inhumanity of war.
Question 6.
Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow:
I am going out rarely, now and then
Only, this is price of old age
But my health’ is O.K.
(The Professor – Nissim Ezekiel)
(i) Who is the speaker? What relationship did he share with the listener? [3]
(ii) How many sons does the speaker have? What does he say about them? [3]
(iii) What are the names of the speaker’s daughters? Why does the speaker believe that his daughters are ‘well settled in life’? [3]
(iv) How old is the speaker? Why does he say that his health is ‘OK’? What reason does he give to explain his state of health? [3]
(v) What characteristics typical of Indian speech and thought does the poet make fun of through this poem? [4]
Answers :
(i) The speaker is a retired professor of geography. The listener is a former student of the professor.
(ii) The speaker has three sons. One of his sons is a sales manager. The other son is bank manager. His third son has not come up to his expectations. The speaker calls him ‘a black sheep’. He is not happy with his third son.
(iii) The names of the speaker’s daughters are Sarala and Tarala. He believes that his daughters are ‘Well-settled’ because their husband’s are nice guys.
(iv) The professor is sixty nine years old. He says that his health is O.K. though he has some aches and pains which are normal at his age. His health is okay because he has neither diabetes, not blood pressure nor any heart problem. The reason which he gives for his good health is that he pursued good habits in youth. That is why he is still in good health.
(v) The poet makes fun of many Indian speakers of English who commit grammatical and cultural mistakes in their speech. They make these mistakes unknowingly. The speaker’s use of such sentences as given below is funny. ‘We are keeping up,’ Our progress is progressing,’ ‘I am going out rarely’, ‘If you are coming again this side…’
The poet also satirises the typical Indian’s habit of self importance and garrulity.
Section – C
A Collection of Short Stories
Question 7.
Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow:
Sher Singh could feel immediately the heat of the boy s body burning through the cotton cloth.
He felt the weight too, and he wondered how he was going to manage.
He is too big for you ’said the mother. She spoke in the whisper of despair. ‘You will never get there. ’
Sher Singh said nothing.
He set off.
(i) Who was the ‘boy ’? Why was Sher Singh sure that the little boy would die? [3]
(ii) What did Sher Singh s father do for a living? Mention any two acts of courage he had performed that had earned him the title ‘Bahadur ’. [3]
(iii) How does his mother use her skill as a hill woman to prepare Sher Singh for his long and dangerous journey? [3]
(iv) Mention any three challenges that Sher Singh encountered on his way to the hospital. [3]
(v) How does the doctor at the hospital address Sher Singh at the end of the story? Why do you think he refers to him in this way? [4]
Answers:
(i) The ‘boy’ was Sher Singh’s brother Kunwar who had a severe pain in his stomach. Sher Singh was sure that his brother would die because his mother had just said, “He must be carried into hospital.” Sher Singh knew that hospital was but ‘the resort of the doomed.’
(ii) Sher Singh’s father was a hunter. He lived his life grazing his animals and cultivating his small land. He had earned the title ‘Bahaduf.’ Sher Singh’s father had once pulled a comrade away from a tiger though he had suffered an injury on his neck by the clows of the tiger. He also had two fingers missing and his face was marked.
(iii) Sher Singh’s mother was a hill woman. She knew how to prepare a sling to carry children. She also made a sling for Sher Singh and put Kunwar in the sling. The purpose was to enable Sher Singh to bear the weight of Kunwar easily for the journey.
(iv) As Sher Singh came out of the village and entered the jungle he encountered a cobra. He drew back slowly and the cobra disappeared when they reached the cliff above a river bed Sher Singh heard the jostle and squeak of the herd of elephants but they ran away. Thirdly, Sher Singh
was not visible. Moreover he had his brother tied to his back.
(v) The doctor, at the hospital, addressed him, as “Sher Bahadur Singh.’ The doctor addressed him in this way because he felt that Sher Singh had acted very bravely in bringing the sick knwar to the hospital.
Question 8.
With close reference to the text, show how Stephen Leacock makes effective use of humour and exaggeration to describe his attempts to get back his ‘Lost Dollar’. [16]
Answers :
‘My Lost Dollar’ is basically a humorous story meant to entertain the reader. The writer presents a commonplace situation in which a dollar is lent to a friend in a natural way. He expects it back but he does not demand it directly because it is discourteous. Stephen Leacock makes very effective use of humour and exaggeration when he describes his attempts to get back his Tost dollar’.
One day the narrator goes to see off his good friend Todd going to Bermuda. Todd needs a dollar in change to pay the taxi. He demands it from the narrator. Who gives him one dollar happily. It is something natural. The narrator thinks that when Todd took the dollar he meant to pay it back.
When Todd comes back, he goes to receive him at the station. The way he proposes to Todd that they should take a taxi to remind him of his dollar is quite humorous. Todd fails to pick up the hint. The narrator spends the evening with his friend. He thinks about the dollar but does not refer to it. Then he approaches the subject in a devious, amusing manner. He asks Todd what currency is used in Bermuda and whether the American dollar goes at par. He puts slight emphasis on American dollar.
We cannot help laughing when the narrator asks him one day what his trip cost him and Todd says he keeps no accounts, adding later that he has practically forgotten about the trip. Then the way the narrator tries to forget men to whom he owes a dollar is quite amusing. The way he pretends not to know about them is humorous :
I don’t count here men who may have lent me an odd dollar over a bridge table; and I am not thinking (indeed I am taking care not to think) of the man who lent me thirty cents to pay for a bottle of plain soda…”
Then the narrator’s plan to start a ‘Back to Honesty’ movement is well-meaning. But the real intention, to remind Todd that he should be honest and give him back his dollar, has a touch of humour in it.